The Influence of Content Schema on L2 Learners’ Reading Comprehension: Evidence from Chinese Learners of English

Reading plays a significant role in language learning and information communication. This study investigated the influence of content schema on Chinese English learners' reading comprehension. Participants were 20 freshmen with the same English proficiency. Schema theory was adopted as the theoretical foundation. The results showed that: (1) Content schemata enhanced L2 learners' reading comprehension performance; (2) Content schemata had a positive impact on the comprehension of expository passages and little effect on that of narrative passages; (3) Proficiency level correlated positively with reading comprehension performance. But the insufficiency of language knowledge could be supplemented by relevant schemata. Based on the above, some suggestions are provided for the teaching and learning of English.