he Application of Schema Theory in Senior High School English Reading Teaching.doc

毕业论文(设计)The Application of Schema Theory in Senior High School English Reading Teaching1. Introduction12. Three models of reading processing32.1 The bottom-up model32.2 The top-down model42.3 The interactive model43. Schema theory53.1 The fundamental concept of schema theory53.2 Classifications of schemata64. The application of schema theory in senior high school English reading teaching84.1 Some considerations in the application of the schema theory in reading instruction94.1.1 The readers94.1.2 Some preparations before reading in relation to schema theory124.2 Some technique in using schema theory in reading instruction154.2.1 Conceptually driven schema154.2.2 Data driven schema164.3 Practical application of schema theory in reading class175. Conclusion20References211. Introduction Reading has always been considered one of the most important skills in foreign language learning. It is not only a chief means to gain information and learn English culture, but also an important way to consolidate and expand foreign language know- ledge. According to statistics, about 50% of knowledge that people obtain is from reading (程世禄, 张国扬, 2004). In the traditional way of English reading teaching, senior high school teachers usually focus on teaching single words, phrases or grammatical points. The analysis of English grammar is the main activity in the process of teaching. But they neglect the point that lacking of language knowledge, background knowledge and passage structure knowledge tends to prevent English learners from reading effectively. During the past few decades, the schema theory has been introduced to English reading classes, which makes the research of schema theory in the teaching of English reading a hot topic. Currently, the concept “schema” is no longer strange to the instructors and researchers in the field of reading. Schema is a term first used in the field of cognitive psychology by F.C. Bartlett (Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology. CUP. 1932). Though still debatable, schema is generally being referred as a mental structure. It is abstract because it does not relate to any particular experience, although it derives from all the particular experience we have had. It is a structure because it is organized; it includes the relationships between its components (Christine Nuttall, 2002).Can schema theory be one of the most influential ways to improve students reading ability? And how is schema theory applied in the teaching of reading? In this thesis, we will discuss schema theory and its application in the English reading teaching to get the best answer. But the decomposition of the reading process should be done first for the purpose of the present study on the application of schema theroy in reading. Only after we unpack the reading process and have a good understanding of the component processing of reading can we investigate and speculate the use of schema theory in reading comprehension. Fundamentally, psychologists have distinguished three kinds of processing: the top-down processing, the bottom-up processing and the interactive processing. Here in part two, we will have a further research on these reading processes.2. Three models of reading processing2.1 The bottom-up modelIn bottom-up processing, the reader builds up a meaning from the black marks on the page: recognizing letters and words, working out sentence structure. We can make conscious use of it when an initial reading leaves us confused. Perhaps we cannot believe that the apparent message was really what the writer intended; this can happen if our world knowledge is inadequate, or if the writers point of view is very different from our own. In that case, we must scrutinize the vocabulary and syntax to make sure we have grasped the plain sense correctly. Thus bottom-up processing can be used as a corrective to tunnel vision (seeing things only from our own limited point of view).Our image of bottom-up processing might be a scientist with a magnifying glass examining the ecology of a transect a tiny part of the eagle surveys. The scientist develops a detailed understanding of that one little area (which might represent a sentence in the text); but full understanding only comes if this is combined with knowledge of adjacent areas and the wider terrain, so that their effects on one another can be recognized. In other words, bottom-up and top-down approaches are used to complement each other.2.2 The top-down modelIn top-down processing, we draw on our own intelligence and experiencethe predictions we can make, based on the schemata we have acquired to understand the text. As we know, this kind of processing is used when we interpret assumptions and draw inferences. We make conscious use of it when we try to see the overall purpose of the text, or get a rough idea of the pattern of the writers argument, in order to make a reasoned guess at the next step (on the grounds that having an idea of what something might mean can be a great help in interpreting it.)We might compare this approach to an eagles eye view of the landscape. From a great height, the eagle can see a wide area spread out below; it understands the nature of the whole terrain, its general pattern and the relationships between various parts of it, far better than an observer on the ground. A reader adopts an eagles eye view of the text when he considers it as a whole and relates it to his own knowledge and experience. This enables him to predict the writers purpose, the likely trend of the argument and so on, and then use this framework to interpret difficult parts of the text. The top-down approach gives a sense of perspective and makes use of all that the reader brings to the text: prior knowledge, common sense, etc, which have sometimes been undervalued in the reading class.2.3 The interactive modelThis model