Browsing by Subject "Critical thinking."

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Open Access
The impact on critical thinking of the use of L1 and L2 in peer feedback
(2010) Dağkıran, Didem
This study investigated (a) quantitative and (b) qualitative differences between the critical thinking displayed in L1 and L2 in peer feedback discussions of Turkish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. High-proficiency EFL learners participated in the study on a voluntary basis after a critical thinking test. With eight high-scorer students of the test, two groups were formed with four students in each group. These students had previously taken advanced writing courses and practiced peer feedback in these courses. Still, they were given a simple feedback guide sheet and training. The participants were asked to write two argumentative essays on two different topics one week before the discussion meeting. Focusing on those essays, each group had feedback discussions in L1 (Turkish) and L2 (English), in different orders. The researcher made no interventions. The discussions were audio- and video-recorded, and transcribed for a detailed analysis. The transcriptions were coded according to a critical thinking framework that was prepared by the researcher by adapting and combining items from previously used frameworks. The findings were analyzed for the quantitative and qualitative differences between the critical thinking expressed in the two languages. The data analysis showed that critical thinking was displayed significantly more in the L1. This finding, however, is affected by the fact that participants’ total amount of talk in L1 was also more than L2 talk, therefore the quantitative difference appears to have caused by the surplus amount of total talk in the L1. The study also revealed that there were qualitative differences between the languages that critical thinking was displayed. It was speculated that the qualitative differences resulted from the ease of using the native language as well as the safety provided by the pragmatic knowledge that made communication and interaction clearer in the L1. Suggestions were made for further support to students to express their thoughts in spoken L2 more effectively, which could include more practice on giving effective peer feedback, focusing on the necessary discourse and pragmatic skills, and providing students with other discussion tasks and subject matters that invites critical thinking.
Open Access
Teachers' perceptions of teaching thinking skills in low-level English classes at Bilkent University School of English Language
(2004) Yeşil, Nurdan
The objective of this study was to investigate the attitudes of Bilkent University School of English Language (BUSEL) teachers towards teaching HOTS in low-level English classes. The study specifically investigated (a) what the teachers’ understanding of how HOTS should be implemented is, (b) what the teachers see as problems and benefits of bringing HOTS into their Elementary or Low-Intermediate classes, and (c) if the teachers at BUSEL implement and teach HOTS in low-level classes. A questionnaire was administered to twenty-two BUSEL teachers who taught Elementary or Pre-Intermediate level during the third course of the 2003-2004 academic year. After the analysis of the questionnaire, three teachers were selected and their lessons were filmed. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers whose lessons had been observed by the researcher. The data results revealed that teachers at BUSEL are familiar with thinking skills and a great majority of them believe that they can be taught. They also acknowledge the importance of practice and effective guidance in teaching these skills. However, teachers identified students’ level of English as the major problem they experience in the teaching of thinking skills. Teachers’ attitude towards students’ learning processes, time constraints, and the number of the objectives to be covered in a limited time were found to interact with students’ level of language to further hinder the teaching of thinking skills.