Robin Hurd

Asking Questions

by Robin Hurd

Last month in the Parents Corner, we talked about focusing on core vocabulary when teaching our children who use AAC systems. We defined core vocabulary as those little words that we all use often when speaking and writing.

Our topic for this month is how to ask questions that give the child chances to answer in a variety of parts of speech. If our teachers ask “What” questions---for example in a science lesson, “what planet is farthest from the sun?”--- The answer will likely be a noun. In this case, Pluto. Not only is this answer a noun, but it is one that our children are not likely to use in everyday conversation!

For children who are learning language, the more chances our children get to use words that have multiple uses, the more they will be able to construct sentences of their own to express themselves. The questions we ask are important! Let’s look at different question words, and see what kind of answers they require.

“Who” generally requires a noun in the answer. Often it is a proper noun. Occasionally, “who” can be answered by pronouns such as someone, everyone, nobody, etc.

If I ask the question, “Where”, The answer has a higher likelihood that a preposition or determiner---a word like “up”, “inside”, or “over there” may be used.

“When” questions can be phrased to encourage answers by core words such as “now” and “later”.

If I want my child to answer with a verb, I may ask “what are they doing?” This is an exception to the rule that “what” requires a noun in answer. The key word in the question is really the word “doing”. As we know, “doing” words are verbs!

By varying our questions, we can give our children the opportunity to use a variety of words for the answer. With some forethought, teachers can plan their lessons so that they ask different questions, but still find out if the child knows the information required. In our previous example, the teacher could ask, “Tell me something about Pluto.” Or, “How close is Pluto to the sun?” (the answer being “far”.) It may be helpful for teachers to use target sentences, in which the words and their locations on the AAC system are printed, as a prompt for the student when learning new vocabulary.

As parents, we can also think about the questions we ask. When we read a story to our children, do we always ask “what’s that?” What happens if we simply change our questions? Instead of “What’s that?” let’s try, “What is he doing?” Suddenly, our children are answering questions with a verb! What if I ask, “Where is the Princess (or other main character)?” Suddenly my sons are trying to use prepositions to tell me where!

As we help our children branch out to new vocabulary, we may find ourselves needing to show our children where the word is located on the AAC system. That’s okay! We can talk our child through the process of finding the right word and locating it on the device. Every parent knows that children learn a lot by watching us.

A little forethought can also help us as parents target words that our children will find useful. If I want my sons to learn prepositions, I start by picking out a few important ones, and look for a time during the day when those prepositions would be useful—maybe when they are trying to tell me where the toy they have chosen is located! I might ask a question, such as, “Is it under the couch?” and then show the boys how to find the word “under”.

Play around with the questions you ask at home, and see if you don’t see some more variety in your child’s words! Please, consider sharing your experiences. As always, I love to hear from you! E-Mail parents@aacinstitute.org.