The Study on the Application of Schema Theory in English Reading

【Abstract】Schema is existing experience of knowledge in the human brain，it plays an important role in English reading. One of the important reasons for students failure in English reading is the lack of content schemata. Therefore， based on the introduction of schema theory， this paper first analyzes the relationship between schema theory and English reading comprehension， and then discusses how to obtain schema in reading comprehension.

【Key words】Schema Theory； English Reading； Application

【 作者簡介】王曼竹（2001.05.15-），女，汉族，吉林人，吉林市毓文中学高三十三班。

Introduction

The purpose of English reading teaching is to develop learners reading strategies， language sense and the ability to acquire and process information in the process of reading . It mainly examines the reading comprehension ability of the article by understanding the details of the article， reasoning and judging， guessing the meaning of words， summarizing the purport and dealing with the logic of the article， and so on. Therefore， this paper applies the schema theory to all aspects of English reading to help learners improve their reading ability.

1. Schema Theory

The word “schema” first appeared in the German philosopher and psychologist Kants book （Critique of Pure Reason）. In his opinion， when a person accepts new ideas， new information and new concepts， it is only by connecting them with the inherent knowledge in the persons mind that the meaningful concepts can be generated（Kant 1781）. Until the 1930s， Bartlett put forward “schema theory” in his book （Memory）. In his view， Schema is “an active combination of past reactions and past experiences”（Bartlett1932）.

2. The Relationship between English Reading and Schema Theory

In the process of English reading， learners will apply three kinds of schemata， including language schema， content schema and formal schema， which play different roles respectively. Language schema refers to the basic knowledge that learners have mastered， including vocabulary， grammar and sentence pattern. It is the basis of English reading and the premise of content schema and formal schema. Content schema refers to learners familiarity with the background knowledge of articles. In English reading， if you only master language knowledge， lack of understanding of content schema，it is not conducive to comprehensive understanding of the content of the article. Formal schema refers to the knowledge of writing style and structure. It can help learners analyze the composition of paragraphs in the reading process and make correct predictions for the full text.

3. The Application of Schema Theory in English Reading

3.1 Activate the Schema before Reading

To understand the reading materials， learners should have the schema related to the reading materials and activate it to help learners understand the reading contents. Before reading， you can stimulate the original schema by using video resources related to the reading topic， brainstorming， group discussion， title prediction，and so on. For example， video can be used to display the background content of the article vividly， bringing the sense of direct and image to learners， and the original content schema can be effectively stimulated.

3.2 Use the Schema in Reading

The stimulation of schema theory before reading， can improve learners ability to process information in reading and provide them with a framework to understand the content of articles. In the process of reading， learners compare and verify the acquired information and previous predictions， and then build a framework using the correct information to complete and improve the understanding of the article.

3.3 Consolidate the Schema after Reading

After reading， learners should timely and continuously consolidate the language schema， content schema and formal schema established in reading by repeating， abbreviating， extended reading， extended writing， and so on. In this way， it can help learners consolidate what they have learned and deeply understand relevant schema knowledge， so as to achieve the effect of applying what they have learned.

4. Conclusion

In summary， in terms of learning content， learners must not only effectively grasp the basic knowledge of grammar， words， etc. involved in reading comprehension， but also learn the content schema， language schema and formal diagram that are crucial to understanding the article. From the perspective of the learning process， schema theory is of great significance for the study of English reading. It can help learners break the way of accepting information passively to construct their own learning content actively.

References：

[1]普通英語课程标准[M].北京：人民教育出版社，2007：29.

[2]Kant.Critique of Pure Reason[M].London： Macmillan，1987.