The Application Of Schematheory To English Writing Teaching In Senior High Schools

English writing is one of the basic communication skills in English, and is also animportant teaching content in National English Curriculum Standards for Common SeniorHigh School. However, the situation of senior high students’ English writing is notsatisfying. The common problems are that the idea expressed is unclear, Chinese English iscommon and language errors appear one after another. What’s worse, some students do notknow how to write, and some even lose heart in writing. In the English writing teaching,the teacher-centered pedagogy is most commonly used, which is difficult to stimulatestudents’ interest in writing and improve their writing competence. As there are manyshortcomings in the present English writing teaching of senior high, it is necessary toexplore new English writing teaching methods to reform the existing English writinginstruction, so as to stimulate students’ learning interest and improve their writingproficiency.The concept of schema was first put forward by German philosopher Immanuel Kantin1781, while the modern concept of schema theory was further developed by Bartlett inthe1930s and Rumelhart in the1970s. Studies have been widely done on how to applyschema theory to English reading teaching. However, the research on the application ofschema theory to English writing teaching is not much. Based on these achievements, thisresearch takes the empirical research method of applying schema theory into Englishwriting teaching in senior high schools. The major findings of the study are: schema-basedapproach is effective in senior high English writing teaching; it can arouse students’interest in English writing and improve their writing proficiency.The thesis is made up of five chapters.Chapter one introduces the current situation of English writing teaching in senior highschools and the importance of English writing. After analyzing the problems existing in theteaching of English writing from the aspects of both teachers and students, the author putsforward the purpose and significance of the study. Chapter two is the literature review. The first part is schema theory, in which thedefinition and classification of schema are introduced in detail; the second part is Englishwriting, including the nature of writing and current teaching modes in English writing; thethird part is schema theory and English writing, containing the research status and thepromoting effect of schema theory on writing.Chapter three is the research design.115students from two natural classes of seniortwo in Liaocheng No.2middle school were chosen as the subjects of the experiment. Theexperiment lasted for one semester, from September2013to January2014. In theexperimental class, students were taught by the schema-oriented approach, while studentsin the control class were still taught by the traditional method. The author usedquestionnaires, writing tests and interviews to test the effectiveness of this teachingmethod.Chapter four is experimental results and analysis. After collecting all of the data in theexperiment, and conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses, the author compares theteaching effect of schema-oriented English writing teaching and traditional English writingteaching.The last chapter is conclusion and suggestion, in which the author puts forward themajor findings and the limitations of the study, the suggestions for further research, and theimplications for English writing teaching in senior high schools.