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Applying thinking skills to EFL classrooms

Mei-Hui Chen

Newcastle University

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a study examining how thinking skills, in particular higher order questioning,

can be infused into EFL classrooms and to what extent it enhances students’ speaking skills. The study was

designed as a case study over intervention which applies both qualitative and quantitative research methods

including classroom video taping, questionnaires, and interviews. The intervention was conducted for 3 months.

Participants were from a general English class attended by 40 non-English major freshmen at a university in

Taiwan.

The questionnaire data showed that students considered: a) thinking skills were important in terms of English

language learning, b) they were able to answer either lower- or higher-order questions, and c) higher-order

questions provided more opportunities to talk in English. The findings revealed that students believed higher-

order questioning used in EFL classrooms helped them to talk more and express ideas more logically.

The results from questionnaire indicate that students were able to adopt higher-order questioning in EFL

classrooms. These students were used to sit quietly in English class and listen to the teacher; therefore, it takes

longer time for them to get used to think proactively and elaborate their ideas in English.

Introduction

Most non-English major freshmen in university in Taiwan tend to be quiet when answering

questions in EFL classrooms. The idea of using higher-order questioning to enhance EFL

speaking derived from the importance of thinking skills programs in higher education.

Thinking skills programs have begun to be an important topic and desirable goal in higher

education (Halx and Reybold, 2006; National Yunlin University of Science & technology,

2007). Higher-order questioning can be a stimulator to activate students’ schemata and allow

students to think and to elaborate their opinions in which the language is used meaningfully

and purposely. It is through using the language for a purpose, students’ ability in the language

develops (Williams, 1998). Students are used to sit quietly in class and grab the knowledge

delivered by the teacher, due to the exam-oriented education system in Taiwan. Thus,

students seldom have the chance to think proactively in EFL class. Although higher-order

questioning used in EFL classroom was reported successful in literature, it might not be the

case when applying it to different culture and education system. This paper reports the

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findings of a study focusing on students’ adaptability and attitudes towards higher-order

questioning in EFL classrooms.

What are ‘thinking skills’?

There is no universal agreement as to the precise meaning of thinking skills, however,

different definitions of thinking skills generally share common ground. In Alvino’s (1990)

Glossary of Thinking-Skills Terms, ‘thinking skills’ is defined as the set of basic and

advanced skills and subskills that govern a person’s mental processes. These skills consist of

knowledge, dispositions, and cognitive and metacognitive operations. Ashman and Conway

(1997) conclude that thinking skills programmes typically involve six related types of

thinking: 1) metacognition, 2) critical thinking, 3) creative thinking, 4) cognitive processes,

such as problem solving and decision making, 5) core thinking skills, such as representation

and summarizing, and 6) understanding the role of content knowledge.

Moseley, et al., (2004) further stated that ‘thinking skills’ means expertness, practical ability

or facility in the processes of thinking, such as remembering, forming concepts, planning

what to do and say, imaging situations, reasoning, solving problems, considering opinions,

making decisions and judgments, and generating new perspectives.

What is higher-order questioning?

Questioning is an essential part of information seeking: it solicits responses from the

interlocutor, it allows for negotiation and modification in response to findings, it facilitates

comprehension, it fosters self-regulation, and most important of all, it invites conversation

(Rosenshine, et al., 1996). The function of questioning can be classified into two broad

categories, namely intellectual tool and instructional tool. Aschner (1961) suggests that

questioning is one of the basic ways by which the teacher stimulates student thinking and

learning. Questioning is also viewed as a valuable instructional tool (Ruddell, 1974).

Teachers can use questions to channel students into specific modes of participation, for

example, to guide students to reproduce information or to explore the subject and to think

aloud (Barnes, 1986).

Questions can be rank ordered according to the level of thought required for answering it, for

instance, lower-order/higher-order, low cognitive/high cognitive, convergent/divergent

questions. Higher-order questions are those which require learners to manipulate information

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with high-level cognitive process, such as application, analysis, creation and evaluation while

lower-order questions are those which ask for knowledge and comprehension (Winne, 1979).

Higher-order questions can be referred to as high cognitive or divergent questions. Lower-

order questions sometimes are referred to as low cognitive or convergent questions.

There are different hierarchies in ranking cognitive level of questions, e.g. Bloom (1956),

Costa (2001), Wilen (1987) and Marzano et al. (1988). The most common hierarchy in

ranking cognitive level of questions is Bloom’s taxonomy (1956), see Figure 1. It consists six

categories of cognitive levels, namely

● knowledge

● comprehension

● application

● analysis

● synthesis

● evaluation.

