Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Display and referential questions
open-in-new
<p>A display question (also called <i>known-information question</i>) is a type of <a href="/facts/Question/NsG1sCSK">question</a> requiring the other party to demonstrate their knowledge on a subject matter when the questioner already knows the answer. They are contrasted with referential questions (or <i>information-seeking questions</i>), a type of question posed when the answer is not known by the questioner at the time of inquiry. </p><p>Both question types are used widely in <a href="/facts/Language_education/MQb6Iu8q">language education</a> in order to elicit language practice but the use of referential questions is generally preferred to the use of display questions in <a href="/facts/Communicative_language_teaching/E72ClNHS">communicative language teaching</a>. Display questions bear similarities to <a href="/facts/Closed-ended_question/0DqNpLgu">closed questions</a> in terms of their requirement for short and limited answers and they can be classified under convergent questions. On the other hand, referential questions and <a href="/facts/Open-ended_question/QkI8omBJ">open questions</a> are similar in their requirement for long, often varied, answers, and can be grouped under divergent questions. </p><p>Both display and referential questions are subcategories of epistemic questions. </p>