A Program Based on Brain-Based Learning and Emotional Intelligence for Developing EFL Secondary School Students’ Critical Writing Skills

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of a program based on brain-based learning and emotional intelligence on developing some EFL critical writing skills of secondary school students. The quasi-experimental design was adopted. Fifty students (first-year secondary stage) participated in this study. They were randomly drawn from Gamal Abdel Nasser secondary school for Girls in Zagazig, Sharqiyah Governorate and equally divided into an experimental group and a control group. An EFL critical writing test, and a program based on brain-based learning and emotional intelligence were designed by the researcher. The program was conducted in the first term of the academic year 2018/2019 and lasted for seven weeks, three sessions a week. The students of the control group received the regular instruction. By the end of the experimentation, the critical writing test was administered to the experimental and control groups. The scores of the experimental and control groups were compared and analyzed. Also, the pre and post scores of the experimental group were compared and analyzed. The results of the study indicated that: (i)the experimental group surpassed the control in the post administrations of the EFL critical writing test, (ii) the experimental group did better in the post administrations of the critical writing test than in the pre -administration. Therefore, it could be concluded that the program based on brain-based learning and emotional intelligence had a positive effect on developing EFL critical writing skills of secondary school students