A Study Of Application Of Schema Theory In English Reading Teaching Of Higher Vocational Colleges

Reading is the main method of getting information for a foreign language learner.So it plays an important role in foreign language learning.However,there have been many issues which truly exist in the English teaching process and they cause a lot of troubles for teachers and students,and this leads to poor performance of many students in English reading and also leads English teachers into trouble.According to the schema theory,reading comprehension is an interaction between the background knowledge of readers and language materials.If the readers can master three schemas effectively,their reading competence can be enhanced greatly.This paper makes attempts to study the application of schema theory in English reading of higher vocational colleges.First,it conducts questionnaires about students’ perception of and attitude towards English rending comprehension.And then the selected experimental group will be taught using the teaching method based on schema,while the control group will be taught in traditional teaching method.The pre-test and post-test will be held before the empirical teaching and after it.The research questions of the thesis are as follows:(1)what are the significant differences between the participants of the experimental group and the control group by demography and dependent variables in the perceptions of and attitudes toward English reading comprehension?(2)Does schema theory based on background knowledge facilitate English reading competence of students?(3)What kinds of strategies do students prefer to use in English reading learning?The research has found that participants in both groups have similar self-evaluation of their reading skills,reading strategies and attitude toward English reading.By comparison of pre-test before experimental teaching and post-test after the teaching based on schema theory between the experimental class and control class,the result shows that both classes made progress after one semester reading teaching with different means,while the experimental class had a remarkable one with the application of schema theory into English reading teaching period.That is to say,application of schema theory into reading teaching in higher vocational colleges has positive effect.Through the research,we discover the top three items of effective reading strategies that students like.The research has proved that the application of schema theory in English reading teaching of higher vocational colleges has not only motivated the students but also help them master effective English reading skills and strategies.Therefore,reading level of students will be greatly improved.