SCHEMA THEORY

SCHEMA THEORY

1. SHARED ASSUMPTIONS

   • EXAMPLE 1: "My favourite colour is blue. I'm calm and relaxed. In the summer I lie on the grass and look up"
     • A teacher could have asked the students to write about themselves, (their favorite color and their feelings). So she gives this situation 1 as an example( model).
     • - The speaker could be a yoga student or a person being analyzed by a psychologist, encouraged to describe a situation/his/her likes or an ideal scenery.
     • Someone may be answering the question: what's your favourite colour?
     • friends may be talking about colours and the effects they have on behaviour or how to relax.
     • POSSIBLE BRAINSTORMING: What's your favourite colour?", "How do you feel when you think about it?", "Can you say something about your personality?" or "What are your hobbies?/What do you do / like doing in the summer?"
   • EXAMPLE 2: "A: Oh! We’ve run out of onions! B: It’s Sunday, and rather late. A: Well … I love beans on toast ".
     • An activity a teacher proposes to her students to work on vocabulary about " food",
     • An everyday conversation. Some people want to cook something with onions, but as it is Sunday, and probably late at night, the shops are closed and they can't go to buy anything.
       • Might be young and singlepeople who don't care about what to eat, orthey can eat whatever is around
       • May live in a suburb, and that’s the reason why there are no shops open. They may have planned a menu, but realizing there are no onions left, they change it, they do have beans.
     • The speakers might be from the UK or they’re in contact with the culture and they like eating beans on toasts

2. BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

3. MEMORY FROM EXPERIENCE

4. IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

   • ASSUMPTIONS ON A TEXT VARY FROM INDIVIDUAL TO INDIVIDUAL
   • PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AFFECTS HOW WE UNDERSTAND TEXTS
   • TEXTS SHOULD BUILD ON STUDENTS' COMMON SCHEMA
     • BRAINSTORMING AND PRE-READING ACTIVITIES ARE USEFUL