Scaffolding Instruction Research Articles

Repeated reading intervention: Outcomes and interactions with readers' skills and classroom instruction.

This study examined effects of a repeated reading intervention, Quick Reads, with incidental word-level scaffolding instruction. Second- and third-grade students with passage-reading fluency performance between the 10th and 60th percentiles were randomly assigned to dyads, which were in turn randomly assigned to treatment (paired tutoring, n = 82) or control (no tutoring, n = 80) conditions. Paraeducators tutored dyads for 30 min per day, 4 days per week, for 15 weeks (November-March). At midintervention, most teachers with students in the study were formally observed during their literacy blocks. Multilevel modeling was used to test for direct treatment effects on pretest-posttest gains as well as to test for unique treatment effects after classroom oral text reading time, 2 pretests, and corresponding interactions were accounted for. Model results revealed both direct and unique treatment effects on gains in word reading and fluency. Moreover, complex interactions between group, oral text reading time, and pretests were also detected, suggesting that pretest skills should be taken into account when considering repeated reading instruction for 2nd and 3rd graders with low to average passage-reading fluency.

A Comparative Analysis of Number Sense Instruction in Reform-Based and Traditional Mathematics Textbooks

This study compared number sense instruction in three first-grade traditional mathematics textbooks and one reform-based textbook ( Everyday Mathematics [EM]). Textbooks were evaluated with regard to their adherence to principles of effective instruction (e.g., big ideas, conspicuous instruction). The results indicated that traditional textbooks included more opportunities for number relationship tasks than did EM; in contrast, EM emphasized more real-world connections than did traditional textbooks. However, EM did better than traditional textbooks in (a) promoting relational understanding and (b) integrating spatial relationship tasks with other more complex skills. Whereas instruction was more direct and explicit and feedback was more common in traditional textbooks than it was in EM, there were differences among traditional textbooks with respect to these two criteria. Although EM excelled in scaffolding instruction by devoting more lessons to concrete and semiconcrete activities, traditional textbooks provided more opportunities for engaging in all three representations. However, EM emphasized (a) a variety of models to develop number sense concepts, (b) a concrete, or semiconcrete, to symbolic representational sequence, and (c) hands-on activities using real-world objects to enhance learner engagement. Finally, even though traditional textbooks excelled over EM in providing more opportunities to practice number sense skills, this finding may be an artifact of the worksheet format employed in traditional textbooks. At the same time, adequate distribution of review in subsequent lessons was evident in EM and in only one of the traditional textbooks. Implications for practice in accessing the general education curriculum for students with learning problems are discussed.

