A wrong comprehension answer is evidence. The useful question is not merely “What is the correct answer?” but “At which step did this student’s answer stop matching the passage and the question?”
Five common failure points
- Demand failure: answered a different question.
- Evidence failure: selected the wrong or incomplete proof.
- Inference failure: jumped beyond what the evidence supports.
- Expression failure: understood the idea but stated it vaguely or inaccurately.
- Completeness failure: supplied only part of a multi-part relationship.
Repair case 1: copied evidence instead of answering
Nadia checked the empty platform twice, glanced at the station clock and began pacing near the gate.
Question: What does Nadia’s behaviour suggest about her state of mind?
Weak: She checked the platform and paced near the gate.
Diagnosis: evidence was located correctly, but the inference was never expressed.
Repair: Her repeated checking and pacing suggest that she was anxious or increasingly impatient while waiting for someone or something to arrive.
Repair case 2: plausible but unsupported
Marcus folded the rejection letter, placed it in his drawer and opened the application form for another programme.
Weak: Marcus was not upset at all.
Diagnosis: the passage shows persistence, not absence of disappointment.
Repair: Marcus appears resilient because, despite being rejected, he immediately begins another application.
Repair case 3: vague expression
Question: Why was the second experiment more convincing?
Weak: It was better and had more evidence.
Diagnosis: “better” and “more evidence” do not identify the relevant improvement.
Repair: It was more convincing because it tested a larger sample under the same conditions, making the result less dependent on a few unusual cases.
Repair case 4: incomplete comparison
Question: How did the two brothers respond differently to the delay?
Weak: Ravi became angry.
Diagnosis: only one side of a required comparison is present.
Repair: Ravi reacted angrily and blamed the staff, whereas Dev accepted the delay calmly and began looking for another route.
The repair loop
Question demand → chosen evidence → intended relationship → written answer → mismatch → correction → new transfer question
The final step matters. If a student merely copies the corrected answer, the repair has not been tested. Give a new passage with the same underlying demand and see whether the method transfers.
Correction codes
| Code | Meaning | Student action |
|---|---|---|
| D | demand mismatch | rewrite what the question requires |
| E | evidence problem | locate smallest sufficient proof |
| I | inference unsupported | reduce claim to what evidence permits |
| X | expression vague | replace vague words with exact relationship |
| C | incomplete | identify missing component |
Transfer drill
The first restaurant closed after six months. Instead of abandoning the idea, Mei spent a year working in another kitchen, revised her menu and opened a smaller shop with lower costs.
Question: What does Mei’s response to failure reveal about her approach to problems?
Weak answer: She opened a smaller shop.
Explained repair
The weak answer identifies one later action but does not state what it reveals. A repaired answer is: Mei responds to failure by learning from it and adapting her plan, as she gains more experience, revises the menu and reduces costs before trying again.
Continue with answer precision, evidence selection, language use and effect, or the English Learning Hub.