Abstract
Beginning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) studens often encounter challenges that require teachers to implement a variety of strategies to support their language development. Scaffolding has been documented across educational settings as a valuable approach for assisting learners; therefore, this study aims to examine beginning EFL students’ perceptions of scaffolding in the development of reading and speaking skills and to offer recommendations for teachers working with novice learners. This qualitative case study was conducted in a conversational English course offered through an outreach project at a public university in Corredores, Costa Rica. The data collection process included two structured observations, two focus groups, and one semi-structured interview. Sixteen students and one student-teacher participated in the structured observations. The focus groups were conducted with eight beginner EFL students (four male and four female) ages 16 to 18 years old. The semi-structured interview was conducted with the student-teacher. The data revealed several challenges faced by the learners, as well as the scaffolding strategies the teacher implemented to address these difficulties. Learners expressed positive perceptions of the use of scaffolding in their language-learning process and, along with the student-teacher, provided recommendations for EFL teachers on its effective use. Based on the findings, from a learner perspectives, scaffolding is an effective approach for improving reading and speaking abilities and for addressing linguistic challenges. Recommendations encompass encouraging EFL learners to maintain openness to scaffolding strategies; ensuring that educators consider learners needs, preferences, and difficulties; cultivating a positive and supportive learning atmosphere; and delivering constructive and considerate feedback. This study underscores the importance of scaffolding in initial EFL classrooms and proposes that its implementation can be enhanced through an action plan, such as a teacher workshop, designed to facilitate the integration of scaffolding strategies for the advancement of reading and speaking skills.
KEYWORDS: Challenges, EFL beginners, Pedagogical strategies, Recommendations, Scaffolding, English as a Foreign Language.
RESUMEN
El estudiantado de Inglés como Lengua Extranjera (ILE) enfrenta desafíos donde el profesorado debe considerar estrategias para acompañarlos en su proceso de aprendizaje. El andamiaje ha sido documentado en diferentes instituciones educativas, en este sentido, el propósito de este estudio es examinar las percepciones del alumnado de ILE sobre el andamiaje en las habilidades de lectura y habla y proveer recomendaciones al profesorado de inglés para ayudar a estudiantes principiantes. Para esta investigación cualitativa con diseño de estudio de caso, dos observaciones estructuradas, dos grupos focales, y una entrevista semiestructurada fueron administrados en un curso de inglés conversacional de un proyecto académico en una universidad pública de Corredores, Costa Rica. Para las observaciones, se seleccionó un grupo de 16 estudiantes y la docente del curso. Luego, los grupos focales se realizaron con ocho estudiantes principiantes, cuatro hombres y cuatro mujeres, con edades entre 16 y 18 años. Finalmente, la estudiante-profesora fue parte de una entrevista semiestructurada. En la recolección de datos, se identificaron algunos desafíos que el estudiantado enfrentó y las estrategias que la profesora implementó para superarlos. Además, el alumnado tuvo percepciones positivas hacia el uso del andamiaje en su proceso de aprendizaje del inglés, y luego, estos y la docente nos brindaron recomendaciones para docentes de ILE sobre el uso del andamiaje. Se concluyó que el andamiaje, de acuerdo con la percepción del estudiantado, es una estrategia eficaz para mejorar sus habilidades de habla y lectura, y resulta útil para superar las dificultades lingüísticas. Por tanto, se recomienda que el estudiantado de ILE sea receptivo a la implementación del andamiaje, el profesorado considere las necesidades, preferencias y dificultades de la persona estudiante; las personas docentes alienten un ambiente positivo y de apoyo; y brinden realimentación constructiva y apacible. Este estudio podría ayudar a docentes de ILE comprender la importancia del andamiaje y como usarlo para un mejor desarrollo de las habilidades de lectura y habla por medio de un plan de acción que consiste en un taller para introducir a docentes de ILE en el uso del andamiaje en estas habilidades lingüísticas.
PALABRAS CLAVE: Desafíos, Principiantes de ILE, Estrategias pedagógicas, Recomendaciones, Andamiaje, Inglés como Lengua Extranjera.
INTRODUCTIOn
It is important to examine how the field of English teaching is evolving toward more flexible approaches that better support students’ language-learning processes. In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) environments, teachers are increasingly adopting strategies and techniques aimed at fostering learner autonomy and problem-solving skills. Similarly, the English Curriculum of the Ministerio de Educación Pública [MEP] (2016) acknowledges socio-constructivism and critical pedagogy as its guiding principles, conceptualizing learners as producers of knowledge and active agents in their own learning through interaction, active engagement, and adaptation to context. As English teaching methodologies shift from teacher-centered to student-centered models, scaffolding has emerged as a key practice that enables learners to reach their zone of proximal development and, subsequently, become more autonomous in their learning. According to Nordlof (2014), scaffolding offers both theoretical and practical insights that help teachers understand specific techniques and how to apply them to enhance students’ learning processes. In this way, learners become more aware of their own learning while performing tasks, and teachers, acting as scaffolders, break tasks into manageable steps and adjust them so students can successfully complete them regardless of their initial proficiency.
Although scaffolding has been documented extensively in educational research, studies specifically addressing scaffolding for beginning EFL learners in large classes remain limited. Given that beginner learners commonly face difficulties when acquiring a new language, scaffolding appears to be an approach that can support them in constructing linguistic knowledge. For this reason, the researchers focused on the use of scaffolding with beginner EFL learners in a conversational course with more than 16 students, aiming both to facilitate more effective learning for beginners and to provide teachers with practical tools to address beginners’ instructional needs. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study is to examine beginner EFL learners’ perceptions of scaffolding during the development of speaking and reading skills in a conversational English course.
Analyzing learners perceptions of scaffolding makes it possible to offer teachers strategies and techniques that may improve English teaching practices, while also providing beginner learners with opportunities—supported by teacher guidance—to acquire linguistic knowledge and strengthen their language skills. Wood et al. (1976) describe scaffolding as the process through which teachers modify and monitor tasks so learners can complete them according to their current level of competence. As an emerging innovation in English language teaching, research on scaffolding for beginner EFL learners offers valuable insights into its application throughout the teaching and learning process. In this sense, the present qualitative study seeks to answer the following central research question and associated sub-questions:
Research was organized by the following sections: Literature Review, Methodology, Findings and Discussion, and Conclusions and Recommendations.
