Scaffolding L2 Academic Reading and Self-Regulation Through Task and Feedback

Research has shown that classroom-based reading strategy training does not necessarily result in effective, self-regulated reading behaviours when students engage with authentic academic reading in their own study contexts. In light of this problem, our study examines the effects of an instructional scaffold combined with teacher feedback, designed to foster students’ self-regulation in authentic academic reading contexts. Over a five-week period, students read five academic texts and posted blog posts documenting their reading, scaffolded by a task prompt. In response, their teacher posted individualised feedback. The data comprised 75 student blog posts and 63 teacher responses. The results suggest that the task prompts and feedback supported students’ self-regulation in different ways: while the task prompted students to reflect on their reading, teacher feedback redirected students’ attention to new ways of reading and to less superficial aspects of the task, as well as reminding them of reading behaviours they had previously engaged in successfully. The study therefore provides insights into the interplay between task and feedback and recommendations for teaching practice.