Breaking Barriers: Scaffolding Tasks Enhance English Speaking Skills in Rural Higher Education

Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of collaborative scaffolding in enhancing English speaking skills among rural undergraduate learners. Thirty first-year B.Sc. Chemistry students from a Tamil-medium background at Rajah Serfoji Government College, Thanjavur, participated in the study. A baseline test was conducted to assess their existing speaking ability, following which students were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group engaged in a structured storytelling task using roles such as leader, president, and secretary, supported by sentence starters and lexical templates. The control group received visual prompts and keywords with minimal collaboration. Performance was evaluated based on initiation, development, and extension of speech, using a 30-point rubric. Descriptive statistics revealed that the experimental group achieved a higher mean score (24.6) and median score (25) compared to the control group (mean 17.8; median 18). The findings suggest that collaborative scaffolding fosters fluency, confidence, and learner autonomy, especially in low-resource contexts. The study highlights the value of culturally responsive, task-based speaking activities in promoting inclusive and effective English language learning.c