Central Research Question
• What are beginner EFL learner perceptions of the use of scaffolding during the development of speaking and reading skills in a conversational English course?
Associated Sub-Questions
• How is scaffolding implemented with beginner EFL learners in large classes?
• How do beginner EFL learners perceive scaffolding during speaking and reading activities?
• What recommendations can help teachers strengthen the implementation of scaffolding in EFL classrooms?
• How do EFL beginner learners perceive scaffolding during the development of speaking and reading activities?
• What are some recommendations for teachers to better develop scaffolding in EFL classes?
This research is structured in literature review, methodology, findings and discussions, and conclusions and recommendations.
Literature Review
This literature review covers the method of scaffolding considering Foundations and Implementation in EFL Settings.
Scaffolding: Foundations
It is important to address the foundations of scaffolding through the evolution of two theories: scaffolding theory and sociocultural theory. The theory of scaffolding proposed by Bruner and Sherwood (1976) through a cognitive psychology approach was first used in their study about a novice’s behavior toward the mother’s companionship. It explained the importance of having assistance and guidance in the learning process. Moreover, this term was next used for the role of tutoring in problem solving where Wood et al. (1976) affirmed that instead of the novice modeling and imitating in order to learn, the tutor-assistance brings a scaffolding process that allows them to achieve a goal or solve problems while the tutor takes control over the task.
In this regard, the second theory that is part of the foundations of scaffolding is the sociocultural theory by Vygotsky (1978). He considered children’s development and learning as two intrinsic aspects in scheme building. He also concluded that there are two important zones in the learning process: actual development level and the zone of proximal development. The actual development level refers to the learner’s abilities to complete a task without guidance or support; for instance, when learners participate in the activation of their prior knowledge. On the other hand, the zone of proximal development is the difference between the actual development level and the potential development along with scaffolding as in the tasks where learners have to develop linguistic skills with the teacher or classmates’ guidance. While sociocultural theory advocates for the importance of interaction and society for the development of learners’ learning, scaffolding takes place to guide and stimulate learners to produce using the language and solve problems.
Scaffolding in EFL Learning
In Costa Rica, scaffolding has influenced the English curricula of public institutions. Ministerio de Educación Pública (2016) offers three stages to perform different linguistic tasks: a) the pre-teaching stage, where the activation of schemata and active learning take place; b) the during-task stage, when linguistic skills are developed into steps and tasks, and c) the post-task stage, when learners and teachers assess the learning process in the different linguistic skills. These three stages can give an insight into how scaffolding could be developed and implemented in the EFL classroom. According to Martínez Quintana (2020), task-based learning proposed teaching languages through tasks considering a didactic sequence with a pedagogical intention, similar to what MEP (2016) claims. Because scaffolding seeks to break difficult tasks into small pieces for learners to reach them, task-based learning plays an important role for learners to reach their zone of proximal development. For instance, the pre-task considers learners’ current knowledge for later use in the during-task, which is what scaffolding states (Vygotsky, 1978).
Regarding the implementation of scaffolding in EFL classrooms, some authors highlight some important aspects related to speaking and reading skills. First, Barrantes Torres (2017) mentioned that, for three stages that MEP requires learners to follow, not only do they need spoken and written guidelines, but also, they require to be modeled by the teacher. Considering this, Barrantes Torres (2017) also affirmed that the implementation of pre-reading strategies can help students to face reading English text worry because it provides consciousness about other solutions. Similarly, the idea of scaffolding is to be able to provide options of what they can do to perform the activities. Additionally, it ensures that students have support so that they can follow the English learning process without the frustration of not being able to progress and comprehend. Secondly, Carranza-Marchena and Tapia-Loría (2022) mentioned that students perceive that before spoken activities, it is essential to be able to practice and rehearse their oral activities, such as conversations, dialogues, and role-plays. In Barrantes Torres’ (2017) research, learners highlighted that while they rehearsed their oral production, they received teacher’s feedback and peer-feedback which was beneficial for their process of learning English. Hence, scaffolding gives importance to what and how the students are doing in order to improve their linguistic skills.
Some studies have explained some implementations of scaffolding in the EFL classroom. Sevilla Morales (2017) implemented scaffolding in reading comprehension and concluded that scaffolding had an effective impact in the performance of some students. For this study, the participants were 12th grade students from a rural high school, who worked on pre-reading activities, such as connections with background knowledge; and during and post activities, such as summarizing, scanning and answering comprehension questions. During the class, the teacher took the role of a guide while developing the activities to scaffold learners with pronunciation, feedback on meaning, and activation of schemata. Passing grades led Sevilla Morales (2017) to consider the effectiveness of scaffolding. However, he considered the importance of scaffolding students according to their individual needs in order to support students that obtained lower grades. Even though the study was measured by the students’ grades, scaffolding follows different stages in which learners can develop their linguistic skills, while teachers consider the linguistic background and students’ individual needs.
Another study that demonstrates the effectiveness of scaffolding in reading skill is the quantitative experimental research of Kivi et al. (2021), where there were three groups of EFL students. The teacher scaffolding group presented strategies such as providing enough time to understand instructions and read the text, checking the meaning of words through a monolingual dictionary, and monitoring learners to face challenges while reading. In the peer-scaffolding group, it was implemented while assigning a knowledgeable leader (student) to monitor others while the rest had to work on checking the meaning of words and their pronunciation and understanding the main idea of the text. However, in the controlled instruction group, a traditional method was developed which required learners to work without guidance or support. As a result, the group that showed more improvement was the peer-scaffolding group, and the group that showed less improvement was the controlled instruction group. This emphasizes the importance of the interaction between learners and the degree of assistance they provided to each other.
