ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces data based on the texts in English, a foreign language in the authors' context. It shows the presence of contradictory information of Victoria's reading response task. The chapter illustrates how Beryl's confusion between Christmas and Thanksgiving shows the strength of existing schemata as well as the difficulty of accommodating and assimilating new knowledge to prior frames of reference. Despite the presence of textual information that explicitly indicated that it was a Christmas celebration, Beryl chose to affirm that it was more linked to Thanksgiving. The expression of surprise is evidence of decentring from what is familiar and of new insights gained about others. The chapter shows that Victoria's analysis focused on people taking more than what they need, quoting the extract portraying the Navajos strolling with raw beefs under their arms. It also shows that the students relied on familiar knowledge and experiences in their understanding of the texts by engaging in processes of comparing and contrasting.
