A survey on dentists ability in reading english dental materials at five leading dental departments in ho chi minh city viet nam m a thesis

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HOCHIMINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

A SURVEY ON DENTISTS’ ABILITY IN READING
ENGLISH DENTAL MATERIALS AT FIVE LEADING
DENTAL DEPARTMENTS IN HO CHI MINH CITY- VIET
NAM

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Arts ( TESOL )

Submitted by TRUONG HOANG TUAN
Supervised by NGUYEN TIEN HUNG, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH City , October 2010


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitle:

A SURVEY ON DENTISTS’ ABILITY IN READING
ENGLISH MATERIALS AT FIVE LEADING DENTAL
DEPARTMENTS IN HO CHI MINH CITY- VIET NAM

in terms of the statement of requirements for theses in master’s programs
issued by the higher degree committee

HO CHI MINH City, October 2010

TRƯƠNG HOÀNG TUẤN

RETENTION and USE of the THESIS
I hereby state that, I, TRUONG HOANG TUAN, being the candidate
for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the
University relating to the retention and use of Master’s theses deposited in
the Library.
In term of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my thesis
deposited in the library should be accessible for purposes of study and
research, in accordance with normal conditions established by the library for
the care, loan or reproduction of theses.

HO CHI MINH City, October 2010

TRƯƠNG HOÀNG TUẤN


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor,
Mr.Nguyễn Tiến Hùng, who whole- heartedly supported me during the
writing of this thesis although he has been so busy. His guidance and
valuable advice did help me through this challenging task. Moreover, his
devotion, understanding and friendliness have made a strong impression on
me.
I am greatly indebted to all the lecturers of the TESOL graduate
program at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities for their
helpful instruction during the course from the year 2007 to 2010.
In addition, my great thanks go to all the dentists who were very
responsive to the questionnaire. Without their cooperation, I would have
never been able to complete the survey.
My last thanks go to my wife and my sons for their love and care.

Abstract
In Vietnam, English has regained its role as the main foreign
language taught and used, and Waxler-Morrison (2005) stated that English is
a helpful tool to obtain the knowledge of the dental field from advanced
countries in the world. As I have been working in the dentistry field for quite
a long time, I notice that the field is very innovative and there have been
many new developments recently. That is why it is badly needed to find
ways to help Vietnamese dentists improve their English so as to acquire the
ability in reading and using materials written in English comprehensibly.
The purpose of this study was to investigate reality of dentists’ ability
on reading and understanding dental materials in English at five leading
dental departments in Ho Chi Minh City in an effort to find out the
difficulties and obstacles faced by dentists in order to suggest some
recommendations to improve their English reading skills.
The questionnaire was directly administered to 80 dentists in order to
collect data by using quantitative approach.
The results indicated that the current English program and learning
conditions were not appropriate for dentist students. The dentists were
completely aware of the important role of English language for practitioners
in globalisation but they evaluated that their reading comprehension in
English was very poor. They did not feel confident of their English
proficiency.
This situation may lead to some urgent recommendations in changing
the present English program and the learning environment at university of
health sciences as well as in determining their motivations and the best
strategies for dentists to self – study

in order to help them improve their

English proficiency, especially reading skills.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
page
Certificate of the originality .............................................................................................. i
Retention and use of the thesis .......................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iii
Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iv
Table of contents ............................................................................................................. v
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1
CHAPTER I : BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ....................................................... 2
I.1- Problem statement .................................................................................................... 2
I.2- Research objectives .................................................................................................. 3
I.3- Research hypothesis ................................................................................................. 3
I.4- Importance and benefits of the study ........................................................................ 3
I.5- Limitations ................................................................................................................ 4
I.6- Overview of thesis chapters ...................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER II : LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 6
II.1-Use of English language in Vietnam ........................................................................ 6
II.2 . Reading .................................................................................................................. 7
II.2.1- What is Reading? ............................................................................................. 7
II.2.2 -Models of the Reading Process ........................................................................ 9
II.2.2.1-Bottom-up model ( local strategy) .............................................................. 9
II.2.2.2-Top-down Model ( global strategy) .......................................................... 10
II.2.2.3-Interactive Model ..................................................................................... 10
II.3- Reading Comprehension ....................................................................................... 12
II.3.1-What is Reading Comprehension? .................................................................. 12
II.3.2-Schema Theory and Reading Comprehension ................................................ 14

