Applying Schema Theory to Foreign Language Reading

Abstract

In this article, reading is considered to be an interactiveprocess in which the schematic information a readerpossesses for the topic of a given text is as important to adequate comprehension as the information presented on the printed page. When reading in a foreign language, understanding of that language's accompanying culture enables students to approach reading topics from the appropriate cultural perspective. Several classroom activities are described for use before reading, while reading, and after reading.At a time when innovative methodologies for oral language instruction are gaining recognition in the classroom as well as in the research literature (Wolfe and Jones, 11; Lafayette and Strasheim, 4), most materials developers and classroom teachers still continue to disregard the newer body of theory and application that has developed in reading (Schulz,8). As a result, reading materials and instruction for foreign language students remain dominated by the practices of the past which view reading as deriving meaning from print, without recognizing the full importance of the reader's background knowledge. The alternatives presented in this article are based on an interactive model of reading, which maintains that background knowledge readers bring to the reading act is as important as the information residing in the text. E. Jane Melendez Schema Theory and Reading ComprehensionThe following paragraph offers the readers of this article personal experience with the implications of schema theory. The paragraph contains four nonsense words: doogledorph, gleep, klem, and sleechy. Even though these words all follow the conventions of English spelling, and readers can undoubtably pronounce each one, it is impossible to assign them meaning out of context. However, as one reads the paragraph, the English equivalent meanings will become apparent. He kept on climbing until he reached the top of the doogledorph. He was suddenly engulfed by a dense sleechy. As the wind carried it away, he found himself gazing out over a breathtaking panorama. White peaks surrounded him, some with fluffy sleechies seeming to be skewered on their points. The klem was a deep blue, and everything seemed to sparkle as the bright sun beamed down. As he looked down into a valley, he saw a two-humped gleep ambling along the river bank. It was the most unusual one he had ever seen, but he was sure it was a gleep. He wondered what agleep was doing in a doogledorph area. They usually inhabited only desert areas. As most readers go through the paragraph, they recognize that the English equivalents for the nonsense words listed above are mountain, camel, sky, and cloud, respectively. Of course, these are the terms that make sense as one tries to fit real words into the spaces filled by nonsense. But, why are readers able to do this?For several years theorists in the field of reading have recognized readers' knowledge of the general

Second Language Reading Research on Passage Content and Gender: Challenges for the Intermediate‐Level Curriculum

“…Barry and Lazarte (1995) report that providing background knowledge about reading made a difference for the intermediate students of Spanish, but only for relatively simple texts. Melendez and Pritchard (1985) offer suggestions for prereading activities, such as the use of movies, travelogues, visiting speakers, and more. They also suggest ways to activate appropriate schemata, with students forming expectations and making predictions about the content they are to read.…”

Writing, Reading, and Reading‐to‐Write in a Foreign Language: A Critical Review

“…cially for beginning and intermediate L2/FL students (Carrel1 and Eisterhold 1983;Hammadou 1991;Levine and Haus 1985;Lee 1986aLee , 1986b. On the other hand, lack of relevant prior knowledge as well as gaps in cultural background information inhibit or distort comprehension (Melendez 1985). The importance of prior knowledge in the comprehension process has suggested that in both L2/FL and L1 "what is understood depends [more] on the reader rather than on the linguistic difficulty of the text" (Swaffar et al 1991).…”

Learning Unfamiliar Cultural Beliefs: A Descriptive Study

“…Questions, used to guide discussion of the cornparative advance organizers and stories, are the third component of the sets of lesson materials. Pre-reading questions were written to increase students' consciousness of their own cultural beliefs and establish expectation for learning unfamiliar beliefs (Melendez & Pritchard, 1985). Following are examples of pre-reading questions.…”