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The Effect of Using Six Thinking Hats Strategy on the Development of Writing
Skills and Creativity of Seventh Grade EFL Students

Article  in  i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching · October 2020

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 RESEARCH PAPERS

THE EFFECT OF USING SIX THINKING HATS STRATEGY ON THE

DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING SKILLS AND CREATIVITY OF
SEVENTH GRADE EFL STUDENTS
By
UGYEN PHUNTSHO * DUMCHO WANGDI **
* Sherubling Central School, Trongsa, Bhutan.
** Bajothang Higher Secondary School, Wangdue, Bhutan.

Date Received: 04/08/2019 Date Revised: 20/08/2019 Date Accepted: 28/05/2020

ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of using Six Thinking Hats (STH) strategy on the development of writing skill
and creativity of seventh grade EFL students. A pretest and posttest quasi-experimental research design was employed
involving 65 (34 control, 31 experimental) seventh grade EFL students studying in one of the higher secondary schools under
Trongsa district. The writing ability test was administered for both the groups to determine the differences in their learning
achievements. The writing skill of English for the experimental group was taught using STH strategy while the control was
taught using a conventional method. A t-test for the pretest revealed that there was no significant mean difference
between the two groups, indicating a homogenous learning ability at the beginning (p=.78). However, the posttest analysis
revealed a statistical significant difference between the mean scores of writing skills in favor of experimental group
(M=15.17, SD=2.23) than the control group (M=11.89, SD=2.46) at p=.00, indicating the improvement of students writing
skill and creativity due to the treatment of STH strategy.
Keywords: Creativity, EFL Students, Seventh Grade, Six Thinking Hats, Writing Skills.

INTRODUCTION are achieved and can be communicated through writing

The process of learning and receiving information has
become so easy and fast in the era of the digital revolution.
The creation of new knowledge and the discoveries are
evolving so rapidly covering all the fields. This knowledge
revolution and development demands human thinking
and are the attributes of it. While the widespread demands
and interest in developing human thinking is of paramount
importance in this era (Fisher, 2005) as cited in Dhanapal
and Ling (2013), the preparation of individuals to face
challenges in such a rapid progress of knowledge and
technological advancement is also seen apparent
(Farajallah & Saidam, 2018).
Thinking has become decisive human resource. It has the
potential to sort things out, bring in information, explore the
situation, look at things in different methods, challenge their
dogmatism, and decide what they want to choose (Al-
Khataybeh & Al-Tarawneh, 2015). The potential of thinking
as it has the main role in communication. Writing can be
viewed as a mode of learning to convey creative
knowledge as it is regarded as more than a means of
communicating, remembering and organizing ideas
effectively (Barrass, 2005; Rossbery, 1989)
Writing is an important means of communicative
language. In the same way, developing the students'
writing skill is considered to be one of the most important
objectives in the Bhutanese curricula. Moreover, the trend
towards English as a foreign language (EFL) has also
accentuated the significance and necessity of developing
creative thinking as an integral part of English language
learning curriculum (Tang, 2016). Like elsewhere, English
curriculum in Bhutan also consists of the four ways of
discourse; listening and speaking, reading and literature,
writing and, language and grammar. Among these modes
of discourse, the previous studies have revealed that

