Redefining Pedagogy by Using Technical Scaffolding for Teaching Advanced ESL Learners

Abstract

Online learning has become an integral part of contemporary higher education across the globe. An increasing number of institutions are incorporating online courses and degrees into their curricula. Since web-based learning offers flexibility, accessibility, and increased interaction with instructors and fellow students, it gets a competitive edge as compared to the traditional class room teaching. This perceptible change has also influenced and marked a change in the teaching methods and materials for on campus courses in order to optimize the efforts made by teachers and to increase the learning quantum among learners maintaining their own pace and using their own learning style. The present paper therefore, attempts to discuss the feasibility of integration of online writing tutorials with web- supported language classrooms especially for enhancing the writing skills of the advanced ESL students. The paper also explores how scaffolding can be employed to enable the maximum involvement and improvement to occur in students’ writing skills in the set Zone of Proximal Development ZPD.