10/26/15

1

Solving the Inference Mystery

NancyHennessy

nhennessy@charter.net

Whatdoweknowaboutreadingcomprehensionandinference?

So,whatexactlyisinference?

SolvingtheMysteryWhat’sateachertodo?

Whatcontributestoskilledinferencemaking?

NancyHennessy2015©

Agree-Disagree

Anecessarycondi-onforcrea-ngamentalmodeloftextistheabilityto

makeinferences.

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

2

Timetofindtheclues….

NancyHennessy2015©

Whatdoyouknowaboutreadingcomprehensionand

inference?

NancyHennessy2015©

Comprehensionisacomplextaskthatinvolvesarangeof

languageandcogni7veprocessesandskills

thatstudentsmustmasterinordertomakesenseofwri9en

text.Fletcher,Lyon,Fuchs,&Barnes,2007;Oakhill& Cain,2007;Swanson,Howard,&S´aez,2006

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

3

• Activating word meanings • Understanding sentences • Making inferences • Comprehension monitoring • Understanding text structure

Componentprocessesofreading

Oakhill,Cain&Elbro,2014

“ComprehensionisanINTEGRATIVEprocess,inwhichinformaLonfromdifferentsentencesiscombined

andComprehensionisaCONSTRUCTIVE

process,inwhichexplicitinformaLoninasentenceorsentencesissupplementedbyknowledgeabouttheworldfromlong-term

memory.”

KateCain-IDA,2009

NancyHennessy2015©

Levelsoflanguageprocessing

Words

• Academicvocabulary

• FiguraXvelanguage

Sentences

• Density• Length• Structure• CohesiveXes

BackgroundKnowledge

• Schemarequired

• Textstructure

CoherentrepresentaLon

oftext

Surfacelevel!Textbase!Mentalmodel

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

4

DynamicinteracLonIntegraXon&construcXonoccursmomentbymomentasthereaderproceedsthroughthetextwithinthecondiXonssetbythecontext.

Mentalmodeloftext…..

NancyHennessy2015©

“ThismentalrepresentaLonincludestextualinformaLonandassociatedbackgroundknowledgeinterconnectedviasemanLcrelaLonships.”

Kendeouetal,2014

“TheserelaLonshipsareidenLfiedbythereaderthroughpassiveandstrategicinferenLalprocesses.”

vandenBroeketal,2015

NancyHennessy2015©

…..cri7calcogni7vecompetencyforreadingproficiencyandnecessaryto

createcoherentmodelsofunderstanding.

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

5

JaneV.Oakhill&KateCain(2012).ThePrecursorsofReadingAbilityinYoungReaders:EvidenceFromaFour-YearLongitudinalStudy.ScienXficStudiesofReading,16:2,91-121.

onemoreclueaboutconnec7ons…..

NancyHennessy2015©

“Theearlypredictorsoflaterwordreadingaccuracywerephonologicalskills;theskillsthatpredictedlaterreadingcomprehensionwerethosethataidtheconstruc7onofacoherentandintegratedrepresenta7onofthemeaningofatext.”

Oakhill&Cain,2012

NancyHennessy2015©

ThreethingsIknowabouttheconnec7onsbetweenreadingcomprehensionandinference..

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

6

Whatexactlyisinference?

Howdoyoudefineit?

NancyHennessy2015©

………iden7fica7onofmeaningfulrela7onsbetweenthevariouspartsofthetext,andbetweenthosepartsandthereader’sbackground

knowledge.Kendeou,Bohm-Geiler,White&vandenBroek,2008

NancyHennessy2015©

InferenceEquaLonpicture/text+previousknowledge=

inference

Westby,2011

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

7

Whattypesofinferencearenecessary?

NancyHennessy2015©

Local

NecessaryInferences…

NancywaswalkingupthestepsShetrippedandfell.Herfriendranforhelp.

NancyHennessy2015©

• linkingideasandconceptswithbridginginferences.

