The Effects of Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Scaffolding on University Students’ Grammar Learning

This study investigated the extent to which two types of scaffolding, namely symmetrical and/or asymmetrical scaffolding could contribute to the acquisition of grammar among Iranian EFL sophomores. To fulfill this objective, ۴۲ female college students whose age ranged between ۱۹ and ۲۴ were selected through convenience sampling and, after taking a pretest, divided into two groups of: symmetrical scaffolding (SS) and asymmetrical scaffolding (AS). The experimental group AS received instruction according to asymmetric strategy, while the experimental group SS was instructed via the symmetric strategy. To answer the research questions, a post-test was conducted, and its results were analyzed using independent and paired t-test. The results showed that AS scaffolding is a more fruitful strategy in improving participant's grammar achievement. The findings of this study have implications for teachers. Pair work is a central task in any language class and teachers usually do not know how to arrange the pairs. Some teachers arrange them by age, while other teachers arrange pairs by proficiency level. The results of this research indicated that when arranging pairs, teachers need to choose students from differing proficiency levels.    

Keywords:

ZPD , symmetrical scaffolding , asymmetrical scaffolding , Grammar