On the contrary, scaffolding may be implemented in the development of the speaking skill while using different strategies and techniques. It is important that teachers implement pre-activities that build and activate the schemata through different strategies, such as providing vocabulary, visual aids, sentence starters, and reviewing grammar, pronunciation, and phrases (Stephens et al, 2012; Goode, 2020). These strategies will provide learners with basic support to start building schemes for later use in their speaking production. According to Stephens et al. (2012), one activity that allows learners to be autonomous when speaking using the target language while being scaffolded is the Film Circle. As learners have been assigned one role, depending on the features of the film learners should analyze, they come to a cooperative learning activity where they discuss in groups their findings and analysis. Moreover, learners may benefit from a multilevel classroom because they are able to work with classmates who have higher levels of English, and learners can also practice their listening skills while watching the film.
During this activity, many strategies are used, such as role-playings, providing contextual support, and using different teaching resources as worksheets with graphic organizers, visual aids, vocabulary, and sentence starters. Another strategy is the use of question grids to promote speaking production and interaction. One challenge when having learners in communicative activities is that learners tend to speak very little; to tackle this issue, using question grids may have them participating to fill the grids, and it will function as a guide for learners to start speaking (Goode, 2020). Scaffolding takes place not only when learners are following the steps to communicate and to fill the grids but also when they are being monitored by the teacher on how to do the task. In other words, the teachers’ role is acting as a mediator between the learning process and the complexity of the task.
Although a great part of the literature was focused on scaffolding being applied to EFL learning in general, the literature highlighted a gap in the EFL classrooms about promoting scaffolding specifically for EFL beginners.
METHODOLOGY
This research aims at examining the perceptions of EFL beginner learners about the use of scaffolding during the development of speaking and reading skills in a conversational English course. Overall, this section describes the research design, the research approach, the participants and their context, and the data collection procedures.
Research Approach
This research is based on the qualitative approach with a case study design. As Creswell (2015) remarked, qualitative research explores a problem and explains a specific phenomenon through the analysis of words, images, and descriptions of experiences from several participants. The central point of this qualitative study is the analysis of perceptions, words, experiences, and behaviors of EFL beginner learners towards scaffolding. On the other hand, a case study focuses on a description of a phenomenon and on delimiting the object of study that can be a person, program, group, institution, community, or a policy (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). This study was conducted through a case study design where the researchers analyzed the phenomenon of the use of scaffolding during the development of the speaking and reading skill in the EFL classroom. As the object of this study is the use of scaffolding in the development of speaking and reading skills, the researchers considered a conversational English course in which these two linguistic skills are mostly developed.
For the purpose of this study, the researchers used observation, focus group, and interview methods to gather the participant’s perceptions and analyze the information considering the research questions.
Participants and Context
The study was conducted in an outreach project in charge of giving English tutoring sessions to public high school students by student-teachers from the English Teaching Major at a public university in Corredores, Costa Rica. This outreach project receives a student population of different areas of the Coto region. EFL beginner learners in a basic English course, who were mentored by the tutors in the outreach project, were considered for this case study. For the selection of the participants, the researchers contemplated the criterion sampling as it involves analyzing and examining all the cases that encounter a specific criterion of relevance (Patton, 2001). Following this, as students are beginners, they tend to develop different proficiency levels from basic to advanced levels; thus, teachers may scaffold some students that need it, which can help the researchers to examine students’ perceptions of the use of scaffolding. In addition, for the sample for the follow up focus group was considered the convenience sampling. According to Turner (2020) “Convenience sampling involves sampling from those elements of the population that are easiest, or most convenient, to access” (p.10). Considering this, the participants were selected intentionally including the ones that were available and willing to give more information.
For the selection of the participants, the researchers considered the instruments implemented. The observation instrument was intended for both students and the student-teacher. A total of 16 students: eight females and eight males were chosen. Their age range was 16-18 years old. In addition, they are considered a mixed proficiency level group because, from previous contact with the student-teacher and previous observations, the researchers noticed that students had different levels of proficiency which extend from basic to intermediate. On the other hand, the teacher was a 24-year-old woman who was finishing her bachelor’s degree in English Teaching. For the focus groups, the researchers selected eight students from the basic course of the outreach project: four females and four males of diverse linguistic level according to the criterion sampling. In order to obtain permission from the institution and the outreach project, the letters were sent to the principal’s institution, the coordinator of the outreach project, and the student-teacher in charge of the group. Then, the researchers notified the participant students to seek their consent and participation in the focus groups. For the interview, the teacher in charge of the course was selected to be able to make some recommendations about the implementation of scaffolding according to her experience and perspective.
Data Collection Procedures
To gather the data needed, the researchers implemented three different data collection methods: structured observations, focus groups, and one semi-structured interview.
Structured Observations
The purpose of this instrument was to observe the application of scaffolding by the teacher and EFL beginner learners’ reactions towards the uses of scaffolding in the development of speaking and reading skills at a conversational course. With a structured observation method, a tally system was used to factually or descriptively record the happenings of particular events (Hopkins, 2008). A structured observation procedure was implemented to gather and record each of the events and perceptions from the participants while using an instrument to mark and annotate extra information.
For the scaffolding strategies used by the teacher, the criteria were stated in one column, and the levels of frequency of scaffolding implementations were placed in five columns ranging from always, frequently, sometimes, rarely, and never, where always advocates for positive results and never for negative results. A total of 33 criteria were established regarding topics, such as teaching strategies, building spaces for feedback, interaction, pre-activities, during activities, post-activities, and teaching resources.
In the case of the perceptions in the use of scaffolding strategies of the learners, some questions were placed in one column containing the criteria elements and five rows containing the number of the students answering the questions. These numbers were given from All, Many, Some, Fewer, and None. Furthermore, the researchers carried out two face-to-face observation sessions lasting two hours each so that the observers could fill in the instrument and take notes on any other important information observed. A total of 22 criteria were established regarding topics, such as feedback use, use of spaces for solving doubts and sharing ideas, participation in the interaction, use of the teaching resources, and participation in the pre, during, and post activities. The structured observations were administered in two sessions that lasted two hours, which were scheduled every other week because the teacher developed the reading and speaking skills during those weeks.