• necessaryando@enautoma-c.

Informa7onprovidedbywords,syntaxwithinandbetweendifferentsentencescombined.

LocalCoherenceInferences

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

8

Globalcausalexplanatory

predic-veelabora-ve*

Necessary inferences…

NancyHennessy2015©

Theroomwasamess!Potsandpanswerepiledinthesink.Drawersandcabinetswereflungopen.ChocolatechipsdoHedthefloorandemptycartonswereonas-ckycounter,butthesmellwasdelicious.

Whywastheroomamess? 2007TheFloridaCenterforReadingResearch4-5 StudentCenterAcXviXes:Comprehension

• fillthegaps• establishesconnec-onsandcohesion…

Oakhill,Cain&Elbro,2014

GlobalCoherenceInferences

Explicitinforma7oninasentenceorsentencesissupplementedbyworldknowledgestoredinlong-termmemory.

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

9

CluestoSkilledInferenceMaking!

NancyHennessy2015©

Afewthingsweknowaboutwhatpoorcomprehendersdo…

•  lesslikelytoengageinnecessaryprocessing.•  generatefewercorrectinferences.•  generatesamenumberofinferencesbutdifferentquality.

•  maynotaccessbackgroundknowledge.

•  createlesscoherentrepresenta-ons.

NancyHennessy2015©

idenXfyconnecXons

betweennouns&pronouns

figureoutmeaningofwordsfromcontextclues

explaineventspresentedintext

idenXfycharacter’s

moXves,beliefs,personalitytraits

understandcharacters’relaXonships

drawconclusionsfrominformaXonpresentedintext

connecttextwithknowledgeof

world

understandauthor’sview,

biases

WhatGoodReadersDo

Westby,2011

ReadBetweentheLineswww.speechpathology.com

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

10

Working&longtermmemory

Accesstovocabularyandbackgroundknowledge

Standardsofcoherence

ThreepotenLalcluestodifficulLeswithintegraLon&inference:

Oakhill,Cain&Elbro,2014

NancyHennessy2015©

Knowledge

Readerswhopossesshighlevelsofknowledge,vocabulary,consistentlyexhibitbe9ercomprehensionandreten7onthanreaderswithlowlevelofknowledge.

wordmeaningsfacts,experiences,

beliefs,concepts…

Longtermmemory

NancyHennessy2015©

Poorcomprehenders

-lessdevelopedstructures

-slowataccessingaccuratemeaningofwordsandbackgroundknowledge.

Whatcouldfacilitateaccuracy&accesstobackgroundknowledge?

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

11

Knowledgeisnecessary…

Strategiesaremechanismforleveragingbackgroundknowledge-withoutit-theyarenotsufficienttomakemeaning.

NonieLeSeaux,2014

NancyHennessy2015©

So,what’sateachertodo?

NancyHennessy2015©

WhatdoweknowaboutinstrucLon?

•  explicitinstruc-on•  strategies/ac-vi-es

thatscaffoldthestudents’understandingandexpressionoftherela-onshipbetweenideas:

!  directlyexpressedinthetext(surfacelevel)!  andtheirownideas(textbaseandmental

model).

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

12

Let’sworkatthesurfacelevel-golocal…

Words

• Academicvocabulary

• FiguraXvelanguage

Sentences

• Density• Length• Structure• CohesiveXes

BackgroundKnowledge

• Schemarequired

• Textstructure

CoherentrepresentaLon

oftext

Surfacelevel!Textbase!Mentalmodel

NancyHennessy2013

NancyHennessy2015©

Agree-Disagree

Youngchildren’slearningofvocabularyrequiresinference.

NancyHennessy2015©

…readingcanalsoprovideinstancestoacquire,refine,andconsolidate

vocabularyknowledgethroughinferencefromcontext.Cain,Oakhill&Lemmon,2004

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

13

SearchingforCluesandConnecLons

•  IdenXfyfocuswordsorphrases.•  FrameaquesXonoratask.

