SCHEMAS AND READING STRATEGIES

The aim of this presentation is to approach some reading

strategies using the theory of schemas.

Class level: Intermidiate

READING STRATEGIES
1) Hermeneutics – defining a perspective
2) Current theories of reading
3) Using schema as a reading strategy
4) How can the schema theory contribute to our students’
reading process?
5) Next classes issues
 1) PRINCIPLES OF HERMENEUTICS
• In one hand, today hermeneutics describe the activity of understanding any verbal or
written information. In other hand, it is a branch of philosophy.

• To hermeneutics, every act of seeing is a reading of the world, based on our personal
history, culture and experience.

• All understanding depends on a context.

2) CURRENT THEORIES OF READING:
• Hermeneutics
• Psycholinguists
• Cognitivism
• Semiotics
• Transactional / Constructivism
• Schema theory.
 TRANSACTIONAL PROCESS
The Researcher Loise Rosenblatt believes that reading is a transaction between the reader
and the text. It gives emphasis to the active role of the reader

Meaning = Poem
3) THE SCHEMA THEORY

The term "schema" was first used in psychology by Bartlett as "an

active organization of past reactions or experiences" (1932, p.201).
Later, schema was introduced in reading by Rummelhalt and Ortony.
Schema is a mental representation of knowledge.
Ex. Classroom schema:

We will acess information we have already

stored in our memory
SCHEMA HIERARCHY

Schema can be thought as a network of concepts organized in a certain

hierarchy.
 Meaning
Information General
representation
Concept/
Stereotype/
Politician
Distortion

Background
WHO IS THE READER?
USING SCHEMA IN CLASSROOM
1) Check the student’s level and then define the task’s level.
2) Establish clear purposes
3) Define materials: texts, magazines, books, e-mails, advertisements…
4) Acessing background: brainstorming ideas to get useful information
5) Identify genre/topic
6) Reading skills: read aloud to students, Pre-teaching vocabulary
7) Create interest
We can use schema as way to check our representations
of the world.

Schema can be used to help us in development of the

reading skills.
 E.g.1:

ENEM (2017) QUESTÃO 05

Israel Travel Guide
Israel has always been a standout destination. From the days of prophets to the modern
day nomad this tiny slice of land on the eastern Mediterranean has long attracted visitors.
While some arrive in the ‘Holy Land’ on a spiritual quest, many others are on cultural tours,
beach holidays and eco-tourism trips.
Weeding through Israel’s convoluted history is both exhilarating and exausting. There are
crumbling temples, ruined cities, abandoned forts and hundreds of places associated with the
Bible. And while a sense of adventure is required, most sites are safe and easily accessible.
Most of all, Israel is about its incredibly diverse population.
Jews come from all over the world to live here, while about 20% of the population is
Muslim. Politics are hard to get away from in Israel as everyone has an opinion on how to
move the country forward — with a ready ear you’re sure to hear opinions from every side
of the political spectrum.
Antes de viajar, turistas geralmente buscam informações sobre o local para onde pretendem
ir. O trecho do guia de viagens de Israel:

A) descreve a história desse local para que turistas valorizem seus costumes milenares.
B) informa hábitos religiosos para auxiliar turistas a entenderem as diferenças culturais.
C) divulga os principais pontos turísticos para ajudar turistas a planejarem sua viagem.
D) recomenda medidas de segurança para alertar turistas sobre possíveis riscos locais.
E) apresenta aspectos gerais da cultura do país para continuar a atrair turistas estrangeiros.
E.g.2:

After read the text and pictures our

schematic knowledge may first tell us what
kind of text genre we are dealing with.
4) How can the schema theory contribute to our students’
reading process?

• Identify the genre/topics

Decodify
• Exploring cultural
backgrounds information and
• Learning vocabulary
review our
concepts
• Predicting and Inferring
NEXT CLASSES
• Integrating skills
• Introduction to visual grammar
• Current technologies and the reading process
 REFERENCES

BARTLETT, F. C. (1932). Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press
HARMER, J. (2001). The practice of English language teaching. [Essex, England], Longman.
SADOSKI, PAIVIO & GOETZ. A Critique of Schema Theory in Reading and a Dual Coding Alternative.
In: Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Autumn, 1991)
SHERIDAN, E. M. (1981). Theories of Reading and Implications for Teachers. Reading Horizons, 22 (1).
Retrieved from Rosenblatt, L M. (1978). The reader, the text, the poem: The transactional theory of the
literary work. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
WEBSITES
Hermeneutics: A very short introduction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wPTV5hyB0Y&t=5s
http://www.jstor.org
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol22/iss1/11
Schema theory example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4HHCgFmkcIg/stable/747898
Enem 2017 research: https://descomplica.com.br/gabarito-
enem/questoes/2017/primeiro-dia/israel-travel-guide-israel-always-
standout-destination-days-prophets/