Abstract:
Considering the authenticity aspect of language and finding the best pedagogical
ways to introduce it to learners is of great importance to foreign language
learning. Language knowledge and comprehension during the process of learning
plays a fundamental role in dealing with learners’ schematic conception. The
latter is reflected in the conventional structure of knowledge required when
processing the information. For this reason, the present research investigates the
effect of introducing the authenticity of language on learners’ schematic
knowledge in order to develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skill.
In this respect, a corpus consisting of a variety of texts has been selected as an
authentic frame of language knowledge to study the various contextual and
rhetorical features needed in the network of comprehension and information
processing. An experimental study with 120 informants from 3rd year
undergraduate students of English (control group and experimental group) was
conducted together with a questionnaire which was administered to the same
informants in order to have an overview about their attitudes and schematic
knowledge. The results after comparing both groups pre-test and post-test via
the required statistical inferences have shown a remarkable improvement in the
experimental group performance after the treatment. Hence, they confirm the
hypothesis of this research and prove that the authenticity of language has a
positive effect on students’ schematic knowledge.
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