A Study Of Scaffolding Theory And Its Application To High School English Reading Teaching

English reading has always been an important part in senior English teaching.However, the current reading teaching is not satisfactory because of its limitations. Thefocus of this research is to use scaffolding theory in English reading classes. Scaffoldingtheory originates from Vygotsky’ ZPD, and constructivism theory is the fundamentalbasis of scaffolding instruction. Compared to the studies of foreign countries, there arenot many empirical researches on the application of scaffolding instruction in Englishreading teaching in our country. Scaffolding is more in favor of autonomous learningand cooperative learning. In scaffolding instruction, reading class is composed of fiveprocedures such as,“setting up scaffolding for students”,“inviting students to enter thesituation”,“leading students to explore independently”,“letting students learncollaboratively”, and “making effectiveness evaluation about students’ performance”.Through the above procedures, learners go across their ZPD with the assistance ofteachers and partners, and then going beyond their existing experience, thus activelyconstructing the new knowledge.The present thesis attempts to find the answers to three questions:1. Isscaffolding instruction helpful in improving students’ reading ability?2. Is scaffoldinginstruction helpful in cultivating students’ reading interest?3. Is scaffolding instructionhelpful in developing students’ cooperative learning and autonomous learning?The author conducts scaffolding instruction to the students in grade one ofChengdu Shishi High School for three months. By means of tests, questionnaires andinterview, related data are collected. The results of this study show that scaffolding instruction can contribute to students’ development in three aspects, including readingability, reading interest, cooperative learning and autonomous learning.By comparison with traditional teaching, scaffolding instruction istime-consuming, and it is difficult for teachers to correctly recognize the operation of“ZPD”. Despite these problems, it is still regarded as effective teaching method inclassroom teaching and learning.