A Conversation Analytic Study on Scaffolding Strategies Applied in an Online English Class

Abstract

In higher education, it is anticipated that English students should possess both proficiency in language and the capacity for critical thinking. Nonetheless, the dynamics of English as foreign language (EFL) classrooms often reveal a tendency for teachers to exert significant control over the class. Thus, this study aims to discover the scaffolding strategies applied by the teacher in an online EFL class in terms of classroom interactional competence (CIC). The participants were twelve English preparatory class students studying at A2 level of a state university in Türkiye. The majority of the students were Turkish and one of them was Somalian. They were enrolled in the same class. In the application process, the Microsoft Teams educational platform was used, and the lesson was conducted synchronously through this platform. The lesson lasted ninety minutes. By adopting a conversational analysis (CA) approach, a ninety-minute online English class was critically examined within the scope of Walsh’s (2006) self-evaluation of teacher talk (SETT) framework and concept of CIC. The interaction was analyzed by specifically focusing on scaffolding mechanism. According to the findings, the teacher was found to apply restating, reformulation, inviting participation from students, providing explanation, modelling, extension, further explaining students’ understanding and checking scaffolding strategies.