Complex questions
Understanding, creating and answering the right question(s)
I have an essay question already.
We need to understand what questions ask of us. If we are given a complicated essay instruction or question, it's important for us to understand what the question is, and how to answer it properly! |
I need to create my own research question.
But if we're working on the Research Project, we need to be able to create a specific topic question that will help guide our research. We also will add focus questions (or sub-questions) that help us answer our main topic question. |
Understanding a set question:
What is it about? What is your main topic? Examples: Discuss whether smoking should be banned. Argue in favour of a later start to school. Explain why jetty jumping can be dangerous. Present a report outlining the importance of free speech in democratic countries. |
Creating your own question:
What do you want to research? What is your main topic or interest? Examples: Cancer K-Pop English |
Understanding a set question:
What part of the topic should we write about? You might have more than one set of limiting words. Examples: Discuss whether smoking should be banned. Argue in favour of a later start to school. Explain why jetty jumping can be dangerous. Present a report outlining the importance of free speech in democratic countries. |
Creating your own question:
You will need lots of limiting words to narrow down your topic! If you choose your topic or content words, what about them do you want to look at? (You can throw in some sophisticated words here too!) Cancer: lung cancer > Treatment of lung cancer > changes/ evolution K-pop: culture > differences between Korean & international fans English: English as a global language > people speaking English only > problems The evolution of the treatment of lung cancer K-Pop fandom illustrates differences in Korean and Western culture The global domination of English affects other languages and cultures |
Task Words: Task words tell you how to answer a question, so it’s important to understand their meaning. For example, ‘Discuss’ means presenting 2 sides of an issue but ‘argue’ means to present 1 side. Common task words include: explain, discuss, argue, compare, contrast, illustrate, examine, identify, summarise. In longer questions you may also see verbs and nouns telling you of the text structure, e.g. write a blog post, give an oral presentation, write an essay, present a report. Task words: - tell you how to write your answer - tell you about the text purpose, structure and the language needed - tell you what to do; the action(s) you need to perform - are usually verbs but may include nouns e.g. Discuss whether smoking should be bannned. Argue in favour of a later start to school. Explain why jetty jumping can be dangerous. Sometimes you may have multiple instructions: Write an essay describing how magazines use language features to attract interest. Present a report outlining the importance of free speech in democratic countries. Note: In the example "Write an essay describing how magazines use language features to attract interest", defining the topic and the limiting words is difficult because both could be correct! For example, if your class has been looking at magazines (e.g. how they are structured, who the audience is, the language they use), then the topic is "magazines" and the limiting words are "language features". But if your class has been looking at language features (e.g. in newspapers, on TV in magazines, in discussions) then the topic is "language features" and the limiting word is "magazines". Looking for your key words - your topic/content, limiting and task words:
Try it: Find the content/topic, limiting and task words: Argue whether school uniform should be banned. Evaluate your oral presentation in 500 words. Compare the fantasy novels “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and “Lord of the Rings”. Computers have had a significant impact on education in the 20th century. Discuss the changes they have made. Australia no longer uses capital punishment as a sentence. Outline the reasons why, and judge whether this change has been effective. |
Question words: We need our question words to turn our research into a question! We also need to choose the right type of question. Question words: - Turn the statement into a question - Are designed to get a lot of information - Should be an open question For example: How has the treatment of lung cancer evolved? Why do young people continue to smoke, despite knowing the risks of lung cancer? How does the K-Pop fandom illustrate differences in Korean and Western culture? What makes domestic and international fans react so differently when it comes to K-pop scandals? How and why does the global domination of English affect other languages and cultures? Try it: Find the content/topic, limiting and question words: How has the "Harry Potter" series impacted young people? How can learning a foreign language improve a person's employment prospects? How can the increasing interest in renewable energy create new Australian businesses? Note: In the example "How can learning a foreign language improve a person's employment prospects?" defining the topic and the limiting words is difficult because there are multiple options. For example, you might be interested in languages, so "foreign language" would be the topic and "improve employment prospects" is a limiting term. But if you're interested in employment chances, "employment prospects" would be your topic and "foreign language" would be a limiting term. Likewise with "renewable energy" and "Australian business". Remember: For Research Project, you should consult with your teacher to create your question. You should not change the question without getting teacher approval. (Why? The teacher will help you create a question to help you get the best possible grade!) |