ESL Reading Context Clues Inferring Unknown Words

What It Is

Context Clues – Inferring Unknown Words is a reading skill that helps you understand unfamiliar words by looking at the surrounding text. This skill is useful when you encounter words you don't know while reading. You can use the context to guess the meaning of the word. This topic causes difficulty for ESL learners because they might not be familiar with the vocabulary or the sentence structure.

Key Rules

• Use context clues: Read the sentence carefully and look for words that give you a hint about the unknown word.
• Identify word types: Determine if the unknown word is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb.
• Look for synonyms: Find words in the sentence that have similar meanings to the unknown word.
• Check word relationships: Identify relationships between the unknown word and other words in the sentence, such as antonyms or hyponyms.
• Use word prefixes and suffixes: Recognize prefixes and suffixes that can give you clues about the word's meaning.
• Identify figurative language: Be aware of figurative language, such as metaphors, similes, and idioms, that can affect the meaning of the sentence.
• Use sentence structure: Pay attention to the sentence structure, including the subject, verb, and object.
• Identify word connotations: Recognize words that have positive, negative, or neutral connotations.
• Use word associations: Make connections between the unknown word and other words or concepts in your knowledge.
• Check the author's tone: Pay attention to the author's tone and attitude towards the subject.
• Use visual clues: Look for visual clues, such as images or diagrams, that can help you understand the text.
• Use prior knowledge: Use your prior knowledge and experience to make connections to the unknown word.
• Read the text carefully: Read the text carefully and slowly to ensure you understand the context.
• Use a dictionary: If you're still unsure, use a dictionary to look up the unknown word.

Common ESL Errors

Error: The teacher give us a lot of homework.
Why it happens: Interference from the learner's first language, where the verb "give" is used in a similar way.
Correction: The teacher gives us a lot of homework. (Note: In English, the verb "give" is used with the subject "teacher" in the third person singular form "gives".)

Error: The book is very interesting, but I don't like it.
Why it happens: Overgeneralization of the word "interesting", which can be used to describe both positive and negative experiences.
Correction: The book is very interesting, but I don't enjoy it. (Note: In English, the word "enjoy" is used to describe a positive experience, while "like" is used to describe a general preference.)

Error: The teacher said that we have to do our homework.
Why it happens: Interference from the learner's first language, where the verb "have" is used in a similar way.
Correction: The teacher said that we must do our homework. (Note: In English, the verb "must" is used to express obligation, while "have" is used to express possession or necessity.)

Practice Exercises

1. Fill in the blank: The new employee was very nervous on his first day. He was worried that he would make a ___ (mistake) in front of his colleagues.
   Answer: mistake. Reason: The context clue "nervous" suggests that the employee is worried about making a mistake.

2. Fill in the blank: The city is very crowded, but I love walking in the ___ (park).
   Answer: park. Reason: The context clue "crowded" suggests that the city is busy, but the speaker enjoys walking in a quieter area.

3. Fill in the blank: The teacher asked us to read the chapter and then answer the ___ (question).
   Answer: question. Reason: The context clue "read the chapter" suggests that the teacher wants the students to answer a question related to the chapter.

Last-Minute Revision

⚠️ The verb "to be" has several forms: am, is, are, was, were, been.
⚠️ The verb "to have" has several forms: have, has, had, having.
⚠️ The word "a" is used before nouns that start with a consonant sound, while "an" is used before nouns that start with a vowel sound.
⚠️ The word "the" is used to refer to a specific noun, while "a" or "an" is used to refer to a general noun.
⚠️ The word "this" is used to refer to something close to the speaker, while "that" is used to refer to something farther away.
⚠️ The word "these" is used to refer to multiple things close to the speaker, while "those" is used to refer to multiple things farther away.
⚠️ The word "who" is used to ask about people, while "what" is used to ask about things.
⚠️ The word "whom" is used as the object of a verb or preposition, while "who" is used as the subject of a sentence.
⚠️ The word "its" is used to refer to something belonging to "it", while "it's" is a contraction of "it is" or "it has".
⚠️ The word "your" is used to refer to something belonging to the person being addressed, while "you're" is a contraction of "you are".
⚠️ The word "their" is used to refer to something belonging to them, while "they're" is a contraction of "they are".
⚠️ The word "its" is used to refer to something belonging to "it", while "it's" is a contraction of "it is" or "it has".
⚠️ The word "who's" is a contraction of "who is" or "who has".
⚠️ The word "what's" is a contraction of "what is" or "what has".