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 RESEARCH PAPERS
Bhutanese students faced difficulties in writing as
compared to others strands irrespective of grade levels
(Thinley et al., 2013; Dorji, 2015; Robinson 2013; Bhutan
Council of School Examination and Assessment, 2013).
Creativity largely refers to a way of learning that enables the
learner to make connections between distinct elements,
generation of new ideas, identification of important
problems, asking questions that stem from curiosity,
reluctance to accept regular norms along with flexibility
and originality (Bishara, 2016). Creative thinking can
expand the students' learning experience and make
language learning deeper and more meaningful (Zhao
et.al, 2016). In language study, the components
representative of creative thinking are: (1) fluency, the
creation of new ideas; (2) flexibility, the production of a
large variety of ideas; (3) originality, the use of ideas that are
not palpable, or are statistically uncommon (Torrance,
1972).
While there is plethora of strategies that have proved in
developing the students writing skill and creativity in various
courses and context, there is no study conducted to
investigate the effect of STH on development of writing skills
and creativity in the Bhutanese context. Moreover, LaPrairie
(2014) had also highlighted the need for the Bhutanese
teachers to make different strategic choices inside
classroom in teaching English. This study was motivated to
fill in this gap of literature and to offer different strategies in
learning English to students. Thus, this study employed STH
strategy an intervention strategy in developing writing skills
and creativity of the seventh grade EFL students.
1. Literature Review
1.1 Developing Writing Skills and Creativity
Previous studies engaged in developing the writing skills
and creativity of the EFL student have employed various
strategies. Some of them were, process approach (PA)
strategy (Thinley et al., 2013; Klimova, 2013), explicit
instruction, teacher questioning, as well as active and
cooperative learning strategies (Zhao et.al, 2016) and
using pictures and alternative characters to represent
meanings as a creative writing strategy (Chen & Zhou,
2010), direct grammar instruction (Robinson & Feng, 2016),
28 i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, Vol. 10 l
PLEAE strategy (Aminatun et al., 2019), cooperative
learning strategy (Yusuf et al., 2019), using strategic
techniques (Okasha & Hamdi, 2014), brain writing strategy
(Virdyna, 2016) and STH strategy is another effective
method in developing students writing skills and creativity
(Al-Khataybeh & Al-Tarawneh, 2015; Al-Bakri, 2011).
1.2 Six Thinking Hats Strategy
Six Thinking Hats is a thinking tool which was introduced by
Maltese psychologist and physiologist Dr. Edward de Bono
in 1999. This thinking tool provides means for group or
individual to think creatively and to plan thinking processes
in detailed and cohesive way. This approach guides the
individuals to use a particular thinking style represented by
individual coloured hats (Aithal & Kumar, 2017a).
De Bono (1994, 1999) used six metaphoric colored hats to
represent six different modes of thinking in thinking skill
activity as follows:
White Hat – facts, figures, and objective information; Red
Hat – emotions, feelings, hunches, intuition; Black Hat –
focuses on putting the caution points on the thinkers. It also
critically assesses the weaknesses of an idea and also the
reasons why something will not work; Yellow Hat – focuses
on the positive aspects of why something will work; Green
Hat – focuses on creativity, generating new ideas,
provoking thoughts, and, Blue Hat– controls the other hats,
thinking about the thinking process, directs attention to
other hats to facilitate the thinking (Al-Khataybeh & Al-
Tarawneh, 2015).
According to De Bono (1999) the thinking becomes
creative and effective in looking at an issue or topic from a
variety of angles or a problem from all six directions when
wearing all six coloured hats than single coloured hat.
Moreover, “wearing all six colour hats allows students to
think more richly and more comprehensively” (De Bono,
1992: p. 15). Writing is important part of language and
means of communication in more time and space
besides being a powerful thinking tool (De Bono, 1994).
Furthermore, the studies elsewhere (Gregory & Masters,
2010) have also established the connection between
writing and creativity and they are strongly linked to each
other.
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 RESEARCH PAPERS
The creativity can be improved through the implementation
of STH in the activity during group discussion or in individual
thinking process (De Bono & Zimbalist, 1970). Moreover, STH
assist teachers to engage their students in metacognition
and provide scaffolding in writing and in creative thinking.
Thereby creating the supportive classroom environment
which empowers children to write and think creatively – that
should be created to promote their development (Mayer,
2007). STH has this potential. Hence, this study employed
STH to investigate its effect on the development of writing
skill and creativity of the seventh grade EFL students.
1.3 Past Studies Related to using STH Strategy
Over the past decades, many scholars and educators
around the globe have employed STH as a strategy for
teaching students in writing, creative thinking, decision
making and problem solving. Besides education and
science, the STH strategy was also used in high profile firm
