A Master’s thesis was defended at the Department of English, College of Education for Humanities, University of Tikrit, on Sunday, June 28, 2026, by the student Raghad Nuwai Salih, entitled “Enhancing Rational Thinking in Speaking among Iraqi EFL Preparatory School Students through an Argumentation-Based Pedagogy.”
The study investigates the effectiveness of Argumentation-Based Pedagogy as an instructional approach for developing higher-order thinking skills, particularly rational thinking, in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. This pedagogical approach is increasingly employed to enable students to express their ideas through logical reasoning while engaging in spoken communication.
The research aimed to examine the impact of Argumentation-Based Pedagogy on enhancing rational thinking in speaking activities among fifth-grade Iraqi preparatory school students at Al-Baydaa Preparatory School for Girls in Kirkuk. Specifically, the study assessed improvements in five major aspects of speaking performance: content, pronunciation, fluency, grammar, and vocabulary.
The study sample consisted of 60 fifth-grade preparatory school students enrolled during the 2025–2026 academic year. The participants were equally assigned to an experimental group and a control group. Both groups were equivalent in terms of age, parents’ educational background, previous English achievement, and pre-test scores. The two groups received the same instructional content over a two-month period. The experimental group was taught using Argumentation-Based Pedagogy, whereas the control group followed the conventional teaching method. A speaking post-test was developed and administered to both groups, and the findings demonstrated the superior effectiveness of the argumentation-based instructional approach.
The study reached several significant findings, including:
- Argumentation-Based Pedagogy proved to be more effective than conventional teaching methods in improving the speaking skills of Iraqi EFL students.
- The argumentation strategy significantly enhanced students’ rational thinking by encouraging them to express opinions, justify their viewpoints, and participate in structured, logical discussions.
- Students achieved comparable levels in both recognizing and applying rational thinking skills during speaking tasks, reflecting balanced cognitive and practical development.
- The greatest improvement was observed in the content and idea development component of speaking, as argumentation-based activities enabled students to construct logical ideas and present evidence-based arguments more effectively than improvements achieved in other linguistic aspects.
The examination committee consisted of the following faculty members:
- Prof. Dr. Jawhar Barak Matar – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities – Chairperson.
- Asst. Prof. Dr. Ibtisam Jassim Mohammed – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities – Member.
- Lect. Muthanna Mohammed Bada‘ – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Women – Member.
- Prof. Dr. Najwa Yaseen Ismail – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities – Member and Supervisor.
Media and Government Communication Division
College of Education for Humanities – University of Tikrit
