Case Study Of The Influence Of Schema-Theory-Based Teaching Approach On Unsuccessful Learners’ English Reading Strategies In Senior High School

Reading is one of the most important ways to absorb the language material,enlarge the knowledge of language and gain the important information for the readers;and it is also an important means to obtain language input. Therefore, it is obviousthat reading plays an important role in teaching reading. At present there is a tendencyin the English reading teaching, which lays more emphasis on grammar focus andlanguage points than on students’ understanding of the whole passage. This kind ofteaching approach neglects the development of students’ reading strategies andlanguage ability, and makes the students know little about English culturalbackground knowledge and lack reading strategies instruction. These result instudents’ low reading abilities.Schema theory has been applied to English teaching in China for a long time;and a large number of research works have come into being about the application ofschema theory in reading. However, most of them are limited in the theoretical layerand students in senior high schools are short of strategy training under the SchemaTheory. This paper aims to study the influences of schema-theory-based Englishteaching on the unsuccessful learners’ reading strategies in senior high school. Theresearch questions are:1) What are the characteristics of the reading strategies of theunsuccessful learners in English compared with the successful learners?2) Canschema-theory-based teaching influence the unsuccessful learners’ English readingstrategies in senior high school?The writer of this thesis first tries to get some general ideas of the students’ usageof reading strategies through a questionnaire investigation. And then an interview wasconducted to know more about the unsuccessful learners’ English reading strategies.The result of the questionnaire investigation and the interview were used as the basisfor the planning and implementation of a reading strategy instruction program in anattempt to influence the unsuccessful learners’ English out of the difficult situation.This research was designed as a case study, and in the case study,4unsuccessfullearners were chosen as subjects and required to attend the one-term-long English reading training and reading strategies instruction. The results show thatreading-strategy instruction, to a certain extent, not only improves the score and levelof reading but also enhances students’ awareness of strategy. In addition, this studyalso proves that reading-strategy instruction has a positive impact on unsuccessfullearners to study English.