The Role of Background Information in Extensive Reading Course for English Majors.doc

the role of background information in extensive reading course for english majorsoutline:i. introductionthe purpose and significance of this researchii. the important role of background information in extensive reading coursea. the definition of background informationb. the function of background informationc. the role of background information in extensive reading course iii. application of background information in extensive reading course a. the present state of extensive reading course teaching for english majorsb. application iv. conclusionthe role of background information in extensive reading course for english majors.introduction:extensive reading course is an important course for english majors. the ability to comprehend a text is considered to be the most stable and durable of second language modalities (bernhardt 1991). it is another way of saying reading plays a vital role in second language acquisition. traditionally, reading was viewed as a bottom-up process in a word-sentence-passage sequence, where readers decode the text and rebuild what the writer wants to convey. thus, extensive reading teaching becomes another style of intensive reading teaching which lies greatly on grammar and vocabulary. when students have trouble understanding the text, they are told that their failure is due to their poor grammar and limited vocabulary. but the fact is not so. enlarging vocabulary and mastering grammatical rules can help readers to understand sentence structures and text organization better and they are effective to some extent, but they are not the only approach.during the past thirty five years, researchers of foreign language teaching had a broad discussion about reading and reading teaching. in this case, they finally did some researches on schema theory and the role of background information in extensive reading course. in china, there are also some researchers who have undergone this exploration and study to improve their teaching effects.therefore, this paper aims to discuss the connection between reading comprehension and background information. some effective methods are provided to equip background information in extensive reading course with its aim at improving extensive reading teaching in a new way. the important role of background information in extensive reading course a. the definition of background informationat a language teaching angle, background information refers to ones previously acquired comprehensive knowledge or world knowledge and ones special knowledge on a subject. comprehensive knowledge means learning either in or out of school and an accumulation of a variety of experiences.b. the function of background informationbackground information is an important factor to restrict reading process, so it should be contained in extensive reading teaching. relevant background information can provide reading process with some necessary information which helps readers to comprehend a text better and more easily. background information can also influence readers way of thinking and attitude towards what the writer writes. by this indirect way, it influences readers reading process. if readers have stored more background information, then they may find that they can explore more information hidden between lines. the restriction from background information will be greatly relieved. here is an example taken from college students reading course to illustrate the functions mentioned above.then i made my big mistake. at the time i was nineteen, had long untidy hair and regarded myself as part of the sixties “youth counterculture”.to comprehend these sentences, readers have to know some information about “youth counterculture”. in fact, “youth counterculture” was firstly used to refer to the group who were against some traditional social values in western countries. they, instead, pursued more individual freedom. but fail to find solutions to resisting all kinds of social disadvantages; they were finally indulged in the liberation of sex, drug-taken and rock music, for the purpose of showing their dissatisfaction to the society. wearing long hair and strange clothes became their pride and this culture lasted until late 70s. if readers do not have any background knowledge about this, they may find it hard to understand why the police treated “me” like a thief just because of “my” appearance and behavior. but if readers have known this background information previously, they may finish reading this faster and comprehend it more easily. therefore, background information can restrict reading process. c. the role of background information in extensive reading coursebackground information plays a vital role in extensive reading course. chomskys transformational generative theory asserts that reading comprehension begins at the smallest and simplest units and then each single word, sentence and passage carries its own meaning which has direct connection with the reader. it has been noted in the introduction of this thesis that reading is simply decoding. when the decoding process ends, reading comprehension is achieved at the same time. in that case, if readers have trouble in comprehending the reading material, it is the reading material that causes this problem grammatically or lexically. this theory emphasizes too much on language structure itself without considering readers own influence.now the recent researches indicate that reading comprehension is neither simply an information-receiving activity nor a pure comprehension of words, sentences and texts. while reading, readers, in fact, construct a certain cerebral mode which requires consistent inferring and guessing. reading comprehension is actually a very complicated process. readers use their learned language knowledge to analyze the text and the text may also affect readers through its words, content and