Knowledge is defined as the mere rote recall of previously learned material, from specific

facts to a definition or a complete theory, and thinking skills used at this level are

remembering and recalling. Comprehension describes the ability to make sense of the

material, and thinking skills used at this level are summarizing, explaining, etc. Application

refers to the ability to use learned material in new situations with a minimum of direction,

and thinking skills used here are transferring and classifying, etc. Analysis is the ability to

break material into its component parts so that its structure may be understood and to

distinguish between facts and inferences, and thinking skills used here are reasoning and

referring, etc. Synthesis refers to the ability to put parts together to form a plan that is new to

the learner, and originating and creating are used at this level. Evaluation is concerned with

the ability to judge the value of material based on specific criteria, and thinking skills used at

this level are judging and assessing, etc. On the whole, knowledge, comprehension, and

application are categorized as convergent thinking/lower order thinking, while analysis,

synthesis and evaluation are classified as divergent thinking/higher order thinking.

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Figure 1: Bloom’s taxonomy

Conceptual framework

First of all, it needs to be acknowledged that this conceptual framework had been presented in

2008 International Conference and Workshop on TEFL & Applied Linguistics.

Higher-order questioning alone may not necessarily be able to elicit longer and more

sophisticated responses. Wait-time is a crucial element allowing learners to produce

appropriate responses. It allows learners to think, organize and elaborate (Rowe, 1986). The

other element, probing, is also an essential tool to enable teachers to draw out longer

utterance. It is possible that even posing a higher-order question with a sufficient wait-time,

learners might not be able to produce a sophisticated response. Through probing, learners get

more opportunities to provide an answer with logically reasoned evidence.

The framework of using higher-order questioning to enhance EFL speaking is designed

around higher-order questions, wait-time, and probing. It explores how higher-order

questioning can be used effectively when facilitated by sufficient wait-time and probing to

elicit longer and more sophisticated responses and how it can be used by teachers and

students. One the one hand, this framework will help teachers to be more aware of using

questions effectively and to increase the interaction among students. While on the other hand,

students can benefit from it and be able to produce longer utterance with higher cognition.

Cognitive levels

Knowledge

Application

Analysis

Comprehension

Synthesis

Evaluation Judging, assessing

Transferring, classifying

Thinking skills

Originating, creating

Remembering, recalling

Summarizing, explaining,

Reasoning, referring

Lower order thinking

Higher order thinking

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Figure 2: Conceptual framework

To infuse thinking skills and to enhance EFL speaking are the main aims in this framework

design. The literature (Sternberg et al., 1996) shows that the best way to instruct thinking is

through questioning. This framework (see figure 2) starts with the idea of infusing thinking

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skills through questioning, thus higher-order questions are applied. The teacher firstly poses a

higher-order question, followed by a minimum five-second post-question wait-time in order

to allow learners to understand the question, get the idea and form the answer. Tow possible

types of responses might occur after the wait-time: a restricted response and an elaborated

response. A restricted response means a response which answers the question but with very

short utterance and without sufficient explanation or logically reasoned evidence. In contrast,

an elaborated response refers to a response consisting explanation or logically reasoned

evidence of which the utterance is longer and with higher cognition. An elaborated response

most closely corresponds to application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in Bloom’s

(1956) taxonomy.

When a restricted response occurs, the teacher is required to use probing, asking a further

question to search for possible reasons, in order to give the learner a further chance to talk

and to guide him/her to elaborate more specifically. After probing, wait-time is also required

at this stage. With probing and wait-time, the learner might be able to produce an elaborated

response or might fail to produce one. However, the literature (Wu, 1993) shows that it is

highly possible that learners can produce a more sophisticated response when conducting

probing strategy. On the other hand, after posing a higher-order question, an elaborated

response might occur directly. Students provide responses with explanation and logically

reasoned evidence.

After an elaborated response (see figure 2, Response S1a) is elicited, it can be followed with

two possible actions operated by the teacher. One action is that the teacher uses probing along

with wait-time to expand upon the student’s ideas, and then the student (see figure 2,

Response S1b) elaborates more about the information or ideas. The other action is that the

teacher conducts five-second post-response wait-time in order to allow the other student (see

figure 2, Response S2) to reflect on the previous response or elaborate about his/her opinions

and ideas. Followed by this, another student (see figure 2, Response S3) can also reflect on

the previous responses or elaborate about their opinions and ideas. The procedure from

Response S1a to Response S3 creates the ‘interaction space’ among students and it allows

students to talk freely and challenge each others’ ideas. Within this interaction space, it is

possible that socio-cognitive conflicts (Mugny and Doise, 1978) occur and this might help

students to reshape their concepts and knowledge can be restructured.

