By Nada Dabbagh Scaffolding is originally a Vygotskyan (Lev Vygotsky, 1896-1934) concept based on the idea of providing supportive assistance to the learner within the parameters of a learner’s zone of proximal development (Zo-ped or ZPD) (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976). ZPD is a measure of a learner’s current ability and knowledge what he/she is able to perform with no assistance and the learner’...

The  Question  Answer  Relationship  (QAR)  strategy  equips  students  with  tools  to  successfully decode and comprehend what they read. An action research project over 18 days with twenty-three kindergarteners adapted exposure to QAR’s “In the Book” and “In my Head” categories with similar questions for each of two popular Aesop’s fables. The challenges and outcomes are  presented  with  sp...

Starting in the 2013-2014 school year, I conducted a randomized field experiment in fortysix traditional public elementary schools in Houston, Texas designed to test the potential productivity benefits of teacher specialization in schools. Treatment schools altered their schedules to have teachers specialize in a subset of subjects in which they have demonstrated relative strength (based on val...

This study was conducted to examine the effect of three types of comments, i.e. imperatives, questions, and statements, with different communicative purposes, i.e. giving information and making a request, given by an ELT teacher and peers on  students’ revision of their writings. Sixty-four female students, between 16 and 26 years old studying at high-intermediate level of English language prof...

The purpose of this paper is not to assess the role or performance international financial institutions in Republic Moldova, but rather focus on a somehow insufficiently investigated topic and namely: quality evaluation official development assistance provided by donors. Several factors were considered when determining efficiency assistance: consolidation units within Ministry Finance, update e...