摘要
This study intends to explore the effects of context clues in contextual guessing among 60 first-year non-English majors by using two guessing tests as the research instrument. According to the quantitative analysis of the statistics processed by SPSS （14.0）, it is revealed that （1） context clues affect the outcome of contextual guessing significantly, and （2） English proficiency level plays a significant role in contextual guessing as well. On the basis of the major findings in this research, several pedagogical implications are drawn for college English teachers and students： （1） College English teachers should keep the students better informed of the significance and specific functions of context clues in contextual guessing; （2） College English teachers should encourage the students to guess word meanings from context instead of inhibiting it when there are adequate context clues offered.
