Review of Aida Walqui’s Scaffolding Instruction for English Language Learners: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The notion of scaffolding has been given greater importance among educators and within educational circles, especially those advocating the sociocultural role in enhancing learning. Apparently, this concept, as many other concepts and theories, survived for so many years in the face of the evolving theories and novelties in the field. It has also been refined and expanded to breed other forms of scaffolding. In this sense, this review examined the components of the socio-cultural theory (SCT) as scaffolding can somehow be situated within it. The SCT (sociocultural theory), which is greatly based on the work of Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), that helped us understand the way scaffolding functions. To put it differently, an understanding of the SCT l made it easier for us to grasp the logic behind the pedagogical scaffolding, since the basic shared assumption is – social– ‘interaction’. Besides, the consequences of the social learning that affect learning as well as learners.