Exploratory task 4.7

Read the text and infer five propositions from it. Compress the number of inferred propositions to three. Finally make up one proposition (avoid complex syntactical structures) conveying the message of the whole text in a simple sentence

Text

Physical beauty is simply an illusion conveyed to the eye by our sense of sight. Ask a blind man what for him is a beautiful person is and he's sure to tell you it is not the body but the heart. And indeed, do we love the egg-shell or the chick within it? Do we love the lamp or the light that it sheds? The body is just the wrapper of no real or lasting inherent worth, a mere symbol of the inner beauty of the soul. A truly beautiful person is one who cares deeply for others and is humble, loving and forgiving. If physically beautiful people deserve admiration, then we don't yet know what beauty is (Author unknown)

Communicative message has its key meaningful element (the intended message), central information (that helps to get the key meaningful element) and peripheral details necessary to complete the picture. Key element is often presented by one single proposition that can be found either in the text or can potentially be inferred from the text. This system of elements is shown below:

Exploratory task 4.8

H

Peripheral details

Central information

Key element

ere is a picture from a famous story. Describe the “key element” carrying the main message of the picture, the “central information” and the “peripheral details”.

(Tip: American writer Mark Twain wrote the classic story The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876 about a boy’s adventures on the banks of the Mississippi River. In this illustration Tom tricks his friend Huckleberry into finishing his job of whitewashing a fence by making the work appear like fun to his friend)

Comprehension processes develops in the phases of identification, assimilation and accommodation. In the phase of identification, a language user identifies what the text is about. New information is said to be "identified" if it fits in one’s individual knowledge. E.g. a vague silhouette is "identified" if it fits in the system of the configurations already known to the person. The phase of assimilation consists in selecting the most essential features of the new information to be stored in the long-term memory. The process of comprehension can be severely disrupted if an individual fails to distinguish between the "essential" and the "non-essential" in the process of perception. The phase of accommodation can reveal whether a person is prepared to use the knowledge in the new circumstances. For this purpose the individuals have to remodel the existing knowledge. In many instances they have to re-evaluate “essentials” and “non-essentials” as the situation requires. Thus, the process of comprehension permeates perception, storage and use of information.

Exploratory task 4.9

Read the following text. In the space provided identify what the text is about (identification), what the most essential part of the text is (assimilation) and how you will change the text in order to tell your pupils, friends or peers about the subject of the text. Distribute the tasks in your small group and after it is completed share the results

Text	Identification	Assimilation	Accommodation
Smog is intense local pollution usually trapped in the foggy air. Before the age of the automobile, most smog came from burning coal and was so severe that in 19th-century London, street lights were turned on by noon because soot and smog darkened the midday sky. Burning gasoline in motor vehicles is the main source of smog in most regions today

Critical thinking

Comprehension processes are permeated with critical thinking. Critical thinking is deliberate putting knowledge to doubt with the purpose of its better identification, distinguishing the essentials, comparing and contrasting it with the similar bits of information, finding its worth and verifying the truth about it. Some typical questions of the critical thinker are: "Are the details I am looking for present or missing?" "Are the details I perceive essential or non-essential?" "Is this new bit of information alike or different from others and in what way?" "Is this new bit of information adequate or inadequate for my goals?" "Is my conclusion true or false?" Critical thinking permeates all the phases in the process of comprehension as shown by the graph

Present or missing?	IDENTIFICATION	Alike or different?
Essential?	ASSIMILATION	Non-essential?
Adequate?	ACCOMMODATION	Inadequate?