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II.3.2.1-Schema Theory ................................................................................................ 14
II.3.2.2-Types of Schema ............................................................................................. 15

II.3.2.3-Schemata and Reading Comprehension .................................................. 16
II.4. Effective Readers and Ineffective Readers .............................................................. 16
II.4.1-The Difference Between Effective Readers and Ineffective Readers ................ 16
II.4.2- List of Common Reading Strategies ............................................................. 18
II.4.3-Strategy Identification...................................................................................... 19
II.5. English For Specific Purpose ( ESP) ....................................................................... 20
II.5.1- What is ESP ? ............................................................................................... 20
II.5.2-Characteristics of ESP Courses .............................................................................. 23
II.5.3-The Importance of Teaching Reading Strategies to ESP Learners .................... 24
II.5.4- Successful ESP Learners................................................................................. 25
II.6-The Important Role of English Language in Dental Field in Vietnam ...................... 26
II.7- Summary ................................................................................................................. 27
CHAPTER III :METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 28
III.1-Research question ................................................................................................... 28
III.2- Research design ..................................................................................................... 28
III.2.1- Research method ........................................................................................... 28
III.2.2- Research subject ............................................................................................ 29
III.2.3 – Instruments ................................................................................................ 30
III.2.4 – Data collection ............................................................................................ 31
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS and DISCUSSION of RESULTS............... 34
IV.1-Analysis of dentists’ responses............................................................................... 34
IV.2 –Summary ............................................................................................................... 55
CHAPTER FIVE : RECOMMENDATIONS and CONCLUSION............................ 57

V.1- Recommendations .................................................................................................. 57
V.1.1-Class size ......................................................................................................... 58

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V.1.2-Course. ............................................................................................................. 58
V.1.3- Studying .......................................................................................................... 58
V.1.3.1-Control of the environment ...................................................................... 60
V.1.3.2- Building your vocabulary......................................................................... 65
V.1.3.3- Learning grammar ................................................................................... 66
V.1.3.4- Skimming and scanning scientific materials ............................................ 69
V.1.3.5- Reading speed ......................................................................................... 71
V.2- Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 75
Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 78
Appendix 1: Phiếu khảo sát ............................................................................................. 86
Appendix 2 : Questionnaire ............................................................................................ 91
Appendix 3...................................................................................................................... 96
Appendix 4.................................................................................................................... 101
Appendix 5.................................................................................................................... 106

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INTRODUCTION
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), English after the
Second World War is an accepted international language of science,
technology and commerce. It creates a new generation of learners, including
dentists as scientists, who know why they have to learn English. In Vietnam,
English has regained its role as the main foreign language taught and used
(Alter & Moreau, 1995; Mydans, 1995; Shapiro, 1995).

For dentists,

English is a helpful tool to obtain the knowledge of the dental field from
advanced countries in the world (Waxler-Morrison 2005). Therefore they
take extra effort to master it and be able to use it efficiently. As a dentist, the
importance of getting scientific and technological information cannot be
overstated. This is because the dentistry field is innovative and there are new
developments everyday. In order for one to remain relevant to the field, it is
needed for dentists to acquire the ability to use and read materials written in
English comprehensibly. What have been mentioned above can be clearly
demonstrated by the fact that in Ho Chi Minh city recently held seminars and
conferences about new technicalities in diagnosis and treatments in dentistry
were in English, and in the dental field there are countless items of materials
with different usages written in English. Moreover, the influx of many big
dental production companies into Vietnam, dentists who would like having
up- to- date information in this field have to be able to read and understand
English effectively.
This study investigates how dentists read and understand the English
dental materials in an effort to identify the difficulties and obstacles in
reading comprehension faced by dentists. Hopefully, the results of this study
will allow the author to give some recommendations which may be helpful
to dentists to solve their own problems in order to improve their English

reading skills.

