The Impact of Brainstorming on Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking Ability of EFL Learners

Abstract

The present study investigated the impact of brainstorming as a pre-reading strategy on reading comprehension ability as well as critical thinking (CT) ability of EFL learners. In so doing, the study used an experimental design with 29 participants in the control group and 25 participants in the experimental one. The results of the pre test confirmed the homogeneity of the participants in the two groups regarding their reading comprehension ability as well as critical thinking ability. Neither the control group nor experimental group had any previous experience in brainstorming strategies. The participants in the experimental group were instructed how to use brainstorming strategies before reading passages. A 45 multiple- choice reading items taken from Flash (2005) TOEFL Reading and the ‘Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal’ (CTA) were employed to evaluate students’ reading comprehension ability, besides their CT ability; respectively. The post test results indicated that brainstorming strategies have a positive significant effect on both CT ability as well as reading comprehension ability of the participants. The conclusions and implications of the research have been further pointed out with reference to foreign language teaching context.