Contextual Reference

Reading for language test
Contextual Reference
Reference Words/ Transitional Markers
Contextual References 1
Contextual References
This lesson will show you how to:
Recognize and identify different types of

contextual reference
Read and connect the contextual reference

to
the word that it refers to
Read the passage and identify what each underlined word refers to:
A computer, like any other machine, is used because it does certain jobs better and more
efficiently than humans. It can receive more information and process it faster than any
human. The speed at which a computer works means it can replace weeks or even
months of pencil-and-paper work. Therefore, computers are used when the time saved
offsets their cost, which is one of the many reasons they are used so much in business
industry, and
research.
are words which substitute for other words (to avoid using the same
word over and over).
They refer back to words that have been used. Also

they may refer forward to ideas that will be stated.
A computer , like any other machine, is used because it does
certain jobs better and more efficiently than humans
Being able to recognize and identify contextual references will

help you understand the passage you are reading.
You must pay attention to reference words when they occur in the
text you are reading
You can find the meaning of references by

searching the text and using your common
sense and knowledge of the text.
Pronouns & Possessive
Adjectives
Subject Object Possessive Possessive
Pronouns Pronouns Adjectives Pronouns
I me my mine
you you your yours
We us our ours
they them their theirs
He him his his
she her her hers
it it its its
Adjectives
Be careful
Its ≠ it’s (it is)
Its = possessive adjective.

It’s = The contraction of it + is.
Adjectives
Example
Animation is a component of multimedia; it is

used in online video game as well as in moving
banners displaying sports scores or stock
prices.
Even though an optical fibre is as thin as hair,

its signal
carrying capacity is higher than copper wire.
Adjectives
Example
As companies unify their networks and systems, they must

merge new technologies and legacy systems.
companies
their :
they: companies
__________
Adjectives
Example
Bill Gates knew that PCs would be big business and he

imagined Microsoft playing a center role in this industry.
Bill Gates
he : ____________
Relative give extra information

Pronouns
who or whom as interrogative pronouns
In questions, who is used to refer to the subject of a sentence.
Example
Who works on that computer?
Mike works on the that computer.

Pronouns
who or whom as interrogative pronouns
In questions, whom is used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. An
object is the person, place or thing who is receiving the action
of a sentence.
Example
Whom did you see?
I saw Jennipher.

Pronouns
Who as relative pronoun
In a sentence, who is used to refer to the subject of a sentence.
Examples
Joe is a guy who studies very hard.

Joe studies very hard.
Agent Smith is the character who tries to kill Neo.

Pronouns
Joining two clauses with who:
Example
I know the man. He is my neighbor.
I know the man, who is my neighbor.

Pronouns
whom as relative pronoun
In a sentence, whom is used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition.
An object is the person receiving the action of a sentence.
Example preposition
The woman to whom you have just spoken is my teacher. (you have just
spoken to her.)

Pronouns
whom as relative pronoun
In a sentence, whom is used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition.
An object is the person receiving the action of a sentence.
Examples
This is the man whom I told you about. (I told you about him.)
preposition
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a book by Ernest Hemingway.

Pronouns
Who or Whom?
When in doubt, try this simple trick: If you can replace the word with “he”’
or “’she,” use who. If you can replace it with “him” or “her,” use whom.
Examples
I cannot see who is in the classroom. (He is in the classroom.)
To whom it may concern. (To him...)

Pronouns
Which refers to things in formal english
Example
An operating system is a master control program which controls the
functions of the computer system as a whole
and the running of application programs.
‘which’ refers to:‘‘master control program’.
Relative = give extra information

Pronouns
That can only be used in restrictive clauses. It can also be substituted for
who or which in informal English.
Example
Today, telecommunication is widespread and devices that
assist the process, such as the television, radio and
telephone, are common in many parts of the world.
‘that’ refers to ‘devices’.