structure. during the reading, readers apply their background information to act on the text. these work together during the reading process. only when they go on well can reading comprehension be achieved. anyway, schema theory best explains this process. schema theory indicates that any spoken or written text does not carry meaning by itself. according to this theory, a text only provides directions for readers how they should construct the literal meaning from previously acquired knowledge. comprehending words, sentences and the whole text requires the ability to connect ones own knowledge with the material. effective reading is a combination of non-visual information already stored and organized in the brain and is often obtained from daily accumulation, and the present visual information printed on the page, that is, the reading material. schema here must be defined. schema or schemas, which were raised by a psychologist, kant, as they are sometimes known, have been described as “cognitive constructs which allow for the organization of information in long-term memory” (widdowson 1983). cook (1989) states, “the mind, stimulated by key words of phrases in the text or by the text, activates a knowledge schema” (cook 1989: 69”). both of them put emphasis on the cognitive characteristics of schema which allow people to relate incoming information to already acquired information. in addition to allowing people to organize information and knowledge economically, schemas also allow people to predict the discourse of the spoken or written texts. research on the theory of schema has had great effect on reading comprehension. researchers in this field have generally identified three types of schemata. content schemata, which refers to a readers background or world knowledge, provides readers with a foundation, a basis for comparison (carrell eisterhold 1983; carrell,pharis liberto 1989). formal schemata, often known as textual schema, refer to the organizational forms and rhetorical structures of written texts. it can include knowledge of different types and genres, and also includes the understanding that different types of texts use text organization, language structures, vocabulary, grammar, level of formality differently. while linguistic or language schemata refers to the language knowledge that readers have acquired and it is mainly about pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and so on. it includes decoding features needed to recognize words and how they fit together in a sentence. first language readers are able to generalize a pattern or guess the meaning of a word, which may not have initially been part of their linguistic schemata. the establishing of linguistic schemata in a second language can proceed in much the same way. schema theory exactly applies this cognitive psychology to analyze the functions of this schemata, or background information in reading process. then the conclusion can be reached that any text, written or spoken, has meanings only when the schema in the brain is activated. thus, the reading process is the interaction of background information and the input information. the main factor that determines readers reading effects is the acquired schemata in readers mind rather than poor grammar and limited vocabulary.the reasons that readers cannot comprehend a text may lie in readers are not equipped with required linguistic schemata. readers do not have related schema, but thee clues that the author of the text provides fail to activate readers pre-existing schema. so teachers should make students realize that comprehending a text does not completely rely on the language information they read, but it is learners related background information that impacts the reading process. non-verbal information (background information and the discourse of the text) is of equal importance as language information. if the readers and the authors schemata are not in accordance with each other, reading comprehension will still meet difficulties even though the reader does not have any problem in language knowledge. all the above analysis can see the important function of background information in extensive reading course and schema theory is a good proof. application of background information in extensive reading coursea. the present state of extensive reading teaching for english majorsextensive reading teaching was generally considered to be a subject aimed at enlarging vocabulary in the form of reading. the task of this course is to instruct students to master all kinds of reading skills and then improve the accuracy of obtaining information as well as reading comprehension.during teaching, traditional teaching mode, that is, vocabulary-learning and exercise-doing, which is based on grammar and vocabulary, is deeply doubted by students. so the present state of extensive reading teaching requires a reform.grammar and vocabulary can just help readers to understand sentence structure and organization of the text more easily. as for more information hidden between lines, readers should resort to some already known information, their background information. background information can actually help readers to comprehend a text better. therefore, teachers should tell students more background information instead of explaining too many grammar points in extensive reading course. students themselves should also read more books to accumulate more background information to improve their reading comprehension. as for the vocabulary, teachers should teach students to learn to guess meanings according to different contexts. in all, background information should be informed in extensive reading course so that students extensive reading can be improved.b. applicationto make students have a proper and quick understanding of the material instead of being hindered by poorly applied background information, an extensive reading teacher should be very familiar with the