Students’ Views on the Use of Critical Thinking-Based Pedagogical Approach for Vocabulary Instruction

Abstract

This research aimed to explore students’ views towards the use of a critical thinking pedagogical model for vocabulary instruction. From this end, a questionnaire was utilized to collect both quantitative and qualitative data to investigate the students’ opinions about such an educational experience. Data analysis revealed that the meaningful and purposeful critical thinking vocabulary tasks triggered learners’ motivation while engaging their higher cognitive abilities in solving the tasks and enabling them to reflect on their topics based on their personal and life experiences. This challenging process led learners to have more opportunities for practicing ‘elaborative rehearsal’, and as a result, to process the targeted vocabulary deeper. This created a stronger association with the taught vocabulary, which ultimately enabled them to be encoded in the learners’ long-term memory. Based on these findings, the authors recommend that teachers, teacher educators, and curriculum designers should draw upon the findings of these studies and consider the advisability of embedding critical thinking-based teaching methods across all strata of the EFL teaching system: policy documents, curricula, teacher training courses and the language classrooms.

Promoting Middle School Students’ Engagement Through Incorporating iPad Apps in EFL/ESL Classes

“…Several researchers have arrived at an agreement regarding the association of student engagement and improved desired outcomes, such as critical thinking (Carini et al, 2006;DeNoyelles & Reyes-Foster, 2015;Elyas & Al-Bogami, 2018;Elyas & Al-Zahrani, 2019a, 2019b enhanced grades (Kuh et al, 2008;Lindt & Miller, 2014), and cognitive and personal development (Pascarella et al, 2010). Student engagement does not only lead to better academic performance, but it also improves students' creativity.…”