The effect of the individual 'reading schema' on the comprehension of an explanatory text

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  • 説明的文章の読解に及ぼす「観点」の影響
  • セツメイテキ ブンショウ ノ ドッカイ ニ オヨボス カンテン ノ エイキョウ

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This study investigates the effect of the specific reading schema held by the reader on the reading comprehension of an explanatory text. In the first experiment, subjects received a passage on politeness, and were instructed to summarize it and give their opinions on it. The summary was intended to clarify the reading comprehension constructed by the reader and the opinion was the measure for the specific reading schema held by the reader. The main results are as follows. From the analysis of the IUs (Idea Units) and the coherence relations in the summary, it was concluded that nearly half of the readers had merely skimmed through the text. They read inappropriately and tended to express the inadequate schema as a moralistic or instructive one. On the contrary, the subjects who read appropriately (reading without skipping) were more likely to refer to the main theme of the text. In the second experiment, the subjects received the same passage as in the first experiment, and were instructed to answer the question that "What does the author intend to communicate through this passage-" with a free essay. The task was intended to facilitate understanding. The main results are as follows. The way of instruction referred to above did not have a significant effect on facilitating reading appropriately. This is reflected by the fact that the number of subjects who fulfilled the task successfully was under 60%. Subjects who read appropriately made use of fewer reading schemes of higher quality than subjects who read inappropriately. Based upon these results, it is suggested that "an inappropriate comprehension of an explanatory text" is the result of the reader's different comprehension from the original context through the use of inappropriate and individual "reading schemes" such as "the Moral Reading Schema (MRS)." This occurs because they failed to comprehend the text by focusing on its form and actual content.

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