reading material and understand it very well to make sure what background information the students may lack. then choose some appropriate and effective methods to inspire students to make full use of background information stored in their brain and assist students to incorporate printed information to their pre-existing background knowledge. in this way, students are able to apply background knowledge in reading comprehension and then achieve a satisfying effect. as has been noted, this thesis aims at improving extensive reading teaching through background information. so some methods are presented here.a. group discussionclass discussion is a traditional but effective method which is often used by english majors, because small-class teaching is widely applied in foreign language department for the purpose of efficiency. discussion makes students be aware that they have a task, so it is possible for most students to participate actively and improve their oral english at the same time. group discussion is better, for the whole class are divided into several groups with four to five members in each group so that they all have chance to speak and state their own ideas in limited time. it can save some time for teachers use. besides, students background knowledge may vary from one to one.discussion can help students to get some ideas from others and then convert it into their own background knowledge. when having group discussion, the teacher first gives a well-designed topic related to the text. and students have the discussion in small groups and after discussion, each group have one member present their group idea. the teacher finally gives a summary and leads in the text. in this way, teachers can lead in the text easily and it is good to create an active class atmosphere. students interest in the text must be greatly stimulated from the discussion. also discussion can make students learn to communicate with each other better. language learning requires students to open their mouth and be brave to show themselves.b. comparison between native and foreign background informationthis is also a traditional but widely-used method, for comparison can make students have deep impressions ad inspires a good memory. during the accumulation of background information, students themselves may find there are many differences in culture, religious belief, etc. among countries. for example, in book one of college extensive reading course, chinese readers may be surprised when they know american parents would let two-year-old kid choose what to wear every morning. in fact, american parents just stress the importance of having children make their own decisions at a very early age. independence is a vital part of their parenting skill. children are taught to be independent from very young age. children get paid by doing housework and they can use the money they earned to buy anything. however, in china, parents tend to pave the way for their children all the time. they like to get everything ready and make decisions for their children. children are very dependent on their parents until very old age. giving children what they need seems to be parents responsibility. anther example, many people have noticed that cat usually appears with the company of a witch in western films. in their mind, cat represents something evil. but in chinese culture, it is said that cat has nine lives so it should be protected. cute, smart are usually used to describe cat. anyway, all the background information can provide some clues for readers to understand a text better. having a clear comparison between native and foreign background information can avoid many misunderstandings so it is an important factor in reading process.cwriting and presenting personal experiencesstudents who have a high level of english can easily reach a satisfying reading effect, for they can express themselves orally or literally better. this activity can begin either before or during analyzing the text. at the beginning students are given some key words or phrases related to the text. then the teacher may explain the text and come up with some subjective questions such as “what do you think of ？”“how do you feel about？” etc. in a text titled the white collar of unit 14 of the fourth book of college extensive reading course, a teacher designs such questions as following. what does “the white-collar” remind you of? have you ever considered joining the white-collar? according to the text, are there any problems faced by them? where do their main problems lie? what does the author think of them? what do you think of them after reading the passage? to answer these questions, students are motivated to express themselves and connect the textual information with their previously known background information and in this way make their background information strengthened. first the teacher may ask students question 1 and 2, because the two questions are very easy and have no decided answers. students can give their answers according to what they have known about the white collar. their superior living conditions and high working pressure may first occur in students mind. it is their background knowledge that determines what appears in their mind. then students may read through the whole text with question 3and 4 in their mind. students may realize the differences through questions, and try to compare their acquired background information with the content of the text and finally understand that in fact, the text leads in the white-collars difficulties that they face by the introduction of all sorts of white-collars. the last two questions make students self-examine the real writing purpose of the writer and recognize the white-collar with their own feelings. of course, students can also have their brainstorms and write down what they have in their mind as soon as the teacher raises these questions. this kind of short writing can also express