The Role of Scaffolding in L2 Learners’ Dialogic Reflections

Abstract

<jats:p xml:lang="en">This article examines (1) the role of scaffolding and (2) scaffolding patterns that emerged in L2 learners’ dialogic reflections on their spoken performances. Dialogic reflection has recently become a vital concept in teacher development studies (Mann &amp;amp; Walsh, 2017), however, the role of dialogic reflection on learner empowerment has not been investigated. In this study, the term “dialogic reflection” is used to define 24 tertiary level L2 learners’ reflections on their spoken performances after they conduct six different paired speaking tasks which last 17 hours in total. The present study observes these dialogic reflections of the students under the scope of Sociocultural Theory, which posits human mental functioning as a mediated process that occurred with the help of others (Ratner, 2002). The data is gathered from these reflection sessions, and it is analyzed through sociocultural discourse analysis (Mercer, 2004). Thanks to microanalysis of the data, the findings show that learners use scaffolding to be able to establish mutual understanding between each other (Musiol &amp;amp; Trognon, 1999) in terms of word search, grammatical correction, and content development, and they used three different patterns to reach their aim; asking for help, intentional intervention, and showing joint effort.</jats:p>