AI-Powered Scaffolding: Guiding ESL Readers to HOTS Mastery

In many ESL classrooms, would you concur with me if I say that a recurring concern among educators is the noticeable absence of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) among many ESL readers? While most learners may be able to answer basic comprehension questions, some of them often struggle to move beyond surface-level understanding. Personally, I believe a key symptom of this challenge is their inability to pose HOTS-based questions on their own. Instead of engaging critically with a text, they tend to rely heavily on the basic comprehension questions, which limits their analytical growth and deep understanding.

Perhaps, this lack of HOTS questioning stems partly from an overemphasis on merely answering the questions provided in the textbook or revision book, often reinforced by traditional teaching practices and assessment formats. Many ESL learners are trained to seek “the right answer” instead of exploring multiple interpretations or evaluating authorial intent. Am I right? Without opportunities or scaffolding to think critically, students are less likely to formulate questions that involve analysis, evaluation or creation; the skill which is vital for real academic and personal development.

It is therefore crucial for ESL teachers to take intentional steps to nurture these higher-order skills in the reading classroom. One effective and structured way to do this is through the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy. As all of us know, this cognitive framework categorises thinking into six levels; remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating, and creating. To me, by introducing and modelling HOTS questions aligned with the upper tiers of this taxonomy, teachers can gradually guide students to internalise how deeper questioning works and why it matters.

Beyond doubt, some ESL readers need scaffolding and guidance to formulate HOTS questions based on the text or passage they read. At the initial stage, teachers may offer HOTS questions of evaluation and creation levels as illustrated below. For example, based on the short text below from Full Blast! Plus 4 Textbook (page 71), the questions offered by ChatGPT should be analysed and examined by the ESL readers to enhance their ability to formulate HOTS questions. Before conducting this activity, I strongly recommend providing students with an introduction to Bloom’s Taxonomy, including the key verbs associated with each level. This will help them clearly understand the differences between the analysis, application, evaluation, and creation stages.

Evaluation-Level Questions (offered by ChatGPT)

(Making judgments, defending opinions, comparing)

1. Do you think it is safe to go skiing after heavy snowfalls? Why or why not?

2. Was it the right decision to keep ski resorts open after the snowfall? Explain.

3. How would you rate the safety of ski resorts in France based on this news?

4. Which group (skiers, resort staff, or government) should be most responsible for safety? Why?

5. Do you think the warning signs are enough to stop accidents? Give your opinion.

6. Should people cancel their ski holidays because of avalanches? Defend your answer.

7. How does this natural disaster compare to others like floods or earthquakes in terms of risk?

Creation-Level Questions or Tasks (Offered by ChatGPT)

(Designing, imagining, planning, writing)

1. What information would you include in a poster to warn tourists about the dangers of avalanche?

2. What do you think will happen to the business at the ski resorts?

3. What new safety plan would you design for ski resorts during winter?

4. If you were one of the family members of the victims, how would you feel and why?

5. If you were at the resort during the avalanche, what would you write in your diary?

6. How would you write a news report about the avalanche from a local resident’s point of view?

7. What could be a safety slogan for skiers at the resorts?

Another simple option would be to prompt students to generate “why” and “how” questions after reading, compare characters’ decisions, evaluate alternative endings, or create new versions of a scene. Pairing this with sentence stems based on Bloom’s verbs can empower ESL learners to ask questions like “What might happen if…?” or “How does this character’s action reflect...?” Over time, this habit of questioning not only enhances reading comprehension but also builds confidence in language use.

In conclusion, developing ESL readers into independent critical thinkers may take some time but it must be a priority. Absolutely, it requires a deliberate effort to embed HOTS questioning into reading tasks, grounded in Bloom’s Taxonomy. If needed, teachers can always integrate this effort with artificial intelligence as suggested above. By doing so, ESL teachers can cultivate learners who do not merely consume texts passively but interrogate, challenge, and extend them actively; key traits of lifelong learners in a complex, thinking-driven world.