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

Abstract

In the age of AI, critical thinking skills have proven indispensable for students to achieve a competitive edge and high employability. Theoretically, teacher questions play an important role in fostering this thinking ability during classroom interaction. In reality, nevertheless, classroom questions are predominantly low-cognitive, rarely paying way for any development of critical thinking. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to shed light on how students view the use of questions in developing critical thinking, and their perspectives on useful support to answer high-ordered questions. The study involved seventy English-majored students at Van Lang University. Given the purpose of the study, quantitative research was used to collect data about students’ perspectives through a questionnaire. The results showed that most students held positive attitudes toward using high-ordered questions, and they acknowledged the benefits these questions offer. In terms of suggestions, they highly valued a comfortable learning environment and group discussion as the most useful support.