Inferencing · Level 3

Wilson pushed his way to the front of the crowd that had gathered outside the art room. He knew by the teacher's face that Bruce had gone too far this time. The face of the boy on the ground was splotched with blue. Wilson knew that his brother would have trouble denying it, given that he still had the brush in his hand.

Mariette hurriedly opened the narrow gate that led from her backyard to the school grounds. The bell had rung and she had to sprint to the classroom if she was to avoid yet another detention. Although there were only eighteen students in the class, there were nine nationalities and seven languages. Only the teacher, a recent arrival to the country himself, was a native English speaker. Mariette and her family had emigrated more than twelve months ago, but her command of English remained limited. Although the two most recent immigrants could say no more than 'yes', 'no' and 'good morning' when they first arrived, they now were progressing rapidly.

Edward had appointed himself interpreter for John and Anne, the two new students. He spoke a jumble of Arabic and English. Mariette's native language was French, but she could only communicate with the others in broken English. By way of compensation she smiled often.

That morning the teacher asked the students to analyse how they spent their waking hours. Most students spent at least four or five hours a day in front of TV. Mariette, however, was extreme. She watched television every morning during the week, until it was time to start school. After school she watched, almost continuously, until eleven at night. In the weekend she watched all day! It was not uncommon for her viewing time to exceed seventy hours a week.

Given that all of the programmes she watched were in English, it was obvious to the teacher, and eventually to Mariette, that this consuming leisure time activity had no positive affect on her ability to use this new language.

Ultimately the survey did help her. Mariette worked hard to break her habit; spending several hours after school and weekends interacting with her English speaking neighbours.