Developing Higher –order Thinking Skills in Teaching and Assessing English as a Foreign Language at the University Level.

Abstract

The study aims at investigating the emphasis on higher-order thinking skills by university instructors in teaching and assessment of English as a foreign language, at the same time it aims at discovering the students' attitude (positive/negative) to higher-order thinking skills at the Department of English, College of Education, University of Al Qadisiyah .In order to achieve the aims of the study one questionnaire is directed to (24) university instructors and another questionnaire is directed to (60)students, at the university level, in addition to the analysis of (100) questions constructed by the same instructors according to Bloom's(1956)classification of thinking skills. The results obtained indicate that university instructors emphasize the use of higher-order thinking skills in teaching and assessment of English as a foreign language, but they avoid the use of two skills when they test the students, namely, synthesis and evaluation because they think that such skills could be difficult for the students. It is also indicated that the students have a positive attitude to higher-order thinking skills.