The Impact of Teaching Critical Thinking Tasks on Coherence in Argumentative Essay Writing among EFL Learners

Abstract

Lack of coherence in argumentative essays written by teenage English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners has been associated with and attributed to lack of critical thinking abilities. This aforementioned problem, in particular, has impeded students’ ability to obtain high scores on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam. In order to investigate potential interventions that will facilitate students’ writing abilities in general and, more specifically, coherence, this study focuses on teaching two fundamental critical thinking tasks: Identify-Cause-and-Effect-Relationships and Divergent-Thinking. We conducted a quantitative experimental research with two classes at Mofid high school. Performing quantitative data analysis, we found that there is a significant difference in each class --class A and class B--before and after the treatment. Both classes improved; however, the difference between improvement levels for each task was negligible. The present study’s implication is that the given tasks of critical thinking can make a valuable contribution to learners to become competent writers with regard to coherency.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6p460