Abstract: This article introduces researches on schema theory and its main conceptions, and it points out some problems in current teaching of English reading. It gives some suggestions on teaching of English reading, based on the building-up of schema. As the students in junior high school are in the most basic period of English learning, it can improve their English reading efficiency and speed, by guiding them to apply schema to reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is not a single process of " bottom-up" or " top-down", but a result of their interaction. And schema is built up based on the interaction between the content schema and formal schema. So, it needs the interaction of these elements to make full use of schema theory in reading comprehension. This article establishes based on these thesis.

Key words：schema theory; content schema; formal schema; reading comprehension; teaching of English reading

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter 1.Introduction-1

Chapter 2.Literature Review-3

2.1 Schema Theory-3

2.1.1 Previous Research on Schema Theory Abroad-3

2.1.2 Previous Research on Schema Theory in China-4

2.1.3 Definition of Schema Theory-4

2.2 The Essence of Reading Comprehension-6

2.2.1 The Bottom-up Model-7

2.2.2 The Top-down Model-8

2.2.3 The Interactive Model-8

Chapter 3. Application of Schema Theory in English reading class of junior high school-9

3.1 The Functions of Schema Theory in Reading Comprehension-9

3.1.1 The Function of Prediction-10

3.1.2 The Function of Selection-12

    3.2 Two Types of Schema in English Reading Teaching-12

3.3 The functions of Schema Theory in English reading class of junior high school-14

3.3.1 To Inspire and Broaden Students' Knowledge of Content Schema-14

3.3.2 To Guide Students to Comprehend by Using Formal Schema-15

3.3.3 The importance of Schema Theory in English reading class of junior high school-16

Conclusion-18

Bibliography-19

Acknowledgments-20