Promoting English Listening and Speaking Skills for Business Communication Using Reflective-Thinking Activities
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study investigates the use of reflective-thinking activities to enhance English listening and speaking skills among Business English major students enrolled in English for Business Conversation 2. at a public university in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Although the course is designed to develop students’ communicative abilities for professional settings, past performance and classroom observations revealed that many learners struggled with oral proficiency and lacked confidence in real-life communication tasks. To address these issues, the researcher implemented reflective-thinking strategies, encouraging students to record their learning experiences, assess their performance, and develop personal improvement plans.
The study applied a reflective practice framework to guide the instructional design. Selected four structured lessons incorporating reflective tasks were reported by the students, including journal writing, self-assessment, and peer collaboration. Data collection involved classroom observations and analysis of student reflections. Findings revealed that students progressively adapted to structured learning, became more responsible for their own development, and demonstrated increased confidence in oral communication. Peer interaction further enhanced their speaking and listening skills, while reflective tasks supported deeper metacognitive engagement.
Feedback from students confirmed the usefulness of the lessons in terms of clarity, structure, and real-world relevance. Learners reported improvements in vocabulary usage, pronunciation, grammar accuracy, and presentation techniques. However, challenges remained in group dynamics, script dependence, and language fluency, indicating the need for continued support and practice. Overall, the study highlights the value of integrating reflective-thinking activities into communicative English instruction, offering an effective pedagogical approach to support skill development and learner autonomy in EFL contexts.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Afshar, H. S., & Farahani, M. (2015). Enhancing Emotional Intelligence and Academic Successthrough Reflective Thinking. Journal of Educational Psychology, 14(2), 93-110.
Abdul, K., Kamarul, M. K., Shahin, S., Evita, U. A., & Mohammad, M. R. (2023). Reflecting on
reflections concerning critical incidents in developing pre-service teachers' professional
identity: Evidence from a TESOL education project. Journal of Multilingual and
Multicultural Development, 44(3), 308-326.
Boonkit, K. (2010). Enhancing the development of speaking skills for non-native speakers of English. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 1305–1309.
Boontham, P., Tubtimhin, J., & Onjaree, N. (2015). The effects of reflective thinking activities on Thai
EFL students’ writing ability. English Language Teaching, 8(7), 1-14.
Bunditsathitsan, S. (2018). Reflective practice in cooperative education: A longitudinal study of
student development [Doctoral dissertation]. Chiang Mai University.
Cirocki, A., & Imsa-ard, P. (2024). Integrating reflective practice into undergraduate teacher education programmes in ELT: A no-lose deal for Thai university. PASAA, 68(1), Article 13. Chen, M. R. A., & Lin, Y. H. (2024). A reflective e-learning approach for reading, thinking,
and behavioral engagement. Language Learning & Technology, 28(1), 1-20.
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. D.C. Heath and Company.
Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further
Education Unit.
Goh, C. C. M., & Taib, Y. (2006). Metacognitive instruction in listening for young learners. ELT
Journal, 60(3), 222–232.
Gong, Y., Lai, C., & Gao, X. (2024). The role of reflective thinking in language learning: A meta-
analysis. Applied Linguistics Review, 15(2), 245-268. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2023-0045
Khieowleuang, S., Suwanmankha, S., & Sukwises, A. (2013). The development of reflective thinking activities to enhance English speaking skills. Journal of Education, 24(3), 45-58.
Farrah, M., & Abu Minshar, M. (2021). Using reflective journals to promote authentic learning in an English writing course. An-Najah University Journal for Research (Humanities), 35(9), 1563-1576.
Farrell, T. S. C., & Moses, N. (2023). "Class is like a family": Reflections of an experienced Canadian TESOL teacher. Korea TESOL Journal, 18(2), 1-25.
Farrell, T. S. C. (2024). Reflective practice for language teachers. TeachingEnglish.
Jasper, M. (2013). Beginning reflective practice (2nd ed.). Cengage Learning.
Lyon, P., Curry, N., & Mynard, J. (2023). Five tips for promoting reflection on language learning. Channel View Publications.
Madeng, M., & Palanukulwong, T. (Year). Dialogue journals for Thai EFL low-proficiency learners' writing development. Academic Services Journal, Prince of Songkla University.
Maneepakhathorn, R. (2023). An exploratory study of reflective dialogue journal writing of EFL graduate students in the English as a foreign language context. rEFLections, 30(1), 38-58.
Maznah, R., Ismail, S. N., & Othman, N. (2021). Empowering learners’ reflective thinking through collaborative reflective learning. International Journal of Instruction, 14(1), 697-716.
Ozudogru, F. (2021). Reflective thinking and self-evaluation in language learning. SpringerOpen, 9(4), 265.
Puengpipattrakul, W. (2014). A process approach to writing to develop Thai EFL students' writing fluency and socio-cognitive skills. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 11(2), 278–298.
Rani, S. (2022). Reflective thinking skills of academic administrators in higher education. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 893517.
Ruengkul, A. (2020). The effects of project-based writing instruction on writing ability and critical thinking skills of Thai EFL undergraduate students [Doctoral dissertation, Chulalongkorn University].
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
Selivan, L. (2023). 4 reflective activities to look back and to look forward. Cambridge English Blog.
Storch, N. (2002). Patterns of interaction in ESL pair work. Language Learning, 52(1), 119– 158.
Wang, Z. R. (2018). Research on application of metacognitive strategies to business English reading teaching. Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, 60, 518-521.
Wiriyachitra, A. (2002). English language teaching and learning in Thailand in this decade. Thai TESOL focus, 15(1), 4-9.
Wu, J., & Wu, Y. (2016). An empirical study of business English reflective teaching in colleges. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 6(10), 1988-1995.
