The Application of Scaffolding Theory in College English Reading Teaching

【Abstract】Reading teaching plays an important role English teaching， and how to promote the English teaching performance has been an essential subject confronting English teachers. Scaffolding Theory derives from Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development（ZPD）， which has become a new teaching strategy for the second language teaching.

【Key words】Application； Scaffolding Theory

1. Introduction

As an essential part for language input as well as the language skills， English reading plays an leading role in English teaching. In the meanwhile， the teaching of English reading serves as both the keys point and the difficult point for English teaching. The teaching of English reading has been one of the most fundamental parts for English teaching， whose significance for the cultivation of students’ English ability has also been stressed.

2. The Scaffolding Theory

Scaffolding is commonly accepted as an effective teaching strategy in the second language teaching field. Scaffolding serves as a temporary and adjustable assistance to learners which make is possible for learners to complete relevant tasks and achieve their study objectives. Such objectives are usually beyond learners’ ability and thus impossible to achieve without the scaffolding support.

2.1 The Definition of Scaffolding Theory

In second language acquisition study， scaffolding is regarded as a useful tool to promote successful communication. According to McKay （2006， p.17）， teachers employed scaffolding as a teaching method to “give children cognitive support and language support， usually by talking through a task with children and thus helping them learn”. The theoretical foundation of scaffolding derives from Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development（ZPD）. According to Vygotsky （1978， p. 86）， ZPD is “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving underguidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”.

2.2 Principles of Scaffolding

The application of scaffolding， according to Van Lier （cited in Barnard & Campbell， 2005）， complies with six principles， which involve：

・ Contextual support - a safe but challenging environment： errors are expected and accepted as part of the learning process

・ Continuity - repeated occurrences over time of a complex of actions， keeping a balance between routine and variation

・ Inter-subjectivity - mutual engagement and support： two minds thinking as one

・ Flow C communication between participants is not forced， but flows in a natural way

・ Contingency C the scaffolded assistance depends on learners’ reactions： elements can be added， changed， deleted， repeated， etc

・ Handover C the ZPD closes when learner is ready to undertake similar tasks without help.

2.3 Types of Scaffolding

Wood et al. （1976） put forward six characteristics for scaffolding， which involve： recruitment to attract students’ interest in involvement， reduction of freedom to get a control of the class to a certain degree， direction maintenance to guide learners to achieve the goals， critical feature marking to draw students’ attention to certain aspects， frustration control to decrease students degree of anxiousness in learning， and modeling by setting an example for learners to complete the tasks.

Saye and Brush （2002） classify scaffolding into soft scaffolding and hard scaffolding. The former one is dynamic and specific scaffolds from teachers and peers set for less capable learners in the learning process. Such sort of scaffolding is “on the fly”， which indicates that teachers provide seasonable support for learners when they are examined to have learning problems. In the contrast， hard scaffolding is referred to as static assistance that are anticipated in advance on the basis of students’ competence and knowledge.

3. The Scaffolding Instruction Mode

In the scaffolding instruction mode， the first step is to set up proper scaffolds for learners. During this stage， the construction of scaffolds depends on a thoughtful analysis of learning needs， learners themselves and the learning content. Such analyses contribute to setting proper learning objective， and accordingly setting appropriate learning scaffolds. Before each unit or lesson， teachers are supposed to set various study objectives for different learners according to their competence. With the help of scaffolds， the teaching key points and difficult points can be divided to get understood and comprehended by learners. Since the reading passages in the textbooks are not all close to students’ real life， some of the situation in the text may not familiar to all students. This requires teachers to select topics that are close to students’ life， and set up learning context for students so that they can comprehend what the passages illustrate and get to understand what is described in the passages. In this way， the teaching objectives can be achieved， and what is comprehended by the students can be transferred into other related learning contexts. The third stage is to explore independently.

4. The Application of Scaffolding Theory in College English Reading Lessons

4.1 Scaffolding in Pre-reading

The main part of scaffolding is to construct the conceptual framework according to the ZPD as well as the teaching strategies. According to current learning topic， teachers are supposed to design a proper framework for the development of students’ ZPD. The main function of the scaffolds is to prepare well for students before the instruction and assist them to surpass their former competence level.

The lesson is Text B of Unit 3 A NEW DIMENSION OF LIFE. The first step of the lesson is the lead-in. At the beginning of the class， he teacher play a video clip of the film Finding Nemo for the students. And after watching the video， the question is raised to students： what have you seen in the video？ In the video， there appear some animals and plants living under the sea， and some of the words are learned words for students， while some of them are not. After watching the video， the students acquire some new words to describe undersea creatures， which serve as a useful scaffold for students to learn from known words to new words. After question one， students are presented with some pictures to learn more words on undersea creatures， which assists to decrease the difficulty degree for memorizing the new words. Then another question is given to students： where can these creatures be found？ By creating an undersea context for students， this question serves as a specific scaffold to lead students into the passage reading.

4.2 Scaffolding in While-reading

Scaffolding is a teaching strategy to around a positive interaction between the teacher and the students. In designing the while-reading part， students’ know knowledge must be fully aroused to cushion the following reading.

