The Importance of Schema Theory in English Reading Comprehension

黨利

【Abstract】This paper presents the importance of schema theory in reading comprehension from the perspective of language philosophy， especially the philosophy of linguistic philosophers Putman and Wittgenstein.

【Key words】schema theory； reading comprehension； language philosophy； Putman and Wittgenstein

1. Schema Theory

1.1 The Origin and Definition of Schema Theory

Schema Theory is originally put forward in Cognitive Psychology， which was thought to be first touched upon and introduced by Bartlett in his book in Remembering： A study in Experimental and Social Psychology. In this book， Bartlett （1932） claimed that “Schema refers to an active organization of past reactions， or of past experiences， which must always be supposed to be operating in any well-adapted organic responses”. Namely， the schema is referred to as the past background information stored in peoples memory， which can be activated.

1.2 The Classifications of Schema Theory

Schema theory is classified into linguistic schema， formal schema and content schema. According to Carrell， an expert in studying the application of schema theory to reading comprehension， linguistic schema refers to the readers prior linguistic knowledge， including existing language proficiency in vocabulary， grammar and sentence structures； formal schema are often known as rhetorical schemata， which refers to the organizational forms and rhetorical structures of written texts； while content schema refers to the readers prior knowledge of the content area of the text， which is key to the understanding of a specific text.

2. Schema Theory and Reading Comprehension

2.1 The Research of Schema Theory and Reading Comprehension

Modern schema theory was repeatedly applied to the research of speech and reading， especially the research of reading comprehension. For instance， Rumelhart （1980） once claimed schema theory is applied to explain how readers comprehend and learn from the text by using their prior knowledge. He also believes that comprehension is the process of selecting the schema illustrating input information and variable constraints. Patricia L Carrell， another expert， also researched deeply and extensively on schema theory and reading comprehension. He also published several papers to analyze and illustrate the correlation between Schema Theory and reading comprehension.

Meanwhile， there are many people in China who have also introduced and researched on schema theory. For instance， Deng Gang， in his book， Discussion on Several Theoretical Problems of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning（2003）， gave a literature review of schema theory and added some of his new comments on it. Besides， some language teachers and students graduating papers have also involved the research of schema theory.

2.2 The Importance of Schema Theory in Reading Comprehension from the View of Language Philosophy

Linguistic philosopher Putman proposes the “division of linguistic labor”， which denotes that the meaning of language cannot be determined by a single individual， and the comprehension and application of language is a social behavior. Therefore， according to Putman that language is a social behavior， and then the learning of a certain language requires the learners interaction and communication with others， maybe also the interaction between the reader and the text itself. Here， the schema theory also emphasizes that the meaning of language can be acquired through the interaction between the reader and the text， that is， the reader can apply his or her pre-knowledge into the understanding of a text and the pre-knowledge in schema theory is the background information.

Meanwhile， Wittgenstein has also proposed that the comprehension of a sentence is a comprehension of a language， which means that if you want to understand a sentence， you need not only know the language itself， but also need to comprehend other aspects concerning language comprehension， namely， the background of the language used， the formal types of the language.

Therefore， from Putmans and Wittgensteins views， we get to know that their philosophy emphasizes the importance of background information in language comprehension， pointing out the importance of schema theory in reading comprehension.

Conclusion

This paper， through the introduction to schema theory and reading comprehension， presents the importance of schema theory in reading comprehension from the perspective of language philosophy.

References：

[1]Carrell，P.L.，& Eisterhold，J.C.（1983）.Schema theory and ESL reading pedagogy.TESOL quarterly，17（4），553-573.