Kristina S. Sandi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47133/tegc_ch14   

ABSTRACT

Language and thinking are inextricably connected. Language expresses thoughts. How, what, and why we choose to express those thoughts via a particular language requires additional thinking. In academic settings, language learners may struggle if they lack the tools and vocabulary needed to engage in metacognition and higher order thinking. Within such settings, learners’ affect can also influence language learning. By focusing on higher order thinking skills and by understanding how the brain functions, you—as the teacher—can maximize your learners’ mastery of English. In this chapter, you will learn about the language areas of the brain, cognitive development within the context of language learning, and different levels of thinking. You will also learn how to integrate thinking tools and cognitive language into your English classroom to engage your learners more meaningfully with language and content learning. 

Keywords: thought processes, higher order thinking skills, thinking tools, metacognition, cognitive development, brain composition and functionality

How to cite this chapter: 

Sandi, K. (2023). Promoting Thinking Skills to Enhance Language Learning. In V. Canese & S. Spezzini (Eds.), Teaching English in Global Contexts, Language, Learners and Learning (pp. 177-186). Editorial Facultad de Filosofía, UNA. https://doi.org/10.47133/tegc_ch14

INTRODUCTION

A major goal in English language teaching (ELT) is to help students obtain functional levels of communicability in English and, by doing so, maximize the benefits of language learning. To do this, we need to understand the different levels of thinking and then create learning conditions in our English classroom for students to think at these different levels. Thus, by promoting different thinking skills among our students, we can enhance their efforts at learning a new language. 

Successful language learning requires time, effort, and meaningful engagement with the new language. When you engage with learning a new language, you use your first language (L1) and metacognition about your L1 to make progress with learning your second language (L2). Metacognition is your awareness and understanding of your own thought processes. Your confidence and willingness to take risks during L2 learning are also influenced by your affect and your self-concept of being able to learn and use L2. These can positively influence L2 learning or exert a negative influence through anxiety, inhibitions, and self-consciousness. 

Regardless of what you are trying to learn, whether it be math, science, or a new language, activities that generate higher-order thinking (HOT) can create opportunities for more effective learning (Elyas & Al-Zahrani, 2019). HOT goes beyond memorizing material for recall on a test. Instead, HOT uses language in meaningful ways that support the brain in making new and stronger connections such as between L1 and L2. One type of HOT is critical thinking, which involves objective analysis and evaluation of information for making choices. In this chapter, you will learn about promoting HOT to enhance L2 learning.  

BACKGROUND

Learning creates changes in your brain. Studies show that learning a new language rearranges your brain and creates new connections and pathways (Kennedy, 2006). Multilingualism can even help preserve brain function while aging (Anderson et al., 2018). In other words, when acquiring and using a new language, the human brain undergoes cortical adaptation to accommodate multiple languages (Kennedy, 2006). This occurs either by recruiting existing regions used for L1 or by creating new cortical networks in distinct adjacent areas of the cortex to handle certain functional aspects of L2.

Nonreflexive behavior (including language and cognition) normally involves the unconscious and seamless coordination of activity between both hemispheres of the brain via fiber bundles or cerebral commissures (Kennedy, 2006). Although information is processed between the right and left hemispheres, language is handled mainly by the left hemisphere in over 90% of the normal population (Kennedy, 2006). Broca’s area, which is in the left frontal lobe, controls the mechanics of speech sounds. Wernicke’s area, which is in the left temporal lobe, facilitates the formulation of meaning gathered from words and sentences for then being connected into speech. These language roles also receive support from other regions in the brain. For example, one part of the temporal lobe supplies nouns, and another part joins nouns and verbs together with other parts of speech to create logical sentences. 

Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area are located in the brain as illustrated in Figure 1:

Figure 1

Broca’s Area and Wernicke’s Area 

Note. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1605_Brocas_and_Wernickes_Areas-02.jpg. Image adapted from Anatomy & Physiology: Connexions. http://cnx.org/content/col11496/1.6/, June 19, 2013. OpenStax is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License v4.

