THE ROLE OF CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES IN DEVELOPING THE SPEAKING SKILL OF THE SECOND-YEAR EFL STUDENTS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, SABER FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES, LAHEJ UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This study investigated the role of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies in developing the speaking skills among 30 second-year university students at the Department of English and Translation, Saber Faculty of Applied Sciences and Humanities, University of Lahej. The study adopted a quantitative quasi-experimental one-group pre-test and post-test design. The data were collected through a speaking test administered before and after the treatment to 30 second-year university students at the Department of English, Saber Faculty of Applied Sciences and Humanities University of Lahej. The findings revealed that the students’ speaking performance improved after using critical thinking and problem-solving strategies in speaking classes. The findings revealed statistically significant improvements across all speaking criteria (p < .001), demonstrating that activities such as storytelling, TED Talks discussions, and problem-solving tasks significantly enhanced students' oral expression, logical reasoning, and interactive participation. Based on these findings, the study seeks to integrate critical thinking and problem-solving strategies into EFL speaking classes to enhance students’ speaking performance and promote meaningful communication.