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The same pattern, from posing a higher-order question to Response S3, can occur frequently

in class either in teacher-fronted setting or in group discussion. However, it is not encouraged

that teachers use a high amount of higher-order questions within a certain period of time, e.g.

in one lesson, in that it means the higher amount of higher-order questions, the less

interaction among students.

Students’ attitudes towards higher order thinking in L2 classrooms

Tan’s (2007) study of teachers’ questioning behaviour found that university students in China

had difficulties in accustomising to higher-order questioning. This study reported that 52% of

the questions asked by the teachers were answered either by volunteers or in chorus while

48% of the questions were answered by teacher nomination. It indicates that students were

reluctant to answer proactively around half of the questions teachers asked. The author

described that when confronting higher-order questions, students preferred remaining silent

rather than venturing an unsure idea, fearing that it might not meet the teacher’s expectation

and might be negatively evaluated. Some of the students even complained about teachers’

questioning behaviour in that when the teacher had successfully elicited an answer from the

student, the teacher would ask this student a series of questions of how s/he arrived at the

answer and requiring a justification to the answer. Some students expressed that they were

not able to manage higher-order questions because they felt that it was hard for them to think

in depth in front of the class and felt rather embarrassed.

Wu’s (1993) study of classroom interaction and teacher questions reported that secondary

school students in Hong Kong were reluctant to volunteer to answer questions in class. The

data demonstrated that general solicits almost invariably fail to elicit any verbal responses

and when students were called upon to respond, they might prefer to hesitate and give short

answers where possible so that they could avoid giving their peers the impression of showing

off. On the contrast, Lin (2005) found that undergraduates in Taiwan are motivated in

learning English and critical thinking through films by asking higher-order questions.

The effect of higher order questioning

Higher-order questions have a positive effect on student achievement in ESL/EFL

classrooms. Alcon (1993) conducted a research by using high cognitive questions in EFL

classroom to determine if higher frequency of high cognitive questions in EFL classroom

discussion had an effect on foreign language learning. After the treatment, the results showed

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that the treatment group, students who received the high cognitive questioning training, asked

more high cognitive questions than those untrained. Understanding and written production of

the foreign language were also higher in the treatment group. One of the results indicated that

the difference in oral participation, in terms of turn taking, was not significant within two

groups. However, the difference in number of words and ideas was statistically significant.

Students in the treatment group produced far more words and ideas than the control group.

Ayaduray and Jacobs (1997) also used higher-order questions in ESL classrooms to examine

the type of questions students asked and students’ elaborated responses. After the instruction

of higher-order questions, the treatment class asked significantly more higher-order questions

and provided significantly more elaborated responses, which consisted of explanations, and

descriptions of how to solve the problem on part of it.

In Ali and Daud’s (2003) study, they used high cognitive questions in ESL classroom to

investigate whether high-cognitive questions could develop students’ critical thinking skills.

Overall, the findings showed that the experimental group demonstrated better performance in

their critical thinking abilities compared to the control group. The results of the study, on the

other hand, provide evidence for questioning as a facilitative and important strategy in

developing thinking skills in second language learners.

Godfrey’s (2001) study also looked at the length, syntactic complexity and cognitive level of

student responses. The finding also indicated that higher-order questions triggered longer and

more complex responses from EFL students.

To summarize, in ESL/EFL classrooms the findings of empirical research on student

question-answer behavior in the literature disclosed that, a) higher-order questioning elicits

far more elaborated responses and longer utterance, and enable students to ask more higher-

order questions, and b) higher-order questions improves students’ thinking abilities.

Research questions

1. What are students’ attitudes and perceptions towards thinking skills used and

questioning-answering behaviour in EFL classrooms?

2. What are students’ attitudes towards the effect of higher-order questioning?

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Methodology

This study attempts to investigate students’ attitudes and perceptions towards thinking skills

and higher-order questioning used in EFL classrooms. The research was designed as a case

study over intervention. Higher-order questioning was the treatment used in this intervention.

Participants were the 40 non-English major freshmen from a university in Taiwan.

Data was collected at the phases of pre- and post- test by means of questionnaire.

Questionnaires were designed around the six thinking levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy using a

Likert scale. There were three sections in the pre-test questionnaire (see Appendix 1). Section

one asked informants’ beliefs and attitudes towards thinking skills used in English class.

Section two asked what type of questions respondents could answer in English class. Section

three asked about respondents’ attitudes towards questioning-answering behaviour in English

class. In addition to these three sections, one more section which asked about participants’

opinions towards the intervention conducted was added in the post-test questionnaire (see

Appendix 2). An additional questionnaire (see Appendix 3) was distributed after the post-test

questionnaire was collected. The reason for distributing another questionnaire was because

the failure of eliciting profound information during the class interview. In order to make it

easier for the respondents to answer the questionnaire, the questionnaire was distributed in

Chinese.

