Effect of ZPD-Activated Instruction on Iranian EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Knowledge and Written Lexical Density

Abstract

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory (SCT, 1978) of human learning focuses on human cognitive development and its origination in social interaction. One of Vygotsky's notions is the zone of proximal development (ZPD). This study sought to examine the effect of the ZPD-activated vocabulary instruction (i.e., collaborative dialogue and scaffolding) on Iranian EFL learners' vocabulary knowledge, their written lexical density, and their domain-specific vocabulary use in writing outputs. Forty male and female EFL students from language institutes in Isfahan (Iran) took part in the study in the form of a pretest-posttest-comparisongroup design. A pretest was administered to the first 2 groups (i.e., vocabulary and lexical density groups) to ensure their homogeneity in the control and experimental groups. Afterwards, the control group was taught using their EFL textbooks without any use of ZPD-activated vocabulary instruction, whereas the second group was taught through ZPD-activated vocabulary instruction and received scaffolding. The experimental and control groups also performed 3 writing tasks related to their use of domain-specific vocabulary that was taught to them previously in order to check the effect of ZPD-activated vocabulary instruction on domain-specific vocabulary use. After the instructions, the first 2 groups received a posttest to check the participants' vocabulary achievement and their lexical density improvement in their writing. The ANCOVA and independent samples t-test results for all groups showed that the experimental group developed great gains of vocabulary, lexical density and domain-specific vocabulary in their writing output, whereas the control group, which was taught using conventional techniques in vocabulary teaching showed a small development in their vocabulary knowledge, lexical density and domain-specific vocabulary knowledge. Further, the results showed that scaffolding was most effective in improving learning. The findings have implications for implementing ZPD-based activities in L2 classrooms...

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

“…Yusuk (2018) also found that using scaffolding techniques based on the ZPD had a positive effect on reading comprehension. The results of a study by Mirzaei and Pahlevansadegh (2020) showed that scaffolding was particularly effective in improving learning. Almuntasheri (2019) observed that preservice science teachers used a high percentage of strategies that supported authoritative discourse in the classroom and Gillies (2020) emphasized the importance of using both authoritative and dialogic discourse to challenge and support students' thinking, leading to enhanced understanding and reasoned argumentation during learning.…”

“…Two students might perform equally well on a knowledge test, yet perform differently on a test demonstrating their ability to solve problems. Only a minimal amount of assistance will be needed if learning is occurring in the ZPD (Pahlevansadegh & Mirzaei, 2020). If a youngster receives too much help, they might just pick up the teacher's teaching methods rather than developing their own understanding of the subject.…”