Language teaching

06–622Al-Issa, Ali (College of Sharia and Law, Sultanate of Oman), The role of English language culture in the Omani language education system: An ideological perspective. Language, Culture and Curriculum (Multilingual Matters) 18.3 (2005), 258–270.06–623Aline, David (Kanagawa U, Japan) & Yuri Hosoda, Team teaching participation patterns of homeroom teachers in English activities classes in Japanese public elementary schools. JALT Journal (Japan Association for Language Teaching) 28.1 (2006), 5–21.06–624Arkoudis, Sophie (U Melbourne, Australia; s.arkoudis@unimelb.edu.au), Fusing pedagogic horizons: Language and content teaching in the mainstream. Linguistics and Education (Elsevier) 16.2 (2005), 173–187.06–625Atay, Derin (Marmara U, Turkey), Reflections on the cultural dimension of language teaching. Language and International Communication (Multilingual Matters) 5.3&4 (2005), 222–236.06–626Bada, Erdoğan (U Çukurova, Turkey; badae@cukurova.edu.tr), Pausing, preceding and following ‘that’ in English. ELT Journal (Oxford University Press) 60.2 (2006), 125–132.06–627Barkhuizen, Gary & Anne Feryok (U Auckland, New Zealand), Pre-service teachers' perceptions of a short-term international experience programme. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) 34.1 (2006), 115–134.06–628Barwell, Richard (U Bristol, UK; richard.barwell@bris.ac.uk), Integrating language and content: Issues from the mathematics classroom. Linguistics and Education (Elsevier) 16.2 (2005), 205–218.06–629Chavez, Monica (U Wisconsin-Madison, USA; mmchavez@wisc.edu), Classroom-language use in teacher-led instruction and teachers' self-perceived roles. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching (Walter de Gruyter) 44.1 (2006), 49–102.06–630Chujo, Kiyomi (Nihon U, Japan; chujo@cit.nihon-u.ac.jp) & Shuji Hasegawa, An investigation into the star-rated words in English–Japanese learner's dictionaries. International Journal of Lexicography (Oxford University Press) 19.2 (2006), 175–195.06–631Clifton, Jonathan (Antwerp U, Belgium; jonathan.clifton@ua.ac.be), Facilitator talk. ELT Journal (Oxford University Press) 60.2 (2006), 142–150.06–632Creese, Angela (U Birmingham, UK; a.creese@bham.ac.uk), Is this content-based language teaching?Linguistics and Education (Elsevier) 16.2 (2005), 188–204.06–633Davison, Chris (U Hong Kong, China; cdavison@hku.hk), Learning your lines: Negotiating language and content in subject English. Linguistics and Education (Elsevier) 16.2 (2005), 219–237.06–634Farmer, Frank (Universidad de Quintana Roo, Mexico; frank@correo.uqroo.mx), Accountable professional practice in ELT. ELT Journal (Oxford University Press) 60.2 (2006), 160–170.06–635Hampel, Regina (The Open U; r.hampel@open.ac.uk), Rethinking task design for the digital age: A framework for language teaching and learning in a synchronous online environment. ReCALL (Cambridge University Press) 18.1 (2006), 105–121.06–636Haworth, Avril (Manchester Metropolitan U, UK), The literacy maze: Walking through or stepping round?Language and Education (Mutilingual Matters) 20.2 (2006), 95–109.06–637James, Mark (Arizona State U, USA; Mark.A.James@asu.edu), Teaching for transfer in ELT. ELT Journal (Oxford University Press) 60.2 (2006), 151–159.06–638Lyster, Roy (McGill U, Canada; roy.lyster@mcgill.ca), Predictability in French gender attribution: A corpus analysis. Journal of French Language Studies (Cambridge University Press) 16.1 (2006), 69–92.06–639Lyster, Roy (McGill U, Canada; roy.lyster@mcgill.ca) & Hirohide Mori, Interactional feedback and instructional counterbalance. Studies in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge University Press) 28.2 (2006), 269–300.06–640McGrath, Ian (U Nottingham, UK; Ian.McGrath@nottingham.ac.uk), Teachers' and learners' images for coursebooks. ELT Journal (Oxford University Press) 60.2 (2006), 171–180.06–641Murahata, Yoshiko (Kochi U, Japan), What do we learn from NNEST-related issues? Some implications for TEFL in Japan. The Language Teacher (Japan Association for Language Teaching) 30.6 (2006), 3–7.06–642Nakatani, Yasuo (Nakamura Gakuen U, Japan; nakatani@nakamura-u.ac.jp), Developing an oral communication strategy inventory. The Modern Language Journal (Blackwell) 90.2 (2006), 151–168.06–643Naughton, Diane (U Granada, Spain; naughton@ugr.es), Cooperative strategy training and oral interaction: Enhancing small group communication in the language classroom. The Modern Language Journal (Blackwell) 90.2 (2006) 169–184.06–644O'Donnell, Kevin (Suzuka International U, Japan), Japanese secondary English teachers: Negotiation of educational roles in the face of curricular reform. Language, Culture and Curriculum (Multilingual Matters) 18.3 (2005), 300–315.06–645Pauwels, Anne (U Western Australia, Australia) & Joanne Winter, Gender inclusivity or ‘Grammar rules OK’? Linguistic prescriptivism vs. linguistic discrimination in the classroom. Language and Education (Mutilingual Matters) 20.2 (2006), 128–140.06–646Peled-Elhanan, Nurit (Hebrew U Jerusalem & Tel-Aviv U, Israel) & Shoshana Blum-Kulka, Dialogue in the Israeli classroom: Types of teacher-student talk. Language and Education (Mutilingual Matters) 20.2 (2006), 110–127.06–647Strauss, Susan (Pennsylvania State U, USA; sgs9@psu.edu), Jihye Lee & Kyungja Ahn, Applying conceptual grammar to advanced-level language teaching: The case of two completive constructions in Korean. The Modern Language Journal (Blackwell) 90.2 (2006), 185–209.06–648Wallen, Matthew (U Limerick, Ireland) & Helen Kelly-Holmes, ‘I think they just think it's going to go away at some stage’: Policy and practice in teaching English as an additional language in Irish primary schools. Language and Education (Mutilingual Matters) 20.2 (2006), 141–161.06–649Walqui, Aída (Teacher Professional Development Program, West Ed, USA), Scaffolding instruction for English language learners: A conceptual framework. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 9.2 (2006), 159–180.06–650Yamanaka, Nobuko (Ehime U, Japan), An evaluation of English textbooks in Japan from the viewpoint of nations in the inner, outer and expanding circles. JALT Journal (Japan Association for Language Teaching) 28.1 (2006), 57–76.06–651Yu, Weihua (Guangdong U of Foreign Studies, China), Promoting quality in China's higher education by motivating students attending the British Culture Survey course. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) 33.3 (2005), 261–274.

