IMPLEMENTING THE SCAFFOLDING STRATEGY TO TEACH ENGLISH SPEAKING TO FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

English as a foreign language (EFL) learners face various speaking challenges. Prior research has demonstrated that inadequate instructional methods and students’ lack of motivation are the primary factors contributing to their low speaking competency. The use of scaffolding has received acclaim for its capacity to effectively engage a wide range of learners. When it comes to the scaffolding approach, students continuously build upon their existing knowledge and establish connections between new material, concepts, and language acquisition. Moreover, this form of guidance reduces the occurrence of errors, hence reducing feelings of hesitation, particularly among low level EFL learners. Hence, the current study employed a scaffolding method to instruct a Speaking Course to the First-Year English majors at Dong Nai Technology University. The objective of the study is to explore the students’ perceptions towards this scaffolding-based module conducted in their classroom. The study employed interviews, and observation sheets as instruments for data collection from a sample of 60 students. The data analysis showed that the students perceive scaffolding instruction as highly advantageous due to the positive learning atmosphere it creates. Additionally, supportive scaffolding provides students with the chance to overcome the fear of speaking up in class. Furthermore, the approach has a positive impact on students’ motivation, leading them to become more self-directed and independent over time. The ramifications of these findings are examined in order to improve the application of scaffolding in various English skills.