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this unit's listening skill
is making inferences we make
inferences almost everyday of our lives
in a variety of ways imagine someone comes into the classroom
with their clothes and hair dripping wet you don't know what the weather outside
is
but you can make an inference just by looking at them
that it is probably raining outside so
inferences are guesses based on evidence that we hear
or see or are told directly by someone else
so making an inference just means
to draw a conclusion about information
that is not stated directly by using information that you may already know
or that is stated directly making inferences while listening can help
deepen your understanding
of what you hear for example if you overheard
a student talking about meeting his professor for the first time
and he said when I first met my professor
he shook my hand firmly and then asked me questions about myself
he was very polite he also was relaxed
and seemed interested in what I was saying do we know
if the student likes the professor or not we can probably make an inference
that even though the student does not state directly
what his first impression of his professor was
we now it was probably positive
we can infer or conclude
that it was a positive first impression based on the information
that he does state directly he shook my hand firmly
he asked questions he was relaxed
and seemed interested all of this
equals liking the professor
even though we never hear
this student directly say that he likes the professor
okay let's practice
let's try to make an inference or guess about what is going to happen
in this picture take a good look
what do you see what evidence is there
that will lead you to make a certain conclusion
or inference about what will happen well
if you guessed that the monster will most likely be stuck by
the garbage collector's stick wake up an attack him or
eat him you've probably made a good inference so let's see
what evidence is there that leads us to believe this is what will happen
well we see that there is a trash collector
we see a monster hidden under the ground with
his tail sticking up just a little bit here we also see that the garbage
collector is using a stick
with a very sharp point on the end we can make an inference that he is going to move
along
until he sticks that sharp point into the tail of the monster
which will wake him up and cause him
to attack to trash collector this is an inference
no one has directly stated to us that
this is what will happen but using the evidence
we are able to make a good inference okay
let's practice and try to make another inference
supposet the teacher hmm..
this doesn't look too much like me does it anyway suppose the teacher walked
into the classroom and told the students
put your books away put your notes away
move your desk away from the student next to you
and take out a pen or pencil and a piece of paper
what kind of inference could you make about what might happen
next I think most you probably
inferred or concluded that the teacher was preparing to give the students
some sort of a test
the teacher did not directly state we are about to have a test
but based on the evidence put your books away
move away from the person next to you and take out a pen and pencil
we know all of those things are the types of things that would be used
when a teacher gives a test
listen to a student talk about a first impression
take notes in your notebook as you listen
then answer the questions do you think it was a positive
or negative first impression why what information from your notes help to
answer
do you think the speaker likely why
what information from you know helped you answer
I remember the first time I met Lee it was the first day of classes my freshman
year
I was on my way to my history class and I had no idea where I was going
he smiled and asked me if I needed help I must have looked really lost
anyway he gave me directions to the building where my history class was
which I don't think I would have found on my own
after he gave me directions he introduced himself and gave me a firm
handshake
he wish me luck with my classes and then headed off campus
so he was probably late for his own class my first couple of weeks a college
a pretty difficult and lonely
I remember hoping I would see Lee again on my way to classes
about a month or so later I did I was eating lunch in the cafeteria
I waved to him and asked him to sit at my table with me and a couple of new
friends
so maybe this is the kind of notes that you took
it was the first day of school
and the student was lost
couldn't find her way to history class Lee smiled
asked if she needed help gave her directions shook her hand
making him most likely late for his own classes
she hoped to see him again one day
saw him in the cafeteria waved
and invited him to join her and some friends for lunch
let's see if we can use any of this evidence
to make an infernce about the speakers first impression
of Lee
so do you think it was a positive or negative first impression
well I think we can agree that we can make the inference or the guess that it
was a
positive first impression and what evidence do we have to support this
how can we make this inference or conclusion
well we know from our notes that Lee smiled
he asked to give her help he gave her directions
which probably even made him late for his own class
introduced himself and gave her a nice handshake
all of those pieces have evidence lead us to conclude
that the first impression she would have of Lee would have been positive
do you think she likes Lee yes of course she does
how can we make this inference what evidence do we have
well we know that she waved to him when she saw him in the cafeteria
and she invited him to join her and her friends for lunch
in addition she had been hoping to see him again
you wouldn't hope to see someone again unless you liked them
so let's review the listening skill we worked on today
was inferences inferences are guesses
based on evidence when things are not directly stated
we may inferences every day understanding how to make inferences
can help with better listening and reading comprehension
test taking and just understanding people better