is the interaction of top-down and bottom-up processing. Although logically we might expect that we ought to understand the plain sense if we are to understand anything else, in practice a reader continually shifts from one focus to another, now adopting a top-down approach to predict the probable meaning, then moving to the bottom-up approach to check whether that is really what the writer says. This has become known as interactive model. Until 1970s, reading is first considered to be an interactive model by Rumemlhart. The interactive model is a theory which can entirely explain the reading process. The interactive model is also called the schema theory model. The schema theory model uses two methods to deal with information: one is “bottom-up” model; the other is “top-down” model. During the reading progress, no matter in any moment, those two models are always carried out at the same time. Bottom-up information dealing assures readers of discovering new information and information which is different with their own supposing. Top-down information dealing helps readers distinguish different meanings and make correct choice. Both approaches can be mobilized by conscious choice, and both are important strategies for readers. Therefore, Schema Theory model is not only a theory that explains the reading process but also a theory that fits for English reading teaching (陈开顺, 1988).3. Schema theory3.1 The fundamental concept of schema theory The accomplishment of Schema Theory owes to American artificial intelligence expert Rumelhart in 1970s. According to Rumelhart, schema theory is basically a theory about human knowledge, about how the knowledge is organized and stored in units in humans brain, and about how the knowledge is applied. His important conclusion on schema which can be regarded as the most significant in reading instruction is that schema contains many variables, which lead to various output or interpretation. The application of schema is associated in different settings which include different learners, the learners cultural background, and their linguistic competence at the time of instruction and so on. We believe it is this variable feature of schema that makes reading instruction a complex work that is worthy of study in the practice of reading instruction. 3.2 Classifications of schemataGenerally speaking, schema can be divided into three types: linguistic schema, content schema and formal schema. Linguistic schema is readers mastering degree of the language materials. Content schema is readers familiar degree of the topic discussed in the article. Formal schema is readers understanding degree of the article style.Linguistic schema is the base of content schema and formal schema. It is important for students to build linguistic schema, because language is students weak points. Without linguistic schema, students cannot make use of the information of the reading materials to apply content schema and formal schema in their mind. In this way, they can never understand the articles. For example, a student who doesnt know English at all read a text on Christmas which he is familiar so much. No matter how he is familiar with that festival, he still cannot understand the meaning of the text, because linguistic schema is the base. Without linguistic schema, content schema and formal schema cannot make effect. Instead, even though readers have firm linguistic schema but not be familiar to the content and formal of the reading materials, they cannot get better understanding of the reading materials.Look at the following passage：Business had been slow since the oil crisis. Nobody seemed to want anything elegant anymore. Suddenly the door opened and a well-dressed man entered the showroom floor. John put on his friendliest and most sincere expression as he walked toward the man.“Ill take it. Cash on the line.” The man asserted within a few minutes. Later, as he was completing the paper work, John murmured to himself, “What does he really know about elegance?” (as cited in Chen xianchun).The words in this passage are not very difficult. Many senior high students consider that there is no new word. However, when students are asked where the conversation happened, what is John, or where is “show room”, almost no one can answer correctly. Someone said the conversation happened in exhibition hall. Students also understand the answer to “what john is”. Few students can explain “show room” well. But if the students were American, they can easily know that “show room” is car selling place and the conversation happened in car selling place. They can even know that John is a businessman who sells cars while another person is a car buyer. The whole passage didnt appear the word “car”. However, American students can still guess that the passage is about car business. Because there is content schema in their mind, they can suppose car oil from the words “oil crisis” and suppose payment methods from “cash on the line”. Cars are rather widely used in America, so almost every American student can understand the passage well. While the Chinese students have no such schema in their mind, they cannot think as American students do. From the condition above, although readers language element is important, some simple problems have to be solved by cultural background knowledge. The meaning is gained from special cultural environment. Getting information from the articles depend on the knowledge people have. If people want to comprehend the articles well, they should apply the three kinds of schema. Therefore, teachers should realize that reading is not only a process of understanding words but also a process of reciprocity between mental element and cultural background. In order to gain the best understanding of reading materials, teachers should lead students to build perfect schema and enlighten students to apply schema. 