Schema-Theory-and-ESL-Reading-Pedagogy-3586613

TeachersofEnglishtoSpeakersofOtherLanguages,Inc.(TESOL)SchemaTheoryandESLReadingPedagogyAuthor(s):PatriciaL.CarrellandJoanC.EisterholdSource:TESOLQuarterly,Vol.17,No.4(Dec.,1983),pp.553-573Publishedby:TeachersofEnglishtoSpeakersofOtherLanguages,Inc.(TESOL)StableURL::02/09/201103:34YouruseoftheJSTORarchiveindicatesyouracceptanceoftheTerms&ConditionsofUse,[e-mail]ersofOtherLanguages,Inc.(TESOL)iscollaboratingwithJSTORtodigitize,preserveandextendaccesstoTESOLQuarterly.(AdamsandCollins1979,Rumel-hart1980).Readingcomprehensioninvolvesone'sknowledgeoftheworld,whichmaybeculturallybasedandculturallybiased.Classroomimplicationsoftheschema-theoreticviewofreadingforEFL/ESLreadingpedagogyarediscussed,withtechniquessuggestedforbringingaboutreader-centeredEFL/ESLreading.Everyactofcomprehensioninvolvesone'sknowledgeoftheworldaswell.(Anderson,Reynolds,Schallert,andGoetz1977:369)INTRODUCTIONTheideaexpressedbytheabovequoteiscertainlynotnew,butitisoneworthremindingourselvesofwhenweconsidercomprehensioninasecondorforeignlanguage,andspecificallyreadingcomprehensioninEFL/ESL.If,asImmanuelKantclaimedaslongagoas1781,newinformation,newconcepts,newideascanhavemeaningonlywhentheycanberelatedtosomethingtheindividualalreadyknows(Kant1781/1963),thisappliesasmuchtosecondlanguagecomprehensionasitdoestocomprehensioninone'snativelanguage.Yet,traditionallyinthestudyofsecondlanguagecomprehension(asmuchas,ifnotmoresothan,inthestudyoffirstlanguagecomprehension),theemphasishasbeenalmostexclusivelyonthelanguagetobecomprehendedandnotonthecomprehender(listenerorreader).Inthisperspective,eachword,eachwell-formedsentence,andeverywell-formedtextpassage553issaidtohaveameaning.Meaningisoftenconceivedtobeintheutteranceortext,tohaveaseparate,independentexistencefromboththespeakerorwriterandthelistenerorreader.Alsointhisview,failurestocomprehendanon-defectivecommunicationarealwaysattributedtolanguage-specificdeficits-perhapsawordwasnotinthereader'svocabulary,aruleofgrammarwasmisapplied,ananaphoriccohesivetiewasimproperlycoordinated,andsoon.RecentempiricalresearchinthefieldwhichhascometobeknownasschematheoryhasdemonstratedthetruthofKant'soriginalobservationandoftheopeningquotefromAndersonetal.Schematheoryresearchhasshowntheimportanceofbackgroundknowledgewithinapsycholinguisticmodelofreading.Thepurposeofthisarticleistwofold.Ourfirstgoalistogiveabriefoverviewofschematheoryaspartofareader-centered,psycholinguisticprocessingmodelofEFL/ESLreading.Thisgoalisaddressedinthefirstpartofthisarticle,inwhichwediscusshowEFL/ESLreadingcomprehensioninvolvesbackgroundknowledgewhichgoesfarbeyondlinguisticknowledge.Oursecondpurposeistoexploretherelationshipofculture-specificbackgroundknowledgeandEFL/ESLreadingmethodologyandistakenupinthesecondpartofthearticle,wherewereviewthisrelationshipasithasbeendiscussedintheextantmethodologyliterature.WeillustratethisdiscussionoftheculturallybasedandculturallybiasednatureofbackgroundknowledgewithsamplereadingpassageswhichhaveactuallycausedcomprehensionproblemsforEFL/ESLstudents.Finally,wesuggestavarietyoftechniquesandclassroomactivitiesforaccommodatingthisphenomenoninareader-centeredEFL/ESLreadingprogram.THEPSYCHOLINGUISTICMODELOFREADINGDuringthepastdecade,EFL/ESLreadingtheoryhascomeundertheinfluenceofpsycholinguisticsandGoodman's(1967,1971,1973a)psycholinguisticmodelofreading(seealsoSmith1971).Goodmanhasdescribedreadingasapsycholinguisticguessinggame(1967)inwhichthereaderreconstructs,asbestashecan,amessagewhichhasbeenencodedbyawriterasagraphicdisplay(1971:135).Goodmanviewsthisactoftheconstructionofmeaningasbeinganongoing,cyclicalprocessofsamplingfromtheinputtext,predicting,testingandconfirmingorrevisingthosepredictions,andsamplingfurther.Inthismodel,thereaderneednot(andtheefficientreaderdoesnot)useallofthetextualcues.Thebetterthereaderisabletomakecorrectpredictions,thelessconfirmingviathetextisnecessary,thatis,thelessvisualperceptualinformationthereaderrequires:TESOLQUARTERLY554...thereaderdoesnotusealltheinformationavailabletohim.Readingisaprocessinwhichthereaderpicksandchoosesfromtheavailableinformationonlyenoughtoselectandpredictalangu