Scaffolding Efficacy in Boosting Speaking

Speaking is considered as the core for four major language skills and the crucial criterion for knowing a language. However one of the significant challenges of EFL and ESL learners is producing accurate fluent and complex speech in real situations. Recently the notion of Vygotsky’s (1978) Socio Cultural Theory (SCT) seems to open a new window to solve the challenges that second or foreign language learners and teachers face in improving speaking complexity accuracy and fluency. Therefore this experimental study was set out with the intent of investigating the efficacy of the application of the main tenants of this theory in boosting speaking sub-skills. Meanwhile a comparison was made between the effects of symmetrical and asymmetrical scaffolding on speaking sub-skills. Besides the effect of gender as a determining factor in speech development was studied. Accordingly this book first provides a brief introduction about the study. Then discuss the elements functions and dimensions of speaking. Likewise gender differences in oral production and previous studies on speaking sub-skills are reviewed.