An Empirical Study Of Application Of Scaffolding In English Reading Teaching In Junior High School

English reading teaching in Junior High School tends to emphasize the results of reading rather than the process of reading. Consequently, students’ reading performance and interests are not fruitful enough. According to the requirement of New English Curriculum Standard of Junior High School, students are asked to reach a higher level in reading. Therefore, finding a more effective method of teaching reading is necessary.Scaffolding theory comes from Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development theory and social constructivism in 1930 s. It changes the traditional teaching and emphasizes the students-centered teaching. The core of scaffolding theory is the effective interaction between teachers and students. It aims to help students finish the tasks that they cannot finish dependently. This study focuses on the application of scaffolding theory in reading of Junior High school teaching. By the application of scaffolding theory, the study aims to improve students’ interest. The researcher applies scaffolding knowledge in reading to enable the students to learn the main idea of texts, in order to improve students’ reading skills.The participants of the study were selected from No.43 Junior High School in Shenyang. The students were all from Grade Two. Tests, interviews and Questionnaires were adopted to collect data. Through the empirical research, findings show that scaffolding theory can improve students’ reading ability, especially beneficial in their reading skills and guessing words ability, and increase students’ interests in reading. Based on the results and discussion, the researcher puts forward several suggestions to English reading teaching under the scaffolding theory.