Focus Groups
The purpose of this technique was to know about the perceptions of EFL beginner learners towards the use of scaffolding during the development of speaking and reading skills at a conversational English course to gather important data to answer the research questions of this study. Bryman et al. (2012) stated that “a focus group offers an opportunity to study how individuals collectively make sense of a phenomenon and construct meanings of it” (p. 174). Focus groups permitted the researchers to acknowledge EFL beginner learners’ perceptions towards scaffolding through the different collective insights that the participants provided the researchers with.
The focus groups were carried out in two face-to-face sessions lasting 30 minutes each, this time is a result of the learners’ answers and participation and were scheduled every other week. Four different participants were chosen in each session, whom the teacher recommended to the researchers based on their varied linguistic levels according to her perception. Furthermore, the participants were referred to as P1 to P8 in these focus groups. The instrument used contained: (a) five general questions regarding affective factors, activities to enhance the proficiency, feedback, and peer-support; (b) eight questions regarding the speaking skills considering topics such as activities to develop speaking, pre-speaking activities, strategies to support speaking, post-speaking activities, and challenges faced during speaking; and (c) nine questions regarding the development of reading skills where the researchers covered topics such as activities to develop reading activities, pre-reading activities, strategies to support reading, post-reading activities, challenges faced during reading, and strategies to overcome the challenges.
To obtain more data from the learners about recommendations for EFL teachers to implement scaffolding, a follow-up focus group was required. Because the follow-up focus group emphasized only in one theme, the duration time is an estimated of 14 minutes. The researchers chose two participants from each previous session making a total of four participants considering the convenience sampling. The instrument for this session contained five follow up questions about scaffolding but aimed at recommendations for teachers about this strategy. These follow up questions were about the classroom environment, feedback provision, speaking and reading skills, and teaching and learning development in the classroom.
Semi Structured Interview
The purpose of this instrument was to know about some recommendations for teachers to better develop scaffolding in EFL classes according to the perspective of the teacher. Although in a semi structured interview there is a list of specific questions related to the topic, the interviewee has the opportunity to decide how to answer (Bryman et al., 2012). The interview permitted the researchers to obtain more personal and in-depth responses about the perspective of the implementation of scaffolding based on the teacher’s experience. It also allowed flexibility of dialogue in which the teacher was able to express what she considered regarding scaffolding.
The interview was applied virtually. This interview lasted 14 minutes. The interview contained five different questions which were divided into different topics following a sequence of expressing recommendations. The topics were classroom environment, feedback provision, speaking and reading skills, and pieces of advice for other teachers.
Results AND DISCUSSION
This section exhibits the data collected from the class observations, students’ focus groups, and the teacher’s interview. To interpret the data collected in the different instruments, the analysis and the discussion will be developed according to different themes. Each theme will be based on the research questions provided in the introduction for this case study.
In the same line, the researchers implemented a deductive coding process in which the researchers’ previous theoretical knowledge and experiences were fundamental to interpreting the data. To provide reliability for the research analysis, a coding system process was developed by using the software, Atlas.ti, and a triangulation process was implemented to analyze the data obtained from the different instruments. First, the data was arranged according to the research questions. Second, the researchers introduced the data distributed in the different associated sub questions in the software to further codify the data. For the triangulation of the data, the insights obtained in the literature were considered to have trustworthiness and later compared the data gathered from the literature with the information from the instruments.
Scaffolding Implementation
It is important to provide a close view of the challenges learners faced in their English learning process and development of speaking and reading skills because it will facilitate the understanding of learners’ perceptions.
Learning Challenges
The participants mentioned some challenges during their learning process such as vocabulary gap, nervousness, pronunciation gap, improvisation, and long reading texts. The participants perceived vocabulary as a main challenge. To them, it was difficult to understand the meaning in individual words because they did not have a notion of the function of words or the word order, nor were they acquainted with the synonyms of most of the vocabulary known, which makes it difficult to bring meaning to words in context. Some of the participants referred to being anxious when improvising or presenting, which causes them to forget the pronunciation of words or to communicate what they want. Furthermore, nervousness, according to P5, limits learners’ expression. As stated by the participants, talking in front of others, feeling unprepared, and acknowledging low proficiency levels were factors that cause nervousness. In this sense, the participants added that they faced difficulties in pronunciation with P5 highlighting little pronunciation knowledge. However, some participants related nervousness to their pronunciation performance.
In the case of improvising, P8 mentioned that he had difficulties with lack of vocabulary and word memorization when improvising while speaking spontaneously, and the other participants agreed with this argument. Another challenge was the long reading texts, for which P8 explained that it was difficult to understand the meaning of words through context due to the reading length. Table 1 gives a summary of participants’ answers for the focus group question: what challenges do you face during speaking and reading activities?
Table 1.
Challenges Faced by ESL Students
|
Learning Challenges
|
Student
|
|
Vocabulary
|
P1: “It is hard to understand several words that I do not know.”
|
|
P2: “The word order of some words because I learned it in one way and in some texts, they are in another way.”
|
|
P3: “Same here”
|
|
P4: “Several words have synonyms too. So, maybe there is one word that means something, but it is written in another way.”
|
|
P5: “The lack of knowledge of certain words and their meaning.”
|
|
P6: “Meaning”
|
|
P7: “I agree with them”
|
|
P8: “The lack of knowledge of words”
|
|
Nervousness
|
P5: “I am too nervous and can´t express my ideas as I would like.”
|
|
P6: “When watching everyone paying attention to me while I am speaking in front of the class of if I did not prepare the day before. That makes me nervous.”
|
|
P7: “I don´t really know English; it is difficult for me so watching my classmates speaking English makes me feel very nervous when I have to present.”
|
|
P8: “Nervousness too”
|
|
Pronunciation Gap
|
P5: “Pronunciation is one of the difficult factors. The lack of pronunciation knowledge of words too”.
|
|
P6: “Pronunciation”
|
|
P7: “I agree with them”
|
|
Long Texts in Reading
|
P8: “When there is too much text, sometimes it is complicated to understand the meaning of words in context.”
|
|
Improvisation
|
P8: “Improvisation because we have to imagine what we are going to say, and sometimes my words are stolen.”
|
Note. Learners’ answers were our own translation
Source: Own elaboration
Teaching Strategies
The teacher implemented different strategies to promote scaffolding during the class. In the observations, it was important to analyze the implementation of scaffolding. For a better understanding, the literature review established was compared with what the teacher implemented regarding scaffolding strategies. This comparison is presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Scaffolding strategies
Source: Own elaboration .