Fast-reading requires students to scan the passage at a proper speed to grasp the main idea of the paragraphs as well as the framework of the passage. This is a process for independent reading and thinking， which also complies with the independent exploration spirit of scaffolding teaching. In this section， two questions related to the passage framework and main idea is designed. After the students read the passage， the fifth question is raised to the students： what is the type or genre of the article？ This question is to lead students to think over the genre of the passage. After the students give the answer of diary， the teacher raises the sixth question of finding the main idea of each paragraph to get the students to explore the framework of the passage. To reduce the degree of difficulty， the question is designed as a matching to ask students to number the paragraph topics in the correct order. Both of these two questions are designed to help students get a general comprehension of the passage， which contributes to the following learning tasks. Meanwhile， these two questions show that the teacher pays attention to the cultivation of students’ skimming and scanning ability， and recognizes the key points of reading teaching.

As the careful reading part， the understanding of the specific content of the passage is stressed. This requires different reading skills to complete the task. The students are asked to read again to answer the questions on the detailed information like： what did the writer do on the morning of 19th January， what did the writer think after watching the beauty of undersea creatures， did the writer frighten the fish when he swam among them and why， what did the writer think at last， etc. These above questions derives from each paragraph， which also corresponds to the main idea of each paragraph. With the help of these scaffolding question， the students are able to get a clear understanding of the passage and their ability to obtain information and express in English can be improved.

After that， another question is raised as： read again and underline the animals and plants the writer has come across. This question is more difficult because students may not find out all the answers all by themselves. Therefore， the cooperation scaffolding from peers is needed to make mutual supplement for each other in the group. The teacher lists the undersea creatures given by students， and allows more students to supplement for each other. Then the students are asked to find out various adjectives to describe the undersea creatures in the passage.

4.3 Scaffolding in Post-reading

Post-reading involves activities and tasks after reading the passage for several times. The questions designed in this phase tend to strengthening exercise and deepening the understanding of the passage. In this phase， five true or false questions are raised involving： （1） In the diary， the writer mainly intends to tell us the undersea vivid colors； （2） The word “steep” means deep； （3） The yellow-spotted read sea-slug was hanging upside down under the sea； （4） In the fourth paragraph， the author did not want to get too close to five sorts of creatures； （5） From the final part of the text， we can know that the author felt that he was a tiny spot compared with the sea. These true or false questions aim to check students’ reading performance， and in the meantime， students reading ability can be further promoted. These five questions are read by the teacher， and students have to answer them by quick response， which also helps to get students listening comprehension trained. Then after these questions， a more difficult is provided to students： if you are given an opportunity to get to the reef offshore to see the undersea， would like to visit， and give your reasons. This is an open question for students to answer creatively. This question encourages students to freely express their own views and thus students are encouraged to think and answer from different dimensions and viewpoints. In addition， this question is closely related to students learning reality， which stimulates students' learning interest and make it possible for all the students to express themselves. Another scaffold in the post-reading phase is to expand learners’ thinking.

5. The Influence of Scaffolding on College English Reading Teaching

Through the above discussion， it can be found that scaffolding serves as a significant tool for College English reading teaching. The specific influence of scaffolding is summarized as follows.

（1） Scaffolding is good for teachers to get a better understanding of learners. With scaffolding teaching， teachers have to get familiar with learners current knowledge and ability level and the correspondent level that they can reach after reading.

（2） Scaffolding teaching makes it possible to implement individualized teaching. Scaffolding teaching provides scaffolds based on their current learning level， and such a teaching is diverse and individualized.

（3） Scaffolding teaching provides different scaffolds for students at different learning stages， which can assist learners to get the anticipated knowledge and skills.

Conclusion

In traditional college English reading teaching， teachers dominate the class while students are still in the passive learning state. The scaffolding teaching advocates the creation of a cooperative and relaxing learning atmosphere where learners can gradually form the independent learning habit with teachers’ guidance and assistance. With the scaffolding support， students can think actively， try to find the problems by themselves and independently explore the answers to construct their understanding of the reading passages. According to the scaffolding theory， teachers should encourage students to learn with the help of scaffolding so that learners’ reading ability can be promoted.

References：

[1]Barnard，R.，& Campbell，L.2005.Sociocultural theory and the teaching of process writing：The scaffolding of learning in a university context.The TESOLANZ Journal 13：76-88.

[2]Belland，B.R.2010.Portraits of middle school students constructing evidence-based arguments during problem-based learning：The impact of computer-based scaffolds.Educational Technology Research and Development 58：285C309.

[3]Bruner，J.1985.Vygotsky：a historical and conceptual perspective.In Wertsch（Ed.）.Culture，Communication and Cognition：Vygotskian Perspectives.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.

[4]Collins，A.，Brown，J.S.，&Holum，A.1991.Cognitive apprenticeship：Making thinking visible.American Educator 15：6C11，38C39.

[5]Gibbons，P.2002.Scaffolding Language，Scaffolding Learning.Portsmouth：Heinemann.

作者介：郑菲（1987.3.3-），女，浙江农林大学，助教，硕士研究生，2011届研究生。