promoting writing ability: exploring the influence of symmetrical and asymmetrical scaffolding on iranian high school students' writing ability

this study focused on identifying any possible relationship between symmetrical (s) and asymmetrical (as) scaffolding and writing ability of iranian students of english as a foreign language (efl). the study also examined the influence of gender as a moderating variable on the writing ability of students when taught with symmetrical vs. asymmetrical scaffolding. after administering a pre-test, 52 homogeneous intermediate students were selected, and they were divided into two experimental groups. the experimental group (a) received instruction according to s strategy whereas the experimental group (b) was instructed via the as strategy. a post-test was administered, and its results were analyzed through two-way anova. the results indicated that s scaffolding and as scaffolding have significant effect on learners' performance in writing ability. the findings also showed that gender did not modify the relationship between scaffolding and students` writing ability.