The Application of Schema Theory to the Teaching of Listening： A Lesson Design

杜榮輝

【摘要】聽力一直以來是全國英語四六級考試時學生失分較多的部分。這其中很大一部分原因要歸結(jié)為學生頭腦中圖示概念的缺失。他們沒有領悟到聽力本質(zhì)上是一個將大腦中的圖式與外來信息相互聯(lián)系，進而進行推理和重組的過程。當學生在大腦中形成圖示概念后，他們可以迅速地將聽到的外在信息與內(nèi)在圖示進行匹配，并對信息進行加工重組，從而達到記憶和理解信息的效果。因此將圖示理論引入到大學英語聽力教學中對于提高課堂教學效率有著積極意義。

【關鍵詞】圖示理論 ?聽力教學 ?大學英語

【中圖分類號】G64 【文獻標識碼】A 【文章編號】2095-3089（2014）10-0003-02

1. Introduction

1.1Context of the teaching design

Listening， the most frequently mentioned part by CET 4 and CET 6 examinees when they are asked where they lose most scores， is always regarded as one of the most boring and difficult part in both English teaching and learning. In China， some college English teachers just click the buttons on the computer to play listening materials to students and ask them to take down notes if necessary and answer the questions either in textbooks or in trial tests for CET 4 or CET 6. Students are totally passive receivers， only writing down few words or expressions， which they believe may help to solve problems. When listening materials are repeated twice or three times， teachers start to check answers with students， few explanations made to clarify what the speakers have said and what they intend to imply， leaving students a blank mind and staring at each other. To tackle the existing problems in the teaching of listening， Ministry of Education issued College English Curriculum Requirements（For Trial Implementation） （2004） to substitute College English Teaching Syllabus （Revised Version）（1999）， in which the aim of college English teaching is oriented as “to cultivate students？蒺 comprehensive abilities to use English in an all？鄄round way， especially in listening and speaking so as to meet the huge social demand.” Consequently， numerous universities and colleges start to implement college English teaching reform.

1.2Purpose of the teaching design

This lesson design aims at application of Schema Theory to the teaching of listening for non？鄄English majors， CET 4 and CET 6 examinees in particular. It intends to help to understand students？蒺 learning process in listening comprehension and to encourage them to devote to listening in an active and strategic way with an expectation that college English teachers will have a better understanding of the significance of listening instructions and students may raise their awareness of the vital role of schema theory in the development of their listening competence.

2.Literature Review

“Schema” was first introduced by Sir Frederic Bartlett in his book Remembering （1932） which studies the effect of social factors on memory. Bartlett finds that when people are asked to repeat a story they heard， they tend to add details which did not occur actually but in conformity to their own cultural norms. Thus， Bartlett argues that individuals rework information in the light of their experience and schemata are built up over time in a network pattern of propositions and expand when interaction take place.endprint

Bartlett （1932） and Rumelhart （1980） define “schemata” as the previously acquired knowledge structures. And Rumelhart （1980） adds that “a schema is a data structure for representing the generic concepts stored in memory.”

Cook （1997：86） defines the concept as “a mental representation of a typical instance which helps people to make sense of the world more quickly because people understand new experiences by acti？鄄vating relevant schemata in their mind”.

Carroll （2000：175） claims that “a schema is a structure in se？鄄mantic memory that specifies the general or expected arrangement of a body of information.” In other words， “schemata are higher order knowledge structures which embody expectations about a specified scope of reality and which， when activated， guide the processing and comprehending of stimulus information.”

Widdowson （2000：63） gives the definition as follows： “a schema is a mental construct of reality as culturally ordered and socially sanctioned： what people in a particular community regard as normal and predictable ways of organizing the world and communicating with others.”

