Critical Reading, Media and Information Literacy | Ask What Supports the Claim

English Learning Library / Critical Reading, Media and Information Literacy | Ask What Supports the Claim

Digital & AI English · Evidence, Data & Multimodal English · Reference Literacy · Reasoning & Argument

Choose a starting point

• Establish what the message actually claims
• Follow a claim to its source
• Practise with a claim that goes too far
• Read images, framing and generated text carefully
• Write an answer another reader can check

Establish what the message actually claims

Begin by paraphrasing the claim fairly. Is the writer reporting an observation, explaining a cause, recommending an action or expressing a preference? Notice words such as 'some', 'always', 'may' and 'must': they change the strength and scope of a statement.

Then distinguish the claim from the support offered for it. An example may illustrate an idea without establishing how common it is. When understanding the text itself is difficult, begin with Reading and Comprehension before adding source-evaluation demands.

Follow a claim to its source

Ask who produced the material, when it was produced and what original evidence it points to. Open the cited source where possible. Check whether it supports the exact claim, concerns the same population and addresses the same time period. An impressive-looking reference list still needs inspection.

Look beyond the page to understand the source and compare relevant independent reporting. Agreement matters more when it comes from independently gathered evidence than when several websites repeat the same unsupported statement.

Practise with a claim that goes too far

Original example: a headline says, 'Students Prefer Digital Books.' Its evidence is a class poll in which 18 of 30 students chose a digital version of one short story. What can we fairly report? 'In this class poll, 18 of 30 students preferred the digital version of this story.'

That finding does not establish what all students prefer, whether they prefer every book digitally or which format helps them learn more. The repair preserves the evidence while narrowing the claim to what was actually observed.

Read images, framing and generated text carefully

Check whether an image's date, location and caption fit the claim beside it. Notice what a cropped view leaves uncertain. For a graph, inspect labels, units and the comparison being made before accepting the headline.

Treat an AI-generated explanation as material to inspect. Verify factual claims and check that cited sources exist and support them. Use the Listening and Viewing route when the first task is understanding how speech, captions and images combine; return here when deciding what the evidence warrants.

Write an answer another reader can check

Keep the source beside each research note. Separate a direct quotation from a paraphrase and from your own interpretation. In the finished response, identify the source as required by the task and make uncertainty visible when the evidence is limited.

Begin with one short text and one verifiable claim. Older learners can compare accounts and build an argument from several sources. Continue to Paraphrase Performance for preserving meaning, or Writing and Composition for organising an evidence-based response that addresses its question.

Read the detailed SETC guides

• English Reading Performance | Evidence, Inference and Answer Scope Under Test Conditions — A global guide to reading-comprehension performance: build meaning, locate evidence, control inference, match answer scope and stay accurate when texts and questions are unfamiliar.
• Secondary English Comprehension Examination Performance | The Passage-to-Answer Operating System — A global Secondary English comprehension performance system for unseen texts: model the passage, manage evidence and time, construct precise answers, recover from difficult questions, diagnose errors and train for transfer.
• English Paraphrase Performance | Recognise, Preserve and Rebuild Meaning Without Copying — A global English examination-performance guide to recognising paraphrases, rewriting ideas accurately, preserving scope and stance, and using paraphrase across reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• English Summary Performance | Select, Compress and Preserve Meaning Under Test Conditions — A global English examination-performance guide to summary writing: identify the required content, select distinct points, compress language, paraphrase accurately and preserve scope under time and word limits.
• English Writing Performance | From Task Interpretation to Final Edit Under Test Conditions — A global examination-neutral system for producing clear, relevant and controlled English writing from prompt analysis through planning, drafting, development, editing and completion.

Choose your stage

• Primary English | Build Reading, Language and Writing Control Before Exam Pressure Arrives
• Secondary English | Reading, Writing and Examination Performance
• Advanced English / General Paper | Read, Reason, Argue and Write at Pre-University Level

School labels help you find the right setting. Choose the learning task by what you can currently do independently; a stage label is not an assessment of ability.

Connect the next skill

• English Reading and Comprehension | Understand, Support and Explain
• English Listening and Viewing | Follow Meaning Across Sound and Screen
• English Writing and Composition | Give Ideas Shape and Purpose
• English Vocabulary in Use | Choose Words That Do the Job
• Teaching English and Designing Useful Tutorials

Explore further

• Purdue OWL: General Writing Resources — Explore academic writing and visual rhetoric when analysing messages and developing written responses.
• British Council LearnEnglish: Free Resources — Choose reading and general English material by level for language practice before adding source-evaluation questions.

Return to the English Learning Library · I Am Lost in English | How to Find the Right Starting Point Before You Study More · Three-Student English Tutorials | Visibility, Feedback and Independent Performance

To practise reading for different purposes, explore the subject-specific reading classes, including journalism, literature, research and other kinds of evidence.

Connect this collection: Critical reading depends on how language expresses claims and shapes interpretation. Connect this collection with semantics, pragmatics and the complete English language system.