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CHAPTER I: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
I.1- Problem statement
Over the last several years, the use of the English language in the
field of dentistry has been on a steady rise. Dentists are under immense
pressure to improve their proficiency in English since recent conferences and
seminars have been conducted in English, most of dentistry medical books
and journals are now written in English. Also, knowledge of English
language will improve the communication and sharing of ideas between
dentists in Vietnam and others from the developed nations and others. The
need to assimilate ways that can culminate to a greater proficiency in English
among dentists in Vietnam will raise their levels of productivity and
profitability and will enable them to serve the general public better. Most
people feel that the services offered in the health care sector will be
improved further if all the key players share ideas since this is a field that
new methods of treatment are being invented all the time. If there is a barrier
in communication then some of these instrumental services will be lost on
some. Some dentists would rather remain with their old methods of
performing their duties and not engage in reading dentistry materials that
offer new innovative ways of dealing with dental issues. This is because
human nature is mostly resistant to change especially when the future
outcome is not very certain or suspicious and /or when the old seems to work

just fine. Therefore, these dentists are not the respondents in the survey.
Devising ways and offering dentists incentives that enable them to
improve their English language skills will definitely improve their
understanding, enhance their participation in the dentistry forums and boost
their

performance

as

well-educated

dentists.

Notably,

if

the

recommendations that will be given by the researcher are implemented it
could culminate to a transformation of the dentistry field for the better.

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Otherwise, for now dentists in Vietnam are faced with a challenge of
understanding materials written in English and also a problem sharing ideas
with their peers from other nations (Bolton & Kachru, 2006).
I.2- Research objectives
To address the above problem, this study seeks to achieve the
following objectives:
- To evaluate the present general reality in reading comprehension of
dentists.
- To recommend some possible ways for an ideal effective reader.
I.3- Research hypothesis
Proficiency in English will help to improve professional
performance of Vietnamese dentists.
I.4- Importance of the study
All human beings are concerned about their health and thus will
look for the best services from health practitioners. It is therefore the
prerogative of the healthcare givers to ensure that they remain relevant and
accommodate the new and better changes happening in their various fields of
specialization. The area of dentistry for instance has undergone many
changes in the last century and yet this is hardly the end. The responsibility
of every dentist is therefore to ensure they have done everything possible to
remain relevant and give the best services available.
Dentists thoroughly understand the importance of being proficient
in the English language in reading materials about their areas of
specialization and thus gaining new skills which incorporate in their trades.
These materials from various regions in the world, especially from the
developed nations, are very beneficial in informing the Vietnamese dentists

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on the various happenings around the globe. This enables these dentists to
have a better understanding on how to best serve their patients and improve
their practices. Change is essential in all areas of ones’ life even in ones’
career and as Baumeister and Vohs (2004) and John (2005), stated that
change can only succeed if all those involved are motivated and are willing
to do what it takes to improve and learn new things about their professions.
I.5- Limitations
The study aims to identify ability in reading and comprehending dental
materials written in English faced by dentists at five leading dental
departments in Ho Chi Minh city. The study’s responsive community is quite
limited because the questionnaire was only conducted for 80 dentists. Its
results can hardly be generalized to many other circumstances, how similar
they may be. Dentists are generally very busy people. Therefore, trying to fit
in their schedules is an anticipated challenge for this research. The limit of
the allotted time also has an effect on expanse and depth of the study. All in
all the researcher strove to do the research depending on the available
resources and the time allocated.
I.6- Overview of thesis chapters
The thesis is organized in five main chapters:
Chapter I provides the background to the study. It gives necessary
and helpful information in order to identify the current problems arisen in the
course of reading and comprehending dental English materials of
Vietnamese dentists.
Chapter II has reviewed the relevant literatures necessary for the
theoretical basis of the survey, highlighting the concepts of reading, reading
comprehension and English for Specific Purpose, and the important role of

English language in dental field in Vietnam.
Chapter III presents the methodology employed in the survey. The

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study was carried out by delivering survey questionnaires to 80 dentists from
five leading dental departments in Ho Chi Minh city using quantitative
approach to investigate their English proficient competence in reading dental
materials .
Chapter IV includes findings and discussions of the questionnaires. It
describes the reality of existing problems in reading dental materials written
in English faced by Vietnamese dentists.
Chapter V suggests some recommendations in changing the present
English program and the learning environment at university of health
sciences and self-studying reading comprehension of busy dentists in
particular and learning English in general are made.

