Inference in Reading

B.
INFERENCE IN READING
Making inferences is not restricted to everyday situations only. When you are reading you
also have to make inferences quite frequently. This happens because the meaning of a
sentence, a paragraph, or an article is not always stated directly. In many cases the readers
have to rely on clues and hints given to arrive at the meaning of the text. So, quite similar to
daily situations, an inference in reading is an intelligent guess about what the author does
not say by using the hints and clues the author does give. Read the following description, for
example:
It s fifteen years since he had first come the village, he was then a pallid young man
with prominent short-sighted brown eyes. Since the day he arrived he had invited no
one to walk across his doorstep, and he had never gone to the village bar for a drink
or to gossip. He spoke to no one, except when it was necessary for his work.
What can you guess about the man’s personality? It seems that he is a strange,
introvert character. How can we know? Are there any clues that enable us to make such an
inference? Yes, through the words, he had invited no one to walk across his doorstep, he
had never gone to the village bar for a drink or to gossip, he spoke to no one. The author
leads us to infer that the man was unsociable although the author himself never used the
word ‘unsociable’.
As an exercise to sharpen your inferring skill, try to do Activity 5.
Activity 5
Read the following text carefully. Try to infer what could have caused the situation in each
text.
1. A parcel was delivered to the school, addressed to Mr. Wilbur Welkins. Nobody had
ever heard of him. The parcel was left on the staff-room table, and disappeared during
the night.
2. A small boy, naked and with his head shaved, ran down a big city street. He was
laughing happily though it was a cold day, and he had a photograph in his hand.
3. Footprints were discovered in the snow leading to a deserted Alpine hut. There were no
footprints leaving, but the hut was empty except for a St. Bernard dog and some
books.
4. One of the school classrooms was found to be locked. The sound of a man groaning
was heard from within. When it was broken into, it was discovered that most of the
furniture had been smashed. There were dead mice near the door and a strong smell of
burnt rubber in the air.
(From Discussions that Work)
C. HOW TO MAKE INFERENCES

Although making inferences is a common daily activity which almost everybody
engages in, it is not an easy job if you want to make good inferences. In reading, particularly,
if you do not make the right inferences, you might miss the author’s point or message, and
the text has no value for you.
What should you do if you want to develop this skill? Frankly speaking, there are no
specific steps to follow in making inferences, because each inference depends on the
situation and the facts that the author gives us, and on our knowledge and experience with
the situation. However, there are some points that you should keep in mind while you read.
1. Be sure to understand the literal meaning first

The first point you should remember is that an understanding of the language and
the factual content of the text is essential. You must know the structures and the vocabulary
the writer uses. You also must understand what the text is about, what the main idea is,
where the supporting sentences are, how the writer organizes the text. If you do not
comprehend the literal meaning, you cannot possibly arrive at inferential meanings.
2. Ask yourself a question

As a critical reader you should ask:
a. what the author is trying to tell you with the information he gives you,
b. in what direction all the facts and ideas seem to go,
c. why the author needs to give the readers all those facts.
If you can answer these questions you are going into the right direction of making a good
inference.
3. Use clues provided by the author

What are the clues or hints that a writer can give the reader? You have noticed from
the previous activities that the writer very often uses particular words, descriptive words,
figurative language to convey his message to us. Let’s look again at one of the exercises:
Karen rushed into the room, eager to tell her good news. She beamed with joy as she told her
family the news and accepted their congratulations. All her hard work during the past weeks
had paid off
Through the underlined words and phrases the writer suggests that Karen is very happy,
excited and satisfied and that she might have passed her exam. But in the next example the
writer implies the opposite:
The withdrawn child eyed her teacher with a hostile disdain. When directly spoken to, the
child responded in a cold but carefully respectful way.
We can infer from this sentence that the child is unfriendly and that she/he does not like the
teacher.
4. Consider the author’s purpose

It will be easier for you to make inferences if you are aware of the author’s purpose. If right
from the start you can identify the text as an advertisement, you can infer that the writer of
the ad suggests you to buy the product advertised, even if he did not use the word ‘buy’.
Have look at the following ad:
Beautiful full-color copies are in full bloom from Minolta. Because our Laser Intensity
Modulation System (LIMOS) varies color intensity per dot in 256 gradations. All to create
colors and textures you have to see to believe. So experience Minolta digital full-color copier.
For color copying, they’re pure quality.
Not once does the ad mention ‘buy’, yet you can infer that you are urged to buy a Minolta
copier.
5. Verify your inference

As said before, you have to be careful with inferences. You might make the wrong
inference. To avoid this you had better check the facts and evidences again and make sure
that they really support your conclusion.
Remember, though, that more than one inference is possible. If you look back at Activity 5,
you must admit that there could be more than one explanation for each situation.
At this point you have done five activities and are equipped with a few guidelines. Make
yourself ready to do Activity 6.
Activity 6
Read each paragraph below and then answer the questions that follow it. Base your answers
on inferences you make from the paragraph.
1. Bob sat patiently in the blind. The sun was not up yet, but it was light enough to see the
details of the blind and its location. Leaves made crackling sound as a cold breeze rippled
across the blue-gray waters around the blind. He felt confident that no ducks would be able
to see him. As he checked to see that his equipment was loaded, he noted that there would
soon be enough light for some good shots. He didn’t want to use a flash attachment because
the flash would scare the ducks away.
a. Where was Bob?
b. What was he waiting to do?
2. Carol strolled aimlessly along the path for a while and then sat down on a bench. She
watched people laughing and joking and envied the happy groups around her. Glancing up at
the city skyline that encircled this small patch of green, she was thankful that at least some
person had had enough foresight to leave an area like this open for people to enjoy. It
helped her feel a little less overpowered by the bigness of the city that surrounded her on all
sides.
a. Where was Carol walking?
b. How did she feel on this walk?
3. The snow swallowed the yellow bus almost as soon as it pulled away from the curb. Ann
quickly turned and braced herself against the cold wind. Snow was already drifting around
the cars parked along the curb. Snow and fine panicles of ice blew her in the face. “It was so
warm and friendly on the bus,” she thought. “I hope Mr Adams let me off at the right
corner.” Everything looked so strange and unfamiliar to her. She quickened her steps and
hurried down the street. Home never seemed so far away before.
a. What kind of day was it?
b. Where was Ann going?

Inference in Reading

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Inference in Reading

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Inference in Reading

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

B.

C. HOW TO MAKE INFERENCES

1. Be sure to understand the literal meaning first

2. Ask yourself a question

3. Use clues provided by the author

4. Consider the author’s purpose

5. Verify your inference

You might also like