Pronouns
Who, Which or That?
That can be substituted for who or which in informal English.
Example
Written, Formal: William Kellogg was the man who lived in the late
nineteenth century and had some weird ideas about raising children.
Conversational, Informal: William Kellogg was the man that lived

in the late nineteenth century and had some weird ideas about raising
children.

Pronouns
“Who” or “That” for pets?
Use the pronouns “it” and “that” for animals unless you know the animal’s
sex or the animal has a name.
Example
The cat that was stuck in the tree peed on the firefighters.
Conversational, Informal: Fluffy, the cat who was stuck in the tree,
peed on the firefighters.

Pronouns
A Game: clues for you
1.Give clues to an object or person as your colleagues tries to guess

which object it is.
2.Let’s have two teams: each team take turns choosing an object (or
person) in the room to give clues about. Each clue should start with:
“This is something that / which…” or
“This is someone who...”

Pronouns
A Game: clues for you
Example
If the other team is able to guess the object after just one clue,
they score three points.
If they need two clues to identify the object, they score two
points. After three clues, they only score one point.
If they are unable to guess the object after three clues, they score
zero.

Pronouns
Whose: possessive meaning; usually used for people and animals.
Example
This is the car whose owner is over there.
‘whose’ is followed by a noun.
‘Congress passed the statute, whose purpose was to lower taxes.
‘Congress passed the statute, the purpose of which was to lower

taxes.

Pronouns
Where: refers to places
Example
Natal is the city where I was born.
‘where’ refers to the city (Natal)’

Pronouns
Joining two clauses with where:
Example
There is a parking lot at the college. At the parking lot, I can

park my car.
There is a parking lot where I can park my car.

Pronouns
When: we use when as a conjunction meaning ‘at the time that’.
Example
1989 was the year when the Berlin wall came down.
‘when’ refers to ‘1989’ (the year)

Pronouns
Why: we often use the phrase ‘this is’ / ‘that’s why’ to give a reason.
Example
Frank and Ellen have three children now. They needed more space.
That’s why they moved house.
‘that’s why’ refers to ‘the reason why they moved’.

Pronouns
The table below sums up the use of relative pronouns
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/relative_pronouns/index.html
Deleted
to leave out the nouns which have already
Noun
been mentioned.
one another the other others

some these those all
Deleted to leave out the nouns which have already
Noun been mentioned.
Example
There is no best answer to the question which online
service is the best. Rating a particular online service over
another is entirely subjective. Price is important to
some people, while the number of files available for
download is important to others.
another : _ ____________________
Another online service
others: ___________
_ other people
Example
Most programs are user-friendly but some are very
complicated.
some programs
some :

Example
DELPHIE’s Hobby Shop is an online service which
has two special-interest areas: one on classic vehicles
and one on new cars and technology.
one area
one : _________
Optical fibers give very clear telephone conversations

which are free from signal interference because light
signals from one fibre do not interfere with those of
others in the same cable.
those : _______________
those light signals
other fibres
others: _ ___________
There are two technologies at work in a clipboard

PC: one allows raw data to get into the computer and
the other allows the computer to figure out what
that data mean.
one technology
one : _________________
the other technology

the other: _ __________________
Specific
use specific words that give specific meanings.
Words
Example
Everybody uses computers for many different purposes. These
smart machines make their lives easier and more pleasant.
‘these smart machines’ refers to computers
Specific Words
use specific words that give specific meanings.
Telecommunications is the transmission of signals over a distance for the

purpose of communication. In modern times, this process almost always
involves the sending of electromagnetic waves
by electronic transmitters but in early years it may have
involved the use of smoke signals, drums or semaphore.
‘this process’ refers to
The transmission of signals over a distance for the

purpose of communication
Pro-
begins a sentence with ‘that, it, this, or which’ to refer
Clause
to the idea in the previous sentence
.
Example
Multimedia combines text with sound, video, animation and graphic.
This greatly enhances the interaction between user and machine.
‘this’ refers to
the fact that multimedia combines text with sound,

