ESOL Rs/L1.1a Use implicit & explicit grammatical knowledge to predict meaning & check for sense

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Rs/L1.1a: Use implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge, along with own knowledge and experience to predict meaning, try out plausible meanings and to read and check for sense

• Use grammatical and syntactic clues alongside whole-text and word-level clues to get meaning, including clues related to sentence structure, word order and word type. (a)
• Realise that words can act as different word classes, depending on the context, e.g. as a verb, noun or adjective: to record, a record, a record level of...
• Use knowledge of sentence structure (simple, compound and complex) and word order to work out meaning, e.g. e.g. that in the sentence The Dome was closed to visitors by the Minister last year, the person responsible for closing it was the Minister, not the visitors
• Know that certain linguistic features may characterise particular text types, and use this knowledge to predict meaning when reading those types of text, e.g. verb grammar, key discourse markers
• Use knowledge of a range of subordinating and co-ordinating links within and between sentences to refer backwards and forwards in texts, recognising a range of linguistic features such as relative pronouns, repetition and reiteration, e.g. London is a very busy city. Because of its huge population and its position in the world financial market, the city …(b)

Related Adult Literacy link: Rs/L1.1 Use implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge

Examples of application and level

• Read and understand a variety of straightforward continuous texts encountered in their own lives, e.g. a letter from the Immigration and Nationality Department, a short story or magazine article. (a)
• Read an article in an encyclopaedia where the present tense is used to describe the situation, and discourse markers but and however present contrast. The final sentence presents the consequence of what has been stated before, e.g.: 
  Foxes are now a familiar sight in most towns. They are attractive creatures but foxes can cause damage to trees, fences and gardens. However, foxes are protected by law. People who attack them may be liable to prosecution. (b)

Sample activities

• In a range of formal and informal texts, learners highlight key linguistic features that show logical relationship between sentences and paragraphs, i.e. discourse markers and conjunctions (e.g. so, therefore, for this reason). Learners identify the tenses used in the texts and explain the writer’s choice.
• Learners read a text with some nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs underlined. They copy the words into a table to show their use in the text, e.g.: whether the chosen word (for example record, light, fast) is a a noun, verb, adjective or adverb
• Learners read a text with a range of pronouns underlined. They trace the pronoun back or forward to what it refers to in the text.

Source: Department for Education and Skills (2001) Adult ESOL Core Curriculum, DfES (2001)