The Impact of Scaffolded Interaction in Group-Oriented Classrooms on (Un)Ready EFL Learners’ Grammatical Development: Toward a ZPD-Informed Learnability Hypothesis

Processability Theory (PT) and Teachability Hypothesis (TH) hold that that languages develop sequentially and instruction is effective only when it targets X+۱ corollary. In contrast, research suggests that collaborative interaction fosters L۲ development. However, the extent to which scaffolded collaborative interaction helps (un)ready learners bypass the learning stages remains unknown. To examine this, we selected an experimental group, an unpretested control group, and a pretested control group. We developed a construct-valid test of readiness whose results showed that six learners in the experimental condition, six learners in the unpretested control group, and five learners in the pretested control group were ready for instruction. Dividing the experimental and unpretested control groups into several smaller groups, we selected ready learners as group heads, who were responsible for scaffolding their peers. The pretested control group received deductive instruction. The findings showed that zone of proximal development (ZPD)-sensitive interactive practice accelerated the learning gains of both (un)ready learners and helped them acquire both X+۱ and X+۲ structures. However, deductive instruction was only effective for ready learners. These findings challenge TH while supporting a ZPD-Informed Learnability Hypothesis. We discuss the implications and highlight areas ripe for future studies.

کلیدواژه ها:

Processability Theory ، Scaffolded Interaction ، Teachability Hypothesis ، (Un)Ready Learners ، Zone of Proximal Development