Why We Need to Rethink Scaffolding in the ESL Classroom

ESL-Wise: Blog 13

Why We Need to Rethink Scaffolding in the ESL Classroom

By Alan David Pritchard

Support that stays too long stops working

“Make sure you scaffold the task.”

 It’s one of the most common pieces of advice in ESL teaching, and rightly so.

Scaffolding helps learners tackle complex work.

Scaffolding, though does not mean making the task easier. It does not mean giving students everything they need. It does not mean reusing the same sentence starters all term. It took a long time for me to learn how to reduce the scaffolding as the year went on and replace it with guided modelling, something I will share in a future blog post. But for now, let me say this:

Done well, scaffolding accelerates growth. Done poorly, it creates an over-reliance on support and reduces necessary cognitive struggle. In short, it can make students lazier.

So, what is scaffolding really, and how can we use it to build capable, confident learners rather than over-reliant ones?

What Scaffolding Really Means

Scaffolding is temporary, targeted support that helps students achieve what they cannot yet do alone. It draws on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, the space between what a learner can do unaided and what they can do with help.

The teacher’s role is to work inside that zone and then gradually step back as the learner grows more capable.

What Scaffolding Is Not

• Simplifying the task. Lowering the bar is not scaffolding. True scaffolding preserves the academic goal while offering strategic support. If you think about it, building scaffolds lift builders up so that they can do their jobs. Learning scaffolds should do the same.

• Doing the work for students. Filling in vocabulary or modelling every answer performs the work rather than scaffolding it.

• Making support permanent. If students still rely on the same frame weeks later, the scaffold has become a crutch rather than fading away.

And, as I have found over the years, knowing how to gradually remove those scaffolds is not as easy as it sounds.

Here is an example of what I mean when I say the scaffold must not do the work for the students. These terms appear in a video about mantis shrimp, but instead of just linking the images to the terms, I require the students to match the terms to the image - thus forcing them to think and make decisions.

What Effective Scaffolding Looks Like

Scaffolding evolves through the learning cycle before, during and after a task.

Before the task: Preparation scaffolds

• Pre-teach key vocabulary

• Use visual timelines or diagrams

• Lead discussions to build background knowledge

• Brainstorm to activate prior learning

Here is an example of a scaffold that I use to pre-teach vocabulary. I identify the words they need to know (and I will incorporate these words in texts and tasks later), and then ask AI to provide a low B1 explanation/definition. Then I read aloud the words the students need to spell and they have to correctly place the word in the row of the correct definition. Any incorrectly spelled words are corrected and students can then refer to this page whenever they need to, later.

During the task: Structural scaffolds

• Offer sentence stems or substitution tables

• Provide model paragraphs or graphic organisers

• Use guided reading questions

• Chunk long tasks into manageable stages

Here is a scaffold for ESL students writing about Macbeth. Note how I have also provided space for students who do not wish to use the provided scaffolds.

After the task: Reflective scaffolds

• Prompt peer and self-assessment

• Teach revision and reflection language

• Share checklists for editing

• Give whole-class feedback before rewriting

The most effective scaffolding responds in real time to what learners can and cannot yet do.

Here is a self-assessment scaffold for writing an Official Report (part of my How to Write Text Types resource series.) Notice how the third column provides in-built scaffolded advice for improvement.

The Vanishing Scaffold: When to Pull Back

A scaffold is like a ladder that helps learners climb until they can stand on their own.

Withdraw support when students complete steps without prompts, when they self-initiate rather than rely on cues, and when their performance becomes consistent and transferable.

Fading/ vanishing scaffolds is not neglect but rather is a sign of genuine learning.

Here's an example of a vanishing scaffold on one sheet that I created for my year 9 literature class.

The Risk of Over-Scaffolding

When support lingers, students may wait for sentence frames before writing, avoid taking risks, rely on teacher directions, and fail to apply skills in new contexts.

We might think they have mastered a skill when in fact they have only mastered the scaffold.

This is why I like to provide vanishing scaffolds like the one in the example above. It allows students to have something to begin with, but then shapes their independent release later.

Getting It Right

• Maintain complexity: keep tasks authentic and support the process rather than the product.

• Observe and adapt: adjust support based on learners’ needs in the moment, not just the lesson plan.

• Fade deliberately: move from heavy support to light cues to independent work.

• Promote autonomy: aim for learners to work without support, not depend on it.

Final Thought: Scaffold for Success, Not for Safety

Over-scaffolding creates the illusion of success while slowing real development.

True success is when the scaffold disappears, and learners keep moving forward on their own. I will be creating more posts on scaffolding as the year progresses as this is a topic that one post cannot possible encompass sufficiently.

 Please feel free to share your thoughts on this topic in the comments section below.

I’d love to hear from you.

Further Reading

• Bell Foundation – “Scaffolding: Support for EAL Learners”https://www.bell-foundation.org.uk/resources/great-ideas/scaffolding/

• NYSED – “Scaffolding Instruction for English Language Learners” (resource overview)https://www.nysed.gov/bilingual-ed/scaffolding-instructions-english-language-learners

• Sanako – “How to Scaffold Language Teaching and Build Student Fluency”https://sanako.com/how-to-scaffold-language-teaching-and-build-student-fluency

• Edutopia – “6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students”https://www.edutopia.org/article/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies

Right Fast is my teacher-designed, classroom-tested game series that helps learners build academic language through fast-paced retrieval and timed oral rehearsal. Perfect for ages 14+

 Click the image or explore all 10 categories and 100 sets HERE.