The Application of Schema Theory in the Teaching of College English Listening

Schema Theory is applied to explore the input for the teaching of college English listening, aiming to enhance college students’ listening comprehension. The paper analyzes the intrinsic relationship between schemata and listening comprehension which lays the cognitive foundation for schema theory functioning as the guide of the teaching of listening. It proceeds to expound that relevance, authenticity, genres and simplification of input are the principles that govern the teaching of listening, which benefit the construction and activation of content schemata, formal schemata and abstract schemata and thus are capable of improving college students’ listening comprehension.