Verbal instructional modeling: An intervention to improve students' perceived level of confidence in critical thinking skills

Abstract

Verbal instructional modeling is a concept put forward by Albert Bandura (1977) under Observational Learning which assumed that when certain explanations and descriptions were presented, learning was enhanced. This study banks on this concept and confirms whether Verbal Instructional Modeling helped improve the perceived confidence of Grade 10 students from a private school in the Philippines in terms of their critical thinking skills. The study made use of a practical action research design and used a 6-point Likert Scale Questionnaire. Employing convenience sampling, the researchers collected the data pre- and post-implementation, describing the perceived level of confidence of the participants before and after the intervention. The data was then analyzed and interpreted with the use of the T-test. The study's results confirmed that Verbal Instructional Modeling improves the respondents' perceived confidence level in their critical-thinking skills. Therefore, the researchers recommend continued use of Verbal Instructional Modeling in classroom interactions.

Students’ Perspectives on the Use of Teacher Questions to Promote Critical Thinking in EFL Classrooms

“…In the field of language learning and teaching, critical thinking is indispensable in the acquisition of second language (Esparrago-Kalidas et al, 2023;Larsson, 2017;Li, 2016;Norton, 2020;Wilson, 2016) Despite its influential role, fostering critical thinking has presented a challenge for many teachers in foreign language instruction since probing questions are still secondary to those targeting at memorization and understanding of knowledge (Khan & Inamullah, 2011;Kurniawati & Fitriati, 2017;Nguyen & Nguyen, 2023;Phuong & Nguyen, 2017). Indeed, reflecting upon the researcher's personal teaching experiences, many students in my EFL classes still grapple with cognitively-demanding questions, although they can pass with flying colors once questions primarily focus on memorization and surface understanding of knowledge.…”