1.7 INTERPRETING OR MARKING INFERENCE

The skill of inferring is a skill we do all day long, similar to “reading” people or “reading” a situation. If it has been snowing outside and some cars have snow on them and some cars do not, we infer that those without snow have been parked in the garage. Inferring is not only about reading expressions, tones and body language, it is about “reading” text, often said as, “reading between the lines” where the answers are not explicitly stated. Predicting is related to inferring, but we predict events, actions or outcomes that can be checked or confirmed as correct or incorrect by reading on or reading to the end of the story. I’ve heard it said that predicting is like thinking ahead but inferring is about looking back and reflecting about what has already been read. Predicting is like this, you are reading along, you stop and ask, “What will happen next?” Inferring is like this, you are reading along, you stop and ask, “I wonder what the author meant?”.see link