Critical Analysis of Schema and Behaviorism Reading Theories Essay 2022

Running head: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SCHEMA AND BEHAVIOURISM READING
THEORIES
Critical Analysis of Schema and Behaviourism Reading Theories
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CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SCHEMA AND BHEAVIOURISM
READING THEORIES 2
Introduction
There are numerous reading theories that exist in the contemporary learning
environment. This essay will provide a critical analysis of two of these theories, that is the
schema theory and the behaviourism theory. After the critical analysis, the essay will look at
how these theories apply to the Australian English curriculum for P-3. The essay will further
focus on a critical evaluation of the teaching strategies and approaches that are used to teach
English in P-3. Lastly, a critical reflection focusing on how appropriate the theories are in
enhancing reading development among early learners will be provided.
Schema Theory
According to Curtis & Jaboneta (2019), schema theory assumes that learners use
knowledge that they have gained previously to comprehend and understand some text. The
fundamental principle behind the theory is that the learner does not gain any new knowledge
through reading a text. Rather, the learner uses previously gained knowledge to derive some
meaning out of a text. Therefore, there is some kind of an interactive background between
what the learner already knows and the text. As Neumann & Kopcha (2018) observes for
some efficient comprehension of the text, the learner must always be able to connect some
line between what they know and what is present in the text. It follows that the kind of
environment in which children from P-3 revolve around, will have a phenomenal impact in
their development of reading capability. The schema theory further points out that the
understanding of the world that a learner has will significantly influence the act of text
comprehension (Odom, 2016).
The schema theory further argues that there are two main directions in which learning
takes place (Curtis & Jaboneta, 2019). The first direction is bottom up to the top while the

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SCHEMA AND BHEAVIOURISM
READING THEORIES 3
second is top down to the bottom. These two kinds of processing of the text usually occurs
simultaneously helping the learner to effectively understand the text. There are three levels of
comprehension according to the schema theory. The first level is referred to as the literal
level. The literal level refers to the basic meaning of the text, that is, what is actually
happening within the text/ story (Neumann & Kopcha, 2018). This level of comprehension is
very important as it lays the foundation for understanding more complex issues of the text. It
mainly focuses on reading the passage, hearing some sounds or even viewing some pictures
or images. At this level, the learner just gets the essential information.
The second level is the inferential level. This level involves the ability to deduce the
meaning of the text (Schindler, McCoy, Fisher, & Shonkoff, 2019). For a learner do this, they
must think about the text and then draw some conclusion. Therefore, focus shifts from
essential information to reading between the lines with the aim of understanding what the text
implies. The learner should have the ability to determine the intent and message of the author.
The third level of comprehension is referred to as the critical level. According to Illeris
(2018), at this level the learner should have the ability to read the text, understand the
meaning and then relate the text to some other information.
Behaviourism Theory
Behaviourism is a learning theory that mainly focuses on the behaviours that can be
objectively observed. Behaviourists disregard the mental processes going on withing a child/
learner since they cannot be observed or scientifically quantified (Cohen & Waite-
Stupiansky, 2017). The theory argues that behaviour change can only be achieved through
interacting with the environment or some kind of reinforcement. There are various kinds of
reinforcement. These include positive reinforcement where a reward is provided to encourage