ATESL Pd workshop 2016

ATESL PD Session 2016 1

Assisting ESL Students Become Better Readers through Schema Theory Applications

Submitted by

Abir AboutahaNorthcentral University

Prescott Valley, AZ


Workshop Outline•The Concept of Schema Theory

•Schema and Jean piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

•Schema Theory and Reading Skill

•Types of Schemata

•Schema Theory and Models of Reading Process

•Activating & Building the Schemata

•Schema Theory Application on Reading Activities

•Schema Theory Limitations

•Group activities

•References


The Concept of Schema Theory

•The schema theory was one of the leading cognitive learning theories.

•It was first introduced by Frederic Bartlett in 1932 as a part of his theory.

•Bartlett (1932) defined schema as “the reflection or active organization of people’s past experiences.”

•Bartlett's theory confirmed that our understanding of the world is formed by a network of abstract mental structures which represent one's understanding of the world.


The Concept of Schema Theory

• According to Rumelhart (1980), Schema entails an internal knowledge structure

• New information is compared to the existing cognitive structure called "schema"

• Schema will be combined, extended, or adjusted to accommodate new information


Schema and Jean piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Schema is the mental representations of a set of ideas and actions, which we use to understand and acquire new knowledge.

Schema goes through the following processes:

Assimilation: The process of taking in information into our previously existing schemas.

Accommodation: Involves alternating existing ideas or schema as a result of new information or new experiences.

Equilibration: A mechanism that helps children in achieving a balance between assimilation and accommodation.

(Piaget, 1928)


Schema theory and Reading Skills

"Schema theory is based on the notion that past experiences lead to the creation of mental frameworks that help us make sense of new experiences” (Nunan, 1999, p.201)

The reader's background knowledge and experiences play an essential role in the reading comprehension.

The written text does not carry meaning by itself.


Schema theory and Reading Skills

The text provides directions for the readers to assist them in retrieving or constructing knowledge from their own existing knowledge (prior knowledge and the previously acquired knowledge structure called schemata) (Barlett, 1932).

Comprehending a reading text demands an interactive process between the readers' background knowledge and the text.


Types of Schemata

Rhetorical or formal schemata

Linguistic schemata

Content schemata


Schema Theory and Models of Reading Process

•Bottom-Up ProcessingIt focuses on lower level skills such as matching sounds with the letters, syllables, and words recognition. The meaning of the text is constructed based on the reader’s prior knowledge of linguistic items like vocabulary, grammar, and syntax.•Top-Down ProcessingIt focuses on higher level skills such as the background knowledge a reader uses to make prediction to understand a written text.


Interactive Model Processing

The interactive model takes place at three levels:

1) The interaction between the bottom-up and top-down processes simultaneously throughout the reading process.

2) The interaction between lower level and higher level skills.

3) The interaction between the background knowledge presupposed in the text and the background of the reader.

(Rumelhart, 1980).

Top -dow

n processing

Bot

tom

-up

Pr

oces

sing

ThemesMain ideas Ideas / detailsPhrases/ expressions Words


Activating and Building the Schemata


Schema Theory Application on Reading Activities

1) “Pre-reading activities” enable ESL learners to:

Bring themselves to the text (new concepts, processes, skills).

Predict and activate schema, i.e. what learners already know (prior knowledge and experiences).

Make connections, predictions, inferences, pose questions, etc.

Motivate learners' interest and engagement.Use Multiple intelligence (MI).Build background knowledge



2) “During-reading activities” enable learners to:

Bring the text (concept) to themselves by applying reading strategies such as skimming and scanning

Make meaningful connections.Pose critical questionsMake guessing & inferencesVisualize what students are reading and draw a clear mental

picture of the textNote changes in thoughts, feelings, and understandings.



3) "Post-Reading activities" enable the learners to:

Summarize the content in a few sentencesDiscuss critically and pose questionsBecome critically aware of how effective their thinking is to

gain deeper connections to themselves, other texts/concepts and the external world.

Integrate new information with the existing knowledgeExtend schema and build background knowledgeExpress new understanding and catch the missing parts of

the mental picture.


Schema Theory Limitations

Despite the popularity of schema theory application on the reading skill, the opponents of the theory criticized it for its limitations (Hudson, 1982; Carrell & Wallace in Carrell, 1988).

ESL learners may get the meaning without successfully utilizing "syntactic, semantic or discourse constrains" (Hudson, 1982, p.186).

The overuse of schema theory may lead to the neglect of other language areas and skills (Eskey, 1988).


Schema Theory Limitations

Goodman in Carrell and Eisterhold (1983) described the reading process as a "psycholinguistic guessing game" in which proficient readers minimize their dependence on the linguistic items by incorporating background knowledge to make guessing and predictions about the text.

The lack of prior knowledge contributes considerably to the problems in reading comprehension.


References

Barlett, F.C. (1932). Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology. London: New Psychological Linguistics. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Education Publication.

Carrell, P.L. & Eisterhold, J.C. (1983). Schema Theory and ESL

Reading Pedagogy, in Carrell, P.L., Devine, J. &Eskey, D.E. (eds.) (1988) Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading. Cambridge: CUP.

Eskey, D.E. (1988). Holding in the Bottom: An Interactive

Approach to the language problems of second language readers, in Carrell, P.L., Devine, J. &Eskey, D.E. (eds.) (1988) Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading. Cambridge: CUP.


References

Hudson, T. (1982). The Effects of Induced Schemata on the Short Circuit in L2 Reading: Non-decoding Factors in L2 Reading Performance, in Carrell, P.L., Devine, J. &Eskey, D.E. (eds.) (1988) Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading. Cambridge: CUP.

Nunan, D. (1999). Second Language Teaching and Learning. Boston:

Heinle &Heinemann.

Piaget, J. (1928). The Child's Conception of the World. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Rumelhart, D. (1980). Schemata: The building Blocks Cognition, in R. J. Spiro, B.C. Bruce & W. F. Brewer. (Eds.), Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.