Brain cells called neurons have a cell body and dendrites, which are small branching connectors. The volume of cell bodies and dendrites constitutes gray matter. An increase in the density of gray matter is an indicator of a healthier brain (Kennedy, 2006). White matter refers to a fatty substance that covers the axons, which are the main projections coming out from neurons and connecting them to other neurons. White matter allows messages to travel fast and efficiently across nerve networks on their way through the brain. Therefore, the larger the volume of white matter in your brain, the easier it can be for you to use language for effectively communicating. 

Active bilingualism was seen to contribute toward prolonging white matter integrity throughout the adult lifespan (DeLuca & Voits, 2022). Multiple studies have linked L2 learning to increased gray matter density in several areas of the brain. Some studies have suggested that L2 learning can preserve white-matter density (Anderson et al., 2018). Hence, these and other studies have shown that being bilingual and learning languages can serve to improve and preserve brain function.

MAJOR DIMENSIONS

To explore how HOT can enhance language learning, we need to reach a better understanding of learning. To do this, we will examine the Information Processing Model (also known as the Multi-Store Model) and Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Information Processing Model / Multi-Store Model

One of the most widely accepted theories of learning is Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968) model. This memory model is called the Information Processing Model or the Multi-Store Model. This model is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Multi-Store Model of Memory. 

Note. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memory_multistore_model.svg. Jens Himmelrath (Uploader of original file was Kurzon at wikipedia), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

As shown in Figure 2, several elements and processes interact along the path to learning (Slavin, 2008). Because perception takes place almost instantaneously, such information is held for just a few seconds as sensory memory. Information that receives attention is processed into short-term memory, also called working memory. Repeated rehearsals lead to connections with already stored information, and this information is saved in and retrieved from long-term memory. 

This Multi-Store Model is a theory of learning and, as such, oversimplifies the complexities and workings of the human brain. Nonetheless, we can use it to inform L2 learning and teaching. Based on this model, we know that meaningful and complex connections are needed for a new language to be effectively learned and stored in long-term memory. For example, the rote memorization of vocabulary leads to storing information in short-term memory and allows a student to pass a test. However, unless transfer occurs to long-term memory, the new vocabulary is forgotten soon after the test. In contrast, HOT creates stronger and longer-lasting connections in the brain and, as such, is critical for effective L2 learning and for greater student success in the L2 classroom and beyond. 

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Bloom, 1956) was developed by American psychologist, Benjamin Bloom, along with collaborators Max Englehart, Edward First, Walter Hill, and David Krathwohl. Called Bloom’s Taxonomy, it offered a framework for categorizing educational goals and created a way to organize levels of mastery in learning. Revised in the early 2000s, this framework is illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3

Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Note. Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/. This image is released under a Creative Commons attribution license

In Bloom’s Taxonomy, the top three levels (analyze, evaluate, create) correspond to HOT. The lower three levels (remember, understand, apply) do not correspond to HOT. This framework is a useful guide for teachers in their planning, teaching, and evaluating. Teachers should use this framework to guide their planning, teaching, and evaluating. While not all language learning activities might incorporate HOT, studies have shown that adopting HOT instruction in the language classroom can lead to greater gains in vocabulary retention (Elyas & Al-Zahrani, 2019). 

In addition to creating HOT learning activities and using HOT questions, language teachers also need to provide students with opportunities to talk about language learning and thus make metacognitive connections with HOT. Based on the Information-Processing Model, connections to prior knowledge from long-term memory are essential to ensure long-term learning.

PEDAGOGICAL APPLICATIONS

To incorporate HOT activities in your ELT classroom, consider following these suggestions. 

Build Relationships With Your Students

The first thing that you need to do in your ELT classroom is to build relationships with your students and learn about their interests and backgrounds. Having this information is essential for you to build their motivation for learning, establish a connection between students’ prior knowledge and new content, and introduce HOT activities to facilitate critical thinking. When students feel comfortable with taking risks in the L2 classroom, they are much more open to learning and thinking (Krashen & Terrell, 2000). 

