Abstract

Reading is one of the important aspects of English learning and one of the basic language skills. Both the domestic and foreign researches have shown that schema theory is closely related to reading and plays such roles as guiding and regulating the readers’ attention, promoting encoding and memorizing, and helping them to infer. This paper has discussed the concrete application of three types of schema, namely, language schema, content schema and formal schema in college English reading    activities, and demonstrated that the proper application of them will help the   students to solid language foundation, promote awareness of cultural contrast and macro-discourse, and finally improve their overall English reading ability.

Keywords: English reading comprehension, schema theory, language schema, content schema, formal schema, Application

摘 要

阅读是英语学习的一个重要方面，是基本的语言技巧之一。国内外研究表明，图式理论不仅与阅读紧密相关，而且在阅读中能起到指引注意、促进编码、促进记忆和形成推论的作用。本文结合图式理论，具体论述了语言图式、内容图式和形式图式三种图式在大学英语阅读教学活动中的运用.研究表明,灵活恰当地运用图式能够帮助学生夯实英语语言基础、树立文化对比意识和宏观文本意识，从而最终提高他们的整体英语阅读水平。

关键词：英语阅读理解；图式理论；语言图式；内容图式；形式图式；运用

1 Introduction
Reading, an activity of comprehension, is one of the most basic forms of language learning and communication. “For many students reading is the most important skill of the four basic language skills. It is true especially in ESL or EFL.”(Carrell, 1989) Language learning is realized mainly by obtaining a great deal of comprehensible language input and studies show that over 50% of our knowledge is acquired from reading. So reading is the most important channel of gaining comprehensible language input. To Chinese students, reading is the foremost skill of the four basic skills in English learning. To their teachers, to cultivate students’ reading abilities is a task of great importance since reading comprehension always occupies the largest percentage of the total marks in all kinds of English tests. For example, it takes up 45℅ of the total marks in the national College English Test Band 4 and Band 6. It is thus easy to find that in the learning and use of English, reading is one of the most basic and extensive language activities.