Effects of scaffolding instruction on EFL students’ awareness of metacognitive reading strategies: from a socio-cultural perspective

This study investigated the effects of scaffolding instruction on students’ awareness of metacognitive reading strategies using a quasi-experimental research design. The participants were freshman students in two classes at University of Gondar, so intact groups were chosen using simple random sampling techniques, and the lot method was employed to select both groups, with one assigned as an experimental group (n = 61) and the other as the control group (n = 61). The experimental group was taught using scaffolding instruction based on O’Malley and Chamot’s (1996) Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach strategy training model. The intervention was carried out for three months in 2022 academic year. The control group received the conventional way of teaching reading. Data were collected through survey of reading strategies and semi-structured interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed using independent and paired samples t-test. The pretest results revealed that both the experimental and control groups were  homogeneous in their awareness of metacognitive reading strategies. However, after the treatment, the experimental group improved significantly (p<.05) better than the control group. Correspondingly, the qualitative findings indicated that scaffolding instruction had a positive impact on learners’ awareness of metacognitive reading strategies. Hence, the study recommends that EFL instructors should employ scaffolding instruction at the university level for teaching metacognitive reading strategies in reading lessons.