•  Showtheevidence.•  MaketheconnecXon.

Vocabulary….

NancyHennessy2015©

•  AlthoughMarywassadanddepressed,herfellowgraduateswerealljubilant.

•  Onhotsteamyhumidsummerdays,Io@enfeellanguid.

•  MyfriendswerereadyandeagertojointheprotestmarchbutIwasfeelingveryreluctant.

NancyHennessy2015©

Let’sworkatthesurfacelevel-golocal…

Words

• Academicvocabulary

• FiguraXvelanguage

Sentences

• Density• Length• Structure• CohesiveLes

BackgroundKnowledge

• Schemarequired

• Textstructure

CoherentrepresentaLon

oftext

Surfacelevel!Textbase!Mentalmodel

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

14

SearchingforCluesandConnecLons

•  IdenXfywordandphrases.•  FrameaquesXonoratask.

•  Showtheevidence.•  MaketheconnecXon.

Cohesive7es….

NancyHennessy2015©

Seman7candsyntac7cdevicesguidereadersandshowhowpartsofacomposi-onrelatetoone

another,assistthereaderinbridging&integra7nginforma7onwithinandbetweensentences…..

•  Pronounreferents(underline)

•  Subs-tu-on,synonyms(arrows)

•  Conjunc-ons(box)

NancyHennessy2015©

1.  TheWoolworth’sinGreensboroNorthCarolinawasoneofthecompany’slargestandbestknownstores.

2.  Itwasapopularplaceforlunch.

3.  Inthewinterof1960,fouryoungAfrican-Americanmen,studentsatalocalcollegeinGreensboro,NorthCarolina,walkedinandsatatthelunchcounteronstoolsintendedtobeusedbywhitecustomersonly.

WhatdoyouknowabouttheGreensboroFour?

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

15

1.  TheWoolworth’sinGreensboroNorthCarolinawasoneofthecompany’slargestandbestknownstores.

2.  Itwasapopularplaceforlunch.

3.  Inthewinterof1960,fouryoungAfrican-Americanmen,studentsatalocalcollegeinGreensboro,NorthCarolina,walkedinandsatatthelunchcounteronstoolsintendedtobeusedbywhitecustomersonly.

WhatdoyouknowabouttheGreensboroFour?

NancyHennessy2015©

4.Thispeacefulprotestwasinten-onalandshortly,sit-insbegantooccurinotherNorthCarolinaci-esandsegrega-oniststates.

5.Aseeminglysimpleac-onprovedtobeapivotaleventinthestudent-ledphaseofthecivilrightsmovement.

NancyHennessy2015©

Let’sworkattextbaseandmentalmodellevel-let’sgoglobal

Words

• Academicvocabulary

• FiguraXvelanguage

Sentences

• Density• Length• Structure• CohesiveXes

BackgroundKnowledge

• Schemarequired

• Textstructure

CoherentrepresentaLon

oftext

Surfacelevel!Textbase!Mentalmodel

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

16

MyquesLon Itsays Iknow SoIthink…

Whydidtheseyoungmendothis?

TheGreensboroFour

UsequesLoningcoupledwithgraphicorganizers…

NancyHennessy2015©

MyquesLon Itsays Iknow SoIthink…

Whydidtheseyoungmendothis?

Theysatdownonstoolsthathadbeen..

ThattherewereJimCrowLawsinthesouth

TheywereprotesXng….

NancyHennessy2015©

Knowledgeisnecessarybutnotsufficient.

Failuretoac-vaterelevant,exis-ngbackgroundknowledgemaybeacauseofpoorreadingcomprehension.

Conversely,teachingstudentshowtousebackgroundknowledgeinthecontextofgap-fillinginferencescould

improvereadingcomprehensioningeneral.

