The Effect of Making Thinking Visible Approach on the Levels of EFL Students’ Critical Writing and Anxiety

This study investigates the impact of English instruction enriched with Making Thinking Visible approach—implemented through Visible Thinking Routines on EFL preparatory school students’ critical writing skills and the levels of their foreign language anxiety. This research was designed as a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test study with experimental and control groups. The experimental group received English as a Foreign Language instruction enriched with Making Thinking Visible approach, while the control group followed the existing curriculum. Statistical analyses, including a 2x2 mixed-design ANOVA, revealed that students in the experimental group exhibited a statistically significantly greater improvement in critical writing skills and demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in foreign language anxiety. Qualitative findings from interviews conducted with the students in the experimental group also highlight the positive impact of integrating Visible Thinking Routines into English language instruction. This study suggests that Making Thinking Visible offers a promising instructional strategy to promote linguistic growth and emotional maturity in EFL learning environment.