In Figure 1, it is noticed that there is a great similarity between the different strategies found in the literature with the strategies implemented by the teacher. In addition to this, the teacher applied additional strategies in the class; for example, fostering development of reading strategies including highlighting, looking up words in the dictionary, analyzing and interactive activities. On the other hand, the teacher used group checking instead of peer-assessment; in this case, the teacher asked learners to share the answers of a reading task, and then they checked them together as the teacher gave feedback.
To support the information gathered from the observations, the participants indicated different strategies that the teacher applied in the classroom. They also mentioned that the teacher developed dynamic activities; for instance, warm-ups where they practiced, reviewed, or learnt before performing a task. P8 specifically stated that “she always explains the topics before starting the activities” (personal communication, September 21st, 2024). A pattern was observed in the participants’ answers regarding explanations where the teacher implemented scaffolding by providing meanings of words on the board, giving and explaining word banks, and focusing on grammar understanding. For the development of the speaking skills, P2 affirmed that the teacher gave them space to practice before speaking (personal communication, September 21st, 2024). Likewise, P1 covered that the teacher explained pronunciation aspects before a speaking task (personal communication, September 21st, 2024). In this way, this worked as preparation for the development of speaking skills. For reading, specifically, the participants expressed that the teacher gave short texts at the beginning. Then, during the process, she fostered the implementations of strategies for reading according to what was observed in the class.
Moreover, when delving deeper into feedback as part of scaffolding strategy, most participants noted that the teacher provides corrective feedback. Some of the participants mentioned that the teacher gives written feedback, pronunciation correction, and gentle feedback. For example, P5 reported that when there was a presentation or a reading task, the teacher corrected their pronunciation (personal communication, October 5th, 2024). Additionally, when doubts arose, the teacher guided the students in the development of the task and clarified doubts individually. Figure 2 presents more data about feedback.
Figure 2.
Feedback as part of scaffolding strategy
Note. Learners answers were our own translation.
Source: Own elaboration.
Likewise, there were other scaffolding strategies implemented by the teacher. One of the recurring themes in the participants’ responses was about emotional support. All the participants agreed with the calm environment that the teacher promoted. Among the comments heard, rapport, trust building, and confidence boosting from the teacher stood out. According to what was observed, this helped to progressively strengthen students’ autonomy. Furthermore, there were some other strategies of scaffolding that the teacher implemented. Another way the teacher scaffolded their students was through collaboration. The majority of the participants indicated that they participated in group or pair discussions for the preparation of future speaking tasks. Likewise, they worked by interacting and socializing. Figure 3 summarizes the comments given by the participants considering the aspects of emotional support and collaboration.
Figure 3.
Learners’ comments
Note. Learners answers were our own translation.
Source: Own elaboration.
According to the participants’ comments and the observations, the teacher monitored the students’ progress and gave a space for solving doubts. The teacher also brought students mini quizzes in order to review. In addition, P1 stated that the teacher brought web resources that help in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary (personal communication, September 21st, 2024). Therefore, this promotes autonomy in students who use these websites themselves during the class if they have any questions. As part of the preparation to develop speaking skills, P1 expressed that the teacher motivated them to have references in the presentation to support their claims while presenting (personal communication, September 21st, 2024). Then, the participants stated that what they did was analyze together the presentations of the classmates. Likewise, two of the participants indicated that the teacher provided written feedback to point out aspects to improve and highlight their strengths. Considering what was observed, after teaching the reading skill, the professor asked questions, such as How was the text?, and then she went individually to check the students’ doings.
In learners’ challenges, learners perceived the speaking skill as the most challenging due to the lack of vocabulary, which was also affecting their reading comprehension, producing worry while reading (Barrantes Torres, 2017). The teacher used interactive activities at the beginning of the class as a way to scaffold students, which is something that agrees with Stephens et al. (2012) and Goode’s (2020) findings. In addition, as Carranza-Marchena and Tapia-Loría (2022) stated, before a task, time is necessary for students to get prepared while the teacher is there guiding the students and monitoring the progress in groups or individually. Likewise, the use of a post-task helps students to internalize the contents as the teacher gives corrective feedback in pronunciation and vocabulary (MEP, 2016). Furthermore, Barrantes Torres (2017) also indicated that the teacher’s feedback was beneficial for students learning English. Additionally, the teacher promoted autonomy by providing and suggesting tools and resources that they could use to support themselves in the development of the tasks. The teacher implemented emotional support, rapport, and created a calm environment as a way to scaffold the students.
Learners’ Perceptions of Scaffolding in Speaking and Reading
The learners’ perceptions regarding scaffolding strategies for speaking and skills were numerous. Those perceptions were divided into the following categories: addressing challenges, language achievement, corrective feedback, engagement in the class, classroom environment, and interaction. In the category addressing challenges, it was found that the teacher made use of different strategies to overcome learners’ challenges. P5 commented that the teacher dealt with their learning challenges by calling them to tell her what was challenging for them and then helped them (personal communication, October 26th, 2024). Another way the teacher helped participants to overcome their learning challenges while reading is the implementation of pre-reading activities. Regarding this, P1 and P4 commented that these activities helped them to visualize and contextualize the text better (personal communication, September 21st, 2024).
In addition, P8 made reference to listening activities as these activities allowed him to have a general understanding of the topics so that listening makes speaking comprehension less challenging when interacting (personal communication, October 5th, 2024). As P5 expressed, differentiated activities are important because some activities may help some learners but not others (personal communication, October 26th, 2024). Participants also mentioned that solving doubts individually and in groups is beneficial in their learning process because they can receive personalized explanations, and in groups, they can listen to and understand other topics thanks to others’ questions.