Questionnaires were distributed both pre- and post- test by the researcher. The researcher first

explained the aim for collecting this data and what it was about to the respondents. The

content of the three sections was also briefly explained. Students were also informed that it

was an anonymous questionnaire and most important of all, informants were assured that the

result of this questionnaire would not affect their final score of the semester. In addition, in

order to make students feel free to express their ideas and perception, the researcher further

explained that there was no right or wrong answer to the questions. The best answer was the

true answer, which could represent either positive or negative attitudes, from the participant.

In order to enable students to read the questions carefully, they were allowed to take their

time to finish this questionnaire without haste and to ask any questions they had about

answering the questionnaire.

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Data was analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). The computed

means and Paired-Samples T Test were used to determine whether students’ attitudes and

conceptions had significant change after the intervention conducted.

Reliability of the questionnaire

Cronbach’s alpha, which is ‘a measure based on the ratio of the variability of item scores to

the overall score variability’ (Peers, 1996, p30), was used for testing the reliability among the

items in the questionnaire. The Cronbach’s Alpha of the overall items and the sub-categories

are reported in Table 1. The Cronbach’s Alpha of the overall items was .94, which was at the

satisfactory level. The Cronbach’s Alpha of the three sections, the importance of thinking

skills, the use of thinking skills, attitudes of questioning-answering were .887, .951, .822

respectively, which were also at the satisfactory level.

Table 1: Result of Cronbach’s Alpha

EFL thinking skills categories Cronbach’s Alpha N of Items

Overall items .94 45

The importance of thinking skills .887 18

Use of thinking skills .951 18

Attitudes of questioning-answering .822 9

Findings

Some general beliefs were disclosed in the questionnaire, students believed that: 1) it was

important to use thinking skills when learning English; 2) they could answer either lower-

order or higher-order questions in English; 3) they had positive attitudes towards questioning-

answering behaviour in English class; 4) after the intervention, their English speaking ability

and higher-order thinking ability had improved.

Table 2 provides the result obtained from the analysis of the questionnaire. The mean score

2.16 shows students were aware of the importance of using thinking skills including lower-

order and higher-order thinking when learning English. Results also showed that students

emphasized slightly more the importance of using lower-order thinking skills, such as

memorization, comprehension, and application. This indicated that students relied more on

memorizing and understanding thinking skills when learning English. Generally speaking,

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students believed that they could answer questions in different thinking levels. It shows that

students were confident in their English speaking ability. The last section related to

questioning-answering behavior, like talking freely in front of the class, wait time, probing,

and preference of higher-order questions. Students thought that they were able to talk freely

in front of the class when answering either lower-order or higher-order questions with the

sufficient wait time given by the teacher. In contrast to Tan’s (2007) finding, respondents

showed interests in higher-order questions used in English class and were aware of the

function of higher-order questions, which provides more opportunities for students to talk in

English and to improve their thinking abilities.

Students’ attitudes remained approximately the same after the intervention. Overall mean

score for pre- and post-test, see table 3, shows a slightly improvement after the intervention.

Nevertheless, a Paired-Samples T Test demonstrated in table 4 shows that there was no

significant change of students’ attitudes and perceptions between the pre- and post-test. This

could be explained that before the intervention students were aware of the use of thinking

skills in English class and had quite positive attitude towards it. After the intervention,

students still hold the same beliefs towards it, such that the results turned out to be only a

slightly improvement rather than a statistically significant change.

Table 2: Pre- and post-test mean score for each section of the questionnaire

Mean (Pre-test) Mean (Post-test)

Thinking skills used in English class 2.16 2.29

Type of questions students can answer 3.02 2.79

Questioning-answering behavior 2.89 2.80

Table 3: Descriptive analysis of pre- and post-test

No. of

participants

Mean

(pre-test)

Mean

(post-test)

SD

(pre-test)

SD

(post-test)

Adjusted

mean

40 2.65 2.59 0.54 0.65 2.59

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Table 4: Paired-Samples T Test

Paired Differences

t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean

Std. Deviatio

n Std. Error

Mean

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper

.05811 .90593 .14324 -.23162 .34784 .406 39 .687

Figure 3 demonstrates the students’ perception and attitudes towards the intervention

conducted. After the intervention, 60% of participants considered that their English speaking

ability had improved. They felt that they had much more confidence in opening their mouths

and speaking in English, and were able to explain things in different ways. Most importantly,

participants believed that they were able to elaborate their ideas more completely in English

and their speaking fluency increased. 87.5% of participants discovered they could talk more

in English. Reasons for that were the needs of expressing one’s ideas and making comments

on others’ opinions, being free from pressure of being right or wrong, and the demand of an

answer to the question. More than half of the participants strongly believed that if this

intervention could be lengthened, their English speaking ability could improve more.

