Questioning
When you want to ask the speaker a question, it is a good idea to follow a number of simple guidelines:
(Excuse me), I have a question . . .
3. Keep your question short. Often the speaker misunderstands a question (and not only when the questioner is a non-native speaker), because the point is lost in an over-long sentence. |
Getting clarification
When using a foreign language, we have to get used to dealing with situations where we do not understand, or only partly understand, what the speaker has said. In a seminar / discussion, where time may be short, it is important to make it clear to the speaker precisely what your problem is. If you ask a very general question you may find that the speaker simply produces a repetition of what they said before. |
Task 1. [individually, then in pairs]
Sort out the following phrases into 3 groups.
Could you be more specific about …?
I'm sorry, I didn't understand what you said about …
I'm sorry, I didn't catch what you said about …
I'm sorry, could you repeat what you said about …
What does … mean?
If I have understood you correctly, your point is that …
I don't see what you mean.
So you mean that …?
Sorry, but I'm not quite clear on …
What did you mean when you said …?
Could you expand a little bit on what you said about …?
Could you give an example of …?
Could you explain in more detail…?
So what you're saying is that …?
Am I correct in assuming that …?
Let me just make sure – your point is that …
Could we come back to that?
language functions |
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Non-comprehension |
Partial comprehension |
Asking for confirmation |
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Clarifying
language functions |
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Clarifying |
Correcting misunderstanding |
Re-phrasing |
What I mean is … To explain this in more detail … |
(normally followed by re-phrasing) I’m afraid there seems to have been a slight misunderstanding That isn’t quite what I meant |
Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. Basically, what I’m trying to say is… Sorry, I’m probably not making myself clear. Let me put it another way… To be more specific,… |