An Experimental Study Of The Application Of The Scaffolding Theory To English Writing Instruction In The Five-Year Teacher Training Programme

Writing skill is one of the five basic skills in English study.But it is often overlooked in English teaching,especially in the Five-Year Teacher Training Programme.Based on the author's investigation,there exist several problems such as students' negative writing attitudes because of tedious and mechanic writing teaching methods,the one-way essay evaluation,and the insufficient use of the writing strategies in the process of composition.Consequently,most students perform very poorly in the writing test.So,it is very urgent to adopt a creative teaching method to change the present situation.Scaffolding instruction is a process in which students are provided with help and support until they can apply skills and strategies independently.It is on the basis of the scaffolding theory with its related theories,the ZPD theory and Constructivism.Scaffolding instruction has been researched and applied in practice at home and abroad.However,to date,there has been no study and application on scaffolding instruction in the Five-Year Teacher Training Programme.This research was to investigate the application of the scaffolding theory to English writing instruction in the Five-Year Teacher Training Programme.Taking the empirical approach,the study explored the following questions: 1)How does the application of the scaffolding theory to writing instruction affect students' writing attitudes? 2)How does the application of the scaffolding theory to writing instruction affect students' writing strategy development? 3)To what extent does the application of the scaffolding theory to writing instruction affect the students' writing ability? The instruments such as writing tests,questionnaires and interview were employed to seek answers to the research questions.100 students from the control class and experimental class participated in the research and four students in experimental class were chosen for the interview.Through the comparative analysis of SPSS on the writing tests and questionnaires and the descriptive analysis of the interview,this research yielded three major findings: First,it is confirmed the scaffolding instruction can change students' negative attitudes towards writing.Second,students can develop the writing strategies with the assistance of the scaffolding instruction.Third,the application of the scaffolding theory to English writing instruction can improve students' writing ability.The implications of the research for practical teaching are abundant and apparent.Students are the center in scaffolding instruction and what teachers do is to change roles and give timely assistance.Based on students' ZPD,it is necessary for students to review and consolidate their prior knowledge during the course of scaffolding activities.In addition,individual differences should be respected;providing proper and timely help for those students whose ZPD are different from others is very necessary.Meanwhile,the group work and the role of the high-level students should be enhanced.On the one hand,such emphasis brings students the important benefit from the collaboration.On the other hand,high-level students play an active role in group work and set a good example.Teachers should encourage students to keep the scaffolding records.At the same time,students can supervise their performance in the learning process and reflect on which difficulties they have met with and how much progress they have made through the scaffolding activities.Last but not least,updating the material of scaffolding instruction and the way of designing the scaffolding activities is also very important for English writing teaching.