Impact of scaffolding on complexity and accuracy of Iranian EFL learners' narrative writing

Abstract

From the perspective of sociocultural theory (SCT), knowledge of an L2 is constructed and internalized through interaction. This is at odds with the "computational model" of learning that focuses on psycholinguistic processes isolated from social context. The present study was an attempt to investigate whether scaffolding, one of the key constructs of SCT, had any significant effect on complexity and accuracy of Iranian EFL leaners' narrative writing. Thirty eight (n=38) Iranian EFL learners learning English at a language institute within two intact groups (Experimental group=18, control group=20) took part in the study. The treatment lasted for one semester during which the participants wrote four narrative writings based on their course book. The writings of the two groups were rated in terms of syntactic complexity and accuracy. The results of the study showed that scaffolding turned out to have a significant effect on complexity and accuracy of Iranian EFL learners' narrative writing. In other words, the participants in the experimental group who experienced different kinds of scaffolding i.e. expert scaffolding, reciprocal scaffolding and self-scaffolding, could write more complex and more accurate narratives, as compared with those in the control group for whom scaffolding was not practiced.

Keywords: EFL, scaffolding, sociocultural theory, language teaching.