Influence of explicit higher-order thinking skills instruction on students’ learning of linguistics

Teaching and Learning English Linguistics at Undergraduate Level at the University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi: Changes Over the Last Ten Years

“…To sum up, in comparison to what happened before 2014, the teaching and learning of English linguistics after 2014, as reflected from results of ULIS OTA alignment examination project as well as in Nguyen and Nguyen (2017) and Nguyen (2018) evidence many changes. In terms of expected learning outcomes, by 2018, the expected learning outcomes are stated explicitly with the use of action verbs in all syllabi of English linguistics courses; the learning outcomes were prevalently set to be at high levels of Analyzing and even Utilization in Marzano's taxonomy (before 2014, the learning outcomes were confined mostly to Retrieval and Comprehensions -the two low levels in Marzano's taxonomy).…”

“…In this paper, in order to draw a picture of teaching and learning English linguistics at ULIS over the last 10 years, I based myself on three major sources of information: (i) the two papers by Nguyen, Nguyen, Nguyen, and Doan (2015) and Nguyen, Nguyen, Nguyen, and Doan (2016) which report on empirical studies conducted in late 2014, early 2015; (ii) two papers by Nguyen and Nguyen (2017) and Nguyen (2018) which report on innovative action research projects conducted from 2015 to 2017 by teachers of English linguistics of ULIS; and (iii) my own observation as a teacher of English linguistics and a developer of English linguistics courses at ULIS since 2009. Although the scope and aims of the four studies are not quite similar, they all share the aim of investigating how English linguistics was taught and learnt at ULIS.…”

“…In terms of changes in teaching methodology and students' learning, the empirical research reported in Nguyen and Nguyen (2017) and Nguyen (2018) could inform about some innovative changes.…”

“…In Nguyen and Nguyen (2017), an intervention was made in 2 classes of Introduction to English Linguistics 2 (one in academic year 2015-2016 and the other in academic year 2016-2017): providing explicit instructions on using higher-order thinking skills in learning activitiesexplicitly instructing students how to learn, and providing explicit instructions on using higher-order thinking skills in assessmentsexplicit instructing students how to perform at their best as well. The intervention was made in two cycles, with the hypothesis that explicit instructions on using higher-order thinking skills in learning activities and assessments was appropriate to promote students' learning and motivation.…”

“…The intervention therefore has now been disseminated to some other classes of Introduction to English Linguistics 2 and other linguistics courses of Discourse Analysis, Functional Grammar, and World Englishes as well. The assessment instruction developed during the research project of Nguyen and Nguyen (2017) has now become the official version for final assignment in Introduction to English Linguistics 2 courses.…”