Supporting Adult Learners' Use of Reading Strategies through Effective Literacy Scaffolding

[Abstract] This article explores the use of scaffolding approaches to support college developmental learners' use of reading strategies so as to help them to transition into autonomy in learning. Grounded in the sociocultural model of literacy learning and teaching, this study investigates two aspects of scaffolding: first, comparing the effects of directive scaffolds and supportive scaffolds on the learning outcome; and, second, examining the effects of multiple levels of supportive scaffolds on the use of reading strategies. The study argues that balanced literacy instruction can be regarded as a choice of an appropriate level of supportive scaffolding, which capitalizes on comprehensible input. [Keywords] scaffolding; directive scaffolding; reading strategies; autonomous learning; literacy instruction Introduction As a teacher-researcher working with college developmental reading and writing students, I am interested in exploring effective literacy instructional approaches to support cognitive and affective development of adult learners. Commonly in the acclimating stage of literacy development (Alexander & Jetton, 2000), college developmental learners are regarded as less effective than their peers enrolled in regular collegelevel programs in the application of literacy strategies to cope with the voluminous amount of reading and writing in college, and, thus, need instructional support to overcome obstacles in learning. Based on research studies conducted on using scaffolds to develop fluency (Stahl & Heubach, 2005), and to enhance acquisition of concepts (Guthrie, 2003), I have become aware of my role as a literacy coach to explore scaffolding approaches, and to organize learning environments to motivate students' productive use of strategies to interact with and make meaning from texts, and enhance comprehension and critical thinking. This paper investigates the use of scaffolding in two different contexts: the first is the use of both directive scaffolds and supportive scaffolds and their respective impact on student learning, and the second is the development of multiple levels of supportive scaffolds and their respective impact on students' use of reading strategies. The Role of Scaffolding in Literacy Learning and Strategy Use Scaffolding: A Catalyst for Literacy Learning and Strategy Use With the original meaning of temporary structures used in building construction, the term "scaffold" appears frequently in the research literature on language and literacy studies as a metaphor for support activities provided by teachers or peers for development of effective strategies in learners. Built on Vygotsky's (1981) social framework of learning, which conceptualizes learning as a social act that is realized through mediated action, voice and appropriation (Wilkinson & Silliman, 2000), scaffolding represents a transitional structure that "can be removed and taken down" as needed (Harris & Hodges, 1995, p. 226). Although formal literacy instruction typically begins in school, learners, however, have already been exposed to literacy environments and are often experienced with using literacy as a tool of communication long before they start school. Learners receive natural scaffolding through their interaction with peers and adults in various literacy events they encounter in sociocultural environments at a very early age (Goodman & Goodman, 1990), and develop "funds of knowledge" (Moll, 1994) which enable them to function effectively in their respective communities. As Scriber (1984) notes, literacy is an act of "social achievement" accomplished in the "course of participation in socially organized practices" (pp.7-8). Scaffolding plays an important role in learners' cognitive development, and in preparing them to become strategic readers and writers. Different from the transmission model of teaching which pre-determines a set of strategies that are delivered to the learners, scaffolding can be regarded as an approach of inquiry which defines strategies not as "formulas or rules to be applied", but as "options that can be used to construct meaning so that students develop a repertoire of strategies" (Short, Harste & Burke, 1996, p. …