Abstract:
This research aims at exploring the incidental acquisition of professional terms via schema intervention means.The results empirically illustrate that the able readers with 5000 vocabulary level gain significantly more professional terms than other subjects through reading, while there are no significant differences between the fair readers with 3000 vocabulary level and the poor readers with 2000 vocabulary level, which shows the same results to that of incidental general vocabulary acquisition.Schema intervention means, however, make the results completely different.It is found that the fair readers with 3000 vocabulary level performed much better than they did without schema, as well as the able readers with 5000 vocabulary level, though schema is not effective to the poor readers with 2000 vocabulary level.Meanwhile, schema works much better on the readers in incidental professional terms acquisition than other facilitation means working on incidental general vocabulary acquisition.To our surprise, the retention rate of the able and fair readers improved dramatically owning to schema, which is also better than the effects of other facilitation means on general vocabulary acquisition.The above research results have enlightenment for us to establish more reasonable ESP courses and to carry out bilingual education in colleges and universities.