Effects of Problem-Based Instruction on EFL Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

Resumen

This study aimed to investigate how problem-based instruction affected the critical thinking skills of EFL students. 33 second-year students in the Political Sciences and International Relations department at Debre Markos University participated in the study during the 2022–2023 academic year. A quasi-experimental design, namely an interrupted time series design, was used on a single group of participants based on a pragmatic viewpoint. Through the use of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, a mixed-methods approach was put into practice. The purposive sample approach was used to choose these 33 students who took the Basic Writing Skills course. Tests and student journals were used to collect data. Three argumentative essay writing pretests were administered to the participants before and after the intervention. An intra-Class correlation coefficient was utilized to assess the Critical Thinking Skills Rubrics (CTSR) instrument's inter-rater reliability. After verifying the five assumptions of the Repeated Measures ANOVA, the quantitative data were examined using descriptive statistics, within-subject effects, the grand mean, and pairwise comparisons. As a result, the study's results showed that problem-based instruction exceeded students' critical thinking abilities. As a result, problem-based instruction is recommended as a way to help students develop their critical thinking skills because this method helps them develop the core critical thinking skills for essay writing—interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-control. In addition, thematic analysis was used to assess the qualitative data from the students' reflective journals. The results showed that, despite some negative reflections, the student's reflections on the problem-based instruction practices in the writing classroom were significantly favorable. Qualitative research revealed that PBI enhanced students' capacity for critical thought. PBL is recommended as an alternative teaching approach that might be used to help students develop their critical thinking skills in the ELT writing classroom.