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Helping ESL Students Become Better Readers: Schema Theory Applications and Limitations
Nigel Stott
nrstott@teacher.email.ne.jp
(Fukuoka, Japan)
Schema theory describes the process by which readers combine their own background knowledge with the information in a text to comprehend that text. All readers carry different schemata (background information) and these are also often culture-specific. This is an important concept in ESL teaching, and prereading tasks are often designed to build or activate the learner's schemata. This paper summarises some of the research into schema theory and its applications to ESL reading. The author also highlights some of the limitations of the use of the schema-theoretic approach and points out the importance both of developing the learner's vocabulary and of encouraging extensive reading.
Introduction
Schema theory is based on the belief that "every act of comprehension involves one's knowledge of the world as well" (Anderson et al. in Carrell and Eisterhold 1983:73). Thus, readers develop a coherent interpretation of text through the interactive process of "combining textual information with the information a reader brings to a text" (Widdowson in Grabe 1988:56). Readers' mental stores are termed 'schemata' (after Bartlett in Cook 1997:86) and are divided (following Carrell 1983a) into two main types: 'content schemata' (background knowledge of the world) and 'formal schemata' (background knowledge of rhetorical structure). Theories on the contribution of schemata to the reading process are discussed in the next section.
Schema-theoretic research highlights re
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