山东大学硕士学位论文

山东大学硕士学位论文 □— —1^————

Chapter Two Literature Review To understand the approach of schema theory to ESL reading in a second language, first of all, it is helpful to understand a bit about the knowledge of schema theory, such as the definition, the characteristics, the types and the role of schemata in reading. Then we will try to find out what reading means and how reading models evolve recently. Next we will make a relatively thorough review of previous studies and researches of applying

schema theory to reading. Of course,this section is selective rather than exhaustive. 2.] Schema Theory 2.1.1 Definition of Schemata The concept of schema (plural schemata),can be traced to Plato and Aristotle (Marshall, 1995),but Kant (1929) is generally considered to be the first to talk about schemata as organizing structures that mediate how we see and interpret the world (Johnson, 1987). As long as 1781,he claimed that new information, new concepts,new ideas can have meaning only when they can be related to something the individual already

knows (Kant 1781/1963). Schemata are “a sort of bias inherent in the mind,,(Campbell,

1989, p.90). For Kant, a schema stood between or mediated the external world and internal

mental structures; a schema was a lens that both shaped and was shaped by experience. The British psychologist, Sir Frederic Bartlett,initially introduced the concept of schemata into psychology and education in his works. The term “schema'' in Bartlett's classic book Remembering (1932: 201) refers to "an active organization of past reactions,

or f^st experience." Bartlett (19-32/1995) used the term schemata and conducted experiments to explore schemata as cultural constructs in memory,and this is the work most widely cited by schema theorists working in the cognitive era (Saito, 19%). He discussed that schema as an “organized setting” and not as some uniform feature of the

mind (Bartlett. 1932/196 K p.200>. Jean Piaget, a well-known psychologist, improved schema theory through his experimental study, giving new meaning to it —schemata being considered as the mental

structures or organization of an action. He provides us with a hypothetical process which

portrays the role of an individual's existing knowledge in response to changing 山东大学硕士学位论文

environmental input. Piaget hypothesizes mental structures that guide humans in making

sense of the world. At the time of birth these schemata are extremely rudimentary, producing only reflexive behavior, but they grow and develop in response to environmental input during the maturation process, adults usually being able to process

highly abstract information. At the same time, Piaget also believes that the initial schema,

which is genetically innate,is not static, that is to say,once they come up against new information of outside world,they would go through such a process as adjustment, change,

enrichment and development from a lower level state to a higher level state. As for the development process, he proposed four well-known concepts: schemata, assimilation, accommodation and equilibrium. Assimilation and accommodation are two forms of adaptation; equilibrium refers to the balance of assimilation and accommodation. When

people encounter new information, they attempt to understand it by fitting it into what they

already know about the world, schemata being the metal structures that store people's knowledge in memory. It reaches a degree of a temporary balance of understanding. On the

contrary, when people come up against something so novel that it does not fit comfortably

into their existing schemata and have no adequate knowledge structures to absorb the input,

this throws a person into a state of unbalance, in Piaget's words, disequilibrium. It is at this

point that the process of schema accommodation begins, and a person restructures his or

her conceptual organization in order to be able to adequately absorb the new information

and restore intellectual balance or equilibrium in relation to the surrounding environment.

The American artificial intelligence expert Rumelhart and Ortony improved schema theory in late 1970s. They think a schema is composed of a constant and a variable or a