Utilizing an Instructional Higher-Order Thinking-Based Strategy to Improve EFL Critical Reading Skills

This study aims to determine how teaching students English as a foreign language based on higher-order thinking skills enhances their critical reading capabilities. Fifty third-grade female students from Fatima Al-Zahraa Secondary School for Girls in Cairo were selected using a quasi-experimental design with a pretest and posttest model. A survey was also used to measure students' opinions on the effectiveness of the implemented teaching method. These results showed that embedding higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) into English language teaching significantly enhances students' ability to understand and critically analyze texts. The study also showed how these techniques improve students' ability to think individually and deal with complex reading texts. These findings highlight the value of using higher-order thinking techniques when teaching English to speakers of other languages and the need to prepare teachers to use them successfully.