Scaffolding instruction for reading the Web

Research has found that text reading and Web reading, while sharing some similarities, require a different balance of strategies. Adult language learners, especially those with limited previous experience with the Web, may therefore need explicit, scaffolded instruction in order to read the Web. This article reports on teacher action research and demonstrates the scaffolded activities teachers developed to help learners read and navigate the Web. First, a linguistic analysis of web pages was conducted. Through this analysis, it was determined that, while there is much published research on web page design, many web pages that could be used in order to support the ESL curriculum do not employ a readable design. The study then followed a collaborative action research model (Burns, 1999) with five teachers across Australia. The study revealed two distinct, but interrelated, reading activities learners need to engage in to use the Web: reading web pages to find their way around a website (that is, reading to navigate) and navigating web pages in order to find and read information to achieve some other language learning goal (that is, navigating to read). The research indicates that learners can read and navigate with fewer problems and less stress for them and their teachers, if instruction includes carefully scaffolded activities that help learners become independent readers and navigators of the Web.

Scaffolding Instruction for English Language Learners: A Conceptual Framework

Adolescent students learning academic subject matter in a new language face a number of challenges, both local and global in nature, as they negotiate the linguistic, academic and social world of schooling. Making a case for a pedagogy of rigour and hope, the author presents a model of scaffolding that emphasises the interactive social nature of learning and the contingent, collaborative nature of support and development. Drawing on Sociocultural Theory, as well as a large body of empirical research on effective practices with second language learners, the author examines the use of specific types of scaffolding to promote linguistic and academic develop-ment. The model, developed by the author, conceives of scaffolding as both structure and process, weaving together several levels of pedagogical support, from macro-level planning of curricula over time to micro-level moment-to-moment scaffolding and the contingent variation of support responsive to interactions as they unfold.

The Aesthetics of Asian Art: The Study of Montien Boonma in the Undergraduate Education Classroom

The Aesthetics of Asian Art:The Study of Montien Boonma in the Undergraduate Education Classroom Mary Ann Maslak (bio) John Dewey, in his Experience and Nature, expounds on the developmental nature of human experience premised on the concept of qualitative propinquity—the integration and harmonization with the environment exemplifies the essence of experience. This principal line of reasoning shapes his fundamental argument in Art as Experience, one of Dewey's most significant educational works used today.1 In it he argues that the roots of experience lie in the commonplace occurrences in the course of human life. The integration of the meaning and value drawn from previous and present circumstances results in an "experience," which, in turn, constitutes a foundation of learning for the individual. Dewey's ideas are not only appropriate but also useful in the field of education. In what ways may future teachers experience art? How does the experiential process of examining art contribute to future teachers' pedagogical tools that can be used to incorporate art into the elementary school classroom? This article demonstrates how an experiential study of a work of art in an undergraduate education course—part of the St. John's University/Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education (LCIAE) Higher Education Collaborative program in New York City—contributes to the pedagogical repertoire of process-based learning for teachers and their future students. The article begins by providing a theoretical background for the work, followed by the definitions of three concepts that are pertinent to this piece: aesthetic education, the experiential approach to learning, and process-based instruction.2 The article then focuses on the specific aims of the university's arts course, the LCIAE Partnership Program, and data and analyses from the process-based aesthetic learning for the students enrolled in the course. It ends with conclusions about aesthetic education. [End Page 67] Theoretical Background Assuming the sociocultural nature of learning suggested by Dewey demands consideration of the layers of experience, it is necessary to discern the learners' emerging thoughts in light of various experiences. As a teacher, I subscribe to this belief and wanted to note how I could employ scaffolding practices to the aesthetic education learning experience for my undergraduate students. I aimed to accomplish this goal by scaffolding aesthetic experiences for students from their personal points of understanding, the university's classroom setting, and the context of museum exhibitions. Scaffolding instruction has a lengthy and persuasive history that provided the underpinning for my approach to the course.3 The intent of scaffolding is to help a learner undertake a task or goal that is beyond the learner's present level.4 Effective scaffolding encompasses a number of key features within cognitive and emotional domains.5 Cognitive elements include (1) selecting challenging activities for students; (2) monitoring their efforts; (3) using guiding questions to develop self-regulation; and (4) using indirect questioning strategies to extend and enhance the learning experience. Emotional support includes (1) structuring experiences to discourage frustration and encourage confidence; and (2) creating an atmosphere of comfort. While not all these features are applicable to scaffolding activities in an art education course of a university's teacher education program, I was mindful of their importance in structuring this course. Given that this course was my undergraduate students' initial exposure to aesthetic education, scaffolding served as an appropriate systematic pedagogical approach. In the words of Maxine Greene, aesthetic education is an intentional experience "designed to nurture appreciative, reflective, cultural, participatory engagements with the arts" by enabling the student to observe, analyze, and interpret meaning.6 In other words, it is the interactive study of the nature and expression of beauty. It seeks to enhance perception and affect, cognitive development, and personal growth by assuming that works of art provide an inexhaustible resource for exploration and reflection by the learner and an understanding based on the cultural context in which the artwork was created. Greene's philosophy, developed from the work of Dewey, posits that understanding a work of art is based on the active connection to and association with the piece. Therefore, the approach to its study is of the utmost importance. The experiential approach to learning is a...

