| To facilitate collaboration between TESL and science teachers, a study was made of the kinds of knowledge organization and processing strategies (schemata) commonly used by the two groups in reading science information. Reading comprehension oral self-reports were gathered, using a think-aloud method, quantified and compared. Both groups understood the experimental text; however, science teachers relied much more on deductive reasoning and inference than did the TESL teachers, who used discourse clues as their main comprehension strategy. In written recalls, the science teachers freely decomposed and rewrote the text, while the ESL teachers reproduced or simplified it. Apparently, academic training unconsciously shapes reading strategies, and the TESL teachers were unaware of the advisability of switching styles when reading science information. In the science teachers' style, all information is questioned in detail and absorbed through schemata cross-checking, while the text per se is discarded. |
