masterThesis
The effect of critical thinking strategies on oral production of EFL university students: An action research
Fecha
2021-01-11Autor
Ochoa Delgado, Jessica Elizabeth
Institución
Resumen
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 revealed
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 before speaking. 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 further research regarding vocabulary were
stated