Additionally, participants emphasized the importance of providing vocabulary including keywords or difficult words to pronounce during the reading activities. While they can make use of the vocabulary and the keywords provided, they consider that they were able to comprehend the text and to improve their ability to read aloud through the pronunciation explanation. Furthermore, to overcome the pronunciation and vocabulary gap learners have, participants referred to the recommended resources the teacher brought them, such as the Oxford Learners Dictionary, or as P4 mentioned, a web page where they can listen to music while they read the lyrics (personal communication, September 21st, 2024).
Similarly, participants perceived some strategies, activities, and evaluation techniques as helpful in their language achievement to internalize the content and consequently improve their speaking and reading. Figure 4 presents the examples.
Figure 4.
Strategies, activities, and evaluation techniques for language achievement
Source: Own elaboration.
These strategies, activities, and techniques are essential, for participants consider that they were improving their linguistic competence and performance in both linguistic skills: speaking and reading. In this sense, P6 highlighted that the extra explanations allow him to better understand the topics (personal communication, October 5th, 2024).
On the other hand, participants argued that scaffolding strategies permitted them to achieve their language objectives because these strategies are effective in their learning so that students are aware of implementing the feedback provided to correct their mistakes. Some participants agreed with the immediate corrective feedback when they were reading aloud or presenting. The written feedback about pronunciation is another important strategy for their learning process. In this regard, P3 considered feedback as a form of error prevention, but they should implement the feedback provided (personal communication, September 21st, 2024). As P2 suggested, learners should be willing to be helped (personal communication, September 26th, 2024) while P7 and P8 emphasized the importance of correcting mistakes during reading, speaking, and listening which is the major learning (personal communication, October 5th, 2024). However. However, in the first observation, it could be observed that all the students responded and made use of the feedback provided by the teacher to correct their mistakes; nevertheless, during the second observation, it was noticed that only some of the students in the group responded and reacted to the corrective feedback by agreeing with their heads and applying the corrections in their speaking performance.
In the category of engagement in the class, the activities that learners considered the most engaging were warm-ups. These perceptions highlight the importance of including entertaining and interactive activities to engage the students in the class and to diminish nervousness in the classroom. Figure 5 presents the perceptions that some learners have towards the use of warm-ups in the EFL classroom.
Figure 5.
Learners’ Perceptions of Warm-ups
Note. Learners answers were our own translation.
Source: Own elaboration.
Perceptions about the classroom environment were positive rather than negative. P5 considered that the teacher tried to transmit confidence because students felt comfortable with their English and classmates (personal communication, October 5th, 2024). She also pointed out that the teacher was always aware of them to improve their learning. Correspondingly, P5 agreed on the teacher noticing when something was harder for students so that the teacher called them to help them overcome the challenge, which built confidence between the teacher and students (personal communication, October 26th, 2024). Moreover, P6 claimed that the teacher treats students very friendly and nicely so that when they were going to speak, they felt comfortable to speak more (personal communication, October 5th, 2024). In this regard, P1 stated that they normally had the possibility to ask the teacher questions, and she would help them (personal communication, September 26th, 2024). P6 considered that the teacher has helped the group to get together and interact more with each other (personal communication, October 5th, 2024). P5 referred to the pre-speaking activities implemented by the teacher, expressing that these activities bring them confidence to talk alone with the teacher or in front of the class and help them to put aside nervousness to express themselves better (personal communication, October 5th, 2024). Participants’ perceptions showed that they had a positive view of their ideal classroom environment where they feel safe and supported during the classes.
On the other hand, in the category of interaction, participants referred only to the speaking skill as it was helpful for them to learn more. As expressed by P6, interviews allowed them to not only talk individually but also in groups because they can assign roles so that the task will not be that extensive (personal communication, October 5th, 2024). P5 also specified that she felt that when they work in groups, they participated more than when it is writing or reading (personal communication, October 5th, 2024). She considered that she learns more when it is all altogether. Through these perceptions, it can be said that interaction seems to be important for the language learning process of students.
The learners’ perceptions showed the importance of scaffolding during the development of speaking and reading through the different strategies that the teacher uses. Participants agreed on what Stephens et al. (2012) and Goode (2020) stated in which they confirmed that scaffolding has helped them in overcoming their challenges through strategies and techniques, such as confidence building, pre-activities, listening activities, differentiated activities, doubt solving, vocabulary provision, and teacher recommended resources. These strategies have functioned as the steps for learners to keep working on reaching the zone of proximal development where the teacher has adopted the role of guide and supporter, as Sevilla Morales (2017) argued. In addition, the learners considered that corrective feedback, engagement, and interaction are other scaffolding strategies that helped them in their language achievement. Because of peer-interaction during warm-ups and pre-activities, the learners started building and reinforcing their current knowledge to acquire new knowledge due to their mutual support in the tasks and learning new vocabulary. However, the classroom environment should promote learners’ participation, use of spaces for solving doubts, and relationships among learners because in this sense nervousness and anxiety may disappear from the classroom.
Participants’ Recommendations for Scaffolding Development
Concerning the implementation of scaffolding, some recommendations in relation to classroom environment, feedback provision, and speaking and reading skills development were obtained. The interview revealed that the use of posters, images or charts is essential to support the learners’ language acquisition. Likewise, the teacher suggested that it is important to implement teamwork activities because they can help each other as the teacher is supporting their learning process. In comparison, the learners mentioned that, by working in groups, there is a relationship between classmates which promotes socialization. It could be interpreted that following teacher and learners’ recommendations to improve the classroom environment through scaffolding, the students can have access to didactic materials and to spaces for working in groups because it helps them to feel included and supported as they can reduce their stress and anxiety for learning a new language. Table 2 reports this interpretation considering the participants’ comments, the teacher’s recommendations and the information gathered from the observations.
Table 2.
