“Scaffolding” methods of teaching a foreign language

Statement of the problem. In foreign theory and methodology of teaching a foreign language, the term ‘scaffolding technology’ or ‘scaffolding’ is widely used to describe didactic techniques of teacher-student interaction in which the teacher tries to make the content of the lesson more accessible. In Russian theory and methodology of teaching a foreign language, the term is also becoming more and more widespread, but it is still insufficiently studied. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the available materials in foreign theory and methodology for better understanding of the concept of ‘scaffolding’ and its application scenarios, and thus to provide suggestions and directions for future research. Methodology (methods and materials). The article attempts to assess the frequency and burst on the topic under study and identify the main scientific sources on the problem of using the scaffolding methods in teaching a foreign language. The knowledge map on the topic was built based on Web of Science Core Collection database as well as CiteSpace bibliometric solution, which are often used to visualize the content of authors’ publications and scientific achievements of research institutes in the field. Research results. By 2022, the statistics show a steady increase in the annual number of publications on the topic (508 articles in English for 2022). Sonia Q. Cabell (Florida State University) and Yu-Fen Yang (National Yunlin University of Science and Technology) have published the largest number of papers in journals included in international science databases. A number of other authors form a stable network of research collaborations in the studied knowledge area of foreign language teaching theory and methodology. Institutional knowledge mapping shows that Nanyang Technology University, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology and Monash University are the three universities with the highest number of publications. Analysing and comparing the frequency of keywords and citation statistics shows that research in this area has focused on the teaching of literacy in English classes.