It was believed by the 72.5% of participants that their higher-order thinking skills had been

developed through this intervention. The majority reported that they could express ideas more

logically with reasons or evidence in English. Higher-order questioning requires learners to

elaborate their ideas providing reasons or evidence, so learners are trained to elaborate

logically and critically. Participants did notice they benefited by higher-order questions. If

this intervention lasted longer, students believed that their higher-order thinking ability and

the speed of thinking would develop more.

87.5% of students felt that their confidence in expressing ideas in English increased. It

indicates that students’ language risk-taking ability improved. However, this confidence only

appeared more in group discussion instead of class discussion. The majority of participants

preferred to have more opportunities to practice English speaking, for speaking skill could be

more practical for non-English majors.

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Figure 3: Students’ perception and attitudes towards the intervention conducted.

Bars 1-9 in figure 3 above represent the following statements:

1. English speaking ability has improved (60%)

2. Talk more in English (87.5%)

3. Lengthen the intervention, English speaking ability improves more (65%)

4. Higher order thinking skills have been developed (72.5%)

5. Express ideas more logically with reasons or evidence in English (90%)

6. Lengthen the intervention, both higher-order thinking ability and the speed of thinking

improve more (75%)

7. More confidence in expressing ideas in English (87.5%)

8. Prefer to discuss in a small group (80%)

9. Prefer to have more opportunities to practice English speaking (75%)

Discussion

The results discussed above suggest that higher-order questioning could be a stimulator to

trigger students’ thinking and speaking. Students had the desire of expressing their own

opinions and through elaborating the ideas the authentic language was produced.

Consequently, students were using the language purposely in which students’ ability in the

language developed (Williams, 1998). In addition, students’ higher-order thinking ability

developed while analysing and evaluating the information, creating a solution, and finally

elaborating their ideas by words. Their logical thinking was shaped through these thinking

processes.

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The motivation for students to talk more was the desire of expressing their own opinions and

making comments on others’ opinions. These two reasons are the features of higher-order

questioning which allow learners to elaborate upon the topic discussed and exchange

opinions within discussion. The features of higher-order questioning help to motivate

students’ learning.

Other two factors helped students to reduce the fear of speaking English: 1) being free from

pressure of being right or wrong, and 2) discussing in small group. Since there was no right

or wrong answer, learners did not feel losing face when articulating their opinions. In

addition, it was reported that participants felt secure in small group discussion. These two

factors decreased the learners’ fear of speaking English and encouraged the language risk-

taking.

It takes longer time for students to develop higher-order thinking skills. More than two third

of participants claimed that if the time of the intervention could be lengthened, their higher-

order thinking skills could improve much more. Students needed longer time to get used to

think and elaborate their ideas in English. They were aware of thinking skills used in English

learning and had positive attitudes towards it. Most importantly, they liked the training of

higher-order questioning.

Conclusion and Implication

I have tried to answer the research questions through the data analysis and discussion

presented above. For research question one: What are students’ attitudes and perceptions

towards thinking skills used and questioning-answering behaviour in EFL classrooms?

Before the intervention conducted, students believed that: 1) it was important to use thinking

skills when learning English; 2) they could answer either lower-order or higher-order

questions in English; 3) they had positive attitudes towards questioning-answering behaviour

in English class. After the intervention, participants’ attitudes and perceptions only improved

slightly without statistically significant change. For question two: What are students’ attitudes

towards the effect of higher-order questioning? Students believed that after the intervention

their English speaking ability and higher-order thinking ability had improved.

Language learning in higher education needs to go beyond the learning of the language itself.

Language teachers can encourage students to go beyond surface meaning and to discover the

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deeper meaning with thinking skills instead of merely using basic literacy skills (Van Duzer

and Florez, 1999). University freshmen are intellectually mature and applying higher-order

thinking skills into the class will make the learning more challenging and interesting for

them.

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Appendix 1

Questionnaire Gender:

This questionnaire is to investigate your attitudes and beliefs towards thinking skills and

questioning-answering behaviour. It is anonymous. There is no right or wrong answer, your

true answer is the best.

This questionnaire contains three sections:

Section 1: Related to your beliefs and attitudes towards thinking skills used in English class.

Section 2: Related to what type of questions you can answer in English class.

Section 3: Related to your attitudes towards questioning-answering behaviour in English

class.

Section 1

This section asks your attitudes towards thinking skills you use in English class. There are

six scales to choose from, 1= Strongly agree, 2= Agree, 3= Slightly agree, 4= Slightly

disagree, 5= Disagree, 6= Strongly disagree. Please choose an appropriate answer and tick (v)

in the box.

