BLOOM'S TAXONOMY AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE EFL CLASSROOM
Lidiia Uruska
Ternopil
16 December, 2022
LEVELS� OF �BLOOMS �TAXONOMY
How do you use �Bloom’s taxonomy �in the ESL/EFL �classroom?
Although the cognitive skills in Bloom’s taxonomy build off of each other, the goal of English teachers is to get students to develop higher-order thinking skills (HOTS).
Let’s take a look at the different ways you can apply Bloom’s taxonomy in language learning.
Classroom application 1 �
Let’s say you’re going to teach different modes of transportation using a video.
LOTs (lower order thinking skills)
1.Remembering
Introduce words related to transportation using pictures. This way, students can easily recall the vocabulary and will be able to recognize them in the video.
2. Understanding
Students watch the video, and then the teacher can check their understanding of the video by asking comprehension questions.
3. Applying
Afterward, students use the vocabulary and concepts they’ve learned to talk about the transportation options in their city or those in other countries.
HOTs�higher �order �thinking �skills
4. Analyzing
The class then examines and discusses the pros and cons of different types of transportation.
5. Evaluating
Students can then hold a discussion on how transportation can be improved in their city.
6. Creating
Based on the previous task, students can write a proposal on improving the transportation system in the city where they live.
Classroom application 2
Thinking Skills� and English language learners
English language learners should be asked critical thinking questions from all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Some of the tasks on the taxonomy are difficult for ELLs because they lack the language and vocabulary to work in English. However, teachers need to ask questions from all levels of the taxonomy that are age appropriate and at the English language level of the English language learners. Even very young children can work at the Creation and Evaluation levels.
Text �(from English Plus 2, WB, OUP)
My Adventure Weekend
Our adventure weekend started when my friend Yura asked, ‘Have you ever been paragliding?” I was surprised. I’d never thought about paragliding before, but Yura was really enthusiastic. “We usually go to the Carpathian Mountains. The scenery is fantastic!” he said. So I decided to give it a go.
Two weeks later (after my parents had finally said ‘yes’), we set off to a paragliding centre in Kuty that Yura and his family had been to before. The instructors were really good. My instructor went through everything very carefully: how to run and take off, how to adjust your harness once you are in the air, and how to land. After that, it was time to try it myself. Once you are in the air, everything is very peaceful and you can enjoy the view. However, I was a little worried as I got closer to the ground, in case I crashed.
I had just finished my flight when Yura’s dad said, ‘Have you had enough fun yet? If not, we’ll go rafting’. We set off to a rafting station at Dzembronia-Beloberizka. Rafting was more frightening than paragliding! You don’t really know what the raft is going to do next and you know the people in it have never been before. But if you like excitement, there’s nothing like it.
I slept well that night. When I woke up the next day, Yura had already been up for hours and he and his dad made some more plans. “We are going to do some mounting biking,’ he said at breakfast. I like cycling and I had always wanted to try mountain biking. I was just happy they hadn’t thought of rock climbing!
Level 1: Knowledge
This level of questioning is what is most frequently used when teaching ELLs, especially for students in pre-production and beginning production levels of English language acquisition. Responses to some of the questions can be made using yes/no or embedded questions. Pictures, drawings, and realia will help students give the correct answer. Responses to these questions are generally right in the text. Here are some questions and directions you might ask:
Level II: Comprehension
This level shows that the student has understood the facts and can interpret them. ESL/bilingual teachers use this level of questioning a lot. We ask students to compare, contrast, illustrate, and classify. We do this with oral questions and graphic organizers such as Venn Diagrams and T-charts.
Level III: Application
Students are learning to solve problems by using previously learned facts in a different way. ELLs might need scaffolding and word banks to build, choose, construct, develop, organize, plan, select, solve, and identify.
Level 4: Analysis
At this level students may not have enough vocabulary and language to express responses in English. The tasks at this level that English language learners will be able to complete with some teacher scaffolding are: classify, contrast, compare, categorize, sequence.
Level V: Evaluation
Questions at this level of Bloom's taxonomy can be modified so that the langue is simplified but the task remains the same. English language learners can learn to give opinions, make judgments about the action in a story and evaluate the work of an author.The vocabulary usually associated with evaluation may need to be simplified. Here are some questions ELLs would be able to answer with some scaffolding by the teacher.
Level VI: Creation
At this level students are compiling information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions. ELLs will need teacher support and scaffolding to answer questions at level 5. Synthesis/Creation is particularly difficult for ELLs. Students may be able to choose, combine, create, design, develop, imagine, make up, predict, solve, and change.