Inference in Reading Comprehension

What do you Understand by Comprehension?

Comprehension is the act of understanding what we read. In schools, the main focus of reading is laid on comprehension. We can say that comprehension is one of the acts of reading. 

When we read a comprehension, we get to indulge in it so much that we start imagining it and keep feeling it as if it is happening to us. We use our awareness and understanding of phonemes to extract the meaning from the text. 

Sometimes, comprehension is also given in the exams to test the reading ability of a student. In the question paper, the comprehension passage is given, and a set of certain questions have listed that need to be answered by the student. This process of including questions is used to test how much a student understands by reading. 

There are two elements that make up the process of reading comprehension. These are vocabulary knowledge and text comprehension. In order to understand the given comprehension, one has to understand the given vocabulary. Otherwise, the whole sentence does not make sense. 

One of the biggest parts of comprehending the passage is having a good vocabulary. In other words, one should have sufficient knowledge of the given words. Readers who have a good vocabulary are able to draw a strong conclusion, like the conclusion based on the characters, the moral of the story, and so on. 

What do you understand by Inference in Reading Comprehension?

The inference is referred to as the conclusion that is made on the basis of the evidence and reasoning. The inference in reading comprehension is the ability to comprehend the passage and draw conclusions from it. Some information is not explicitly written, and that information has to be understood by the plot, characters, time period, or other elements of the story. As the story unfolds, more and more information is given to the readers and this is how the readers draw the conclusion from their worldview and personal experiences. 

Reading comprehension and copying the answers from it is the easiest way of comprehending a passage. But making inferences from the text is a step ahead of general reading comprehension. On the one hand, simple reading comprehension contains the answers in the passage line by line itself. Whereas making inferences from a comprehension passage is not so easy. The questions asked are not directly in the passage. Firstly, the passage is read and the conclusions are drawn from it. 

When children are confident with reading comprehension, they can develop their skills and start to make inferences.

Cloze Technique in Making Inferences in Reading Comprehension

The cloze technique for finding out inferences is basically made from the psychological theory of closure. It is a professional way of finding out inferences. 

In this technique, a person attempts to complete any pattern that is not complete. The cloze technique of finding inferences enables the reader to draw out the conclusion behind the text by just recognizing and completing the patterns within the reading. 

General Sense Technique in Making Inferences in Reading Comprehension

The technique of general sense helps in making inferences from the text or passage with the help of context clues. According to Cuesta College, the technique of general sense enables the reader to understand the implied words even if they were not familiar with the word earlier. 

One of the numerous ways to find out the inference from the technique of general sense is by giving a sentence to the readers containing a new vocabulary. Then the meaning of the other words in the text is listed, leaving the new vocabulary. Hence, the inference is drawn in this way. 

What are the Benefits of Inferences in Reading Comprehensions? 

• Making inferences in comprehension reading widens the thinking ability of the readers.
• It enables the reader to draw inferences such as inferring the character’s feelings, thoughts, and motives from their actions and justify the inferences with the evidence. 
• Once a student knows how to draw inferences, it becomes more and more interesting. 
• Successful inferring leads to more engagement with text and the reader’s sophistication.

Conclusion

In this article, the terms comprehension, inference, and inference in reading comprehension are discussed in detail. Comprehension is the act of understanding what we read. The inference is referred to as the conclusion that is made on the basis of the evidence and reasoning. 

Inference in reading comprehension is the act of drawing conclusions from the given comprehension passage. By going through this article, one will be able to easily understand the above technical terms and also the importance of reading and drawing out inferences. We hope this article proves to be helpful.