ERIC Number: EJ1149230
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Jul
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2202-9478
EISSN: N/A
Developing Critical Thinking through Socratic Questioning: An Action Research Study
Sahamid, Husniah
International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, v4 n3 p62-72 Jul 2016
An action research study was conducted among 24 Form 4 level Malaysian students, aged 16. The duration of the study was five months and constituted 16 one-hour literature lessons (short stories from the secondary level Malaysian English Language Upper Secondary Level school syllabus). This paper describes my experience as a teacher-as-researcher to assist students to respond to teacher questions through Paul's (1993) model of Socratic Questioning which claims to develop students' critical thinking. Data was collected through researcher's field notes, students' writing tasks and student interviews which were analysed after each cycle of the action research study. Changes and adaptations were consequently made based on the data collected and upon teacher reflection to improve practice. The results of this study indicate that repeated practice of Socratic Questioning had a positive effect on student responses and writing tasks. Some of the factors affecting students' performance included students' language proficiency, weak reading ability and students' anxiety towards the questioning method. These issues had to be addressed and dealt with, before Socratic Questioning could be properly implemented in the classroom.
Descriptors: Action Research, Critical Thinking, Questioning Techniques, Language Proficiency, Student Attitudes, Secondary School Students, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Foreign Countries, Course Descriptions, Interviews, Writing Assignments, Teaching Methods, Educational Improvement, Anxiety, Writing Skills, Literature, Qualitative Research
Australian International Academic Centre PTY, LTD. 11 Souter Crescent, Footscray VIC 3011, Australia. Tel: +61-3-9028-6880; e-mail: support@aiac.org.au; Web site: http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJELS/index
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Malaysia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A