Asking questions… getting answers

A sociopragmatic approach to vocational training interaction

Laurent Filliettaz | University of Geneva

Adopting a sociopragmatic and interactional perspective, the paper proposes to investigate how apprentices engage in questioning practices and how trainers respond to these questions. A detailed empirical analysis of audio/video data collected in the context of Swiss training companies establishes that answers provided by trainers in response to questions do not constitute the dominant form of questioning work observed. Alternative interactional patterns that stress the tensions connected with questioning in the workplace context and the complexity of the social practices associated with workplace learning are identified and described. These findings illuminate the challenges faced by apprentices when joining the workplace and underscore the importance of a sociopragmatic perspective in addressing social issues related to initial vocational education.

Keywords: questioning, apprenticeship, answering, interaction, workplace learning, sociopragmatics

Published online: 24 October 2011
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.2.2.06fil

Cited by

Cited by 8 other publications

Filliettaz, Laurent

2014. In Discourses on Professional Learning [Professional and Practice-based Learning, 9], ► pp. 317 ff.

Filliettaz, Laurent

2014. In International Handbook of Research in Professional and Practice-based Learning [Springer International Handbooks of Education, ], ► pp. 225 ff.

Filliettaz, Laurent, Isabelle Durand & Dominique Trébert

2015. In Francophone Perspectives of Learning Through Work [Professional and Practice-based Learning, 12], ► pp. 279 ff.

Markaki, Vassiliki & Laurent Filliettaz

2017. In Interactional Competences in Institutional Settings, ► pp. 89 ff.

Pataraia, Nino, Anoush Margaryan, Isobel Falconer & Allison Littlejohn

2015. How and what do academics learn through their personal networks. Journal of Further and Higher Education 39:3 ► pp. 336 ff.

van der Rijt, Janine, Piet Van den Bossche, Margje W. J. van de Wiel, Sven De Maeyer, Wim H. Gijselaers & Mien S. R. Segers

2013. Asking for Help: A Relational Perspective on Help Seeking in the Workplace. Vocations and Learning 6:2 ► pp. 259 ff.

Öhman, Anna

2018. Twist and Shape: Feedback Practices within Creative Subject Content of Hairdressing Education. Vocations and Learning 11:3 ► pp. 425 ff.

Öhman, Anna & Marie Tanner

2017. Creating space for students' concerns: Embodied feedback practices in hairdressing education. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction 14 ► pp. 79 ff.

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