Participant B was ever challenged by her sibling if she dared to speak with a foreigner when they had a family holiday out of town. She kept remembering this
and expected that one day she could speak to a foreigner. For this reason, participant B tended to play more seriously that participant A and had higher
expectations during playing.
4.4.3 Scaffolding
Scaffolding is a term used to describe learning as a form of collaboration between teacher and learners where teacher has an authoritative role to assist
learners to be independent Vygotsky, 1978, as cited in Feez, 1998: 26. This collaboration involves language in the form of a dialogue between teacher and
learners. Learners need to learn how to be self-reliant, adaptive, and long-life learners, so they are able to reason through problem framing and problem solving
situation collaboratively when they face the real life. In other words, learners are expected to be able to think and act in some ways that show how they respect and
value themselves and others. Besides, the learners learn how to be responsible for themselves and others. To acquire this expectation, teacher’s help during the
process of learning is needed. Teacher helps the students not by giving direct comments, but by assisting the students in their learning. The next table shows
the collaboration between the teacher and the learners Feez, 1998: 27.
Table 4.10 The Changing Nature of the Collaboration Between Teacher and Learner In Response To Learners’ Progress
SCAFFOLDING
independent learner performance with no contribution from teacher
LEARNER PROGRESS
potential performance
Diminishing contribution from teacher as learner’s independent
contribution increases Significant contribution from
teacher to support dependent contribution from learner
zone of proximal development
Learner’s entry level assessed by teacher
existing independent functioning
In this study, a computerized educational game is considered to close the
gap between what is learned and its use. Along with what is ensured by Neimeyer 2006:87, I definitely agree that using a computerized educational game train the
students brains to tune out distractions and make them focus to what was useful information and let students obtain the knowledge then connect it in their own
way with what they already have learned. From the interview transcriptions, many times the participants referred to their experiences when playing.
The participants’ experiences were their initial knowledge. It can be taught both at school and at home. When regarding to their learning at school, they
mentioned more about the materials they had learned with their English teacher, like colors and verbs.
Participant B – Interview 2 – SCF
According to participant B, there were some words she already knew. Like seen above, she mentioned some words, such as throw, sleep, eat, and read. Therefore,
through these words, she tried not to depend on the dictionary, but interpret the meaning of such words or phrases and see if her trials worked. Meanwhile,
participant A tended to keep the words she already knew.
Participant A – Interview 1 – SCF
When interviewed, she did not use English words to mention them. However, when I tried to see what words she knew, she fluently told me that the word tidur
meant ‘sleep’ in English. Unfortunately, she just smiled when I gave her a compliment of her knowledge. It seemed to her that achieving certain level of
English comprehension was not a matter for her. Similarly, scaffolding is also shaped when being home. The participants
connected their experiences at home to what they experienced when playing. However, the scaffolding was about life lessons, not academic ones.
Participant A – Interview 1 – SCF
R What have you learned with Bu Sari? P A lot…things, colors, numbers. Many…
R When playing the game, were there words you already know?
P Yes. Throw, sleep, eat, read.
R Do you get angry if hungry? P No, but crying. D likes to get angry if hungry.
R Then? P Sleeping, already night.
R Do you know what to do? P Yes, like at home.
R What do you mean? P When there is garbage, throw it. When having stomachache,
go to toilet. When hungry, eat.