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

agre

e

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

1. It is important to memorize what has learned in

English class

2. It is important to recite English passages to practise

English.

3. It is important to be able to recall what I have

learned in English class,

4. It is important to understand the learning materials

in English class.

5. Being able to summarize what we have read or

listened to is important in English class.

6. Being able to retell what we have read or listened to

is important in English class.

7. It is important to apply what we have learned in

English class, e.g. to use the reading strategies learned

in class to read English newspaper after class.

8. Being able to think what I would do as a character

19

in a novel is important in English class.

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

agre

e

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

9. It is important to be able to think ‘alternative ways’

to explain when people do not understand me in

English class.

10. It is important to be able to give reasons in English

class, e.g. to justify a decision I have made.

11. It is important to use comparison and contrast

skills in English class, e.g. to tell similarities and

differences of the two characters in a novel.

12. It is important to be able to analyse articles in

English class, e.g. to analyse the strengths and

weaknesses of a plan.

13. Being able to solve problems is important in

English class, e.g. to think about a solution to save

money.

14. Creativity is important is English class, e.g. to

make a new ending for a story.

15. It is important to be able to design things in English

class, e.g. to design an itinerary for a two-week holiday

16. Being able to assess is important in English class,

e.g. to assess which travelling package is better for

students and provide reasons and evidence.

17. It is important to be able to make a good argument

supported with reasons or evidence, e.g. to argue for

not having dress code on campus and provide with

reasons or evidence.

18. It is important to be able to make judgement based

on evidence or reasons, e.g. to show my position, agree

or disagree, and give reasons or evidence.

20

21

Section 2

This section asks about different types of questions you can answer in English class.

There are six scales to choose from,1= Strongly agree, 2= Agree, 3= Slightly agree, 4=

Slightly disagree, 5= Disagree, 6= Strongly disagree. Please choose an appropriate answer

and tick (v) in the box.

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

agre

e

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

1. I can answer questions which I have memorized the

answer in English class, e.g. ‘Who inherited a fortune

from Mr. Brown in this story?’

2. I can answer questions which ask for information I

have memorised, e.g. ‘Recite the text.’

3. I can answer questions where the answer can be

found in the text, e.g. ‘What did the old man say before

he died in the text?’

4. I can answer questions which ask for understanding

of the materials learned in English class, e.g. ‘What does

this sentence mean?’

5. I can answer questions which require a summary of

an article or a story read or listened to in English class,

e.g. ‘‘What is the main idea of this article?’.

6. I can answer questions where I need to retell what I

learned in English class, e.g. ‘Describe what happened

to World Trade Center in New York on September 11,

2001.’

7. I can answer questions where I need to apply things I

have learned to a new context in English class, e.g.

‘How is O zone layer related to global warming?’

8. I can answer questions where I need to place myself

in other situation, e.g. ‘What would you do, if you were

this person?’

9. I can answer questions where I need to provide a

new example, e.g. ‘Can you give me another example?’

22

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

ag

ree

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

10. I can answer questions where I need to give reasons

in English , e.g. ‘Why do you make this decision?’

11. I can answer questions which require comparison

and contrast skills in English class, e.g. ‘Can you tell the

similarities and differences between these two

characters in this story?’

12. I can respond to questions where I need to analyse

in English class, e.g. ‘What are the strengths and

weakness of merging these two companies?’

13. In English class I can respond to questions where I

need to think of a possible solution to a problem, e.g.

‘How can you improve your English speaking ability?’

14. I can answer questions which require creative skills,

e.g. ‘Can you make up a new ending for this English

novel?’

15. I can respond to questions where I need to design

something new in English class, e.g. ‘How can you

design another new itinerary based on the budget we

have?’

16. I can answer questions which require assessment

and reasoning skill, e.g. ‘Which do you think is better

and why?’

17. I can answer questions where arguing ability is

required and I need to elaborate my views and provide

reasons or evidence in English class, e.g. ‘What is your

opinion towards this plan? Provide reasons or evidence.’

18. I can respond to questions where I need to give my

personal views, e.g. agree or disagree, and give reasons

to support my views. e.g. ‘Do you agree with this

decision? Why?’

23

Section 3 This section asks about your belief about questioning-answering behaviour in English

class. There are six scales to choose from, 1= Strongly agree, 2= Agree, 3= Slightly agree, 4=

Slightly disagree, 5= Disagree, 6= Strongly disagree. Please choose an appropriate answer

and tick it in the box.

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

agre

e

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

1. I can talk freely in front of the class when

answering questions where the answers can be easily

found in the text in English class.

2. I can express my own opinions and ideas freely in

front of the class when answering questions where the

answers to the questions can not be easily found in the

text in English class.