Effects of Instruction on Verbal Interactions During Collaborative Problem Solving

During one school year, data were collected for vocational education students while they worked collaboratively on open-ended mathematics problems. In collaboration with participating teachers, instructional activities were designed with a twofold goal of modelling the process of problem solving and improving collaboration. Instructional activities were based on ‘scaffolding instruction’ and included modelling problem solving, stimulating reflection, and giving feedback on the process of collaboration. These activities were gradually developed and implemented in collaboration with teachers who participated in the study. The main research question in this study was whether student collaboration while working in small groups creates a learning context where students work on open-ended problems and where instructional activities are aimed at stimulating collaborative problem solving in mathematics.

Scaffolded instruction remediates Wisconsin Card Sorting Test deficits in schizophrenia: A comparison to other techniques

This study compared the efficacy of two instructional techniques, scaffolding and direct instruction, with a practice control condition in the remediation of Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) deficits among 45 highly chronic schizophrenic patients. The extent to which learning of the WCST generalised to other cognitive tests, including an object sorting task, the Short Category Test, Trail Making and Stroop tests, was also examined. The affective experience of the subjects was assessed via Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Subjects who received scaffolded instruction improved significantly in the number of WCST categories achieved. The improvement was sustained one month later. Generalisation to other cognitive tests was encouraging but limited. The scaffolded group improved in their selfesteem and maintained a high positive affect. These findings have implications for psychosocial and cognitive rehabilitation.

The effects of verbal scaffolding instruction on young children's private speech and problem-solving capabilities

This investigation examined the efficacy of a verbal scaffolding instructional program designed to teach young children how to use private speech while working on school tasks and problems. Two different contexts for solving problems were used; common school tasks and analogical reasoning problems. Thirty-four 5-year olds who attended public school kindergartens were assigned to either the comparison group or the treatment group. Comparison group subjects were presented with a series of 8 lessons which focused on a cognitive strategy to be used in the solutions of geometric analogy problems. Treatment group subjects were presented with a series of 8 lessons which employed cognitive self-instruction in a verbal scaffolding format. After initial instruction using self-verbalizations, treatment group subjects were shown how to apply the cognitive self-instruction to routine school tasks and geometric analogy problems. The data analysis revealed that there was an effect on the treatment group's use of 3 of the 4 levels of private speech. When the two groups were compared, the treatment group used significantly less task irrelevant private speech and significantly more task relevant private speech. There were no significant differences between the two groups on the post-assessment of geometric analogy reasoning. Additionally, when the two groups were compared there were positive effects of the instructional program on the treatment group's classroom behavior (near transfer) and locus of control scores (far transfer). The results of this study provide support for the use of cognitive self-instruction to improve young children's problem-solving private speech in the context of a public school classroom.