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Schema-Script Theory
Listening and Reading Process
S. Faiza Hassan
S. Faiza Hassan- MS Applied Linguistics
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Meaning
• Comprehension
− Knowledge stored in reader’s mind and the Process
through which readers tackle it.
• Reading: knowing language, processing it to get meaning out
of it.
• For Example:
− Rain
• Good weather
• Things to be covered by plastic sheets
• Chill
• Slippery roads
• Not a day for new/favourite sandals
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Schema Theory
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Schema Theory
• Schema
− It is the background information which facilitates
comprehension of written or spoken text.
• What the text is about?
• Culture specific
• Individual specific
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Examples
1. ‘Shall I compare thee to a pleasant summer’s day-
Shakespeare’ {in South Asia (Pakistan, India,
Bangladesh) Summers are not considered pleasant and
it appears mockery to them}
2. ‘Persimmon being a deciduous plant reacts unhappily
to change of pot in spring’. Daily Dawn {makes sense
to people who know the word deciduous}
3. ‘Readers, suppose you were an idiot and suppose you
were member of congress, but then I repeat myself.’-
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) {makes sense to
people who know Mark Twains stance on Politics}
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Further elaboration on e.g. 3
• ‘Readers, suppose you were an idiot and suppose you
were member of congress, but then I repeat myself.’
Mark Twain
• ‘All congresses and Parliaments have kindly feeling for
idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of
personal experience and heredity.’ Mark Twain
• ‘Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a congressman
can.’ Mark Twain
− When learners are exposed to several texts containing similar idea it starts
making sense to them as a schema starts developing.
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Studies
• Adams (1983)
− Learners were good at learning vocabulary in L1
− Sharing ‘what the text is about’ helped learners in both languages
(L1 & L2) equally.
• Patricia Carrell (1984)
− Lack of context affected comprehension
− L2 learners found use of vague words like things and facilities
instead of clothes and washing machine a hindrance.
• Roller and Motambo (1992)
− Speakers of Shona remembered more text in English then in their
mother tongue
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Scripts
and discourse
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Script
• Coined by Roger Schank-1977
• Computer programs
− Do not know the obvious thing that humans take for granted; context
• Ali had a sandwich at the cafe (talked to sales person, chose a flavour, paid, used a
table & chair, might have taken a drink or sauces)
• Schank and Abel (1977)
A predetermined , stereotyped sequence of actions that
defines a well-known situation
• Schank; ‘the scrpit has remained an influential view of how
memory is organized’
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Script Theory
• Script is a template of conversation/actions that exists in Language
Learners mind for a situation
• Universal
− Ticketing (go to ticket counter, greet, ask rates, ask for discounts, pay, get the
ticket)
− Accommodation
• Culture specific templates
− Seeking help from neighbors (in some cultures you must go in their house
and chat; in others you wait outside)
• Absence of any such template
− unpleasant surprise: “I want somebody to proofread an article I have written” this
naïve request from an L2 PhD met several responses of “I want never gets” by L1
speakers on Linkedin
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Benefits for the teacher
• Increased awareness reading & writing difficulties
− Comprehension of spoken or written or spoken text
involves knowledge of script and initiation of activation
of schema
− For written text learners have to depend on their own
script only.
− Literacy skills: writing system of L1 is very different
from that of L2
− Cognitive deficits: difficulty of processing information
in a second language.
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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• Teaching Schemas:
− cross cultural awareness
• thanking people
• Asking for help
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Schema and script theory
• Reading is building learners background
knowledge
• Application:
1. Teaching vocabulary-Context facilitates learning and
retaining new vocabulary.
2. Pre-Reading Activities
3. Series of long connected reading passages instead of
short unconnected passages
4. Devising mental processing activities; labeling
diagrams, developing a flowchart, narrating the read
story to a peer.
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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Key Lessons
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Key lessons
• Developing schema and knowledge of script
goes hand in hand with developing receptive
language skills
• Cultural differences in L1 and L2 can prove a
hindrance for learning L2
• Learners need to develop ability to process
information embedded in spoken or written text
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16.
Questions
& Comments
S. Faiza Hassan-MS Applied Linguistics
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