Recommendations for EFL teachers to implement scaffolding
|
Category
|
Focus Groups
|
Teacher interview
|
Observations
|
Interpretation
|
|
Classroom environment
|
Students described their teacher as patient, calm, respectful, and friendly. They felt comfortable asking questions and supported when nervous. They also valued group work for socializing and mutual help.
|
Teacher recommended creating a safe learning environment where students feel not judged and see mistakes as opportunities to grow. She also suggested using visuals, posters, and teamwork to foster inclusion and motivation.
|
The teacher built rapport, walked around the classroom, and helped students individually. Learners felt comfortable and not afraid of the teacher. Cooperative tasks and random groupings encouraged inclusion and confidence.
|
A supportive, emotionally safe, and visually enriched classroom encourages participation and reduces anxiety. Teachers should build trust through kindness, interaction, and cooperative learning spaces.
|
|
Feedback provision
|
Students emphasized polite and individual feedback as highly effective. They felt motivated by positive corrections and written feedback that helped them identify pronunciation or vocabulary mistakes
|
Teacher advised giving specific, kind, and balanced feedback: correct what is necessary but also praise progress to build confidence. She also emphasized that feedback should promote a growth mindset.
|
Observations confirmed both oral and written feedback were provided frequently and respectfully. Teacher gave immediate pronunciation corrections and individual written notes after tasks. Students responded positively to feedback.
|
Constructive and balanced feedback (specific, respectful, and encouraging) helps learners internalize progress without fear of mistakes. Written and oral feedback should focus on both strengths and improvement areas.
|
|
Speaking skill development
|
Students highlighted warm-ups, interviews, group discussions, and practice time as helpful scaffolds. They valued pronunciation practice and teacher modeling. They mentioned being given websites or videos to practice listening and pronunciation.
|
Teacher recommended starting with simple speaking tasks, modeling English use, and gradually increasing difficulty. She also suggested role plays, repetition and interaction to promote confidence.
|
Observations showed pre-speaking activities (pronunciation, warm-ups), pair group rehearsals, and teacher modeling before presentations. The teacher moved around giving individual pronunciation feedback.
|
Scaffolding for speaking should involve modeling, gradual task progression, and guided practice. Providing pre-speaking support and allowing rehearsal builds fluency and confidence.
|
|
Reading skill development
|
Students valued teaching keywords before reading, highlighting difficult vocabulary and discussing text meanings. They appreciated when the teacher explained in English instead of translating.
|
Teacher recommended activating prior knowledge with pictures, videos or keywords before reading, starting with short texts, and teaching vocabulary first. She also mentioned prediction and comprehension checks.
|
Observations showed pre-reading activities (pictures, prediction tasks, keywords), vocabulary support, and guided questions for comprehension. Students underlined key elements and asked questions during reading.
|
Scaffolding reading involves pre-reading preparation, explicit vocabulary support, and guided comprehension strategies. Visuals and prediction tasks make reading more accessible for beginners.
|
Source: Own elaboration .
P5 recommended the use of short activities and group dynamics to provide feedback or individual feedback (personal communication, October 26th, 2024). Similarly, P1 stated that he liked the way the teacher gave group feedback with specific questions for each student (personal communication, October 26th, 2024). P8 highlighted that it was helpful for teachers to check mistakes and provide feedback on the assigned homework to track student progress (personal communication, October 26th, 2024).
P5 suggested that making presentations was helpful for improving speaking skills since it contributed to improving speech and pronunciation (personal communication, October 26th, 2024). P8 proposed dialogues provided that the teacher was there to listen and comment to help improve their speaking skills (personal communication, October 26th, 2024). While examining the insights of teachers and students, it can be observed that, to effectively implement scaffolding, it is essential to progressively elevate the complexity of tasks, consider student advancement when designing activities, and monitor learner progress through addressing questions and providing feedback.
To develop reading skills through scaffolding, the teacher acknowledged the significance of providing vocabulary prior to reading, enabling students to perceive their comprehension while fostering confidence and comfort in their learning process. In this context, P8 indicated that the teacher used word banks to facilitate their understanding of the reading material and improve comprehension (personal communication, October 26th, 2024). These recommendations imply that incorporating reading activities can help instructors in scaffolding their students.
Conversely, the instructor recommended that EFL teachers offer greater assistance to novice ESL learners. She initially emphasized the importance of exercising patient with novice learners and recognizing small achievements to encourage and sustain their motivation throughout the learning journey (personal communication, October 27th, 2024). Secondly, she further explained the importance of “being dynamic and engaging to accommodate various learning styles” (personal communication, October 27th, 2024). Learners may consequently develop the motivation to persist in their learning. The courses also become more engaging for them. Her concluding recommendation pertained to organizing courses based on learners’ proficiency levels. In this context, educators support students by assigning tasks that are achievable.
These recommendations align with the study by Carranza-Marchena and Tapia-Loría (2022) regarding the practice of rehearsing conversations, dialogues, and role-plays; for instance, P8 proposed the utilization of dialogues to enhance performance. An additional key recommendation is the adoption of pre-reading activities to stimulate learners’ schemata (personal communication, October 26th, 2024). As Barrantes Torres (2017) noted, pre-reading activities enable learners to engage effectively with the reading tasks. Although the incorporation of visual aids and enhancements to the classroom environment are not explicitly addressed in the literature, they are vital components of the language acquisition process for EFL beginners.
Conclusions
Students participating in this study regarded scaffolding as a highly effective and advantageous approach in their English language learning process. The findings of this study indicate that students may encounter difficulties in learning due to insufficient scaffolding within their educational process. In this instance, significant insights can be gained from scaffolding regarding the resolution of uncertainties, the enhancement of confidence, the delivery of corrective feedback, and the provision of opportunities for inquiries. This is significant because scaffolding enables learners to surmount obstacles, thereby facilitating their progression toward the zone of proximal development and supporting ongoing learning or the application of new knowledge.
Furthermore, the findings of this study indicated that learners regard scaffolding as an effective approach for enhancing their speaking and reading abilities, as they believe it leads to improvements in their linguistic competence and performance in both areas. In this regard, learners are able to understand, contextualize, and visualize texts more effectively, thereby enhancing their ability to articulate themselves during speech. The results of this study indicate the necessity of implementing scaffolding for EFL novices to improve their language proficiency. It is significant because the participants of this research emphasized that scaffolding enables EFL beginners to enhance their speaking and reading abilities.