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CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

II.1-Use of English language in Vietnam

According to Bolton & Kachru (2006) most Vietnamese are very
poor in the English language and most cannot communicate effectively using
the language neither can they read materials written in English and boast of
understanding them fully. This problem has been perpetuated by the
Vietnamese educational system where an individual will go all the way to
the university level and the only knowledge they have of English is the
basics for instance, the greetings. Therefore, it is hardly the fault of the
dentists that they have a problem in understanding materials written in
English but the situation can be salvaged if only a mechanism of furthering
their knowledge of the language is developed and that which the dentists
can incorporate in their busy schedules.
Due to limited knowledge in the English language most medical
students fail to travel and study abroad as they do not pass the English tests
(Phan 2008). Communication barriers have locked out many dentists in
Vietnam from great opportunities for instance participating fully in
interactive seminars and sharing ideas with their peers. Surveys have been
commissioned to investigate the current use of the English language and the
findings were alarming. At the university, levels teaching of the English
language relied heavily on textbook knowledge and not on practical
application

(Phan 2008) .In the first two year at university of health

sciences, dentist students are taught manly in reviewing basic grammar
points and some short dental texts ( see appendix 3,4,5 ). Also, there are poor
testing methods to ascertain the extent of the language acquisition thereby
most students who have graduated from university are
mastering the English language.

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without actually


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Concepts of related literature would be presented in next pages. The
study aims to identify ability in reading and comprehending dental materials
written in English, therefore it is needed to find out what relate to the term
“reading” first.

II.2. Reading
II.2.1- What is Reading?
“Reading is a receptive skill ”. Reading is one of the four language
skills: Reading , Writing , Listening and Speaking .“ Very simply we can say
that reading involves making sense of text” (Spatt, Pulverness, Williams,
2007). From this point of view, reading in its simplest sense, starts by
learning and recognizing the alphabet (or other corresponding symbols in
languages other than English). Then you combine the sounds of those letters
and form words. These words, as a whole, have meaning and form thoughts
or ideas. It then builds up into a whole concept depending on the
comprehension of the reader. It is not as simple as it sounds though. In
Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics, reading is
defined as perceiving a written text in order to understand its contents, which
can be done silently, or as saying a written text aloud, which can be done
with or without an understanding of contents (Richards, Platt ,& Platt, 1992)

. The former involves looking at sentences and understanding message they
convey, the later may either understand a text or convey the information to
someone else

.Although being an attractive definition and a useful

corrective to more restricted approaches , “Reading is the process of getting
linguistic information via print ( Widdowson , 1979 ) ” is so general and
all- embracing that it seems in danger of being trivial or banal . It does not
specify kinds and purposes of reading whereas there are many different
kinds of information and many purposes for reading .Similarly, Thorndike
(1917) argued that reading was similar to mathematical problem solving.

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This definition led to vague ends because it considered reading activity
other human activities. Nunan (1999) viewed reading was a process of
decoding written symbols into their aural equivalents in a linear fashion.
However, Smith (1978) argued that reading was a process of reconstructing
meaning rather than decoding form, and the reader only resorts to decoding
if other means fail. Goodman (1967) says that reading is a psycholinguistic
guessing game. The reader first makes predictions and then uses selected
data from the text to confirm his guesses. And a good reader is supposed to
be a good guesser. From the above although the ways to approach reading
are different , the main goal of reading is to realize what the writer intends to

say in the text and to paraphrase these ideas to oneself or to others . Is
reading an active or a passive activity? Grellet (1991) states that “reading is
an active skill”. Reading is actually a very active endeavor because to be
adept at this skill, one must acknowledge that there is always interplay of
thought and language whenever one engages in it. It requires a great deal of
exertive participation on the part of the reader not just in identifying and
perceiving all the elements but in recognizing the cues presented to be able
to anticipate what the thought of the text is all about. Readers will have to
relate these thoughts to what is already there in their minds possibly from
prior experience or stored knowledge. According to Alderson and Urquhart
(1992) “ Reading is necessarily interactive ” since texts must be written by
writers ,texts must have readers and readers must have something to read.
They are undeniable and incontrovertible elements of reading . Reading is
a continuous interaction between the mind of the writer put into the text, and
the mind of the reader being able to put meaning to the text. According to
Harris in Rethinking Writing (2000), the message is not something given in
advance or given at all, but something created by interaction between writers
and readers as participants in a particular communicative situation. In a
word, reading may be a receptive skill but is surely not a passive one.

