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1、Content Schema and English Reading Comprehension Abstract: Schema is usually the general knowledge structure in mind, and there are different kinds of schema in readers mind. Content schema refers to the background knowledge about the content area of a text. And the readers content schema in mind ha
2、s greater effects on English comprehension.摘要：图式是存储在读者大脑中的知识框架，读者的大脑中有几种不同的图式，内容图式是其中的一种。内容图式指的是关于文章内容的背景知识。读者大脑中的内容图示对英语阅读理解产生极大影响。Key words: schema; content schema; English reading comprehension关键词：图示； 内容图示；英语阅读理解1. Schema The term of schema was proposed by Bartlett. Bartlett (1932) first defines
3、schema as “an active organization of pass reactions, or past experience” when discussing the nature of remembering. In other words, a schema is an abstract knowledge structure.2. Classifications of schemaCarrell (1983) classified schema into two sub-schema: content schema and formal schema. In order
4、 to get a better understanding on the role of content schema, it is necessary to draw a distinction between content schema and formal schema.2.1 Formal schema Formal schema, often known as textual schema or rhetorical schema, can be defined as“background knowledge of the formal, rhetorical organizat
5、ional structures of different types of texts”(Carrell and Esterhold 1983). It refers to the organizational forms and rhetorical structures of written texts. 2.2 Content schemaContent schema refers to “background knowledge about the content area of a text, such as text about washing clothes, celebrat
6、ing New Years Eve in Hawaii or Halloween in Carbondale, or about the economy of Mexico, the history of Canada, problems of nuclear breeder reactors, and so forth”(Carrell and Esterhold 1983). The researches have found out that readers familiarity with a topic affects his understanding of the text di
7、rectly and greatly. When a reader reads a text which is familiar to him, he can effectively activate the previous knowledge and background knowledge stored in his mind to support him to make predictions and inferences about the incoming information, and he tends to understand the text with ease, eve
8、n when he meets with some unacquainted words and complicated long sentences. 3. The functions of content schema in reading comprehension3.1 Assimilating text information A schema provides ideational scaffolding for assimilating text information. In some measure, readers arrive at comprehension with
9、their schema correspond with the writers. Take this sentence for instance:The policeman held up his hand and stopped the car. To understand this sentence, readers must have the schema of traffic, that is, the policeman held up his hand to give the driver a signal that he has to stop the car, otherwi
10、se the driver will disobey the traffic rules. That is to say, readers can not understand the text by the previous knowledge in minds.3.2 Making up for language deficiencyWhen the language of reading material is difficult to understand and students cannot use the decoding skill, that is “bottom-up” r
11、eading model effectively, they will have to choose content schematic-based model (top-down model). E.g, Hong Kongs Department of Health announced Monday that it had found the same mutation in a H1N1 flu virus sample as the one detected in Norway recently. For an effective reader with lower language
12、proficiency, he may have difficulty in understanding the sentence, but he is capable of using content schema to predict and deduce the underlying meaning behind the words.3.3 Making judgment, deduction and choice English reading is a process of judgment, deduction and choice. In the course of inform
13、ation processing, the readers hypotheses would constantly be denied, affirmed or improved. The reader must be able to provide more previous background knowledge to comprehend the reading materials rather than the printed words of reading material. Now lets look at an example: A doctor dressed in whi
14、te gown with a medicine chest knocked at the door of room301, a young woman opened the door. The doctor asked: “Is your husband at home? The woman whispered: “No.”Then the doctor slipped into the room. When reading the first sentence, the readers think that the doctor paid his patient a visit. When
15、moving to the second sentence, readers might be doubtful for the doctors purpose. After the reader read the last sentence, he suddenly realized that the doctor committed adultery with the woman. English reading processing can be regarded as a series of processes made up of predicting, selecting, tes
16、ting and affirming. In the process, content schema helps the readers predict for every part and then chooses the most appropriate part from many schemas for interactive communication with the writer. If some of the information is proved to be incorrect, the reader will give it up and choose the info
17、rmation again. In a sense, reading comprehension is a process of selecting, testing, confirming or negating information. 4. ConclusionFrom above discussion, the printed words of the text only provide directions for the readers only when they regain or construct meaning from their own prior knowledge
18、. The more background information a reader is familiar with the content of a text, the better he/ she will comprehend it. The insufficient background knowledge may lead to difficulty or failure in successful comprehension. Therefore, English teacher should take some effective measures to activate st
19、udents known content schema so that to improve reading efficiency. References:1 Barlett, F.C. Remembering M.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.1932:202 Carrell, P.L.&J.C. Eisterhold. Schema Theory and ESL Reading Pedagogy A.In Interactive Approaches to Second Language ReadingC.Ed. Cambridge: University Press, 1983:173 赵艳芳.认知语言学概论M.上海：上海外语教育出版社,2001, 37-584 元鲁霞、王初明.背景知识与语言难度在英语阅读理解中的作用J.外语教学与研究,1988,(2),7-14 3
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