The effect of scaffolding instruction on reading comprehension skills

A scaffolding instruction program, which lasted for 9 weeks, was implemented to find out its impact on 11th grade Jordanian EFL learners' reading comprehension skills. Using scaffolding instruction, the experimental group was taught three units selected from the participants' English textbook, while the control group was taught the same units with no scaffolding. Pre- and post-test procedure was used to measure the impact of the scaffolding program on the students' achievement. One-way analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) was used to measure any statistically significant differences in the mean scores of both groups. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was also used to find any significant differences in their posttest mean scores. Results of the study show that there are significant differences in the subjects' achievement in reading comprehension skills, in favor of the experimental group. Therefore, it is recommended that scaffolding instruction be integrated into the EFL curriculum, and that teachers be advised to match their teaching techniques with the students’ zones of proximal development.