The effect of Critical Thinking Strategies on oral production of EFL University Students: An action research

• Ochoa, Jessica ^[2] ; Calle, Ana María ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Cuenca

     Universidad de Cuenca

     Cuenca, Ecuador

     
  2. [2] Universidad Nacional de Educación, Azogues, Ecuador
• Localización: Revista Publicando, ISSN-e 1390-9304, Vol. 7, Nº. 25, 2020 (Ejemplar dedicado a: July-August-September), págs. 82-101
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • El efecto de las estrategias de pensamiento crítico en la producción oral de estudiantes universitarios que aprenden inglés como lengua extranjera: Una investigación-acción
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen
  • español

    En el campo de la enseñanza de inglés como idioma extranjero, muchas estrategias son utilizadas de las cuales las de pensamiento crítico son las menos empleadas. Por lo tanto, este estudio se enfoca en explorar los efectos que tres de estas estrategias tienen en las habilidades de producción oral de estudiantes universitarios que aprenden inglés como idioma extranjero. Esta investigación-acción fue realizada en la Universidad Nacional de Educación, UNAE en Ecuador. En este estudio se recolectó información cuantitativa y cualitativa. Se aplicó una prueba al inicio y al final para recolectar datos cuantitativos. Un grupo focal también fue realizado al final del tratamiento para recolectar información cualitativa. Los resultados de la prueba aplicada al final del tratamiento revelaron que los estudiantes mejoraron considerablemente en su producción oral. Además, los resultados del grupo focal que se realizó con participantes claves sugirieron que los estudiantes disfrutaron de las estrategias aplicadas en el tratamiento. Entre las estrategias preferidas por los estudiantes estuvo el Debate ya que este es interactivo y motiva a expresar sus argumentos. La menos preferida fue Teacher Questioning y le seguía Think-Pair-Share. También es importante mencionar que el vocabulario y gramática dentro de las habilidades del habla fueron las que alcanzaron el menor puntaje de mejora de acuerdo con la prueba posterior aplicada. Por el contrario, la interacción mostró mayor mejora. Esto se explica debido a que las estrategias aplicadas se enfocaban en fluidez y no en exactitud o precisión en el uso del idioma.

  • English

    Although many strategies have been used in the development of oral production in EFL students, critical thinking strategies are less frequently employed. Therefore, this study focused on exploring the effects of three of these strategies on the oral production abilities of Ecuadorian EFL university students. This action research study was carried out at the Universidad Nacional de Educación (UNAE) in Ecuador, where qualitative and quantitative data was collected. A pre-test and post-test were used to collect the quantitative data. Furthermore, a focus group discussion was used to collect the qualitative data. The post-test results reveled that students increased their oral production considerably after finishing the treatment. Moreover, the focus group discussion suggested that students enjoyed the strategies used, because they helped pupils to improve their vocabulary and reasoning prior to speaking. Students’ favorite strategy according to the focus group was the Debate. On the other hand, the least favorite was Teacher Questioning followed by Think-Pair-Share. It is also important to mention that according to the quantitative results grammar and vocabulary had the lowest improvement in speech production; meanwhile, interactive communication had the highest improvement in oral production. This has to do with the focus of the strategies on fluency over accuracy. Implications for research regarding vocabulary were stated.

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