put on his
pajamas.Sometimes English is difficult to learn because of the many times it does not follow “the rules.” Fortunately “the rules,” or patterns of letters, letter combinations, word meanings and word usage, are usually predictable.
Context is the text environment in which we find the word. Based on surrounding words and word structures, we can often “read” a difficult word from what should “make sense” in the circumstances. The connection between words and meaning helps us to follow the thoughts and predict what “should” be there.
For example: After he brushed his teeth and
combed his hair, the little put on his
pajamas.
Based on other words in the sentence the reader can assume that the best word for the blank space is probably “boy.” The context and the reader’s own experience provide clues to word meaning.
Prediction is an important technique that all good readers use at all levels of reading.
It does not hinder the development of reading skills to guess a word here and there. It actually helps. “Guessing” requires the mind to be actively engaged while the learner is decoding. The learner is searching for some meaningful connection to hang this new word on.
It doesn’t matter if the learner selects a word that isn’t correct if it has the same meaning as the word he is trying to “guess.” For example, if the learner reads, “They ran all the way to the cottage,” instead of “… all the way to the cabin,” do not interrupt the flow of reading to stop to correct the word. Go back to point out the similarities and differences in the word later.
Good readers use the letters of words to develop a system or set of rules to predict what the letters will “say.” Readers who need assistance need us to point out distinctive features of the letters in order to build their strategies to understand and remember them. Once they develop understanding from experience and exposure, learners will be able to “guess” what a word is likely to say or mean on their own.
Because certain letter combinations are often used in English, we build a bank of combinations that are reliable, that “look right.” For example, we can be fairly sure that when we see the combination “at” it will be read like it is in hat, bat, rat, cat and so on.
A great deal of meaning in English is derived from the order words take in the sentence (syntax). In other words, “The dog bit the man,” has the exact same words, but entirely different meaning from, “The man bit the dog.”
The word’s place in the sentence will often tell us if it is a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb. Without knowing the definitions or the rules, a reader, from the context of language, will be able to “guess” or build expectations of meaning by the words that surround a problem word.
These clues operate in conjunction with each other. It is not necessary to “teach” them, just to use them.
It is common in this technique to ask the learner to skip a problem word and read to the end of the sentence. This often provides enough context for the learner to go back and repeat the sentence, filling in correctly the word he missed in the first reading.
Red Deer Adult Literacy Program tutor handbook. (n.d.). Red Deer, Alberta: Red Deer Public Library. Used with permission.
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