A Study On The Application Of Schema Theory In English Reading Teaching In Senior High School

As it’s known to all,English reading plays an important role in English teaching.With the constant reform of the new curriculum standards,the requirements of English reading teaching have also changed,especially the requirements for students’ reading ability are getting higher and higher.Reading teaching not only emphasizes on imparting language knowledge and cultivating students’ reading ability,but also focuses on cultivating students’ reading interests and intercultural communication awareness.But in the actual teaching,teachers and students are faced with many problems.For example,the Grammar Translation Method has been applied for a long term in teaching reading.Most teachers still tend to explain the knowledge of grammar and translate the passages into the target language sentences by sentences,ignoring students’ accumulation of relevant background knowledge and application of English language knowledge.Furthermore,some English teachers believe that students have already learned the genres and structures of articles in Chinese reading class,so there is no need to analyze the relevant knowledge of articles in English reading class,which makes it difficult for students to activate and establish schema related to articles and difficult to improve their reading abilities.Schema theory is an important teaching theory in English teaching,especially in English reading.Schema theory holds that reading is a process of decoding text.Only when the readers combine reading materials with the existing knowledge,can they comprehend the passages better.Therefore,English teachers can instruct students to activate,establish and consolidate schema so that they can remove obstacles in the process of reading,which enables improvement in their reading abilities and achievements.As mentioned above,this study is guided by schema theory and related reading teaching theory.One hundred students from two classes of grade one in Guiyang No.8 Middle School,where the author has an education practice,are selected as the research objects.The author uses the questionnaire survey method to understand and analyze the current situation and changes of students’ English learning before and after the experiment.In the process of the experiment,the author teaches English reading under the guidance of schema theory in the experimental class.While in the control class,English reading teaching based on the traditional Grammar Translation Method is applied.At the same time,the author analyzes the results of the pre-test and post-test of the two classes,in which it is found that the English reading teaching under the guidance of schema theory can stimulate and cultivate students’ interests in reading,and effectively improve students’ reading abilities and achievements.