ESL TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES TO FOSTER HIGHER-ORDER THINKING SKILLS TO TEACH WRITING

Abstract

Purpose - This research focuses on ESL teachers’ strategies to foster higher-order thinking skills to teach writing to weak ESL learners in two selected secondary schools in Malaysia. ESL teachers’ strategies to foster higher-order thinking skills to teach writing to weak ESL learners were captured and encapsulated to enable the ESL learners to understand and master higher order thinking to improve their writing. Methodology – A qualitative descriptive case study design was employed in the study. The sample was based on a snowball sampling and 4 ESL teachers were selected from two different secondary schools in Malaysia. The main data collection method was classroom observation while thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Each teacher was observed twice. Classroom observation forms and video recordings were used as a main source in data collection. Findings – Findings showed that ESL teachers selected strategies to foster higher-order thinking skills to teach writing including the general procedures in implementing higher-order thinking skills for teaching writing and major considerations at each stage of the implementation. ESL teachers exposed learners to the general procedures of the higher-order thinking skills which were explaining and helping students to understand what higher-order thinking is, leading students to connect to concepts in writing, helping students to infer through real-life situations, using more graphic organizers and teaching problem-solving skills. Significance – The findings can be used to guide decisions on higher-order thinking skills training for ESL teachers, educators and curriculum developers regarding the thinking skills strategies to be mastered in teaching writing.

Using Character Maps to Learn English Literature

“…Also, the respondents indicated that character mapping is a creative way for them to study the literary text (Table 5). This parallels with studies that justified the use of GOs in the language classroom, where it encourages creativity and inspire innovation among learners (Abdul Aziz et al, 2018;Singh et al, 2020;Uba et al, 2017). Specifically, Uba et al (2017) noted that using GOs addresses the learners desire for aesthetics, as they can be an avenue for self-expression.…”

“…Similarly, they utilise the learners' existing knowledge and prior experience to guide idea and content generation when planning written or verbal presentation (Abdul Aziz et al, 2018;Rahmat, 2018;Singh et al, 2018). This is more apparent when it comes to second language (L2) production (Abdul Aziz et al, 2018;Rahmat, 2018;Singh et al, 2020), where L2 learners may not have sufficient exposure to the target language culture and norms to use the language with a near native-like proficiency.…”

“…Similarly, character mapping is a good technique for learners to organise their understanding, which corresponds with using GOs to "represent their [learners'] own understanding from a multimodal reading of texts" (Aprianto & Syarifaturrahman, 2020, p.143). With character mapping as a learning technique, learners can make connections between complicated notions and concepts, as it enhances their ability to stimulate and collect information from a literary text (Singh et al, 2020).…”

“…Specifically, Uba et al (2017) noted that using GOs addresses the learners desire for aesthetics, as they can be an avenue for self-expression. When learning English literature, this could result in heightened levels of engagement and interest among learners (Aprianto & Syarifaturrahman, 2020;Megat Abdul Rahim et al, 2017;Singh et al, 2020;Uba et al, 2017) which conventional learning methods are not capable of inducing (see Table 2).…”

“…In present literature, one popular means of addressing the struggle in learning is through our understanding of schema theory. The incorporation of schema theory into pedagogy is well documented; we use it to facilitate receptive skills and promote better text comprehension (Al Asmari & Javid, 2018;Barrot, 2016;Kafipour & Jahansooz, 2017;Megat Abdul Rahim et al, 2017;Uba et al, 2017;Xi, 2018), or as a framing device to guide productive skills and expression of ideas (Abdul Aziz et al, 2018;Aprianto & Syarifaturrahman, 2020;Rahmat, 2018;Singh et al, 2018Singh et al, , 2020. However, studies using schema theory to produce interventions in teaching or learning of literary texts are extremely scarce.…”