English Teachers’ Practice of Classroom Discourse in Light of Zone of Proximal Development Theory and Scaffolding Techniques

Abstract

This research examines English teachers’ use of classroom discourse in the light of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory and scaffolding techniques. English teachers play an essential role in increasing dialogic interaction in their English language learners (ELLs). The participants were 18 English teachers from government secondary school in Makkah city, Saudi Arabia. The observation sheet used to collect data concentrated on major points of classroom discourse in the lesson stages of teaching English including lesson planning, explanation, and evaluation. The results highlight high-level practice of some strategies that support authoritative discourse in some strategies in the three lesson stages. However, the findings reveal lower levels of teachers’ use of strategies that support teaching in the ZPD. The findings also reveal an increase in the use of some strategies such as concentration on correcting errors in the planning stage before implementing the lesson. Furthermore, the findings reveal an increase in teachers’ use of some strategies such as encouraging continuous classroom discourse without providing correct responses for learners before discussions in the teaching stage. Also, it indicates a high-level increase in the use of some strategies such as evaluation of previously memorized concepts, and asking questions to evaluate students’ performance levels in the evaluation stage.