The background knowledge has the stimulating function in English listening comprehension; it can reduce the psychological pressure before listening, strengthen the confidence and enhance the predictive ability. Theref...The background knowledge has the stimulating function in English listening comprehension; it can reduce the psychological pressure before listening, strengthen the confidence and enhance the predictive ability. Therefore, the paper mainly discusses the importance and influences of linguistic background knowledge and non-linguistic background knowledge in listening comprehension. The author also gives some suggestions on teaching English listening according to the analysis of significances of background knowledge in the paper.展开更多
Schema is known to play an important role in reading comprehension. The schema embodying the learners background knowledge of cultural familiar materials facilitates the understanding of the text （Pritchard, 1990）. ...Schema is known to play an important role in reading comprehension. The schema embodying the learners background knowledge of cultural familiar materials facilitates the understanding of the text （Pritchard, 1990）. Also Steffensen, Joag-Dev, and Anderson （1979） and Nelson （1987） proposed that the schemata embodying background knowledge influenced how well the text would be comprehended. However, Hudson （1982） and Carrell （1984） found there was no significant background effect in advanced level learners. From those studies, it seems that background effect is different at different language proficiency levels. Thus, the present study examines the interaction between background knowledge and language proficiency in reading comprehension. The participants were freshmen of National Chiayi University. They were divided into three language proficiency levels based on the General English Proficiency Test. Four reading comprehension tests were constructed to assess their reading comprehension： cultural familiar/unfamiliar text and topic familiar/unfamiliar text. The results of this study showed that participants had better performance on the culture/topic familiar text than the culture/topic unfamiliar text. Thus the findings suggest that the teacher can use teaching activities, such as pre-reading activities or vocabulary teaching to increase the background knowledge when teaching readings to EFL （English as a foreign language） learners展开更多
With the arrival of the new millennium,the demand fortalented people with both professional knowledge and excellentlanguage abilities is getting stronger and stronger.For business major students,reading is paramount i...With the arrival of the new millennium,the demand fortalented people with both professional knowledge and excellentlanguage abilities is getting stronger and stronger.For business major students,reading is paramount inBusiness English teaching and learning.And their reading abilityis often assessed by a text of reading comprehension.However,from my experience as a college teacher ofBusiness English,I have noticed some problems among studentswho have little knowledge of business.They seem to readBusiness English materials at a slower rate and with lessunderstanding than general English materials.Then there is the question:is Business English reading"simply"a problem of language competence? Or are there anyother more important factors?This article is an investigation into the effect of backgroundknowledge on Business English reading comprehension.Thestudy attempts to assess to what extent L2 readers might beaffected because of their lack of a background schematapresupposed by the author by comparing the test results of twopassages comparable in language lightness or heaviness.Morecomparable passages like these can be used in investigating intothe rival effects of background knowledge and linguisticcompetence.The implications of comprehension theory for L2pedagogy are discussed and suggestions for Business Englishteaching is put forward.展开更多
For a long time, it has been thought that any reader can comprehend a text well if such factors asvocabulary and grammar are not beyond his knowledge. However, the reading effect seems unsatisfying,which poses a great...For a long time, it has been thought that any reader can comprehend a text well if such factors asvocabulary and grammar are not beyond his knowledge. However, the reading effect seems unsatisfying,which poses a great challenge for reading teaching. In this paper, the author explores the reading process andapplies the Schema Theory, in order to prove the important role of background knowledge in readingcomprehension. Based on this discussion, suggested teaching methods are available for employing backgroundknowledge in reading teaching.展开更多
ICM （Idealized Cognitive Model） theory put forward by Lakoff has a guiding function in the analysis of discourse coherence without the coherent devices, based on which WANG Yin mentioned cognitive world. The cogniti...ICM （Idealized Cognitive Model） theory put forward by Lakoff has a guiding function in the analysis of discourse coherence without the coherent devices, based on which WANG Yin mentioned cognitive world. The cognitive world is of two kinds： ICM and background knowledge. The process of understanding discourse is the process of activating the human＇s ICM and background knowledge so that coherence is realized.展开更多
文摘The background knowledge has the stimulating function in English listening comprehension; it can reduce the psychological pressure before listening, strengthen the confidence and enhance the predictive ability. Therefore, the paper mainly discusses the importance and influences of linguistic background knowledge and non-linguistic background knowledge in listening comprehension. The author also gives some suggestions on teaching English listening according to the analysis of significances of background knowledge in the paper.
文摘Schema is known to play an important role in reading comprehension. The schema embodying the learners background knowledge of cultural familiar materials facilitates the understanding of the text （Pritchard, 1990）. Also Steffensen, Joag-Dev, and Anderson （1979） and Nelson （1987） proposed that the schemata embodying background knowledge influenced how well the text would be comprehended. However, Hudson （1982） and Carrell （1984） found there was no significant background effect in advanced level learners. From those studies, it seems that background effect is different at different language proficiency levels. Thus, the present study examines the interaction between background knowledge and language proficiency in reading comprehension. The participants were freshmen of National Chiayi University. They were divided into three language proficiency levels based on the General English Proficiency Test. Four reading comprehension tests were constructed to assess their reading comprehension： cultural familiar/unfamiliar text and topic familiar/unfamiliar text. The results of this study showed that participants had better performance on the culture/topic familiar text than the culture/topic unfamiliar text. Thus the findings suggest that the teacher can use teaching activities, such as pre-reading activities or vocabulary teaching to increase the background knowledge when teaching readings to EFL （English as a foreign language） learners
文摘With the arrival of the new millennium,the demand fortalented people with both professional knowledge and excellentlanguage abilities is getting stronger and stronger.For business major students,reading is paramount inBusiness English teaching and learning.And their reading abilityis often assessed by a text of reading comprehension.However,from my experience as a college teacher ofBusiness English,I have noticed some problems among studentswho have little knowledge of business.They seem to readBusiness English materials at a slower rate and with lessunderstanding than general English materials.Then there is the question:is Business English reading"simply"a problem of language competence? Or are there anyother more important factors?This article is an investigation into the effect of backgroundknowledge on Business English reading comprehension.Thestudy attempts to assess to what extent L2 readers might beaffected because of their lack of a background schematapresupposed by the author by comparing the test results of twopassages comparable in language lightness or heaviness.Morecomparable passages like these can be used in investigating intothe rival effects of background knowledge and linguisticcompetence.The implications of comprehension theory for L2pedagogy are discussed and suggestions for Business Englishteaching is put forward.
文摘For a long time, it has been thought that any reader can comprehend a text well if such factors asvocabulary and grammar are not beyond his knowledge. However, the reading effect seems unsatisfying,which poses a great challenge for reading teaching. In this paper, the author explores the reading process andapplies the Schema Theory, in order to prove the important role of background knowledge in readingcomprehension. Based on this discussion, suggested teaching methods are available for employing backgroundknowledge in reading teaching.
文摘ICM （Idealized Cognitive Model） theory put forward by Lakoff has a guiding function in the analysis of discourse coherence without the coherent devices, based on which WANG Yin mentioned cognitive world. The cognitive world is of two kinds： ICM and background knowledge. The process of understanding discourse is the process of activating the human＇s ICM and background knowledge so that coherence is realized.
