WHAT IS AN INFERENCE?
We’ve all been there at some point, a blank-faced student stares back at us in response to our question and states “I don’t know, teacher. It doesn’t tell us in the story.” Usually, this response has been incited by an inferential question, but what exactly is inference?
Inference can be defined as the process of drawing of a conclusion based on the available evidence plus previous knowledge and experience. In teacher-speak, inference questions are the types of questions that involve reading between the lines. Students are required to make an educated guess, as the answer will not be stated explicitly. Students must use clues from the text, coupled with their own experiences, to draw a logical conclusion.
Students begin the process of learning to read with simple decoding. From there, they work towards full comprehension of the text by learning to understand what has been said, not only through what is explicitly stated on the page but also through what the writer has implied. It is this ability to read what has been implied that the term inference refers to. For example, if we come across sentences such as:
He placed his hand firmly on her back and ushered her hurriedly out the door. “Yes, yes, yes. I will call you soon to set up another meeting. I will!” George said, punctuating the end of his sentence with a firmly shut door.”
In this extract, the writer does not explicitly state that the man in the story wants to get rid of the person he is addressing. He does, however, imply this is the case through the action he describes. Reading this correctly is to infer. To imply is the throw, to infer is the catch.
WHY TEACH INFERENCE?
The teaching of inference skills is extremely important to our students. It is a higher-order skill that is essential for students to develop to afford them access to the deepest levels of comprehension. Having a finely tuned ability to infer also has important applications in other subject areas too, particularly Math and Science. Given the centrality of pattern reading in these two subjects, it is no surprise that students will find these skills extremely useful when it comes to prediction and evaluation especially.
Being able to infer from clues develops in our students an appreciation of the importance of basing our opinions on identifiable evidence. The usefulness of this skill transcends the walls of the classroom. In the world beyond the school gates, the ability to infer will serve students well in their interactions with others on personal, social, and business levels.
Listening Strategies
Listening strategies are techniques or activities that contribute directly to the comprehension and recall of listening input. Listening strategies can be classified by how the listener processes the input.
Top-down strategies are listener based; the listener taps into background knowledge of the topic, the situation or context, the type of text, and the language. This background knowledge activates a set of expectations that help the listener to interpret what is heard and anticipate what will come next. Top-down strategies include the following:
- Listening for the main idea
- Predicting
- Drawing inferences
- Summarizing
Bottom-up strategies are text based; the listener relies on the language in the message, that is, the combination of sounds, words, and grammar that creates meaning. Bottom-up strategies include the following:
- Listening for specific details
- Recognizing cognates
- Recognizing word-order patterns
Strategic listeners also use metacognitive strategies to plan, monitor, and evaluate their listening. To implement metacognitive stragtegies, listeners do the following:
- They plan by deciding which listening strategies will serve best in a particular situation.
- They monitor their comprehension and the effectiveness of the selected strategies.
- They evaluate by determining whether they have achieved their listening comprehension goals and whether the combination of listening strategies selected was an effective one.