Influence of explicit higher-order thinking skills instruction on students' learning of linguistics

It has been pointed out by many scholars that there exists the relationship between higher order thinking skills (HOTS) and students' academic performance. Students who are trained to think critically often demonstrate a positive impact on the development of their education (Heong et al., 2011). This study was conducted in English Linguistic classes in the design of an action research, with the assumption that the explicit instruction of using HOTS in learning linguistics can promote students' learning and their motivation to learn this subject. HOTS requirements and instruction of HOTS utilization were made explicit to students in both learning activities and assessment. Class observation, essay analysis, and group interview were employed for data collection. After data analysis, it was found out that explicit instruction of HOTS in the learning and assessment could positively influence students' learning of linguistics in terms of the learning process, performance in assessment, creativity, and motivation to learn. However, if the number of students exceeds 20, HOTS development for individual students could be a big challenge.