The study was a descriptive qualitative  study  which  explored  the use of  instructional  scaffolding in a semi virtual English matriculation  class for students sent by a local  district government of Papua province  to  study  in Yogyakarta.  The research questions of the study were related to the types of instructional scaffolding needed   for learning English, challenges and effective ways to provide the scaffolding.  The data were the participants’ reflective notes, weekly virtual class observations, WhatsApp chats. Three types of scaffolding needed by the participants were modeling (37 %), group work/pair work (32 %), and repetition (31%).  Participants’ limited background knowledge and different learning habits were the challenges in providing the scaffolding. The participants needed the scaffolding because they needed models to imitate, peers to do tasks collaboratively, repeated explanation, and various examples to develop  their L2 motivational  self-system. The findings were discussed in a forum discussion group. The recommendation was  a separate  English class  with lecturers and young teaching  assistants  who  could be  role models and friends   to guide in collaborative  group work using relevant basic English learning materials should be designed for  them.