3. In English class when the teacher asks a question

where the answer can not be found in the text, the

teacher usually gives us enough time to think about

the question and answer it.

4. After a student expressed his/her opinions, the

teacher usually gives us enough time to think about

what this student has said and allows us to comment or

elaborate our own opinions in English class.

5. After one student expressed his/her opinions, the

teacher usually asks him/her for additional

information in English class.

6. ‘Questions’ which are intellectually challenging are

interesting.

7. I like to answer questions in English which are

intellectually challenging.

8. ‘Questions’ which are intellectually challenging

provide me more opportunities to talk in English.

9. ‘Questions’ which are intellectually challenging are

useful in terms of improving students’ thinking

ability, e.g. analysis, creation, and evaluation.

24

Appendix 2

Questionnaire Gender:

This questionnaire is to investigate your attitudes and beliefs towards thinking skills,

questioning-answering behaviour, and the intervention conducted. It is anonymous. There is

no right or wrong answer, your true answer is the best.

This questionnaire contains four sections:

Section 1: Related to your beliefs and attitudes towards thinking skills used in English class.

Section 2: Related to what type of questions you can answer in English class.

Section 3: Related to your attitudes towards questioning-answering behaviour in English

class.

Section 4: Related to your opinions towards the intervention conducted.

Section 1

This section asks your attitudes towards thinking skills you use in English class. There are

six scales to choose from, 1= Strongly agree, 2= Agree, 3= Slightly agree, 4= Slightly

disagree, 5= Disagree, 6= Strongly disagree. Please choose an appropriate answer and tick (v)

in the box.

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

agre

e

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

1. It is important to memorize what has learned in

English class

2. It is important to recite English passages to practise

English.

3. It is important to be able to recall what I have

learned in English class.

4. It is important to understand the learning materials

in English class.

5. Being able to summarize what we have read or

listened to is important in English class.

6. Being able to retell what we have read or listened to

is important in English class.

7. It is important to apply what we have learned in

English class, e.g. to use the reading strategies learned

in class to read English newspaper after class.

25

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

agre

e

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

8. Being able to think what I would do as a character

in a novel is important in English class.

9. It is important to be able to think ‘alternative ways’

to explain when people do not understand me in

English class.

10. It is important to be able to give reasons in English

class, e.g. to justify a decision I have made.

11. It is important to use comparison and contrast

skills in English class, e.g. to tell similarities and

differences of the two characters in a novel.

12. It is important to be able to analyse articles in

English class, e.g. to analyse the strengths and

weaknesses of a plan.

13. Being able to solve problems is important in

English class, e.g. to think about a solution to save

money.

14. Creativity is important is English class, e.g. to

make a new ending for a story.

15. It is important to be able to design things in English

class, e.g. to design an itinerary for a two-week holiday

16. Being able to assess is important in English class,

e.g. to assess which travelling package is better for

students and provide reasons and evidence.

17. It is important to be able to make a good argument

supported with reasons or evidence, e.g. to argue for

not having dress code on campus and provide with

reasons or evidence.

18. It is important to be able to make judgement based

on evidence or reasons, e.g. to show my position, agree

or disagree, and give reasons or evidence.

26

Section 2

This section asks about different types of questions you can answer in English class.

There are six scales to choose from,1= Strongly agree, 2= Agree, 3= Slightly agree, 4=

Slightly disagree, 5= Disagree, 6= Strongly disagree. Please choose an appropriate answer

and tick (v) in the box.

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

agre

e

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

1. I can answer questions which I have memorized the

answer in English class, e.g. ‘Who inherited a fortune

from Mr. Brown in this story?’

2. I can answer questions which ask for information I

have memorised, e.g. ‘Recite the text.’

3. I can answer questions where the answer can be found

in the text, e.g. ‘What did the old man say before he died

in the text?’

4. I can answer questions which ask for understanding

of the materials learned in English class, e.g. ‘What does

this sentence mean?’

5. I can answer questions which require a summary of

an article or a story read or listened to in English class,

e.g. ‘‘What is the main idea of this article?’.

6. I can answer questions where I need to retell what I

learned in English class, e.g. ‘Describe what happened to

World Trade Center in New York on September 11,

2001.’

7. I can answer questions where I need to apply things I

have learned to a new context in English class, e.g. ‘How

is O zone layer related to global warming?’

8. I can answer questions where I need to place myself

in other situation, e.g. ‘What would you do, if you were

this person?’

9. I can answer questions where I need to provide a new

example in English class, e.g. ‘Can you give me another

example?’

27

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

ag

ree

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

10. I can answer questions where I need to give reasons

in English, e.g. ‘Why do you make this decision?’

