The Application of Schema Theory in English Textbook Compiling Guided by Nationa

Abstract： National English Curriculum in compulsory education （2011 Ed.） adjusts in each aspect in foreign language teaching and some new principles in textbook compiling. This present dissertation aims to improve the theoretical bases in middle school English course book from the methods of the schema in psycholinguistics and the analysis of the senior high school English course book.

Key words： English course curriculum schema middle school English course book

一、Introduction

In the year of 2011， the national English course curriculum had been recompiled in the teaching aims with five aspects： language knowledge， language skills， learning strategies， affects and cultural awareness. The new edition proposes stricter and more requirements for teacher and students. In addition， some demands on the textbook compiling are presented in it. From the 1990s， more and more concentration is focused on the students’ demands and psychological features. Textbook compiling is based on the multi-syllabus and the new curriculum. It alters from the isolated textbook to a package of materials which include textbook， exercise book， tape， video， cards， pictures， teacher’s book and so on. It represents the multi-mode and the schema theory in teaching and learning.

二、The analysis on the schema theory

The concept ”schema” is firstly appeared in the world famous Germany philosopher Kant’s works. He suggested that a fundamental distinction exists in the rational categories and sensational objects. The contemporary concept ”schema” is proposed from the book： Remembering， written by the British psychologist Bartlett. （Carroll， 2008） Cognitive psychologists divide the schema into three main categories： linguistic schema， content schema， and formal schema. These three schemata co-relate with each other in the process of acquiring new information and guide human mind to receive these new information constantly. The linguistic schema is people’s knowledge about language organizing a passage. Content schema， also called theme schema， is a reader’s background knowledge， theme and content knowledge or structure to a reading material. Formal schema， also called text schema or rhetoric schema， is the general structure of a text. The decoding process of textual comprehension is the interaction between reader’s schema and the content of the passage.

三、The analysis on the textbook compiling of National English Curriculum

In the year of 2001， a national English curriculum in primary level of education was constituted. In 2011， a more suitable and scientific new edition was built up on the basis of the old one. In this curriculum， a specific and operable guidance is presented to the textbook compiling experts and the textbook users. It proposes the following suggestions and demands： the English textbook in primary level is the main carrier for student’s learning and teacher’s teaching. The following four principles are required in the textbook compiling：