Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

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410c

Eliciting new information

425e

Prototypical questions seek information which the asker does not know. Other

question types may not do this. Some questions simply seek confirmation of

something the speaker already knows:

I got very moody, didn’t I?

Display questions (questions to which the questioner already knows the answer)

are common in contexts such as classrooms, quiz shows and other tests of

knowledge, and media interviews. The purpose of a display question is to put

knowledge or information on public display. In the classroom, this is an important

way of transmitting and testing knowledge for teachers and pupils/students.

In situations where display questions are used, such as classrooms and quizzes,

the questioner follows up the answer by stating whether it is the desired/correct

answer or not (in green in the example):

[tutor (A) and students (B, C) in a university law seminar]

A: Right. Now, what about this reasonableness test? What criteria do the courts

take into account?

B: What is reasonably expected of the parties at the time they made the

contract.