4. The application of schema theory in senior high school English reading teaching Research on teaching reading suggests that schema theory can optimize the reading development of students and it has provided numerous benefits to English reading teaching. Most current ESL/EFL textbooks attempt schema activation through pre-reading activities. In applying schema theory to the teaching of reading, which emphasizes on getting the gist of the texts, we can see a positive influence on the pre-reading activities, as it builds up absent schemata, activates resident schemata and improve L2 reader comprehension in many situations (Scott 2001: 80). For example, when students are reading a passage about the solar system, previewing the text such as the title and figures helps them predict what they are going to read and activates their content schemata (background knowledge of the world) of the solar system. The way we interpret texts depends on the schemata activated by the text; and whether we interpret successfully depends on whether our schemata are sufficiently similar to the writers. The application to schema theory explains the research findings on how personal background knowledge helps the literacy development.4.1 Some considerations in the application of the schema theory in reading instruction4.1.1 The readersReaders can be divided into different groups according to different norms. Here, the classifying of readers involves two major norms: the readers linguistic proficiency and their level of schema. By “level of schema” we mean: a) Whether the reader possesses a sufficient knowledge of the world that can be activated for particular needs; b) Whether the readers knowledge of the world is normally organized, this means that whether his knowledge of the world is consistent to the socially and culturally recognized norms. This item is proposed because of the observation that there are many occasions when readers make wild and absurd interpretations of the text that is not meant by the writer;c) Whether the reader has a schema for some specific field and how professional his schema in this field is. Readers can be approximately classified as below. (An approximate classification is due to the consideration that very detailed one may complicate the analysis work and lead to the failure of locating the main problems.)readerLinguistic competence schema Poor readergoodweakweak goodweakweakGood readergoodgoodgoodweakThis diagram illustrates the following features of readers:a) Poor readers have stronger tendency of being weak in linguistic competence.b) A basic condition of being good readers is their good linguistic competence.c) Both good and weak readers share the overlapping feature of being good at linguistic competence and weak at schema.We will first focus our discussion on the reading instruction of the first category of readers in the perspective of schema theory. Observations in the reading reveal that schema theory turns out to be less valid to the readers with low linguistic competence, since schema method more or less has the characters of “top-down mode” which emphasizes processing from higher-level skills. But automatic perception and decoding is the crucial foundation for initiating the higher-level skills. When readers are in their low linguistic stage, they still cannot surmount the difficulty of decoding in order to base their prediction on or activate their schema. David E. Eskey (Patricia L. Carrell et al, 1988) pointed out that interactive processing should be the interaction between information obtained by means of bottom-up decoding and information provide by means of top-down analysis. This statement strongly supports the belief that reading instruction should be “held in the bottom” without which neither interactive approach nor schema method can be effectively applied. Experiments prove that more time is consumed when using top skills like guessing, predicting and confirming. While the basic recognition of vocabulary and structure provides the primary information entailed for activating the concerning schema. Therefore, it is feasible to believe that schema method is less adaptable to the readers with low linguistic competence, since schema method cannot and should not be responsible for direct instruction of language acquisition. This conclusion especially explains why readers with good schema, yet low linguistic competence still fail to be fluent and skillful readers due to their constraint linguistic competence. The second issue worthy of discussing is about good readers and poor readers who are both linguistically proficient but weak at schema. What are the factors that classify them into two categories of being good or poor readers? Here, “weak at schema” can be reflected in two ways. One is that the readers totally lack the relevant schema, the other is that the schema may not be activated. Patricia L. Carell et al claims after studies that ESL reading comprehension may be affected not because the ESL readers lack the appropriate schema. (Patricia L. Carell et al, 1988.). According to this judgement, we can conclude that the good readers are those who seek to use flexible reading strategies and skills in their reading activities to make association and activate their storage of schema using available information. These strategies may include flexible switch from bottom-up to top-down or vice versa in time of need and make use of any available clues. The shift of processing mode helps to eliminate the difficulties in assigning meaning to the given text, which will initiate the activation of schema. Carell also notices that less skilled readers and poor readers tend to over rely on one-direction processes, for instance on the knowledge based or top-down processing (Patricia L. Carrell et al, 1988). Reading instruction for this type of poor readers should consist reading strategy instruction and training in order to fully effectuate their linguistic competence in