SYMMETRICAL AND ASYMMETRICAL SCAFFOLDING IN ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS

Somayeh Khajeh Khosravi

Abstract


This study seeks to investigate the impact of symmetrical (S) and asymmetrical (AS) scaffolding, which are two types of scaffolding, on advance students' reading comprehension. Forty advance Iranian EFL learners participated in this study. The participants were both male and female students with an average age of 21 with almost the same educational facilities and physical conditions in the academic year 2015-2016. They were randomly divided into control and experimental groups. Each group had 20 students. Classes were taught by two different teachers. Each of the teachers has two classes (one symmetrical and one asymmetrical). After administering a Pre-test, they were divided into two experimental groups. The experimental group (A) received instruction according to S strategy whereas the experimental group (B) was instructed via the AS strategy. A Post-test was administered, and its results were analyzed through t-test. The results indicated that although S scaffolding has significant effect on learners' performance in reading comprehension, enhancing it but AS scaffolding is a more effective strategy in improving reading comprehension achievement.

 

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Keywords


scaffolding, symmetrical scaffolding, asymmetrical scaffolding, the zone of proximal development

References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v0i0.596

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