Complexity: Activity 4
The language of inference and justification
Analyze the language Jiulin and AnnaLi use to express opinions in the Comparison Task. Read the transcript and watch the video as you do so since opinions may also be expressed nonverbally. Then fill in the table below.
- What language expressions are used by each of the learners to make inferences?
- Do the learners give evidence for their inferences? What language expressions do the learners use to justify their inferences?
Comparison Task
Transcript (PDF)
Speaker |
Inference |
Signals for inference |
Justification |
Signals for justification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jiulin | ||||
| AnnaLi | ||||
- Given the answers to 1 and 2 above, what are some ways you, as these learners’ teacher, could scaffold and support their development of language to express inference and justification?
Please type your answers to the questions in the box below.
When you have finished typing your answer, click to compare your response with the Learner Language staff response.
Speaker |
Inference |
Signals for inference |
Justification |
Signals for justification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jiulin |
穷人，没有钱人 |
我觉得 |
|
|
这个房子好像有点旧 |
好像 |
门上有一个这样的东西 |
因为 |
|
在工厂做 |
我觉得可能是 |
|
|
|
不太多钱 |
|
他们的房子不太大，还有隔壁的人很近，还有车很老 |
因为 |
|
他们做农人的事 |
好像 |
|
|
|
不太多人 |
可能 |
只有一件车 |
因为，所以 |
|
在城市里住 |
可能 |
|
|
|
不是外面就是在旁边 |
可能是 |
|
|
|
开更多派对 |
好像，可能是， |
他们的地方，嗯，他们打扫，他们也打扫，剪草 |
因为 |
|
他们是，是一点安全的 |
可能 |
没有狗 |
所以 |
|
AnnaLi |
|
|
他们的设备不太好 |
因为 |
有五个人，还是四个人 |
我觉得，应该 |
|
|
|
有很多，嗯，屋子 |
看起来 |
|
|
|
四个人 |
可能是 |
看起来有很多，嗯，屋子 |
所以 |
|
也有车 |
|
这个房子不错 |
所以 |
|
不太安全 |
看起来 |
|
因为 |
|
|
可能是 |
|
|
In some cases, Jiulin and AnnaLi make inferences without providing justifications; in other cases, they combine inferences and justifications in one sentence. They both use a variety of expressions to introduce their inferences, such as “我觉得 (I think)”, “看起来 (seem)”, and “可能（是） (maybe)”. They use “因为 (because)”, “所以 (so)” or “因为…所以… (because…so…)” to signal justification. It seems that they are able to make inferences and justifications using proper expressions. As their teacher, you may want to focus on their accuracy in using these expressions.
