REFLECTIVE LEARNING AS A PATHWAY TO DEVELOPING INDEPENDENT THINKING IN SECONDARY SCHOOL EFL LEARNERS

Abstract

The text emphasizes the importance of developing independent thinking in English language education, particularly in secondary school EFL classrooms where learners often focus on rote learning. It introduces reflective learning as a solution to promote analysis and decision-making among Grade 7–8 EFL learners. Reflection is defined as a structured process that includes experience, self-observation, analysis, evaluation, and improvement. The paper highlights various reflective techniques, including self-assessment, learning journals, peer feedback, and post-task evaluation. It advocates integrating reflection into all aspects of language instruction rather than treating it as a separate activity, and provides a framework to gradually shift responsibility from teacher to learner, which is crucial for fostering learner autonomy and metacognitive awareness in this age group.