Research Question: What Strategies and concepts can teachers use to enhance English comprehension-levels in learners?
Problem and Purpose: Enhance English Comprehension in Learners
Theory: Mental Model Theory
Theorist: Phillip Johnson-Laird and Ruth Byrne
Primary Postulates of Mental Model Theory (Relation to problem and purpose)
The theory stipulates that in order for learners to comprehend what they are learning, they must have the ability to create mental picture or models of what they are reading. For example, when one is reading fiction, it has to be reconstructed in the mind thus helping the student stay in track of what is being talked about in the reading (Casper, Catton & Westfall, 1998). The creation of the mental pictures forms a model that assists the learner to comprehend various words that are being taught. As a result, the learner is able to recognize English words easily and reconstruct them to make a meaningful sentence. The theory aligns to the purpose of enhancing comprehension by using deductive, spatial and relational mental inferences.
Research Studies/ Frameworks
According to comprehension research by Kenneth Craik, Scottish psychologists, described that the mind has the capability of constructing small-scale models from reality and later utilizes the models to anticipate future events or even understand how things are done. The same idea was applied in learning of new languages and it was found to be effective. The second research framework is based on children and how they are able to generate such models and thus the fast ability to comprehend English or any other language used (What are mental models? | Mental Models and Reasoning Lab, 2016).
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Conceptual Framework
In the same way, Mental Models theory has been used successfully induce comprehension capabilities in learners by helping them make mental models about the new English words that have been presented to them. Moreover, during the reading sessions with the teacher, these mental models are used by students to remember and comprehend what they have learnt (Casper, Catton & Westfall, 1998). The concept works easiest for native English speakers but even better for learners who want to learn English as a second language especially in vocabulary knowledge.
The Mental Model concept works best under the preparational and elaborational strategies. Preparational strategy is used to introduce the learner about the topics and vocabularies they are about to learn making it easier for them to retain the knowledge learned. Elaboration assists the learner to identify the connections between English works and the context in which they are used (What are mental models? | Mental Models and Reasoning Lab., 2016).
References
Casper, M., Catton, J., & Westfall, S. (1998). Comprehension: Theories and Strategies — Dominican University of California. Retrieved from http://www.dominican.edu/academics/education/about/madaliennepeters/compprehension
What are mental models? | Mental Models and Reasoning Lab. (2016). Retrieved from http://mentalmodels.princeton.edu/about/what-are-mental-models/
