The Importance Of Schemata In English Language Teaching

Schemata are the guiding structures in the comprehension process. Schema means an abstract textual structure that the listener uses to understand the text. In other words, the listener uses linguistic and situational cues about the new input to extract schemata. When a schema is extracted, it becomes a guiding structure in comprehension. If there is harmony between incoming information and the schema, the listeners will understand the text. The schema results in three basic modes of information processing: bottom-up processing; top-down processing, and interactive processing (Pourhosein Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011).
Bottom-up process
The bottom-up approach acknowledges listening is a process of decoding sounds, from the smallest meaningful units to complex texts. Therefore, the listeners start by listening for the individual sounds and then join these sounds together to make syllables and words. These words are then combined together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Finally, the sentences combine together to form meaningful texts or conversations. Obviously, according to Peterson (2001), these are the lower level processes that work to construct meaning from recognition of sounds and words, which, when identified, are fit into larger phrasal units and then matched with related ideas stored in long

Listening is very important in language because it provides input for the learners and without comprehending input, they cannot learn anything. Listening comprehension is a complex skill that should be developed consciously. It can be developed with practice when learners consider the process of listening without the threat of assessment. Through those three processes, the listeners and the teachers comprehend which students’ level they can employ which process appropriately as well as the how listening process work to listen