Scaffolding in education: Building independent EAL learners

What is scaffolding in education?

In the multilingual classroom, teachers will have a range of students at different stages in their journey towards independent learning. Student A is nervous about their work, needing a high level of teacher guidance, demanding the undivided attention of the teacher – always wanting “just one more thing.” Student B, on the other hand sees a task, breaks it down and approaches it with little to no supervision, checking in only to let the teacher know they’ve finished. This is where scaffolding approaches can make the difference.

Scaffolding in education is the process of giving learners structured, temporary support that helps them achieve tasks they cannot yet complete independently.

Building on Bruner’s earlier work around guided learning, Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) first defined scaffolding in education as:

“a process that enables a child or novice to solve a problem, carry out a task or achieve a goal which would be beyond his unassisted efforts.”

They set out the six key functions of the scaffolding process as:

1. Recruitment
2. Reduction in degrees of freedom
3. Direction maintenance
4. Marking critical features
5. Frustration control
6. Demonstration

These functions remain relevant in today’s classrooms, particularly for EAL learners who benefit from clear structure and purposeful modelling. Wood, Bruner and Ross also highlight the importance of fading support over time, to support students’ independence for long term success.

Scaffolding in education therefore becomes a dynamic process in which the teacher monitors understanding, adjusts prompts and gradually releases responsibility.

From scaffolding in education to independent learning: the research

Vygotsy (1978) said that “what the child can do in cooperation today he can do alone tomorrow.” This principle is foundational to the relationship between scaffolding and independence.

Vygotsy developed this idea with his theory of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). This is the space between what a learner can achieve independently and their potential achievement with guidance from another more knowledgeable person. This concept highlights the importance of designing learning experiences that challenge pupils but remain achievable with guidance. When teachers scaffold learning within the ZPD they help pupils build confidence and independence by supporting them to perform tasks they could not yet manage alone. For EAL learners in particular the ZPD gives a strong framework for deciding when to introduce models, vocabulary supports or structured steps and when to begin reducing that support, so learners take greater ownership of their progress.

Bruner emphasised that scaffolding must be temporary and responsive, with teachers gradually withdrawing support as learners internalise strategies. Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) reinforce this by showing how targeted intervention helps learners tackle tasks that would otherwise be out of reach, but only until assistance is no longer required.

Modern research echoes this. Van de Pol, Volman and Beishuizen (2010) highlight that scaffolding requires three linked processes: identifying the level of need, providing tailored support and fading that support as a “transfer of responsibility” as learners become more capable. They stress that fading is not optional but essential for developing self-regulation.

Within EAL pedagogy Hammond and Gibbons (2005) argue that scaffolding must offer high challenge with high support. Independence is the ultimate goal and scaffolding must help learners take increasing responsibility for their learning.

Practical scaffolding strategies for building independent EAL learners

Strong scaffolding in education gives multilingual learners the structure they need to access challenging content while gradually developing independent learning skills. Research highlights that scaffolding in education is most effective when it is temporary, responsive and designed to shift responsibility from teacher to pupil.

• Begin with explicit modelling: Learners progress more quickly when teachers demonstrate how to approach a task and provide clear language models. For EAL learners this may involve modelling a reading strategy, constructing a sentence aloud or writing an example paragraph. As a learner’s competence increases the teacher’s modelling fades to enable students to rely more on their own strategies.
• Chunk tasks and build step-by-step support: Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) showed that reducing the “degrees of freedom” helps learners manage complex tasks without becoming overwhelmed. Breaking a task into sequenced steps provides structure at the start but can be gradually withdrawn as learners begin to take control.
• Use visual and linguistic supports: Dual coding and visual scaffolds help learners anchor new vocabulary and concepts. Tools such as labelled diagrams, visual organisers or sentence frames allow pupils to express ideas independently even when their linguistic skills are still developing.
• Prioritise purposeful classroom dialogue: Mercer (2000) explains that through purposeful talk, learners can appropriate ways of thinking to use independently . Structured partner talk, rehearsed explanations and teacher questioning build the language and reasoning that later become tools for independent work. For EAL learners this scaffolding of dialogue is essential for language development and confidence.
• Support self-awareness and reflection: Reflection routines such as goal setting, informal assessment or self-assessment checklists encourage pupils to notice their progress and identify what they can now attempt without support.

Using technology to scaffold independent learning

Research shows that digital tools can provide effective scaffolding that mirrors the structured support offered by teachers. When thoughtfully integrated, technology can extend learning opportunities, reinforce language development and promote independence.

• Digital scaffolds that support thinking and task completion: Sharma and Hannafin (2007) identified two key types of support: cognitive scaffolds that guide how learners think about a task and procedural scaffolds that guide what learners need to do next. For EAL learners these digital scaffolds can include visual cues, step-by-step instructions, glossary support or audio pronunciation models which reduce cognitive load and allow pupils to practise independently.
• Revisiting feedback builds confidence and fluency
  Research consistently shows that digital feedback – whether audio, video or multimodal – supports independent learning because learners can revisit explanations, rehearse corrections and build confidence over time.
• Technology that supports learner autonomy
  Sweeney (2024) highlights that technology promotes autonomy when it is intuitive, transparent and supportive without being overly directive. Tools that allow learners to choose tasks, track progress or revisit content strengthen their self-awareness and capacity for self-regulation.

How FlashAcademy® supports scaffolding in education for EAL learners

FlashAcademy® draws on the body of research on scaffolding in education in pursuit of a platform that can build independent multilingual learners.

FlashAcademy®’s activities support with building cognitive skills, from matching to spelling, to sentence building activities.  This structured approach facilitates low stakes lessons where learners can work at a pace matched to their existing level of competence before moving to the next when ready.

Reading comprehension lessons build on vocabulary learnt in the corresponding lesson to support vocabulary growth. Specific lessons in idioms build listening comprehension.

The pronunciation tool available through FlashAcademy® also enables learners to practise speaking skills with real-time feedback, refining their pronunciation in a low-stakes independent environment. The app’s availability across a range of devices means that learners can be set tasks by their teacher based on learner insights available in the teacher dashboard before trying the tasks independently. 

Regular assessment of learner progress across listening, speaking, reading and writing means that both learners and teachers have a good grasp of progress and need. Van de Pol et al (ibid) identified this as crucial to a scaffolding approach to learning. You can find out more about FlashAcademy®’s pedagogical approach in our blog: What is FlashAcademy and how does it work?

Through embracing digital tools, while not a replacement for teacher skill and knowledge, teachers can complement EAL and multilingual strategy in the classroom to build greater independent skills in their multilingual learners.

Scaffolding in education as a pathway to independent EAL learners

Scaffolding in education provides EAL learners with the structure, language support and guided practice they need to take increasing ownership of their learning. When teachers model strategies, break tasks into manageable steps and gradually fade support, learners build confidence and begin to apply these skills independently. Research consistently shows that effective scaffolding – whether through dialogue, explicit modelling or digital tools – enables learners to move from supported practice to genuine autonomy.

By combining high challenge with high support, schools can create multilingual classrooms where learners not only access the curriculum but thrive within it. Platforms like FlashAcademy® complement this approach by offering responsive, scaffolded activities that reinforce vocabulary, pronunciation and comprehension. When used alongside expert teaching, scaffolding becomes a powerful pathway to developing confident, capable and independent EAL learners.