Penggunaan Kata-Kata Hikmat, Tokoh dan Peribahasa dalam Proses Penulisan Karangan Argumentatif: Strategi Penguasaan Kemahiran Berfikir Aras Tinggi dalam Kalangan Murid

Use of Figuratives, Proverbs, and Words of Wisdom in Argumentative Writing: The Strategic Learning of Higher Order Thinking Skills Among Students

Abstract

In the context of the teaching of the Malay Language, the success in implementing higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) is highly dependant upon the ability of the teachers to immerse the skills while teaching the language under typical classroom settings. The mastery of aspects of any given language, like vocabulary, spelling, structure, proficiency, variety, level, and articulation, enables students to form ideas in very clear and precise ways that later get translated into writings that are succinct and lucid. Teachers are therefore responsible in emphasizing and ensuring that students understand a given language well while learning in class, and particularly when they write essays. The purpose of this study is to get a holistic insight into how the processes of teaching and learning are carried out based on HOTS in argumentative essay writing. This study employs a qualitative case study design with voluntary participation from two participants. The research was conducted at a boarding school in Selangor. Three data collection techniques were used in this study, namely, in-depth interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis of the argumentative essays written by the students. Research findings revealed that the teachers have adopted a teaching and learning method using figuratives, proverbs, and words of wisdom as one of the strategies to help students develop their higer order thinking skills in argumentative essay writing.