In instructional design, which technique organizes content so that learners encounter sentences of progressively increasing grammatical complexity?

• A. Structural grading
• B. Scaffolding
• C. Subtractive bilingualism
• D. Standard variety

Answer: (B)

Scaffolding is about providing temporary supports that help learners perform tasks beyond what they can do independently, with those supports gradually removed as they gain competence. In language instruction, this translates to presenting sentences in a sequence that starts simple and progressively increases grammatical complexity, while offering models, prompts, guided practice, and feedback to bridge the gap. As learners become more proficient, the supports fade, and they tackle more complex structures on their own. The other concepts don’t capture that idea of fading assistance: structuring material by complexity is about ordering content, not actively supporting and then withdrawing help; subtractive bilingualism describes losing language skills rather than a teaching technique; standard variety refers to the form of language used, not the progression of instructional difficulty.