Provide Model Phrases to Target HOT Skills

Depending on the subject matter and the level of the HOT activity, provide model phrases commonly associated with the cognitive task. For example, when targeting the verb analyze as the HOT skill for your lesson, ask learners to compare and contrast by using transitional phrases (e.g., regardless, similarly, conversely, on the other hand).

Help familiarize students with the different levels of HOT by providing manipulatives, hand-outs, and poster charts with question stems based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Have students analyze question types and identify the HOT level for each of these questions. Guide them with creating their own questions for any content by targeting each of the levels in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Engage Students in Metacognition

Facilitate long-term L2 retention among your students by providing them with ways to think about what they already know and what they need to learn. Provide them with goals or help them write their own goals for a given lesson. To involve students in metacognition, use rubrics for assignments, especially when assignments have been designed to foster HOT. The use of rubrics has been shown to improve critical thinking skills (Saiz Sanchez et al., 2014). Be sure to clarify the terminology used in the rubric and create opportunities for students to use this rubric for self-evaluating themselves upon completing the assignment. The language and complexity of your rubric should be based at your students’ age and education levels. An alternative would be to have your students create their own rubrics.

To engage students in metacognition, consider using the inquiry method in your classroom. If this is not feasible given your teaching situation, consider giving students several choices in assignments as this will increase agency, enhance motivation, and lower the affective filter. This, in turn, will create conditions for learning. Model your own metacognition by using the language you want your students to use and by sharing your own thinking processes. Also model for your students how you go about reflecting on which strategies work best for you to understand, practice, and retain new information. 

Finally, use retrieval practice strategies instead of simply reviewing the prior lesson. Do this by asking students to explain, demonstrate, and evaluate the most important information from the last class. Provide learners with feedback and opportunities for self-reflection and revision.

Develop a Growth Mindset and Pay Attention to Perceptions 

For successfully promoting HOT, help your students develop a growth mindset. Self-efficacy is indeed a powerful learning tool. Adjust your perceptions of students’ abilities and refrain from underestimating what they can do. Unfortunately, many English language teachers avoid giving HOT questions and HOT tasks to English learners who are at lower language levels. By not doing this, they seem to be associating the students’ L2 level with their HOT ability. Instead, engage all students in HOT. As needed, give extra time to students at lower L2 levels to answer questions and perhaps allow some students to write their thoughts instead of responding orally. Another way would be for students to discuss their ideas with a partner before answering. 

Incorporate HOT into Lesson Plans

Whenever possible, incorporate HOT into your lesson plans. When selecting activities and materials to meet standards and achieve learning objectives, consider incorporating HOT-based activities through reading, writing, listening, and speaking. These HOT activities can be debates, graphic organizers, thinking maps, and cooperative learning. A quick google search will generate many other possibilities. 

In this chapter, you learned how to promote thinking skills to enhance language learning. You learned about the language areas of the brain, Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) for levels of thinking, and the Multi-Store Model for learning. You also learned about building relationships with students, providing model phrases to target HOT skills, engaging students in metacognition, paying attention to perceptions, and incorporating HOT into lesson plans. To promote your students’ thinking skills, incorporate these suggestions in your ELT classroom.

Here are some key concepts about how thinking skills can enhance language learning:

• Multilingualism has many benefits for the brain.

• Storage of information in long term memory requires activation and connections to prior knowledge.

• HOT activities aid retention and, therefore, facilitate greater L2 acquisition and use.

• Students should explicitly be taught L2 vocabulary associated with cognition and HOT.

• Cognitive barriers to language growth can be reduced by lowering affective filters, building trust, and cultivating a supportive classroom culture.

Based on this relationship between thinking skills and language learning, develop meaningful answers to these questions:

1. How can you use this information about the effects of L2 acquisition on the brain to guide your work with L2 learners?

2. What would be the most appropriate way to promote HOT activities among children, adolescents, and adults?

3. Which of the following do you feel is of greatest importance in ELT classrooms: accuracy, fluency, or critical thinking? Why?

