The Application Of Schema Theory To English Writing In Senior High School

English writing is one of the basic communication skills in English, and is also an important teaching content in National Curriculum Standard for Common Senior High School. However, the situation of senior high students’ English writing is not satisfying. The common problems are that the ideas expressed are unclear. Chinese English is common and language errors appear one after another. What’ more, some students do not know 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 stimulate students’ interest in writing and improve their writing competence. As there are many shortcomings in the present English writing teaching of senior high schools, it is necessary to explore new English writing teaching methods to reform the existing English writing instruction, so as to stimulate students’ learning interest and improve their writing proficiency.The concept of schema was come up by German philosopher Immanuel Kant in 1781, while the modern concept of schema theory was further developed by Bartlett in the 1930 s and Rumelhart in the 1970 s. Studies have been widely done on how to apply schema theory to English reading teaching. However, the research on the application of schema theory to English writing teaching is limited.The thesis explores the effects of the application of the schema theory to senior high school students’ writing teaching in English class. The author chooses two classes with 95 students in Grade Two as the subjects from the Yuming Senior High School in Jinzhou. One class is randomly selected as the control class, which is adopted with traditional approach, while the other is chosen as the experimental class. In this paper, the writer attempts to answer the following research questions through the analysis of questionnaires, pre-test and post-test in the two classes and the interview for the experimental class.1. Can schema theory increase the students’ interest in English writing learning?2. Can schema theory enhance senior high school students’ English writing competence?The findings of the research indicate that it is effective to apply the schema theory to English writing teaching. On the one hand, schema theory is helpful for improving students’ confidence and increasing their interest in English reading learning. On the other hand, schema theory can improve senior high school students’ English writing ability and have positive effects on the students’ English proficiency. At the same time, the writer also analyzes the limitations of the research and offers the suggestions for the further study.