The Effect of Teaching Critical Thinking on Iranian EFL Learners' Essay Writing

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Miri ◽  
Danial Babajani Azizi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Writing Instruction ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Writing Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study made an attempt to determine the effect of teaching critical thinking skills on Iranian EFL learners' essay writing ability. To do this, a sample of 60 EFL learners was selected based on their performance on Preliminary English Test (PET). The participants were randomly assigned to two equal groups of control and experimental. An essay-writing test functioning as pre-test was administered on both groups in order to ensure their homogeneity in terms of writing ability. The groups received 10 sessions of writing instruction; however, experimental group received additional instruction and practice regarding the techniques of critical thinking. Finally, both groups took an essay writing posttest in order to compare their writing achievements. Both pretest and posttest were scored by two raters using TOEFL rating scales. The results of paired and independent sample t-tests showed that critical thinking techniques significantly enhanced EFL learners writing ability.

scholarly journals A Framework for Infusing Critical Thinking into Chinese College EFL Learners’ Argumentative Writing Process

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Chunxia Lu
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Writing Process ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Argumentative Writing ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Written Argumentation ◽  
Critical Thinking Instruction

Written argumentation, as a language skill and a cognitive skill as well, is not easy for EFL learners. In China, related studies found that college EFL learners are weak in written argumentation due to the deficiency of critical thinking. In order to enhance Chinese college EFL learners’ argumentative writing ability, this paper reviewed the nature of argumentative writing, the relationship between critical thinking and argumentative writing and previous studies on effects of critical thinking instruction into argumentative writing, and then pointed out that it is reasonable to infuse critical thinking into argumentative writing process in Chinese EFL context. With teachers’ feedback and students’ reflection as the pedagogical tool, the author synthesized an instruction framework for infusing critical thinking skills into Chinese EFL learners’ argumentative writing process hopefully to provide reference for further research and instruction.

scholarly journals Boosting EFL Learners Critical Thinking through Guided Discovery: a Classroom- Oriented Research on First-Year Master Students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wahida YAICHE
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Discovery Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Guided Discovery ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Experimental Group

Critical thinking is widely recognized as a necessary skill for growth and intellectual development due to a variety of factors, including globalization, the revolution of information technology, modernity, and connectivity. EFL teachers can lay the groundwork for their students to attain critical thinking through various methods, models, and strategies. The present investigation suggests that the teacher could promote EFL learners’ critical thinking through guided discovery model of instruction. Henceforth, the current paper endeavors to enlighten the adequacy of applying guided discovery for developing learners’ critical thinking skills. It is an experimental research that investigates: how may guided discovery contribute to the development of EFL learners’ critical thinking? It attempts to examine the utility of discovery learning in teaching students how to process and think critically about the education they receive where information has become readily available and accessible. To this aim, 40 EFL Master students who took educational psychology courses were nominated from the university center of Naama, Algeria. The researcher selected Peter Honey Critical Thinking test and focus group discussions to attain data on students’ critical thinking skills. The test results demonstrated that the experimental group outperformed the control group. The students become more autonomous, reflect on their learning experiences, and identify the most useful strategies. Furthermore, the analysis of focus group interviews revealed that the experimental group participants hold positive attitudes toward discovery learning. They perceive it as a precious method that can enhance their awareness about the value of thinking critically.

scholarly journals Critical Thinking and Argumentative Writing: Inspecting the Association among EFL Learners in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Zhengwei Pei ◽  
Chaoqun Zheng ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Fangzhou Liu
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Argumentative Writing ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Writing Test ◽  
English Majors ◽  
Efl Writing Instruction ◽  
Chinese Undergraduates

Nurturing critical thinking (CT) has been acknowledged as a core objective of tertiary education, and drawn attention from academia of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in China. The thrust of the present study was to determine the association between CT and EFL argumentative writing among Chinese undergraduates. To this end, 110 English majors across three grades at two universities were conveniently selected and given the critical thinking skills (CTS) test and EFL argumentative writing test. The results of this study indicated that undergraduate English majors in China did not possess strong CTS. Though their CTS was not found to be significantly correlated with EFL argumentative writing performance, textual analysis of typical essays showed that strong-CTS learners outperformed weak-CTS ones in relevance, clarity, logicality, profundity and flexibility of argumentative writing. The obtained results suggest a need to integrate CT into EFL writing instruction.

scholarly journals Course review horay and critical thinking skills: the effective teaching model for students’ grammar competence in remote EFL classrooms

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-317
Author(s):  
Mukminatus Zuhriyah ◽  
Maskhurin Fajarina
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Private University ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Teaching Model ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Grammar Teaching ◽  
English Departments ◽  
Writing Test ◽  
Efl Classrooms

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, EFL lecturers need to be creative in handling their remote teaching. However, scarce studies investigated the use of course review horay (CRH) and students’ critical thinking skills (CTS) in remote EFL classrooms especially in grammar classes. The study aimed to explore whether or not CRH was more effective than explanation model to teach grammar and the students having high CTS had better grammar competence than those of low CTS. This experimental study employed a 2x2 factorial design. The population was the second semester students of non-English departments in a private university in East Java, Indonesia. The sample was four groups comprising of two groups (high and low CTS) in the experimental class and two groups (high and low CTS) in the control class. To categorize them into high and low CTS, an Indonesian argumentative essay writing test was used. After six meetings of treatment, the students did the grammar test. The grammar scores were, then, analyzed using ANOVA and TUKEY tests. The results indicated that CRH was more effective and the students with high CTS possessed better grammar competence. The present study implies that CRH and CTS created a joyful learning atmosphere in remote grammar teaching.

