The Impact of Scaffolding on Content Retention of Iranian Post-elementary EFL Learners’ Summary Writing

Scaffolded Writing is an innovative method of supporting emergent writing based on Vygotsky's theory of learning and development. In the present study, Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and scaffolding learning of Gibbons (2002) are used as the theoretical basis to study the impact of scaffolding on EFL learner’ summary writing ability. The focus of the study was on the Content retention of the learners’ writings. 40 female participants within the age range of 12-15, studying in Morad Talkro Language Institute in Tabriz, Iran were randomly assigned as experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent scaffolding technique in which the learners were provided with constant helps from the teacher at the beginning and this help faded along the course upon the learners’ progress. On the other hand, the control group followed the instruction of the book without being helped in their writings. Comparison of the results obtained from the written posttest showed that the students in the experimental group outperformed the learners in the control group in their writings and remembered more details from the story. The results have some implications for the teaching of second and foreign language writing.