Answering awkward questions

by Caroline Entwistle

Age: 16 +
Level: Upper Intermediate +
Objective: To equip students preparing for a presentation with some useful phrases
for dealing with awkward questions
Key skills: Academic speaking
Materials: Whiteboard / blackboard, strips of paper, Q & A worksheet, Task 2
worksheet (optional)

Procedure:

Preparation

Before the class, copy the first three boxes of the Q & A worksheet (Presenter’s
invitation, Academic question structure and Asking for clarity) onto the whiteboard /
blackboard.

Task 1

1. Divide students into groups of three or four and give a stack of paper strips to each
group.

2. Explain to students that you want them to think of impossible questions and write
them down – one question per strip. Give examples, such as How many animals are
there in Africa? or Do you know how I can find the path to happiness? Tell them that
if they want to write something crazy, that’s fine. Each student has to write a
minimum of three questions. Set a time limit, e.g. five minutes. Don’t worry too much
about inaccuracies at this stage; it’s a fluency-based lesson and you can deal with
errors later on if you wish.

3. When the time is up, collect all the strips.

(I had been a little bit apprehensive about this stage with my group, however, they
did brilliantly, coming up with such imaginative questions as How many apples have
you eaten since you were born?, Do you believe in everlasting love? and ‘Do you
know when you will die?!)

4. Initiate a quick discussion about what they would do if they were asked an
‘awkward’ question in the Q & A (Question & Answer) session following their
presentation.

Task 2

5. Divide the class in two; the groups on one side have to unscramble phrases 1-4,
and the groups on the other side will work on phrases 5-8. Ideally, you should print
the Task 2 exercises on A3 paper and distribute one copy to each group to
encourage teamwork. However, you can print one copy for each student on A4 paper
and encourage them to work as a team to complete them.

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

Taken from the Lesson Share section in www.onestopenglish.com
6. After giving feedback, allow students to write the correct phrases down. Then, go
through each phrase highlighting stress, intonation, linking sounds, weak forms etc.
Do lots and lots of lively drilling.

Key:
1. Good question … I’ll look into that and get back to you.
2. That’s a really interesting question … to which I don’t have the answer right now.
3. I’d need to do some more research into that.
4. I’m sorry I don’t know the answer to that question … but perhaps X can help?
5. That isn’t my field I’m afraid.
6. With all due respect, that question is a little off-topic.
7. I’m afraid I don’t know but you should be able to find out on the X website.
8. Ask me another question!

Task 3

7. Refer students to the phrases written on the board and elicit each one. Focus
particular attention on the Asking for clarity section and stress to students that they
can use these examples in the following exercise.

8. Now divide the strips of questions from Task 1 amongst the groups and ensure
that the stack is presented with the questions facing down. Tell students to take it in
turns to select a strip of paper and ask the question to their group members who
have to respond using one of the eight phrases from Task 2. If you like, you could
appoint a group member to ensure that the full variety of phrases is used, perhaps
offering a prize to the first student to use all eight correctly.

Task 4

9. Distribute the Q & A worksheets and draw the students’ attention to the
Responses to questions you feel confident in answering section. Elicit each phrase
and answer any questions.

10. Tell students that you are going to ask them a few simple questions and would
like them to respond using the phrases just practised, plus the answer.
Questions could include:
What colour is my jumper?
Who is the president of the USA?
What time does this lesson finish? (at which point you could end the class!)

This task could be extended so students ask their own questions and direct them at
other students in the class (this could be done in groups of four or more). The person
answering the question must then quickly think of another simple-to-answer question
and pose it to a different student.

Follow-up

11. You may like to keep the questions written by the students and use them for error
correction in a later lesson.

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

Taken from the Lesson Share section in www.onestopenglish.com
Task 2
1. question / Good …
_______________________________________________________________
get / look / and / that / into / to / you. / I‘ll / back
_______________________________________________________________
2. interesting / That’s / really / a / question …
_______________________________________________________________
don’t / answer / now. / to / which / right / I / the / have
________________________________________________________________
3. need / that. / into / research / more / some / I’ d / do / to
________________________________________________________________
4. don’t / the / I / sorry / answer / know / that / question … / I‘m / to
________________________________________________________________
perhaps / but / help? / X / can
________________________________________________________________

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

Taken from the Lesson Share section in www.onestopenglish.com
Task 2
5. my / That / isn’t / field / afraid. / I‘m
_____________________________________________________________________
6. all / With / respect, / due
_____________________________________________________________________
question / off-topic. / that / is / little / a
_____________________________________________________________________
7. know / I‘m / afraid, / don’t / I
_____________________________________________________________________
should / you / be / on / but / the / X website. / able / to / out / find
_____________________________________________________________________
8. me / Ask / question! / another
_____________________________________________________________________

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

Taken from the Lesson Share section in www.onestopenglish.com
 Q & A Session – Useful language

Presenter’s invitation
Would anybody like to ask … … any questions?
Does anyone have …
I would like to open the floor to questions.

Academic question structure

I was interested in what Can you …
you said about X. Could you …
Would you be able to …
… tell us more about that?
… explain the difference
between X and Y?
… clarify what you mean
by X?
… define X?

Asking for clarity

Would you mind … … asking me that again?
… repeating that please?
Could you … … ask me that again?
… repeat that?
Could I ask you to repeat that please?

Responses to questions you feel confident in answering

Good question …
Yes …
Sure …
I’d be delighted …
I’d be glad …
I’d be more than happy … … to answer that question …

Responses to awkward questions

• Good question …I’ll look into that and get back to you.
• That’s a really interesting question … to which I don’t have the answer right now.
• I’d need to do some more research into that.
• I’m sorry I don’t know the answer to that question … but perhaps X can help?
• That isn’t my field I’m afraid.
• With all due respect, that question is a little off-topic.
• I’m afraid I don’t know, but you should be able to find out on the X website.
• Ask me another question!

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

Taken from the Lesson Share section in www.onestopenglish.com