video, animation and graphic’
Pro-
Clause
• When Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) was first introduced, the
connection had to be made between PCs online at the same
time. This is no longer necessary.
‘this’ refers to
the connection had to be made between PCs online at the same time
Pro-
Clause
Technology has been developed increasingly, which makes our lives
more convenient.
‘which’ refers to
Technology has been developed increasingly
Sequence of words that show the order of
Two Items situations and events
the former the latter
Example
In all cases, where two things are mentioned, The former

refers to the first thing, and The latter refers to the
second thing.
Example
Some students read slowly and know it; others read
slowly and don’t know it. The former can be helped
more easily than the latter.
‘the former’ refers to ‘students who read slowly

and know it’.
‘the latter’ refers to ‘students who read slowly and
don’t know’.
Where two things are mentioned, The former refers to the first thing, and
The latter refers to the second thing.
Example
People of Asian or African heritage develop lactase deficiency more

frequently. Around 90 per cent of the former and 75 percent of the
latter.
‘people of Asian heritage’
‘the former’ refers to _ ___________________________
‘the
. ‘people of African heritage’
latter’ refers to _ ___________________________ .
Example
There is a struggle between "Web Services" and the "Semantic Web". The
former was thought to be rooted in the W3C and academia, the latter in
IBM-Microsoft-Sun and industry.
‘the former’ refers to

Web Services
__________________
‘the latter’ refers to ___________________

Semantic Web
Grammatical Subject & Object “it”
In the passage, the writer might use ‘it’ to refer to the subject or the
object of a sentence
Example
It is easy to install new programs.
to install new programs
Example
All computers do not use the same operating systems. Therefore, it is

important to assess the operating system used on a particular model
before initial commitment because some software is only designed to
run under the control of specific operating systems.
It must be taken into account that printers
vary in cost, speed, print quality and other
factors such as noise or compatibility.

Contextual Reference

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Reading for language test

Reference Words/ Transitional Markers

Recognize and identify different types of

Read and connect the contextual reference

They refer back to words that have been used. Also

A computer , like any other machine, is used because it does

certain jobs better and more efficiently than humans

Being able to recognize and identify contextual references will

You can find the meaning of references by

you you your yours

they them their theirs

He him his his

she her her hers

Its ≠ it’s (it is)

Its = possessive adjective.

Animation is a component of multimedia; it is

Even though an optical fibre is as thin as hair,

As companies unify their networks and systems, they must

Bill Gates knew that PCs would be big business and he

Relative give extra information

Who works on that computer?

Mike works on the that computer.

Relative give extra information

Whom did you see?

Relative give extra information

Joe is a guy who studies very hard.

Agent Smith is the character who tries to kill Neo.

Relative give extra information

I know the man. He is my neighbor.

I know the man, who is my neighbor.

Relative give extra information

Relative give extra information

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a book by Ernest Hemingway.

Relative give extra information

I cannot see who is in the classroom. (He is in the classroom.)

To whom it may concern. (To him...)

Relative give extra information

‘which’ refers to:‘‘master control program’.

Relative = give extra information

‘that’ refers to ‘devices’.

Relative = give extra information

That can be substituted for who or which in informal English.

Conversational, Informal: William Kellogg was the man that lived

Relative = give extra information

Relative = give extra information

1.Give clues to an object or person as your colleagues tries to guess

Relative = give extra information

Relative give extra information

‘whose’ is followed by a noun.

‘Congress passed the statute, whose purpose was to lower taxes.

‘Congress passed the statute, the purpose of which was to lower

Relative give extra information

‘where’ refers to the city (Natal)’

Relative give extra information

There is a parking lot at the college. At the parking lot, I can

There is a parking lot where I can park my car.

Relative give extra information

‘when’ refers to ‘1989’ (the year)

Relative give extra information