Jean Piaget emphasizes “the concept of learning as active information processing， resulting in exploration and discovery.” He refers to the learning process as “the new development of new schemata through assimilation and accomodation. Schemata are the cognitive or mental structures by which the individual intellectually adapts to and organizes the environment. These cognitive structures are used to process and identify incoming stimuli. They never stop changing or becoming refined. Assimilation is the cognitive process by which a person integrates new perceptual， motor or conceptual matter into existing schemata. When confronted with a new stimulus， the individual tries to assimilate it into existing schemata. When the new stimulus doesnt readily fit into any existing schemata， he will either modify an existing schemata so that the new stimulus will fit into it， or he will create a new schemata into which he can place the stimulus. This modification of an old schema or creation of a new schema is called accomodation.” （Yue Meiyun，1999：35）

3.Lesson Design

3.1Lead？鄄in

Before we discuss how to apply schema theory to short conversations in CET4 and CET6， lets start with an interesting game. What kind of games would you figure from the following sentences？ （a） David Beckham shoot the ball. （b） Li Na challenged the ball.endprint

Are your answers： （a） soccer， and （b） tennis？ How do you come up with these answers？ What ?inspires you？ Your background knowledge informs you that （a） David Beckham is a soccer star， （b） Li Na is a tennis player. So your background knowledge which activates while you are reading or listening is called schema.

Students are encouraged to give more examples of their own to illustrate schema.

3.2Questioning and Answering

Since the short conversations are set in daily life， what kind of choice could be the correct answer？ （Students are supposed to give answers like： it should be logical; it must be practical; its necessary to conform with shared values， traditions， customs and specific cultures.）

Correct answers are always reasonable， applicable and often cover as much information as possible. We should try to catch the point of the short conversation as its where the answer lies. What kind of ways will you use to emphasize your point？ （Students are supposed to give answers like： repetition， raising the pitches and tones， etc.）Yes， repetition is a simple and frequently used way to emphasize the point.

3.3Trial Exercise

Now look at the following question. Could you have a guess which one may be the correct answer？ （Students are most likely to give the answer C）

Question 12 in CET 6（June， 2012.）

A） The man could watch the ballet with her.

B） She happened to have bought two tickets.

C） She can get a ballet ticket for the man.

D） Her schedule conflicts with her sisters.

Choice C has covered the information “ballet” and “ticket”， which repeat respectively in choice A and B.

3.4More practice

Question 17 in CET 6（June， 2012）

A） Limit the number of participants in the conference.

B） Check the number of people who have registered.

C） Provide people with advice on career development.

D） Move the conference to a more spacious place.

Question 16 in CET 6（June， 2012）

A） The increasing crime rate.

B） The impact of mass media.

C） The circulation of newspapers.

D） The coverage of newspapers.

It is easy to figure out A is the correct answer to question 17 as it covers “conference” and “number”， the two key words. It takes more time to reflect on question 16. Choice B， C and D are all concerned about “medium”. C and D are more identical as they have similar patterns and focus on the same subject？鄄newspapers. Students may be inclined to choose one of them. Some may find that choice A： The increasing crime rate has a close connection with coverage of newspapers and thus they will select D as the correct answer.endprint

3.5Summary

While we are looking through the four choices of short conversations， keep in mind that the choice which has a combination of information is usually the correct answer. The one that literally has nothing in common with other choices is crossed out in the first place. Use it to locate the correct answer when the rest focus on similar subjects.

4.Conclusion

Short conversation， the easiest part of listening comprehension in CET 4 and CET 6， ?includes more types of devices than repetition. It will cost teachers a considerably long time to illustrate students how to do the rest type. Some teachers may complain that the class time will be wasted so much that they cannot fulfill the requested teaching task. Therefore， teachers need to keep a balance between quality and quantity. Appropriate listening materials must be discussed in class to facilitate students understanding of schemata. Time？鄄consuming these activities may sound， they are worthy of practicing. Through pre？鄄listening， students interest is aroused and their potential schemata are formed， and their comprehension of schemata is accelerated. They come to realize that schemata play an active role in their listening process. Undoubtedly， as we have seen， in almost all universities in China， it is unrealistic to spend more than two periods for English listening class in spite of the realization of the significance of listening training. Therefore， students individual devotion is critical as well.

References：

[1]Carroll， D.W. 2000. Psychology of Language. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press Brooks & Cole/Thomson Learning Asia.

[2]Cook， G. 1997. ‘Key Concepts in ELT： Schemas. ELT Journal 51：1.

[3]Rumelhart， D. 1980. ‘Schemata： The Building Blocks of Cognition. in R. Spiro， B. Bruce， & W. Brewer， （eds.） Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension. Hillsdale， NJ： Lawrence Ehhlbaum.

[4]Widdowson， H.G. 2000. Linguistics. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Press.

[5]樂眉云.（1999）應用語言學.南京：南京師范大學endprint