scholarly journals Boosting EFL Learners Critical Thinking through Guided Discovery: a Classroom- Oriented Research on First-Year Master Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-89
Author(s):  
Wahida YAICHE
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Intellectual Development ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Discovery Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Guided Discovery ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Experimental Group

Critical thinking is widely recognized as a necessary skill for growth and intellectual development due to a variety of factors, including globalization, the revolution of information technology, modernity, and connectivity. EFL teachers can lay the groundwork for their students to attain critical thinking through various methods, models, and strategies. The present investigation suggests that the teacher could promote EFL learners’ critical thinking through guided discovery model of instruction. Henceforth, the current paper endeavors to enlighten the adequacy of applying guided discovery for developing learners’ critical thinking skills. It is an experimental research that investigates: how may guided discovery contribute to the development of EFL learners’ critical thinking? It attempts to examine the utility of discovery learning in teaching students how to process and think critically about the education they receive where information has become readily available and accessible. To this aim, 40 EFL Master students who took educational psychology courses were nominated from the university center of Naama, Algeria. The researcher selected Peter Honey Critical Thinking test and focus group discussions to attain data on students’ critical thinking skills. The test results demonstrated that the experimental group outperformed the control group. The students become more autonomous, reflect on their learning experiences, and identify the most useful strategies. Furthermore, the analysis of focus group interviews revealed that the experimental group participants hold positive attitudes toward discovery learning. They perceive it as a precious method that can enhance their awareness about the value of thinking critically.

scholarly journals Improving EFL Learners’ Critical Thinking Skills in Argumentative Writing

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabila Nejmaoui
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
English Language ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Argumentative Writing ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Experimental Group

In the 21st century where information has become easily available and accessible, education has shifted its attention to teaching students how to process and think critically about the information they receive. Welcoming the changes that education constantly witnesses, the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) has embraced the integration of critical thinking. Accordingly, the present paper aims to explore the effect, if any, of integrating critical thinking on learners’ use of critical thinking skills in argumentative writing. To this end, an experimental study was conducted; 36 Moroccan EFL learners from the department of English were divided evenly into an experimental group and a control group. While the participants in the experimental group were taught writing with critical thinking skills, the others were taught writing with no reference to these skills. The participants in both groups took a pre-test and posttest to evaluate the development of their use of critical thinking skills in argumentative writing. The data which has been quantitatively analyzed indicates that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group. The students’ ability to use more credible evidence, address alternative arguments, support conclusions, and maintain the logical flow of ideas in their essays did not reach a mastery level in the posttest, yet the average level they reached is reassuring in view of the short time of the training they had. An integration of CT for longer periods may bring forth encouraging outcomes.

scholarly journals A Pedagogical Framework for Teaching Chinese College English Learners’ Argumentative Writing via Infusion of Critical Thinking

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Chunxia Lu ◽  
Rosukhon Swatevacharkul
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Argumentative Writing ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
College English ◽  
Pedagogical Framework

To compose an argumentative writing essay for a Chinese college student is a challenging activity as argumentative writing requires the high-order skills such as analysis, evaluation, reasoning. These skills are also termed as critical thinking skills. Thus this paper proposed to teach Chinese college English learners to compose an argumentative essay through the approach of infusing critical thinking skills into argumentative essay writing classes. It also put forward a pedagogical framework to facilitate Chinese college argumentative writing teachers to develop students’ argumentative writing ability.

scholarly journals The Effect of EFL Learners’ Critical Thinking on their Skill of Interpreting Information as Reflected in their Writing

sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-36
Author(s):  
Dr. Muhammad Din ◽  
Dr. Riaz Hussain ◽  
Sana Tahir
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Critical Writing ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Writing Test ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Research Tools

A good thinker distinguishes his interpretations from evidence, considers alternative interpretations, and reconsiders them under following the changed conditions and new evidence. Critical thinking enables and helps students to evaluate, judge, and make choices regarding everyday information so that they may obtain, believe and use the information to take action accordingly. This quantitative study aims to know EFL learners’ attitude towards critical thinking skills of interpreting information and the effect of EFL learners’ critical thinking on their skill of interpreting information with specific reference to their critical writing. The present study also aims to explore how m and universities any universities foreign language learners reflect critical thinking ability in writing skills while interpreting information. The researcher has used three research tools to this end. These research tools include critical thinking inventory (CTI), Watson-Glazer’s (2002) critical thinking test for interpreting information (CTII), and critical writing test (CWT). The subjects of the present study are the B.Sc. (Bachelor Level) students from different colleges. The results of this study demonstrate that university students have a very positive attitude towards critical thinking skills interpreting information but their performance in reflecting critical thinking in the critical writing test does not match with the attitude towards critical thinking skills of interpreting information.  This study also makes some academic implications for the development of EFL learners’ critical thinking particularly in the context of Pakistan.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of a Suggested Model for Learning through Projects Based on Shared Learning Using Social Communication Networks in Developing Critical Thinking Skills and Self-Efficiency in PNU Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 561
Author(s):  
Wadha H. Al-Otaibi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
The Self ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Suggested Model ◽  
Shared Learning ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Experimental Group

The study aimed at identifying the effectivness of a suggested model for learning through projects based on shared learning in developing critical thinking skills and self-efficiency in Princess Nourah bint Abdularhman University (PNU). The study included a sample of 76 students from the specialization of primary level teachers in PNU randomly chosen, in which 39 students represented the experimental group. This group was taught the course of learning through projects using a suggested model. The other 37 students formed the control group and were taught the course in the conventional teaching manner. The critical thinking test and the self-efficiency scale were both administered before and after the experiment. The study revealed a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the means between the experimental and control groups in the critical thinking skills test and the self-efficiency sclae in favor of the experimental group. 

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