Is Debate a Useful Strategy in Enhancing the Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking of Iranian EFL Learners?
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| Title | Is Debate a Useful Strategy in Enhancing the Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking of Iranian EFL Learners? |
| Authors | |
| Abstract | Thinking critically refers to investigating the thinking process in order to explain understanding and making decisions that are more intelligent. Debate is one of the most essential strategies which can effectively promote critical thinking in a classroom. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of debate as a critical thinking strategy on reading comprehension ability as well as critical thinking of Iranian EFL learners. To achieve this goal, 55 learners at intermediate level were selected based on convenient sampling. The administration of the TOEFL test enabled the researchers to select 40 students whose scores on language proficiency fell within one standard deviation above and below the mean. Subsequently the two homogeneous groups were randomly assigned to a control and an experimental group. In the experimental group debates were used as the main strategy of the class whereas the control group followed the traditional reading procedures. The statistical analysis of the participants’ scores on a reading comprehension test and Honey’s critical thinking questionnaire (2005) through MANOVA indicated that the strategy had a significant impact on the reading comprehension and critical thinking abilities of Iranian EFL learners. |
| Publisher | ACADEMY PUBLISHER |
| Date | 2011-04-01 |
| Source | Theory and Practice in Language Studies Vol 1, No 4 (2011) |
| Rights | Copyright © ACADEMY PUBLISHER - All Rights Reserved.To request permission, please check out URL: http://www.academypublisher.com/copyrightpermission.html. |