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II.2.2 - Models of the Reading Process
The importance of reading has initiated much research in Second
Language Acquisition (SLA). And the reading process has been one of the

key aspects of reading research. With the influence of psycholinguistics, the
research of the reading process has been developed rapidly. The well-known
theories include: the bottom-up model, the top-down model, and the
interactive model.
II.2.2.1-Bottom-up model (local strategy):
Bottom-up model includes focusing on identifying the meaning and
grammatical category of individual words, sentence structure, and details of
the text (Salataci & Akyel, 2002).This model recommends that the learners
or the readers start in this single-direction, part-to-whole processing of the
text (Fries, 1962). It starts from the reader first processing the smallest
linguistic units (i.e., on the grapho-phonic, phonemic, syllabic, morphemic,
word, and sentence levels), gradually compiling the smaller units to decipher
and comprehend the higher units (e.g., sentence syntax), (Dechant, 1991). To
explain this in a simpler way, first the learner links features (the sound, how
it’s written, etc.) to recognize letters. Then he combines the letters to
recognize spelling patterns. Then, he will link spelling patterns to recognize
words, and then proceed to sentence, paragraph and text-level processing. It
considers that reading comprehension primarily depends on the decoding of
words and sentences. In the bottom-up processing, to have extracted the full
meaning of a written text, the reader must have processed each of its
individual sentences. This, in turn, depends upon having correctly analyzed
the clauses and phrases of those sentences, which depends upon having
recognized the component words of those units, which depends upon having
recognized their component letters (Adams, 1982).On the local level, a

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successful readers figure out unfamiliar vocabulary based on the linguistic
context, by looking for cognates, and by using their knowledge of other
similar words in English. They also brake down the structure of sentences
and try to identify phrases or chunks that are familiar and comprehensible.
II.2.2.2-Top-down Model (global strategy):
Top-down model involves identifying main ideas, seeing how the
new information fits with the overall text, using background knowledge,
making predictions, or skimming ( Salataci & Akyel, 2002).This is the
whole-to-part type. According to Gove (1983), readers can understand a
sentence or a paragraph even though they do not recognize each word
through grammatical cues that can help identify unrecognized words. For
Gove (1983), aiming to get the meaning is the primary goal of reading rather
than mastery of letters, letter/sound relationships, and words, and that the
main focus of teaching and learning should be the reading of sentences,
paragraphs, and whole selections. Thus, the top-down model considers that
the reading process is also serial, but contrary to the bottom-up model. It
begins from the highest unit such as semantic or syntactic aspects to the
lowest unit such as words or letters. What the reader has known has great
effects on the reading comprehension. On the global level, a successful
reader invoke prior knowledge about a topic, make predictions, ask
questions, confirm or disconfirm one’s beliefs, or use text structure to
organize ideas.
II.2.2.3-Interactive Model
This model relates the bottom-up model to the top-down model, and
tries to avoid the criticisms leveled against each. It undertakes to consider
the strong points of each model making it one of the most promising

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approaches to the theory of reading today (McCormick & Thomas,1988). As
presented by Goodman (1983), an interactive model is one which uses print
as input and has meaning as output. The interactive model (Rumelhart, 1977;
Stanovich, 1980) points out both what is on the written page and the
meaning that the reader brings to it using both the top-down and bottom-up
models. The over-reliance on either the top-down and bottom-up processing
to the neglect of the other model has been found to result to reading
problems for learners (Carrell 1988, p. 239. It suggests that successful
readers in fact use a combination of both the top-down and bottom-up.
Different texts may require different combination of the elements of two
above -mentioned processes for the same reader .Similarly , different readers
may process the same text differently , depending on their prior knowledge
and their knowledge of the target language.(Celce –Murcia & Marianne,
1991). Rumelhart assumes that the reading process is a two-directional
interaction and both the reader’s linguistic and background knowledge have
great effects on the reading process. Over-reliance on either top-down or
bottom-up processing to the neglect of the other may hamper readers.
Successful reading requires a mix of top-down and bottom-up processes
(Carroll, 2000).Both the bottom-up and the top-down theories have their
limits and they are not adequate in explaining many phenomena of the
reading process. In fact, an authentic reading process, strictly speaking, is
neither bottom-up processing nor top-down processing. It usually involves
both kinds of processing.
From the above discussions, it is seen that reading is not a passive

process but an active one which language learners should master. The reader
reconstructs and creates meaning for the text. In reading activities, different
reading processes are activated for different reading purposes. People need to
develop their reading ability so as to read efficiently and benefit from the

