Search

Contingency has been claimed to be the central component of scaffolding. By contingency, a calibrated amount of help is provided for the learner. Different methods have been used to study contingency. In this study, contingency has been examined from the conversation analysis perspective in dyadic teacher-learner scaffolding interactions. To reach this aim, a convenience sample of Iranian novice and experienced English language teachers were studied in a non-governmental language institute in Tehran. Three novice and three experienced teachers were video-recorded for a 90-minute session each to yield a 9-hour corpus. After meeting official protocols, the recordings were transcribed using conversation analysis conventions. The results revealed differences between novice and experienced language teachers. Novice language teachers were less contingent towards their learners as they used more high-support moves like exposed corrections while the experienced language teachers used more low-support moves. Novice language teachers initiated more other-initiated-other-repair interactions but experienced language teachers initiated other-initiated-self-repairs. The claims of understanding were also treated differently in the scaffolding interactions. Novice language teachers treated claims of understanding as demonstrations and they did not follow them while experienced language teachers followed learners’ claims of understanding to ensure learning. Implications for language teachers and educators are then discussed.

Enabling learners to communicate both in an inter-personal level and with people of other nations is greatly emphasized in language learning programs. The present study seeks to analyze the conceptions of Iranian teachers after they implemented the new communicative language teaching (CLT) curriculum. To do so, two teachers were asked to record one session of their classes and subsequently participate in semi-structured interviews to elaborate on their rationale of what they did in the classroom. One of the teachers was a male with over 20 years of teaching experience, and the other was a female with almost the same years of teaching experience as the male. The analysis of the data showed wide discrepancies between teachers’ actual activities and the curriculum recommendations. The teachers highlighted their previous schooling as a student as well as contextual realities as factors influencing their teaching. The study highlighted the point that if teachers’ beliefs and the contextual realities are not in tune, teachers filter the curriculum in their own preferred ways leading to divergences from the proposed curriculum. Therefore, the study has clear implications for curriculum developers to consider contextual realities when proposing any innovations. It can also be of use for teachers to be aware of the need to be more cautious when implementing a new curriculum.

Transfer of responsibility for learning from the teacher to the learner has been considered the final aim of successful scaffolding. Despite this importance, few studies have been conducted in this area. The present conversation analytic study examined the scaffolding interactions of a sample of Iranian English language teachers to identify how responsibility for learning was transferred in scaffolding interactions. The teachers were divided into two groups of novice and experienced based on the criteria proposed in the extant literature. The results showed that the novice and experienced language teachers enacted transfer differently. The novice teachers used more high-support moves, like models and questions with scarce use of low-support moves, thereby mostly curbing the transfer process. However, the experienced teachers used a wider range of scaffolding strategies especially low-support moves to encourage learners to use their learning potentials. The novice teachers mismanaged repair-initiations while experienced teachers mainly ended repair-initiations in self-repairs. The study suggests that the teachers' experience level can significantly impact their scaffolding interactions with students. Further, it highlights the significance of providing ongoing professional development and training opportunities for language teachers to improve their ability to provide effective scaffolding. Overall, the study highlights the need for continued research in this domain.