PREVIEWING AND

PREDICTING
By Lilik Damayanti, S.S., M. Hum
 PURPOSE

Previewing the text to activate prior knowledge, setting

reading goals, studying important words (vocabularies), and
predicting lead to improved fluency and comprehension.
 Use previewing and predicting to improve
reading skills

The purpose of previewing and predicting is to encourage active

reading so the learners can preview a text in order to predict its
likely content.

—  Previewing: reviewing titles, section headings, and photo

captions to get a sense of the structure and content of a reading
selection

—  Predicting: using knowledge of the subject matter to make

predictions about content and vocabulary and check
comprehension; using knowledge of the text type and purpose
to make predictions about discourse structure; using
knowledge about the author to make predictions about writing
style, vocabulary, and content
 Preview the Text

Previewing text mentally prepares a student to receive

information from written material. For fiction, it involves looking
at the cover and title, reading the blurbs on the back, considering
the author and his or her style, and predicting, in a general way,
what the story may be about. For non-fiction, it includes
discussion of the topic, review of prior knowledge, and the
generation of possible questions that may be answered through
reading.
During the preview stage, discussion for fiction should center on
whether the students think the story will be realistic fiction or
fantasy and why, who the characters may be and how they will
interact, what the problem in the story may be, etc. By focusing on
story structure, teachers give students a framework on which to
put information from the text and to better understand it.
 Predict and Verify From the Text

This pre-reading exercise is done repeatedly before and during reading.

Text is broken into chunks (usually based on chapters, subtitled sections,
or at the teacher’s discretion). For each section, readers predict what will
be in it, based on what has occurred before, and then read to verify their
prediction, and to predict again. This exercise keeps students actively
engaged in their reading and helps develop their higher level thinking
skills.

By incorporating more pre-reading preparation into instruction, teachers

will find that students will increase their comprehension of content area
materials and literature. They will gradually become more strategic in
their reading, so that as they reach high school and beyond, they will
well-prepared to address more difficult textbooks and other required
reading, with the use of these strategies becoming a natural part of their
own approach to reading.
What should be noticed from previewing and predicting

When you preview, you look for information.

Then you can make guesses about what is the
content of the text. When you make guesses like
this you are predicting.

Previewing and predicting will help you to read faster

and understand better. This is because of you are
already thinking about what you will read. You should
always preview and predict before you read.
 EXAMPLE

From the TITLE: “Modern Dentist: How they can help you”

The prediction of the next idea would be:

—  Dentists hurt your teeth
—  Dentists have many new machines
—  Some dentists play the radio for their patients
—  Some dentists will pull out all your teeth
—  A nurse cleans your teeth at the dentist’s office
—  The dentists’ office is very comfortable
—  Dentists want everyone to have healthy teeth
—  A visit to the dentist is too expensive
—  The dentists may X –ray your teeth.
—  Modern dentists must study for many years.