Effects Of Scaffolding Instruction On English Writing At Senior High School

Scaffolding instruction is a teaching method based on constructivism and originated from the theory of "Zone of Proximal Development" proposed by Vygotsky. It comes into being under the background of learner-centeredness, which emphasizes setting appropriate conceptual frameworks to help students probe into knowledge gradually, finally achieve the construction of knowledge. Therefore, the present research applies scaffolding instruction to the teaching of senior high school English writing, aiming at changing the current unsatisfactory situation. The research questions in this study are as follows:1. What are the effects of scaffolding instruction on students’ writing quality in terms of content, organization and language?2. What are the effects of scaffolding instruction on students’ writing emotions in terms of interest, confidence and attitude?The participants in this study were eleventh graders from Hanjiang Experimental School. Two classes of students participated in the experiment. Before the experiment, a pre-test was conducted. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the two classes in English writing proficiency. The students from two classes were taught by the same teacher. In the experiment, scaffolding instruction was used in the experimental class while the traditional writing teaching was employed in the control class. After two months, the students in two different classes had a post-test. The data from the pre-test and post-test were collected by their English teacher and researcher. Data analysis involved Independent Samples T-Test and Paired Samples T-Test. The former was to find out whether there was a significant difference between the two classes and the latter was to find out whether there was significant progress between the two tests. And at the end of the experiment, a questionnaire was conducted to collect the data concerning the changes in their English writing emotions under the guidance of scaffolding instruction in the experimental class.This study has yielded the major findings as follows:Firstly, the scaffolding instruction can improve the students’writing quality better than traditional teaching. In terms of content, the mean in the experimental class was 25.00 and the mean in the control class was 22.34. Independent Samples T-Test shows that there is a significant difference between the two classes at.001. This may be due to the fact that lots of interactive discussion and communication in the process of writing can help students to provoke more writing ideas, which might enrich their writing content. In terms of organization, the mean in the experimental class was 26.26 and the mean in the control class was 24.53. Independent Samples T-Test shows that there is a significant difference between the two classes at.01. The reason may be that students in the experimental class lay more emphasis on paragraph structure and the logical relationship among sentences in their writing. In terms of language, the mean in the experimental class was 33.00 and the mean in the control class was 32.00. Though the experimental class did better than the control class, there was no significant difference between the two classes, partly because the experimental class did not pay enough attention to language in their independent exploration and cooperative learning.Secondly, students in the experimental class hold positive emotions towards the scaffolding instruction in English writing teaching. In terms of interest,100% of the students in the experimental class agreed and strongly agreed that their writing interest increased when the teacher created the situation.90.2% of the students agreed and strongly agreed that their writing interest increased when they cooperated with others.80.6% of the students agreed and strongly agreed that their interest increased when the teacher set up question scaffolding. In terms of confidence,83.8% of the students in the experimental class agreed and strongly agreed that they have confidence in the "content".93.5% of the students agreed and strongly agreed that they have confidence in the "organization".87% of the students agreed and strongly agreed that they have confidence in the "language". In terms of attitude,93.5% of the students in the experimental class agreed and strongly agreed the question scaffolding could broaden their thinking.96.8% of the students agreed and strongly agreed that they can learn some useful writing strategies and develop writing abilities.96.8% of the students agreed and strongly agreed that "brainstorming" could develop their vocabularies.93.5% of the students agreed and strongly agreed that group discussion could improve English writing learning effect. Also, they are rewarded with encouragement after they express their views. Gradually, students hold positive attitudes towards the scaffolding instruction.This study provides some implications. First, students should be encouraged to construct their knowledge by themselves. The teacher should provide their students with timely help.When students are able to complete tasks on their own, the teacher will withdraw scaffolding without delay. Second, the writing activities which the teacher has designed must be based on students’knowledge structure and ability level. The activities that the teacher has designed must be in accordance with students’ actual level and conform to the requirements of the zone of proximal development. In addition, the teacher must adjust scaffolding according to the dynamic situation in the class, thus making the class more effective. Third, teachers should pay attention to the students’ feedback. Students can discover others’ advantages and disadvantages through exchange others’ writings. It is of great use for students to develop their writing ability.