To practice what you have learned about thinking skills and language learning, do the following:

1. Consider TESOL’s 6 Principles (Short et al., 2018). Think of how you can apply for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, write at least one question about how the promotion of thinking skills can enhance language learning

2. Depending on your students’ age and level of English, create visuals similar to Figure 3 (Bloom’s Taxonomy) to use as a reference in your classroom. Develop manipulatives that illustrate the levels of HOT and, also, the vocabulary associated with each level. Use these manipulatives frequently to support the development of HOT among your students during the process of learning a new language. 

3. Look through a textbook that incorporates readings and comprehension/discussion questions. If you wish, do this by choosing another chapter in this ELT book that you are currently reading. Independently or with a partner (or partners), try to identify the level of Bloom’s Taxonomy for the questions being asked.

To expand your knowledge about developing language and thinking skills, visit these websites:

• Additional information about why and how to incorporate retrieval practice strategies in your teaching. https://www.retrievalpractice.org/ 

• Bloom’s Taxonomy. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/ 

• Carol Dweck’s Ted Talk: The Power of Believing You Can Improve. https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?language=en 

• More suggestions on teaching critical thinking skills in the classroom. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-eight-instructional-strategies-for-promoting-critical-thinking/2021/03] 

• Sample question stems for asking HOT questions. https://www.saydel.k12.ia.us/cms_files/resources/general%20HOTSQuestionCards.pdf 

• Undergraduate student learning strategies based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/higher-order-thinking/ 

Insights to thinking and language learning are also addressed in other chapters of this book:

Chapter 5 Building Relationships With Language Learners by S. Montiel

Chapter 12 Explicit and Implicit Learning in Second Language Acquisition by C. Fernández

Chapter 13 Designing Learner-Centered Classrooms to Promote Active Learning by H. Kaiser

Chapter 19 Incorporating Inclusive Education Practices in ELT by R. Mazzoleni

Chapter 26 Counterbalancing Content and Language Integrated Learning by A. Roca

Chapter 33 Current Approaches in English Language Teaching by N. Dantaz

Chapter 35 Developing Critical Thinking Through Inquiry-Based Learning by V. Canese 

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Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/ 

Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In K. W. Spence & J. T. Spence (Eds.), Psychology of learning & motivation: Vol. 2 (pp. 89-195). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60422-3

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Brocas and Wernickes areas. (2021, May 7). In Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1605_Brocas_and_Wernickes_Areas-02.jpg

DeLuca, V., & Voits, T. (2022, May). Bilingual experience affects white matter integrity across the lifespan. Neuropsychologia, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108191 

Elyas, T., & Al-Zahrani, B. S. (2019). The impact of critical thinking on learners’ EFL vocabulary retention: The Arab context. Indonesian EFL Journal, 5(2), 11-30. https://doi.org/10.25134/ieflj.v5i2.1901 

Kennedy, T. J. (2006). Language learning and its impact on the brain: Connecting language learning with the mind through content-based instruction. Foreign Language Annals, 39(3), 471–486. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2006.tb02900.x 

Krashen, S. D., & Terrell, T. D. (1998). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. Pearson Education.

Memory multistore model. (2020, September 17). In Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memory_multistore_model.svg

Saiz Sanchez, C., Fernandez Rivas, S., & Olivares Moral, S. (2014). Collaborative learning supported by rubrics improves critical thinking. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 15(1), 10–19. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v15i1.12905 

Slavin, R. E. (2008). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Allyn and Bacon. 

Kristina S. Sandi has taught English as a second language (ESL) for over 15 years. After serving in the Central African Republic as a Peace Corps volunteer, Kristina received a Peace Corps Fellowship for pursuing a master’s degree in the teaching of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) at Florida International University (USA) and an education specialist degree in TESOL at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA). She has taught ESL in secondary schools in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and North Carolina. Kristina has a special interest in supporting both the academic and socio-emotional needs of immigrant students who are recent arrivals in the United States. 

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3344-0101  

Email for correspondence regarding this chapter: kristinasandi@outlook.com

Cover Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash