Resumen

DELMASTRO, Ana Lucía. Scaffolding in the development of foreing language reading and writing skills. Paradìgma [online]. 2008, vol.29, n.1, pp.197-230. ISSN 1011-2251.

Scaffolding is a provisional structure provided by a teacher, other highly skilled teachers or skilled students, to support learners during construction of new knowledge. Once students are able to work on their own, the structure is withdrawn. The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of instructional scaffolding processes during foreign language (FL) learning. The objective was to build a theoretical background to support selection of classroom procedures that promote and regulate these processes. A theoretical and bibliographical research was carried out from a rationalist epistemological perspective, through an analysis of a variety of bibliographical references. First, the concept of scaffolding was defined and clarified in order to outline its characteristics and establish underlying theories. Then, general guidelines were pointed out to improve teacher scaffolding during FL learning. Finally, effective teaching strategies were suggested for scaffolding the development of reading and writing skills in a FL. This study yields theoretical background and procedural guidelines that we hope will contribute to the improvement of FL teaching practice in accordance with present-day pedagogical trends.

Palabras clave : constructivism; scaffolding; reading; writing; foreign language teaching; EFL.