Balancing between uncertainty and control: Teaching reflective thinking about language in the classroom

Abstract

To stimulate their linguistic awareness, students should be encouraged to think critically and creatively. This requires a reflective thinking attitude, which can be fostered by confronting students with language problems without an indisputable solution. However, the absence of an unambiguous answer can lead to uncertainty among students. Little is known about how language teachers respond to this type of uncertainty. In this qualitative study, we examined how teachers (n = 5) responded to and evaluated lessons in which students (n = 78, ages 15–18) were confronted with an ill-structured language problem. Teachers designed and redesigned the lesson over two iterations. Afterwards the final design was tested and students’ behavior was analyzed qualitatively. Results show that teachers strongly focused on students' cognitive thinking performance, argued for a need of control, and, although realizing the necessity of epistemic doubt for epistemic development, possibly misunderstood reflective thinking as just thinking about language.