Development of Speaking Ability through Motivational and Metacognitivebased Scaffolding

This study investigated the development of EFL learners’ language proficiency considering motivational and metacognitive scaffolding techniques. The participants included 90 EFL learners. The recruitment procedure took place based on the participants’ performance on a sample Preliminary English Test (PET). To collect the data and address the research questions, the participants were assigned into two experimental groups of metacognitive-based and motivational-based scaffolding and a control group with an equal number of participants in each group. In the metacognitive-based scaffolding group, metacognitive strategies such as producing a story within the framework and listening to and retelling the story were implemented. In the motivational-based scaffolding group, the speaking instruction was based on activities which provided maximum assistance for the learners. They were provided with songs, a relaxed environment, and opportunities to talk, i.e., turn-taking and wait-time to stimulate their motivation. The findings of the study shed light on the metacognitive and motivational-based scaffolding to promote EFL learners’ speaking in foreign language skills. It was found that motivational-based scaffolding was more conducive to enhancing Iranian EFL learners’ speaking ability.