Analytical Thinking Opportunities and Students’ Experiences through Active Learning: A Qualitative Case Study in a Middle School EFL Classroom

This qualitative single-case study examined, based on students’ accounts, how active learning activities integrated into the eighth-grade English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum provided opportunities for analytical thinking and how students experienced these activities. The study was conducted in a public middle school in Türkiye over a six-week period. Curriculum-aligned activities included simulated telephone conversations, dialogue construction, prediction tasks, and collaborative discussions, guided by four active learning dimensions: collaborative learning, active engagement, reflective discussion, and student-centered expression. Data were collected through reflective journals from 25 students and semi-structured interviews with 12 volunteers. Thematic analysis combined a deductive approach to analytical thinking processes with an inductive approach to students’ experiences. Findings indicated opportunities for strategic thinking and problem-solving through adapting explanations, inference-making through contextual and visual clues, and comparison through evaluating alternative expressions and dialogues. Students reported benefits from contextual support, peer interaction, and simulated activities, alongside difficulties interpreting unfamiliar language, uncertainty about their responses, limited individual thinking time, and constraints on self-expression. By examining analytical thinking opportunities alongside students’ cognitive and affective experiences, the study illustrates how existing EFL curriculum activities can provide opportunities for analytical engagement while highlighting the importance of instructional support and conditions for participation. This offers a context-sensitive understanding of both the opportunities and limitations of integrating analytical thinking opportunities into regular EFL curriculum.