Scaffolding Technique (original) (raw)

Scaffolding theory: High challenge, high support in Academic Language and Learning (ALL) contexts

Scaffolding is a term frequently used by tertiary educators and especially in the field of Academic Language and Learning (ALL), but it is often not clearly understood or adequately theorised. It originates from Vygotsky’s (1978) theories of social learning: the view that learning takes place in social environments through interaction with peers and more knowledgeable others. Although the term was introduced by Woods, Bruner and Ross (1976), it has since been refined by a number of theorists including Mariani (1997) who defines scaffolding as “high challenge: high support”. Based on this definition, we argue that scaffolding in ALL contexts entails a very specific kind of support which works with students’ “zones of proximal development” (ZPD) (Vygotsky, 1978) enabling them to achieve far beyond what they could accomplish individually. Using Hammond and Gibbons’ (2005) work, which identifies two aspects of scaffolding, “designed-in” and “contingent”, we examine how the theory of scaffolding can be applied in ALL work with particular reference to in-discipline contexts. “Designed-in” scaffolding involves carefully sequenced and structured sub-tasks leading to the completion of the major task, while “contingent” scaffolding occurs in the moment-to-moment interaction between teacher and student. Using examples from the literature, we discuss how both types of scaffolding can be invoked in the in-discipline work of ALL practitioners to enable students to make leaps forward in their ability to think critically and to participate in the discourse communities which they aspire to join. Key words: scaffolding, tertiary learning, academic literacy, ZPD.

Teachers’ and Student’s Scaffolding in Second Language Learning

EDULINK : EDUCATION AND LINGUISTICS KNOWLEDGE JOURNAL

The aim of this paper is to show how scaffolding from teacher to students and that from students to students work during a sequence of language learning in which communication skills and fluency are the goals to reach. Pedagogical sequence that includes the roles of teacher in facilitating students involved in various types of learning activity and tasks has been analysed to find educational implications of the theories. Based on the data of some empirical studies, it shows that the strategy used by teacher to facilitate the activities and give corrective feedbacks is very helpful to make students focus on the goals. This is how scaffolding from teacher works efficiently in classroom learning. Pair and group work interactions among students with different characteristics also prove how scaffolding from students to students are present and contributes to the communication skills development. However, not all students can provide useful scaffolding for others due to their different pe...

Scaffolding and the zone of proximal development: A problematic relationship

Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 2020

ABSTRACTFor nearly four decades, a variety of social science disciplines have assumed that the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and the metaphor of scaffolding reflect more or less the same process. However, we will argue that any similarity is at best partial and at worst superficial. Equating the processes adds nothing to Vygotsky's general theory and in fact may weaken and dilute the robustness of the theory. To make the non‐equivalence case, the paper first presents an overview of Vygotsky's approach to psychology that includes an expansive discussion of the ZPD not only as the activity in which instruction leads development, but also as the key to his approach to experimental research. This is followed by a critical review of the relevant statements that have appeared in the literature on the nature of scaffolding, its presumed link to the ZPD and that brings to the fore the inadequacies of the metaphor itself that disqualify it as an equivalent process. While the ZPD...

To What Extent Can Providing Scaffolding in ZPD Help in Developing Sla of English Language Learners

2018

As learners face difficulties in acquiring Second Language Acquisition (SLA) where English is used as a foreign language, in this writing she will analyse the writer practice as a teacher in a secondary school in Indonesia through the lens of Vygotskian Socio-Cultural Theory – Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). She illustrate how ongoing support through cooperative learning which promoted teamwork and dialogue among peers could help learners understand the concept of using procedure text. Although social interaction involvement has been controversial, the learning process, through which support or scaffolding is provided in learners’ ZPD, can have a positive effect on language development. Key Words: Scaffolding, ZPD, SLA, EFL, Cooperative Learning, Socio-cultural Theory ABSTRAK Sebagaimana para siswa menghadapi kesulitan dalam mencapai Second Language Acquisition (SLA) di mana Bahasa Inggris digunakan sebagai Bahasa asing, dalam tulisan ini saya akan menganalisa pengajaran pada se...