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wealth of information in the present world. For English learners, especially
dentist learners, it is essential to read well in English. Reading is probably
the most important skill in learning a foreign language as reading in another
language allows for one more channel of communication and for an
important source of input.
II.3- Reading Comprehension
II.3.1-What is Reading Comprehension?
“Reading for comprehension is reading in order to master the total message
of the writer, both main point and supporting details. It is that stage of
understanding at which the reader is able to paraphrase the author’s ideas but has
not yet made a critical evaluation of those ideas. This type of reading is primary
concern of most reading classes.”( Michael II.Long ,1987).

According to the above citation, the necessity in reading
comprehension is that a reader is able to extract the required information
from the text. The first task of the reader is to realize the writer’s intention in
the text and then paraphrase the ideas to himself or to others. It is
unnecessary for him to comment or give the ideas about the text at this stage.

In the next stage, the reader then is skilled to connect the new information
provided in the text to his prior background knowledge. He may critically
evaluate the ideas conveyed in the text (Anderson & Pearson, 1984).
“If we say that a student is good at comprehension, we mean that he can
accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum information from the text
with the minimum of misunderstanding. We may also mean that he is able to
show his understanding by re-expressing the content of the text. ” (Swan,

1990).

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In order to comprehend a reading passage best, a reader has to apply
different reading strategies as effectively as possible. When he is able to
paraphrase or re- express the content of the passage, he is said to understand
it. If the required information is not extracted the reader can not get a clear
idea of the overall meaning of the text. That means he is considered shortage
of reading skills to become an independent reader. In addition, the language
in the text (words or expressions…) may influence a great deal to understand
the text and defective reading habit may lead to failure in comprehension.
Reading comprehension - techniques for improving students' success in
extracting useful knowledge from text (Mayer, p.34). In order to extract it,
readers need to realize the writer’s intention in the text and interpret the
idea(s) to understand. As defined by “Partnership for Reading” (2005),
reading comprehension is understanding a text that is read, or the process of

"constructing meaning" from a text. Comprehension is a "construction
process" because it involves all of the elements of the reading process
working together. Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize
words quickly and effortlessly. If word recognition is difficult, readers use
too much of their processing capacity to read individual words, which
interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read. Reading
comprehension is simply the degree of comprehension of a writing which
calls for mental frameworks for holding ideas, motivation, concentration and
good study methods. How then can we deepen our level of understanding of
what we read? One way is by reading more. It is supposed that all of us have
experienced having a teacher telling us how important reading is. Read the
news, read anything you can get your hands on or whatever sparks your
interest, so as to broaden your reading background. Look at how paragraphs
are constructed. You will most often find the gist in the first sentence, but
watch out for topic changes within the whole text. Foresee what the author
has in mind. Your understanding will be strengthened if your assumptions

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are correct. Talk about the ideas with other people to deepen your interest
and motivation to comprehend. Observe the pictures, the headings, the first
and last paragraphs in a chapter. These serve as reinforcing cues leading to
more understanding. Jot down notes, summarize, mark or highlight
important words to help you remember important points. Do not miss out the
opportunity to look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary. After all these, if the

meaning as a whole still doesn’t register, it is most beneficial to reread the
work.
II.3.2-Schema Theory and Reading Comprehension
II.3.2.1-Schema Theory
What is a schema? Schema is basically the available background or
stored knowledge that we have. Schemata are the reader's "concepts, beliefs,
expectations, processes - virtually everything from past experiences that are
used in making sense of what we read. In reading, schemata are used to
make sense of text; the printed word evokes the reader's experiences, as well
as past and potential relationships" (as quoted by reading specialist John
McNeil, 1992, p.20).Then, in the late 1970s, the schema theory was put
forward, which is a development of the interactive model and stresses more
on the reader’s schematic knowledge, that is, the reader’s already acquired
knowledge. The reading process is considered to be the interaction between
the reader’s schematic knowledge and the text, and the reader’s active role in
the reading process is more stressed .Developed by Anderson, a respected
educational psychologist, the schema theory is widely approved and
recognized as the major element in reading comprehension. The author relies
on the fact that a reader’s background, prior knowledge, or mental structures
that represent his understanding of the world has an inevitable strong
influence on incoming learning. Nist and Mealey (1991) made mention of

