A Comparative Study of the Effect of Explicit and Implicit Pronunciation Instruction on Critical Thinking and Listening Comprehension of English Language Learners

Communication in English and critical thinking are two essential ۲۱st-century competencies. A variety of teaching and learning techniques are being developed to equip students with these skills and meet the challenges of global competition. Critical thinking skills should be developed and transferred through education, but there are few empirical studies available to help educators decide how to enhance critical thinking. Accordingly, the present mixed-methods study scrutinized the impact of explicit and implicit pronunciation instruction on the critical thinking and listening comprehension of English language learners. Over ۶ months, two groups of ۳۴ English language learners were exposed to pronunciation instruction (explicit mediator-using phonetic rules- and implicit mediator-without phonetic rules), and a control group of ۱۷ students received no pronunciation instruction. Pre-tests and post-tests were used to measure learners’ improvement in critical thinking and listening comprehension. Just a small change in listening comprehension was observed for the control group, but significant progress was found for both experimental groups' listening comprehension and critical thinking, especially the explicit group. Besides, the qualitative analysis showed that pronunciation instruction increased phonological awareness, listening improvement, & a sense of being analytic among participants in the explicit pronunciation group. And pronunciation instruction increased listening improvement among implicit pronunciation group participants. In brief, our findings suggest that helping students learn critical thinking skills does not require a comprehensive reorganization of the high school curriculum. It is possible to offer a critical thinking program like this during the school day without seriously disrupting the school's already full schedule.