Reading Detectives
A reader says, “The author never states that Marcus is nervous, but his trembling hands, short responses and repeated glances at the clock suggest that he is.”
What is making an inference?
A student has generated ideas, identified the purpose and audience, and organised those ideas before beginning a composition. Which stage of the writing process is being demonstrated?
Pre-writing / Planning
While listening to a colleague, a teacher maintains eye contact, nods appropriately and waits before responding. What communication skill is being demonstrated?
Active listening
A teacher gives four oral instructions. A student completes all four in the correct order without asking for repetition. Which listening skill is being demonstrated?
Listening to follow directions/instructions
An advertisement shows a smiling family enjoying a product, but gives very little factual information about it. What is the advertisement mainly trying to do?
Persuade the audience
A teacher asks students, “What does the author want us to understand even though it is never directly stated in the text?”
Which level of comprehension is the teacher primarily assessing?
What is inferential comprehension?
During which stage of the writing process should a writer focus primarily on improving ideas, organisation, clarity and word choice rather than correcting spelling and punctuation?
Revising
A student speaks JC while telling a humorous story to friends, then uses SJE when delivering a formal presentation. What has influenced the student's choice of language?
Audience, context and purpose
After hearing a short announcement, students are asked to state only the most important message rather than repeat every detail.What are they listening for?
The main idea
A poster shows a mobile phone inside a red circle with a diagonal line through it. Without any written words, what does the visual communicate?
Mobile phones are prohibited / No mobile phones
Before reading an article, a reader examines the title, headings, photographs and captions to anticipate what the text will discuss. Which strategy is this?
Previewing
A student rereads a completed composition and corrects capitalisation, punctuation, spelling and grammatical errors without changing the main ideas. Which stage of the writing process is this?
Editing
During a presentation, a listener asks, “When you said the programme was unsuccessful, what evidence were you referring to?” What type of question is the listener asking?
A clarifying question
You hear: “Our school library is the best library in the parish.” Is this statement a fact or an opinion?
Opinion
A reader looks at a bar graph showing books read by five classes and determines which class read the most books. What skill is the reader using?
Interpreting graphical information/data
After reading several paragraphs, a reader selects the most important ideas, eliminates minor details and restates the essential information concisely. Which strategy requires all three actions?
Summarizing
A student writes, “The rain attacked the zinc roof all night, while the frightened trees danced wildly in the wind.” Which literary device is most prominent in this description?
Personification
A speaker never directly says that she disagrees, but her choice of words, facial expression and tone clearly communicate disapproval. Is the message explicit or implicit?
Implicit
A speaker says, “The trip was wonderful,” while sighing, rolling her eyes and speaking sarcastically. To interpret her intended message correctly, what must the listener consider besides the words spoken?
Tone and non-verbal cues
An advertisement makes the words “LIMITED TIME ONLY!” much larger and bolder than everything else on the page. What visual technique is being used to direct the viewer's attention?
Emphasis through font size and bold print
A teacher stops reading a story at a critical point and asks students to revise or confirm the predictions they made earlier using evidence from the text. Which NSC reading strategy is being applied?
Answer: DRTA — Directed Reading Thinking Activity
A student writes: “Neither the principal nor the teachers was prepared for the sudden change in the timetable.”
Identify the grammatical error and give the correct verb.
“Was” should be “were.” With neither…nor, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it: teachers were.
A speaker deliberately asks, “How can we expect our children to become readers if they never see us reading?” but does not expect the audience to answer. Identify the language technique being used and its purpose.
A rhetorical question —used to create emphasis, provoke thought and influence the audience.
Listen carefully: “All the teachers who attended the workshop received certificates. Mrs Brown received a certificate.” Can you conclude that Mrs Brown attended the workshop?
No. The information does not prove that she attended; she could have received a certificate for another reason.
A poster promoting healthy eating shows only brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, smiling children and the words “Choose Better. Live Better.” It provides no statistics or nutritional information. Is the poster relying primarily on fact, visual persuasion or explanation to communicate its message?
Visual Persuasion