Effect of domains of critical thinking and verbal ability on writings skills of post-basic students in Lagos State
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Date
2019
Authors
Ezeudegbunam, E.D
Adeosun, A.O
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
New Hope Publishers
Abstract
The decline in the standard of education and the recurrent poor actualization of the intended curriculum of the English language has been a cause for concern in discourses on academic performance and workplace competences. This could be attributed to the students’ inability to question problems to be solved, poor generation of ideas, poor expression, illogical connections, among others, in general language use and in writing in particular. This study, therefore, sought to develop the students’ writing skill using Elements of Thought and the Universal Intellectual Standards of domains of critical thinking in senior secondary schools in Lagos State. The study adopted the descriptive survey as well as quasi-experimental research. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 551 students in their intact classes. Three research questions and three hypotheses were raised, answered, and tested. The research instruments comprised Students’ Pre and Post Intervention Achievement Test (SPIAT), Verbal Ability Test (VAT) and the Critical Thinking Intervention Package (CTIP) as the stimulus instrument. The main intervention lasted for ten weeks. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed a significant main effect of treatment (CTIP) on the enhancement of the students’ writing achievement in ESL classrooms in terms of idea generation, logical development of thesis, topic and supporting sentences. Also, there was no significant interaction effect of treatment and levels of verbal ability on students’ writing achievement. The study recommends that the English language educators should move beyond the perceived awareness of critical thinking skills and embrace the application of the concept in ESL context through conscious efforts and training. They should also keep themselves abreast of how the components of the domains of critical thinking affect learning in ESL writing classrooms, irrespective of the students’ different levels of verbal ability. The teachers should equally make concerted efforts in promoting valid teaching and assessments for process-oriented writing against the traditional product-oriented writing celebrated in most ESL settings. These and other recommendations can contribute to raising the standard of communication in particular and education in general.
Description
Scholarly articles
Keywords
Writing achievement , Critical thinking , Verbal ability , ESL classrooms , Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences
Citation
Ezeudegbunam, E. D & Adeosun, A. O. (2019). Effect of domains of critical thinking and vernbal ability on writings skills of post-basic students in Lagos state. In Adeosun O. & Olojede K. (Eds.) Connecting Language, Literature and Literacy for Learning (A Festschrift in Honour of Prof. O.O. Lawal). (ISBN 978-978-56517-2-0) New Hope Publishers; pp. 218-231.