Arab Israeli EFL teachers’ perceptions and practices vis-à-vis teaching higher-order thinking skills: A complicated relationship

Abstract

Higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) have been an integral part of the English language curriculum in the Israeli school system since 2013, when questions that needed HOTS were added to the matriculation exams in all modules. Teachers subsequently have been responsible for integrating such questions into their teaching. The study aims to investigate the cognitive levels of questions posed by 13 Arab Israeli EFL teachers while teaching reading comprehension in heterogeneous tenth-grade classrooms. It also seeks to reveal the teachers’ perceptions with respect to teaching HOTS, and the challenges they face while doing so. Data were gathered by means of a classroom observation checklist and semi-structured interviews. The results show that the teachers tended to emphasize lower-order rather than higher-order questions. The findings of the thematic analysis of interviewees’ answers indicate that while the teachers have positive perceptions about teaching HOTS, they nevertheless face significant challenges. Factors hindering HOTS implementation include the teachers, the students, the system, and certain social norms. This implies the need for training courses to develop teachers’ knowledge about HOTS and to ensure successful implementation in the English language classroom.