The document discusses teaching English language learners to be "detectives" who search for clues in a text to better understand its meaning. It explains that texts contain clues that carry meaning, but students often fail to comprehend fully because they don't consciously look for these clues. Using clues is a natural part of understanding language. The document then outlines five levels where reading clues can be found (from words to discourse) and five types of reading clues.

1. The L2 Reader
As Detective:
Discovering
Clues in
Context

2. • Any text includes clues which
carry meaning
• Students often fail to
comprehend the full meaning of
the text because they don’t
consciously check for clues
• Using clues to unlock meaning
is common; convincing the L2
Reader he/she is a Detective
who uses clues to unlock
meaning is a worthwhile
teaching technique

3. IMAGINE that…
You are a DETECTIVE
with a magnifying glass
searching for clues!
Can you find the clues in the
passage?
Nancy-add mag. Glass icon.

4. • 5 LEVELS of Reading Clues
• 5 TYPES of Reading Clues

5. 5 LEVELS Where Reading Clues
Exist
Discourse
Paragraph
Sentence
Phrase
Word

6. Word Example
• Stem – respond
• Suffix – responsible
• Prefix – irresponsible

7. Phrase Example
• As Introducer of main clause
• As Modifier – adverb phrase
At the 1932 Olympic Games, the
crowd watched in excitement as
Babe set new world records.

8. Sentence Example
• Meaning of a new word from
context
“functions”
A lizard has a forked tongue. The
tongue has two functions. The
lizard both touches and smells with
it.

9. Paragraph Example
• Topic Sentence forecasts content
of paragraph
A newspaper is made up of
different parts. The front part of
a newspaper contains important
stories of national and local
events. The sports pages report
scores and give information about
players, coaches and teams. The
comics section makes many
people laugh.

10. Discourse Example
• Main Idea forecasts supporting
points.
Doctors may now be able to stop many heart attacks.
An important new study reports that doctors have a new
drug. This drug is called TPA. It may be better
than any other heart drug.
Many doctors now use a drug called
Streptokinase, but this drug sometimes causes
problems for patients. It can even cause bleeding in
the brain. Some doctors do not use Streptokinase.
Streptokinase can save about 1/3 of the people with heart
attacks, but TPA will save about 2/3. This means many
people. About 1.5 million Americans have heart attacks
every year.
One reason TPA can help more people is
because of time. This new drug is easier and faster to
use. It will give doctors more time in hospitals. Then they
can study the problem well. People with heart problems can
also keep some TPA at home. When a heart attack starts,
they can take some TPA right away. Then they will have
time to get to the hospital. This is important because about

11. 860,000 people in the United States die before they get to
the hospital.
There is another reason why TPA is good
news for people with heart attacks. According to
the study, it is much safer. It does not cause other
problems like Streptokinase. TPA works only on the heart.
It does not have an effect on the blood or cause bleeding.
Doctors plan to do more studies about TPA. They need
to test this new drug on many more people with heart
attacks, but in a few years, many doctors and hospitals will
probably start using this exciting new drug.

12. 5 TYPES of Reading Clues
Clue 1: Meaning & Form Interface
(Main Idea & Mode)
Clue 2: Topic Repetition
Clue 3: Topic Collocation
Clue 4: Pronoun Reference
Clue 5: Logical Connectors
Additional Skills/Strategies:
Nancy;Add a few more suggestions
here