2. Scaffolding
a. The Nature of Scaffolding
The term of scaffolding is actually, taken from the field of architecture. In the process of building a house, we will find any equipment such as iron ladder or
frame that is used to reach the higher part of the building and to sustain the new foundation. This equipment is called scaffolding. If the building has already been
able to support itself, gradually, the scaffolding will be removed. In the context of classroom learning, the term of scaffolding is described as
the temporary assistance that the teachers provide to help their students in completing the task or develop new understanding so that, they will be able to do
it by themselves. According to Wood, Bruner and Ross in Hammond 2001, scaffolding is defined as a metaphor to capture the nature of support and guidance
in learning. It means that scaffolding is a support that is designed to provide the assistance necessary to enable learners to accomplish tasks and develop
understandings that they would not quite to be able to manage on their own. Meanwhile,Maybin, Mercer and Steirer 1992:186 describe scaffolding as the
temporary but essential nature of the mentor’s assistance in supporting learners to carry out tasks succesfully.
Actually, scaffolding is closely related to the work of Vygotsky. The Vygotsky theory of socio-cultural and the zone of proximal development ZPD is
commonly regarded as the theoretical underpinnings of scaffolding. The Vygotsky’s main concept of the ZPD is supporting children’s active position in
their learning and assisting them in becoming self-regulated learners. Raymond
2000: 176 defines scaffolding as “the distance between what children can do by themselves and the next learning that they can be helped to achieve with
competent assistance.” Essentially, it is an instructional strategy which ensures students to gain confidence and take control of the task or parts of the task as soon
as he or she is willing and able to.
b. The Principles of Scaffolding
There were many authors who had developed the explanations of scaffolding or support for learning. Although the explanations vary, but most of
them had the similar view if support can take the form of a teacher’s modeling. In this case, in giving scaffolds, the teacher or caregivers assist young learners by
involving the joint construction of language and gradually withdrawing their support for learners to gain their mastery of language independently.
According to Hogan and Pressly 1997 : 17-36, there are five instructional scaffolding techniques, namely: modeling of desired behaviors, offering
explanations, inviting students’ participation, verifying and clarifying student’s understanding, and inviting students to contribute clues.
1 Modeling of desired behaviours Generally, modeling is the first step in the instructional scaffolding. Hogan
and Pressly 1997 : 20 define modeling as teaching behavior that shows how one should feel, think or act within a given situation. There are three types of
modeling, namely; think-aloud modeling, talk-aloud modeling and performance modeling. Think-aloud modeling is the verbalization of the process of thinking to
solve a certain problem. For example, a teacher verbalizes his or her strategies for the students in finding the main idea of a paragraph. On the other hand, talk-aloud
modeling is the demonstration of completing task accompanied by verbalization of the process of thinking or problem solving strategy refering to the modeler’s
conclusion. For example, a teacher describes his or her strategies verbally while demonstrating the written solution to a word problem. Lastly, performance
modeling is the demonstration process of task that should be completed. For example, the teacher gives the model in doing the listening task by doing it.
2 Offering explanations After modeling, the explanation from the teacher is quite important.
According to Hogan and Pressly 1997 : 17, at the beginning of instruction, explanations are thorough and may be repeated. When the learners have already
got experience from hints or keywords that prompt them to catch important information, finally, the explanations are removed. For example, in the listening
activity, when the students have difficulty, the teacher might have to repeat and explain the material for several time. When the students have already got
experience, the explanations were limited. 3 Inviting students’ participation
In addition to offering explanation, inviting students to participate in learning is needed. Hogan and Pressly 1997 : 17 said that this practice engages the
students in learning and provides them with ownership of the learning experience. For example, in the listening activity, the students were invited to participate
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