English language teachers perceptions and practices in the teaching of thinking: a case study

Teaching of thinking skills has increasingly gained attention from educators in general in the last few decades. It is now seen as a vital component which needs to be incorporated into the teaching of school subjects with the aim of producing citizens who are able to conduct complex thinking process on their own to solve problems and make good decisions. This attempt to teach thinking skills at the school level obviously brings implications on educational planning and implementation at all level to accommodate this change. Preparing teachers to teach thinking skills is an important aspect to be dealt with. This case study which investigated ESL teachers’ perceptions and practices on the teaching of thinking utilized a survey research design. The findings of the study indicated that English Language teachers valued the teaching of thinking skills and had a high sense of efficacy in teaching thinking skills to their students. The study has shown that teachers’ practice of teaching thinking skills is related to their level of knowledge and course attendance. Teachers in the study also preferred infusion approaches to the teaching of thinking in their language classrooms. The results also indicated teachers’ practice of infusing lower order and higher order thinking skills were satisfactory. Teachers were also found to exhibit behaviours that promote thinking skills in students. The study also revealed that there were no significant relationship between English teachers’ perceptions and practices in the teaching of thinking skills in their ESL classrooms. Thus, in this study it can be said that teachers’ perceptions and practices were not dependent on each other in teaching thinking skills.