The Application Of The Schema Theory To The English Reading Teaching In Vocational Colleges

"For many students of English,reading is by far the most important of the four skills in the foreign language."(Carrell,1989).In foreign language teaching and learning, reading is a very important aspect,for it is an important approach for students to acquire foreign language knowledge and skills.In the teaching of English reading,however,there exist some problems,which result in failing to cultivate students' reading ability.To solve these problems,this paper focuses on the guidance of schema instantiation to the teaching of reading in Vocational Colleges.It is generally accepted that the reading process not only involves polishing language and concepts,but also involves making use of the original background knowledge.The role of background knowledge in language comprehension has been formalized as schema thcorv(Carrell and Eisterhold,1987:220).Schema theory emphasizes that reading comprehension is an interactive process between the reader and the text itself.A reader can use schemata to understand relationships among pieces of information and to fill in information that is not mentioned explicitly.Supporters of this view argue that a main determinant of the knowledge individuals can obtain from thc act of reading is the knowledge they already possess.This dissertation is organized into 4 chapters,as well as an introduction and a conclusion.The Introduction shows the origins of the dissertation and takes a brief glance at schema.Chapter One focuses on reviewing the literature related to Schema Theory.And it introduces the definition and ramifications of the Schema Theory.The Schemata fall into three categories.They are the linguistic schema,the content schema,the rhetorical schema,and along with its functions in the process of reading.At last,it discusses the relationship between Schema Theory and the English process.Chapter Two introduces the method of the study,including the aim.subjects, teaching material,equipment,procedures and setting of the experiment.And then it shows how teaching is conducted with the help of schema theory in Group A,whereas Group B is taught ordinarily.Chapter Three suggests a few pedagogical implications to the Vocational college English reading comprehension teaching.Finally,the conclusion part summarizes the experiment results,displays its significance to English teaching and acquisition.