Furthermore, this study has determined that, overall, learners view scaffolding as a means to address challenges encountered when learning the target language, including vocabulary or pronunciation gaps, anxiety, improvisation, and the reading of lengthy texts. Some of the strategies employed by the teacher to assist learners in overcoming their challenges included rapport building, pre-reading exercises, differentiated activities, warm-up sessions, clarification of doubts, vocabulary instruction, and explanations of vowel pronunciation. This conclusion aligns with Sevilla Morales’s study (2017), which indicates that guided practices, pre-reading activities, and feedback significantly influence the performance of certain students. Likewise, Barrantes Torres (2017) emphasizes the significance of feedback from teachers and peers in the development of speaking skills for the learner’s language acquisition process. Similarly, Carranza Marchena and Tapia-Loría (2022) asserted that engaging in rehearsal and practice for speaking tasks can enhance students’ sense of preparedness and confidence. The findings of this study corroborate the notion that scaffolding provides learners with the necessary tools to advance to the next level within their zone of proximal development, as outlined by Vygotsky (1978), while addressing their learning challenges. This underscores the significance of implementing scaffolding to enhance and support the language development of novice EFL learners. Alternatively, another conclusion is that numerous students concur that strategies such as monitoring the learning process, incorporating prediction activities, teaching keywords prior to reading, explaining vowel pronunciation, and emphasizing challenging words for analysis are beneficial in enhancing reading and speaking skills. According to Sevilla Morales (2017) and Barrantes Torres (2017), these strategies foster learner autonomy and support their development by leveraging their existing knowledge, thereby facilitating the advancement of reading and speaking activities. Another significant aspect of scaffolding is that group and interactive activities enhance student interaction, thereby fostering a positive classroom environment. However, learners regard these activities not only as a vital component of fostering a positive classroom environment but also contend that mild corrective feedback enhances language acquisition and contributes to a constructive atmosphere.
This case study proposes learner-centered recommendations for educators to employ scaffolding techniques to enhance the development of their classes. It was demonstrated that learners were cognizant of the classroom environment, feedback mechanisms, and the progression of speaking and reading skills. Furthermore, they underscored the significance of group activities to foster interaction and socialization among learners, the value of both individual and group feedback, the incorporation of simulations of real-life scenarios, and the provision of keywords from the text to aid in contextualizing the meaning. Furthermore, a supportive environment fostered through interaction; constructive and balanced feedback; scaffolding strategies for speaking, including modeling, gradual task progression, and guided practice; and scaffolding strategies for reading, such as vocabulary support and guided comprehension questions, are also important recommendations offered by both teachers and students. In this context, these insights align with the proposals of Kivi et al. (2021) and Goode (2020), who emphasized the significance of students working collaboratively, as learners can engage in peer scaffolding, while teachers oversee and guide the completion of tasks. Collectively, these findings imply an absence of scaffolding in EFL classes for beginner learners. Consequently, both the learners and the instructor propose various recommendations or strategies to address this deficiency. Therefore, it is imperative that educators recognize the requirements of EFL beginners and employ scaffolding strategies to enhance their acquisition of the target language.
Recommendations
Initially, it was determined that learners regard scaffolding as effective in facilitating their learning process. Therefore, it is advisable for EFL novices to be receptive to receiving scaffolding, as linguistic progress relies on the learner’s willingness to engage in their own learning process. In light of this, learners are able to develop a positive attitude towards feedback by contemplating it, collaborating within groups, and actively participating in task development. Consequently, learners are able to benefit from the learning opportunities provided by scaffolding and progressively develop into autonomous learners.
Second, EFL beginners perceive scaffolding as beneficial for the development of speaking and reading skills, as it offers adequate support through the instructional strategies employed by the instructor in the classroom. For example, researchers advise that educators incorporate guided exercises, constructive feedback, opportunities for addressing questions, emotive encouragement, and pre-reading and speaking activities to facilitate learners’ incremental development. If students receive this support, they will develop greater confidence and independence. Another recommendation is that educators employ scaffolding tailored to students’ individual requirements to effectively support and enhance their speaking skills and reading comprehension. In this context, personalized feedback, tailored guidance, and collaborative efforts will be valuable and adaptable to challenges faced by the students.
Third, scaffolding serves as an effective strategy to address learning difficulties. This presents a recommendation to educators regarding the significance of identifying students’ challenges through diagnostic assessments, in conjunction with ongoing evaluation of learners’ progress and comprehension. Warm-up activities, activation of prior knowledge, and inquiry-based queries enable educators to recognize students’ competencies and difficulties; furthermore, it is crucial to observe one’s own teaching practices to identify gaps and limitations in learners’ understanding. In this context, educators can employ scaffolding techniques such as detailed explanations of vowel sounds, collaborative speaking activities, and reading exercises prior to speaking to address students’ difficulties. Fourth, learners have several suggestions for EFL educators to incorporate into their instruction. Educators were advised to incorporate perspectives from EFL novices when preparing their lesson plans in order to specifically address learners’ requirements and proficiency levels and ensure that tasks are challenging, yet attainable to effectively foster learning. Furthermore, cultivating a positive and supportive environment in which learners feel heard and acknowledged enhances their engagement in the classroom, thereby increasing their motivation throughout the learning process. Providing feedback is also crucial for balanced learning; both a positive classroom environment and constructive, consider that feedback is essential to support learners in reaching their zone of proximal development.
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APPENDIX.
Action plan
This action plan aims to promote the implementation of scaffolding in EFL classrooms to enhance the development of reading and speaking skills among beginning EFL students. Given the absence of research regarding the application of scaffolding in reading and speaking activities for beginners, it is appropriate to initiate efforts to promote scaffolding among teachers through a workshop. This workshop would equip educators with the skills to develop solutions for their learners’ challenges, facilitate self-assessment of their teaching practices, and foster understanding of various strategies that can be implemented through scaffolding. The action plan’s workshop manual can be found in the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rFIt4DrO4uhJND_c3B8IyeGDYzBpBiof/view?usp=sharing
