The effects of Scaffolding on L2 Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning

The aim of present study was to explore the effects of scaffolding on students’ reading comprehension and vocabulary learning. 180 EFL learners studying at institutes in Yazd participated in this study. The level of proficiency of these students determined by Michigan Test of English Language proficiency. 40 participants were excluded, and the remaining students were at intermediate level. Scaffolding conditions included individual and cooperative. They received scaffolding for 30 sessions. At the end of the experimental period, three posttests including a reading comprehension test, a 35-item vocabulary comprehension test in multiple choice format, and a 35-item vocabulary production test in fill-in-the-blanks format were administered. Independent sample t-test procedure were used to analyze data. Result showed that scaffolding in cooperative condition was the most effective technique on reading comprehension, and also vocabulary learning.