Elbro&Buch-Iversen,2013

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

17

Elbro,C.&Buch-Iversen,I.(2013).AcXvaXonofBackgroundKnowledgeforInferenceMaking:EffectsonReading

Comprehension.ScienXficStudiesofReading,17:6,435-452.

HavetheknowledgeDonothavetheknowledgeHavetheknowledgebutdonotuseit…..

NancyHennessy2015©

Text

Reader

NancyHennessy2015©

Let’strythisone!

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

18

Mostpeoplehaveonceheardgrasshopperssinginthesummer.Thegrasshoppers’songisveryhighpitched.Thereforeyouneedagoodsenseof

hearinginordertohearthesong.Actually,itisnotcorrecttosaythatgrasshopperssingbecausetheydonotusetheirvoicetosing.The

grasshoppermakesthesong,orthesound,byrubbingitslegsagainstasharpedgeonthewings.Itisnoteasytospotagrasshopperasitsbodyisalmostinvisiblewhenitissurroundedbyplants.Itblendsinwiththesurroundings.Ifyouwanttofindagrasshopper,yououghttofollowthesound.Remembertolistentothegrasshopperwhileyouareyoung,becauseyoumightnothearthe

grasshopperwhenyougetolder.

Whymightyounothearthegrasshopperwhenyougetolder?

NancyHennessy2015©

•  Whatismyinference?•  Whatinforma-ondidIusetomakethisinference?

•  Howgoodwasmythinking?

•  DoIneedtochangemythinking?

Marzano,2010

MonitoringEffecLveness

NancyHennessy2015©

InferenceinstrucLonalstrategiesandacLviLes…

•  Wordlevelwork•  Textlevelwork•  AcXvaXonofpriorknowledge

Kispal,2010

! Usingtextualcues.! GeneraXng&askingquesXons.

! Usingconceptmaps/graphicorganizers.

! Thinkingaloud&explaining/summarizingtext.

! Usingmentalimagery.AdaptedLETRSModule6

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

19

Whatdoweknowaboutreadingcomprehensionandinference?

So,whatexactlyisinference?

SolvingtheMysteryWhat’sateachertodo?

Whatcontributestoskilledinferencemaking?

NancyHennessy2015©

Effective Teaching ofInference Skills forReadingLiterature Review

Research Report DCSF-RR031

Anne KispalNational Foundation for Educational Research

files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED501868.pdf

NancyHennessy2015©

Hopeyouhavebeenstruckbyenlightening!

Thanks!nhennessy@charter.net

NancyHennessy2015©

10/26/15

20

ReferencesCarson,E.&Buch-Iverson,I.(2013).AcXvaXonofbackgroundknowledgeforinferencemaking:Effectsonreadingcomprehension.Scien-ficStudiesofReading,17,435–452.

Kendeou,P.,vandenBroek,P.,White,M.J.,&Lynch,J.(2008).Children’sinferencegeneraXonacrossdifferentmedia.JournalofResearchinReading,31(3),259-272.

Marzano,R.J.(2010).Theartandscienceofteachinginference.Educa-onalLeadership,67(7),80-81.

Oakhill,J.,Cain,K.&Elbro,C.(2015)UnderstandingandTeachingReadingComprehension:AHandbook.NewYork:Routledge.

vandenBroek,P.,Beker,K.,&Oudega,M.(2015).InferencegeneraXonintextcomprehension:AutomaXcandstrategicprocessesintheconstrucXonofamentalrepresentaXon.InE.J.O’Brien,A.E.Cook&R.F.Lorch(Eds.).InferencesDuringReading.Cambridge,UK:CambridgePress,pp.94-121.

NancyHennessy2015©

Inference-­NCEC  Conference  A  Little  Extra….  Nancy  Hennessy  2015©  

  1  

 

       

 

Inference-­NCEC  Conference  A  Little  Extra….  Nancy  Hennessy  2015©  

  2  

   

 

   

Inference-­NCEC  Conference  A  Little  Extra….  Nancy  Hennessy  2015©  

  3