The effects of flipped learning practices on the critical thinking disposition levels of EFL learners and their attitudes

This study aims to examine the effects of an academic writing course designed based on the Flipped Learning model on the critical thinking dispositions, academic writing skills, and attitudes of students learning English as a foreign language. The research was conducted with first-year students enrolled in the Department of English Language and Literature at a public university in Turkey's Central Anatolia region. Within the scope of the study, 22 participants were taught various types of compositions over six weeks through pre-class, in-class, and post-class activities based on the Flipped Learning approach. The participants' critical thinking dispositions were measured using the Turkish version of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) (Kökdemir, 2003) as a pre-test and post-test. Academic writing skills were assessed before and after the implementation using the analytical writing rubric developed by Jacobs et al. (1981). The participants' attitudes toward the Flipped Learning approach were evaluated at the end of the intervention through the Flipped Learning Attitude Scale (Fauzan & Ngabut, 2018) and semi-structured interview questions. The findings indicate that while the Flipped Learning model had varying effects on students' critical thinking dispositions, it contributed to an overall improvement in their academic writing skills. In particular, progress was observed in sub-skills such as content, organization, vocabulary use, grammar, and mechanics. Additionally, the participants' attitudes toward the Flipped Learning-based writing course showed a positive development.