Assessing
Understanding of Inference in
Angela Rogers
Understanding inference when reading in a foreign language can be
difficult even for advanced level students. The understanding of inference is often tested
using multiple choice questions, with students having to read statements and
decide whether they are definitely, possibly or definitely not true according
to the passage. Failure to answer inference questions correctly is often
ascribed to a lack of familiarity with the cultural background knowledge
assumed by the writer. Yet many students have problems with inference questions
which are not culturally specific.
This paper
maintains that students often fail to answer inference questions correctly
because they do not have a sufficient grasp of the concept of inference itself.
The writer proposes class discussion activities which raise students’ awareness
of the nature of inference and have led to an encouraging improvement in
students’ ability to answer inference questions in reading tests.
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Rogers, A. (2004,
April). Assessing understanding of inference in reading. Paper presented at the RELC International Seminar on Approaches to
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