11. I can answer questions which require comparison

and contrast skills in English class, e.g. ‘Can you tell the

similarities and differences between these two characters

in this story?’

12. I can respond to questions where I need to analyse

in English class, e.g. ‘What are the strengths and

weakness of merging these two companies?’

13. In English class I can respond to questions where I

need to think of a possible solution to a problem, e.g.

‘How can you improve your English speaking ability?’

14. I can answer questions which require creative skills,

e.g. ‘Can you make up a new ending for this English

novel?’

15. I can respond to questions where I need to design

something new in English class, e.g. ‘How can you

design another new itinerary based on the budget we

have?’

16. I can answer questions which require assessment and

reasoning skill, e.g. ‘Which do you think is better and

why?’

17. I can answer questions where arguing ability is

required and I need to elaborate my views and provide

reasons or evidence in English class, e.g. ‘What is your

opinion towards this plan? Provide reasons or evidence.’

18. I can respond to questions where I need to give my

personal views, e.g. agree or disagree, and give reasons

to support my views. e.g. ‘Do you agree with this

decision? Why?’

28

Section 3 This section asks about your belief about questioning-answering behaviour in English

class. There are six scales to choose from, 1= Strongly agree, 2= Agree, 3= Slightly agree, 4=

Slightly disagree, 5= Disagree, 6= Strongly disagree. Please choose an appropriate answer

and tick it in the box.

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

agre

e

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

1. I can talk freely in front of the class when

answering questions where the answers can be easily

found in the text in English class.

2. I can express my own opinions and ideas freely in

front of the class when answering questions where the

answers to the questions can not be easily found in the

text in English class.

3. In English class when the teacher asks a question

where the answer can not be found in the text, the

teacher usually gives us enough time to think about

the question and answer it.

4. After a student expressed his/her opinions, the

teacher usually gives us enough time to think about

what this student has said and allows us to comment or

elaborate our own opinions in English class.

5. After one student expressed his/her opinions, the

teacher usually asks him/her for additional

information in English class.

6. ‘Questions’ which are intellectually challenging are

interesting.

7. I like to answer questions in English which are

intellectually challenging.

8. ‘Questions’ which are intellectually challenging

provide me more opportunities to talk in English.

9. ‘Questions’ which are intellectually challenging are

useful in terms of improving students’ thinking

ability, e.g. analysis, creation, and evaluation.

29

Section 4

This section asks about your opinions towards the intervention conducted. There are six

scales to choose from, 1= Strongly agree, 2= Agree, 3= Slightly agree, 4= Slightly disagree,

5= Disagree, 6= Strongly disagree. Please choose an appropriate answer and tick it in the

box.

Scales

Questions

1 2 3 4 5 6

Str

ongly

agre

e

Agre

e

Sli

ghtl

y a

gre

e

Sli

ghtl

y d

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Str

ongly

dis

agre

e

1. Through practicing thinking skills tasks, I can

talk more in English after this intervention.

2. Through practicing thinking skills tasks, I can

express my ideas more logically with reasons or

evidence in English.

3. Through practicing thinking skills tasks, I have

more confidence in expressing my ideas in

English, e.g. Even though I don’t know certain

grammar points or vocabulary I need, I still give

it a try.

4. Through practicing thinking skills tasks, my

thinking skills have developed.

5. I prefer to express my opinions within a small

group rather than in front of the class.

6. I like to listen to teacher’s lecturing of

vocabulary and grammar and have oral practice

sometime only.

7. I like to have more opportunities to practice

English speaking.

30

Appendix 3

Attitudes and perception towards this intervention:

1. My English speaking ability improved. The following shows the perspectives you have

improved. Please tick in the boxes. (If not, please go to question no. 2)

□ More confidence to talk in English

□ Fluency increased

□ Able to express the same meaning with different vocabulary or sentences, e.g. the

task of ‘guess what I say’

□ Able to express ideas more completely than before

□ Others __________________________ (Please write down the answer)

2. My English speaking didn’t improve much, because:

□ Time for this intervention is not long enough to make improvement

□ Still having great fear for speaking English

□ Not interested in speaking English

□ Not able to express the Chinese answer in English

□ Can not figure out the answer

□ Do not like to think in English class

□ others _________________

3. Higher-order thinking skills tasks enable me to talk more, because:

□ Pressure free from answers given

□ I would like to express my opinions, therefore, I elaborate more.

□ I would like to comment on others’ opinions, therefore, I talk more.

□ Others _________________

4. If the time of this intervention can be lengthen to one semester or one academic year, my

English speaking ability will improve much more.

□ Yes □ No

5. If the time of this intervention can be lengthen, my thinking ability and the speed of

thinking will improve much more.

□ Yes □ No