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correct “slots” where new information is put into, depending on which slot is

most closely related to this fresh incoming idea. This confirms that reading is
indeed an interactive activity where the reader derives the meaning by
processing the text into these “slots”. When new information is introduced, it
not only must be compatible with one of the slots in the memory, but it must
actually be placed into the proper slot before comprehension can be
presented. Therefore, if there are no slots related to it at all, comprehension
will be more difficult than otherwise. Schemata, with the exception of deepseated schemata, change to more complex ones as new information is
acquired. Someone with deep-seated schemata or who strongly holds on to
deeply-held belief would rather live with disparity rather than merge the
new idea to give rise to an improved schema.
II.3.2.2-Types of Schema
The two types of schemata much discoursed in reading research are
formal schemata and content schemata .According to Carrell (1987), formal
schemata is where a reader can anticipate how pieces of textual data will
relate to each other and in what order details will arise. For example, in a
Sherlock-Holmes-type of narration, a reader could presuppose the following
occurrences: A crime takes place, possible suspects are pinpointed, clues are
found, and the criminal is caught. Content schemata is the other kind of
schemata. This comprises of our background or prior knowledge about the
cultural conformance or content of a passage. For example, some readers
might know that Dr. Jose Rizal is the national hero of the Philippines who
was executed because of his so-called subversive published texts that
inspired the Philippine Revolution in the 19th century. Such content
schemata, because of culture orientation, aid the reader to comprehend and
recall more than the readers with less familiarity with the text content
(Carrell, Devine & Eskey, 1988).

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Other types of schema are as follows:
- Self-schemata are what we see ourselves as or what we perceive
we could ideally become.
- Person schemata are about different kinds of people, like students
or doctors.
- Role schemata are about proper behaviors in given situations,
like, “What would a priest do in this situation?”.
- Event schemata are about what happens in specific situations,
for example, proper etiquette in a fine dining restaurant.
II.3.2.3- Schemata and Reading Comprehension
Using the applicable schema to enhance reading instruction lets
students access reading with experiences that they are already accustomed
to; it helps in the obtainment, storage, and procuring of meaningful
information. In the reading process, awakening of prior knowledge is
necessary as a pre-reading activity. By activating the proper schemata prior
to the reading experience, students reconstruct what they already know or
have experienced. This leads to the perception of the written text. Success or
failure of understanding the topic can be related to the suitable activation of
schema prior to the reading process. The inability to comprehend what is
being read occurs most likely when the student has no prior knowledge or
experience with the subject matter ( Rumelhart, 1980).
II.4. Effective Readers and Ineffective Readers
II.4.1-The Difference between Effective Readers and Ineffective
Readers
An awareness of the various effective and ineffective reading
strategies can aid the instructor to apply effective reading practices in

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learners, rally the wider use of these strategies, and be observant of learners
operating on less effective strategies. If one can select the correct system or
strategy for the purpose and text, then he is an effective reader. It appears in
most studies that effective readers are those who:
- adjust to materials at hand and quickly fit their “ attack ” skills to
the type of texts .
- abandon non-successful strategies and select new ones.
- make constant adjustments to the text by recruiting background
knowledge.
- combine top –down and bottom –up techniques in the most
efficient and most expedient way .
- are not only effective strategy users but also effective decoders.
- continuously match old and new information and experience, both
at the global and local level .
- detect the characteristic features in letters, words and meaning.
- are acquainted with the explicit and implied correlation between
sentences and paragraph.
- are able decipher the meaning of unfamiliar words from context.
- attempt to recognize meaning rather than letters or words.
- disregard remote alternatives through inference and prediction.
- have a clearly defined aim or direction.
- can pinpoint topic sentences.

- apply their schema.
- tell the difference between main points from subordinate ones, and
verifiable truth from opinion.
On the other hand, some manifestations of ineffective reading are:

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