A Study On The Influence Of Scaffolding Instruction On English Underachievers In Junior High School Reading Class

With the development of the New Curriculum Reform,many kinds of theories,strategies and methods about English reading teaching have been valued,and widely used in junior high school English classroom.However,the poor reading ability of some English underachievers still exists.Reading is always the top priority of the four basic skills(listening,speaking,reading and writing),therefore,improving the reading ability of students with learning difficulties in English is also an important issue that needs us to pay more attention and do research in junior high school English teaching.Scaffolding Teaching is a teaching model based on the constructivism theory and the Zone of Proximal Development by Vygotsky.Start from the current level of the learners,it helps the learners achieve a higher level in learning by systematically instructing them to gain knowledge and improve skills on their own step by step.But studies on the application of Scaffolding Teaching to English Underachievers in junior high school are relatively few.This paper focuses on the teaching of English reading for junior high school students with learning difficulties,and explores the possible effects of Scaffolding instruction on junior high school English underachievers.The research questions of this paper are as follows:1)what is the effect of the Scaffolding Teaching on the reading speed of the students with English learning difficulties?2)what is the role of the Scaffolding Teaching in helping English underachievers to develop good reading habits?3)How does the Scaffolding Teaching influence the development of the overall reading comprehension of junior school students with English learning difficulties?The study subjects are 40 English underachievers selected from four classes of grade seven of a rural junior high school in Changzhou,according to their English scores.They were divided into experimental class and control class,with 20 students in each class.The two classes are close to the proportion of gender,class discipline,and academic performance.Through testing,designing teaching plans,carrying out teaching experiments,conducting questionnaires and interviews,the writer collected data and analyzed it to explore the effect of Scaffolding instruction on students with learning difficulties in English.This study found that:1)Scaffolding Teaching can improve English reading speed of students with learning difficulties;2)Scaffolding Teaching can promote students with English learning difficulties to develop good reading habits;3)Scaffolding Teaching can promote the development of the overall reading comprehension of the students with learning difficulties in English.This study points out that English teachers should be aware of the feasibility and effect of Scaffolding Teaching Model in improving the English underachievers’ reading ability in junior high school,and at the same time,they should pay attention to the task setting and strategy guidance,so that all levels of students’ reading ability can be developed.