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Learns".: Why Ask Questions?

1) Questioning is a key way to gain information and helps with learning, problem solving, decision making, and understanding others. 2) There are many reasons to ask questions, including to obtain information, maintain control of a conversation, express interest in others, clarify points, explore personalities/difficulties, test knowledge, encourage further thought, and include all members in group situations. 3) Questions can be either closed questions that require short answers like "yes" or "no", or open questions that require more elaborate answers and help drive two-way conversations. The type of question impacts the depth and quality of the response received.

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34 views

Learns".: Why Ask Questions?

1) Questioning is a key way to gain information and helps with learning, problem solving, decision making, and understanding others. 2) There are many reasons to ask questions, including to obtain information, maintain control of a conversation, express interest in others, clarify points, explore personalities/difficulties, test knowledge, encourage further thought, and include all members in group situations. 3) Questions can be either closed questions that require short answers like "yes" or "no", or open questions that require more elaborate answers and help drive two-way conversations. The type of question impacts the depth and quality of the response received.

Uploaded by

meirin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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2.

3 Asking questions

There is an old English Proverb, “He that nothing questions, nothing


learns”.

Questioning is the key to gaining more information. Gathering information is a


basic human activity – we use information to learn, to help us solve problems, to
aid our decision making processes and to understand each other more clearly.

Why Ask Questions?

Although the following list is not exhaustive it outlines the main reasons
questions are asked in common situations.

● To Obtain Information:
The primary function of a question is to gain information – ‘What time is it?’

● To help maintain control of a conversation


While you are asking questions you are in control of the conversation,
assertive people are more likely to take control of conversations attempting
to gain the information they need through questioning. (Also see our pages
on Assertiveness)

● Express an interest in the other person


Questioning allows us to find out more about the respondent, this can be
useful when attempting to build rapport and show empathy or to simply get
to know the other person better. (Also see Building Rapport and Empathy)

● To clarify a point
Questions are commonly used in communication to clarify something that
the speaker has said.  Questions used as clarification are essential in
reducing misunderstanding and therefore more effective communication.
(Also see Clarification)

● To explore the personality and or difficulties the other person may


have
Questions are used to explore the feelings, beliefs, opinions, ideas and
attitudes of the person being questioned.  They can also be used to better
understand problems that another person maybe experiencing – like in the
example of a doctor trying to diagnose a patient. (See our page What is
Counselling?)

● To test knowledge
Questions are used in all sorts of quiz, test and exam situations to ascertain
the knowledge of the respondent.  ‘What is the capital of France?’ for
example.

● To encourage further thought


Questions may be used to encourage people think about something more
deeply.  Questions can be worded in such a way as to get the person to
think about a topic in a new way.  ‘Why do you think Paris is the capital of
France?”

● In group situations
Questioning in group situations can be very useful for a number of reasons,
to include all members of the group, to encourage more discussion of a
point, to keep attention by asking questions without advance warning. 
These examples can be easily related to a classroom of school children.

Types of questions

Although there are numerous reasons for asking questions the information
we receive back (the answer) will depend very much on the type of question
we ask.

Closed question – Closed Questions have very short answers like “yes” or
“no” or answers with a word or two. They are usually asked to test if
someone has understood certain policies, procedures, rules, regulations,
explanations, discussions, lectures etc. Closed questions are also asked for
agreements or disagreements, asking for how they feel, to be specific, for
affirmation, etc. It is best not to ask closed questions when a conversation is
going on smoothly as it can bring an end to the conversation and you might
get into the risk of losing required information. Some of the words used in
closed questions are, are, do, did, could, should etc. Some examples of
closed questions are
1. Will I get a response by tomorrow?
2. Do we agree on this decision?
3. Are you happy with the services that we provide?
4. Which is your hometown?
5. What do you do for a living?

Closed questions are used to force a brief, often one-word answer.


o Closed questions can simply require a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer, for
example:  ‘Do you smoke?’, ‘Did you feed the cat?’, ‘Would you like a
cup of tea?’

o Closed questions can require that a choice is made from a list of


possible options, for example: ‘Would you like beef, chicken or the
vegetarian option?’, ‘Did you travel by train or car today?’

o Closed questions can be asked to identify a certain piece of


information, again with a limited set of answers, for example: ‘What is
your name?’, ‘What time does the supermarket open?’, ‘Where did you
go to University?’

Open questions - Open questions ask for elaborate / explanatory


answers and they begin with what, why, how, describe, explain, where,
which, when etc. It can be questions asking someone to explain what
happened at a situation or place, asking why it happened, asking for
details of an incident, history of some happenings, explanation about their
circumstances, explanation of needs, thoughts about something, ideas
and feedback. Open questions help with a two way conversation and
builds up an interest in the conversation. Some examples are
1. What happened at the conference today?
2. Could you please describe your needs and current circumstances?
3. What do you think about this conclusion / discussion?
4. Who were present at this incident?
5. How did you arrive at this conclusion?

FORMING QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH CAN BE CONFUSING.


Don’t worry – I’m going to teach you a simple formula that works for
asking questions in almost ALL the verb tenses!

This formula is called QUASM:


QU estion word
A uxiliary verb
S ubject
M ain verb

Look how QUASM works for forming questions in the following verb
tenses:

SIMPLE PRESENT QUESTIONS:


QUESTION AUXILIARY MAIN
WORD VERB SUBJECT VERB
Where do you work?
about the
What does Martha think project?
your new
How do you like apartment?
How many
kids does Bob have?

SIMPLE PAST QUESTIONS:


QUESTION AUXILIARY MAIN
WORD VERB SUBJECT VERB
English so
How did they learn fast?
get from work
When did you home yesterday?
about your
What did the manager think idea?
Where did you buy that T-shirt?

PRESENT CONTINUOUS QUESTIONS:


QUESTION AUXILIARY MAIN
WORD VERB SUBJECT VERB
What are you doing at the
moment?
Why is he ignoring me?
meeting
What time are we up for dinner?
Who is she dating now?

PAST CONTINUOUS QUESTIONS:


QUESTION AUXILIARY MAIN
WORD VERB SUBJECT VERB
to on the
Who were you talking phone?
when you
What was Jim doing called?
candy before
Why were the children eating dinner?
after the
How was he feeling surgery?

PRESENT PERFECT QUESTIONS:


QUESTION AUXILIARY MAIN
WORD VERB SUBJECT VERB
How much on clothes
money have you spent this month?
at this
How long has your teacher worked school?
been
What have they doing all day?
been for their
How long has the client waiting order?

FUTURE QUESTIONS:
QUESTION AUXILIAR SUBJECT MAIN
WORD Y VERB VERB
Who will you invite to the party?
your
What will parents think about your plan?
to clean your
When are you going room?
Why is she going to quit her job?

MODAL QUESTIONS:
QUESTION AUXILIARY MAIN
WORD VERB SUBJECT VERB
if you had a
What would you do million dollars?
How could we improve our English?
on my next
Where should I go vacation?

EXCEPTIONS:
Yes/No questions do not use a question word…

…but they still follow ASM (Auxiliary verb – Subject – Main verb)


▪ Do you like bananas?
▪ Did you enjoy the movie?
▪ Are you studying English?
▪ Were you sleeping when I called you last night?
▪ Have you finished your homework?
▪ Will you call me when you get home?
▪ Are you going to accept the job offer?
▪ Should we take the early morning flight?

Questions where the main verb is “be” also don’t follow the pattern:

▪ Are you thirsty?


▪ Is she a teacher?
▪ Were your parents angry when you failed the test?
▪ Was her ex-boyfriend a basketball player?

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