Malaysian rural ESL students critical thinking literacy level: a case study

In recent years, there has been much interest in the development of thinking skills in the education circles in Malaysia. Nevertheless, more effort needs to be placed on providing skills in developing the critical thinking literacy level of English as a second language (ESL) secondary school student...

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Main Authors: Umar Baki, Nurshila, Rafik-Galea, Shameem, Nimehchisalem, Vahid
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Australian International Academic Centre 2016
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54742/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54742/1/Malaysian%20rural%20ESL%20students%20critical%20thinking%20literacy%20level.pdf
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author Umar Baki, Nurshila
Rafik-Galea, Shameem
Nimehchisalem, Vahid
author_facet Umar Baki, Nurshila
Rafik-Galea, Shameem
Nimehchisalem, Vahid
author_sort Umar Baki, Nurshila
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description In recent years, there has been much interest in the development of thinking skills in the education circles in Malaysia. Nevertheless, more effort needs to be placed on providing skills in developing the critical thinking literacy level of English as a second language (ESL) secondary school students, and its implication on the practice of teaching and learning. This is especially so for rural secondary school students. This paper presents findings of a preliminary case study which analyzes the critical thinking literacy level of twenty students of a rural secondary school in Malaysia as measured by the Cornell Critical Thinking Test (CCTTX). Overall, the findings show that students struggled to answer the critical thinking questions posed in the CCTTX. The analysis point to the fact that students encountered problems with questions on ‘judging what is assumed in an argument’ section of the standardized critical thinking test. Interview responses from students revealed that they found the 71-item-test challenging to answer. Despite the national education agenda to develop world-class thinkers, our study suggests that there appears to be a lack in exposure to thinking-based activities in Malaysian classrooms.
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spelling upm-547422018-04-20T07:48:53Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54742/ Malaysian rural ESL students critical thinking literacy level: a case study Umar Baki, Nurshila Rafik-Galea, Shameem Nimehchisalem, Vahid In recent years, there has been much interest in the development of thinking skills in the education circles in Malaysia. Nevertheless, more effort needs to be placed on providing skills in developing the critical thinking literacy level of English as a second language (ESL) secondary school students, and its implication on the practice of teaching and learning. This is especially so for rural secondary school students. This paper presents findings of a preliminary case study which analyzes the critical thinking literacy level of twenty students of a rural secondary school in Malaysia as measured by the Cornell Critical Thinking Test (CCTTX). Overall, the findings show that students struggled to answer the critical thinking questions posed in the CCTTX. The analysis point to the fact that students encountered problems with questions on ‘judging what is assumed in an argument’ section of the standardized critical thinking test. Interview responses from students revealed that they found the 71-item-test challenging to answer. Despite the national education agenda to develop world-class thinkers, our study suggests that there appears to be a lack in exposure to thinking-based activities in Malaysian classrooms. Australian International Academic Centre 2016-10 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54742/1/Malaysian%20rural%20ESL%20students%20critical%20thinking%20literacy%20level.pdf Umar Baki, Nurshila and Rafik-Galea, Shameem and Nimehchisalem, Vahid (2016) Malaysian rural ESL students critical thinking literacy level: a case study. International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies, 4 (4). pp. 71-80. ISSN 2202-9478 http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJELS/article/view/3006 10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.4n.4p.71
spellingShingle Umar Baki, Nurshila
Rafik-Galea, Shameem
Nimehchisalem, Vahid
Malaysian rural ESL students critical thinking literacy level: a case study
title Malaysian rural ESL students critical thinking literacy level: a case study
title_full Malaysian rural ESL students critical thinking literacy level: a case study
title_fullStr Malaysian rural ESL students critical thinking literacy level: a case study
title_full_unstemmed Malaysian rural ESL students critical thinking literacy level: a case study
title_short Malaysian rural ESL students critical thinking literacy level: a case study
title_sort malaysian rural esl students critical thinking literacy level: a case study
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54742/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54742/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54742/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54742/1/Malaysian%20rural%20ESL%20students%20critical%20thinking%20literacy%20level.pdf