Chapter 5.7 - Anumana in Reading

While reading, a reader goes through the passage in detail, recognizes possible importance and applies reasoning and background knowledge to infer its probable meaning. Making meanings out of unit or making inferences is powerful as the lessons truly stretch readers thinking about the actions of characters within stories. Authors often expect readers to understand an event or a character in a text without stating it directly. For example authors may not directly say how a character is feeling, instead give clues such as facial expression, behaviors or things the character says and allow the readers to infer. Illustrations are often especially important textural clues in making inferences particularly for young readers. At times even before reading the passage the reader makes certain inferences about the book or article by looking at the biography of the author, his other works, the abstract of the writing etc. For example: in a story a writer describes a woman entering a hotel lobby shaking out a wet umbrella. Even if the writer hasn’t included a description of the weather, the reader makes the general inference that it is raining. The reader notes the umbrella and uses prior knowledge that umbrellas usually get wet in the rain.

Attentive reading

An inferential reader pays close attention to the text and looks for deeper meaning that is not immediately obvious. Readers ask themselves the right questions to keep their mind focused on finding the important hits and clues. Questions like what do I see happening here? And what do I already know about this? are foremost in the inferential reader’s mind as they seek out important details and applies prior knowledge to analyzing the text. Teacher and literacy consultant Kelly Gallagher points out that the reader also has to consider what the writer has deliberately left out. For example: the fact that a character isn’t present in a particular scene in an Agatha Christie novel could be a significant clue to solving the mystery.

Visualization and Inferences

The skilled readers generally try to visualize the scenes and events which the writers describe in their texts. According to Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis authors of Strategies that work, visualizing is an important step toward inferring. The readers take the descriptive details provided by the writer and use them to form a mental picture. The reader then makes inferences about the character or the events based on what is seen in the text.

For example; the writer describes a tight jawed expression on a character’s face. The reader understands that expression, matches against a mental catalog of similar expression from prior knowledge and infers that the character is angry “It says, I say and So.”

Reading specialist Kyllene Beers recommends a strategy called “It says, I Say and So, to develop inferring skills. First the reader makes a three column chart and labels the columns, ‘It says’, ‘I Say’, and ‘So’. When the reader finds a key passage, he copies it in the ‘It says’ column. When he finds relevant background knowledge, he writes that in the ‘I’ say’ column. He makes his inference in the ‘So” column. For example; in the ‘It says” column the reader might copy a line that says, ‘the Montana skies grew dark with clouds and a biter wind blew in from the North.’ In the ‘I say’ column, the reader writes, ‘I know Montana gets snow, the north winds are cold and clouds means storms.’ And anticipates how that might affect the story.