and organization to overcome management issues and
for improved organizational performance. The effect of
using STH strategy were also studied in effective decision
making during organizational meeting (Aithal & Kumar,
2017a; Aithal & Kumar, 2017b; Saaid & Shahudin, 2015)
enhancing social workers' innovative competence (Azeez,
2016) and as a tool for problem solving in counselling
program (Li et al., 2008). Most of the studies were carried
out with experimental research design. Their study
declared STH as an effective strategy in decision making,
enhancing innovative competence of the social workers
and effective tool in counselling and supervision.
Similarly, several studies have employed STH strategy in the
field of education. For instance, Dhanapal and Ling (2013)
investigated how STH enhanced the learning of
environmental studies. Their study employed a mixed
method to explore and identify the effectiveness of the STH
in encouraging higher-order thinking skills and enhancing
learners' interests, leading to better academic
performances. Studies such as Fodah and Abdo (2005),
Farajallah and Saidam (2018), Tamura and Furukawa
(2007) and, Chone and Heng (2010) examined the effect
of STH in teaching and learning of STEM subjects at different
context and level. Their studies revealed the effectiveness
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April - June 2020
of STH in achieving the learning outcomes and creative
thinking significantly.
STH strategy was also largely used on the development of
English language learning for EFL students. (Saffin, 2003) as
cited in Kumari (2014) reported that the children become
more critical, constructive and creative in the way they
think during reflection activities through writing and
speaking in their normal day to day activities. The EFL
students' achievement in writing skills and writing
performance were revealed with the employment of STH
along with drama strategies (Al-Khataybeh & Al-Tarawneh,
2015). In a comparative study conducted by Koray (2005),
it has demonstrated a significant effect of STH strategy on
the learning achievement of the students. Kwayotha and
Tantriratna's (2008) study that investigated effect of STH in
developing the reading, thinking, and writing skills reported
a higher performance than the specified criterion. Al-Bakri
(2011) has employed STH as a teaching technique on EFL
students' performance in composition writing and has
observed a significant difference in favor of the
experimental group. Likewise, even for the elementary
stage of schooling, the effectiveness STH in writing skills were
reported (Tooley, 2009).
1.4 Teaching and Learning English in Bhutan
The English language plays a dominant role in Bhutanese
education system and as a medium for official
correspondences in majority of the institutions in Bhutan.
Bhutanese students start learning English right from their first
year of their schooling as pre-primary student. Although
Dzongkha is the national language which is taught at all
levels of schooling, it is still English that plays a predominant
role as a medium of instruction for rest of the subjects.
Even with this level of emphasis, the standard and the
quality of teaching and learning of English has been always
a concern for the education stakeholders in the country
(Ministry of Education, 2014). The diagnostic standardised
test conducted collaboratively by Royal Education
Initiatives and the iDiscoveri Education (2009) in 18 schools
for classes V, VII and IX in English, Mathematics and
Science, established that student learning outcomes were
below the minimum expectations of their grade levels and
29
 RESEARCH PAPERS
were unable to perform basic literary task. It also revealed
that the students generally enjoyed learning language
subjects – both Dzongkha and English but, found it
challenging to express in terms of English language. The
overall performance indicated that the Bhutanese students
were comparatively lower as compared to the international
level and were not even up to the national standard.
Furthermore, the National Education Assessment (NEA)
technical report 2013-2014 on their study of student
achievements in English and Mathematics literacy for
grade X revealed that the students were below average
(50%) in all the three major skills of English language. They
seemed to be slightly better in reading (38.13%) and writing
(39.38%) than in grammar which required them to use
application skills. However, the report stated that the
students still faced difficulties in speaking and writing skills
compared to listening and reading. The reasons for these
incongruities of learning difficulties faced can be attributed
to students' seldom or minimal practice of reading, writing
and use of dictionary on a daily basis. The other probable
reasons for such gaps in learning were stated to be teacher
competencies, teaching–learning materials, classroom
practices and learning environment, relevancy and
adequacy of professional development programmes,
class size, curriculum and assessment among many others
(Ministry of Education, 2014).
Thapa and Nidup's (2016) study on English language
proficiency of the pre-service teachers found out that in-
service teachers were not able to communicate
effectively nor could they speak grammatically correct
sentences. Consequently, students' achievement in English
proficiency at desired level of their grade, classroom
practices of instructive teaching and learning approaches
were found to be lacking. It asserts that teacher's English
language proficiency determines the quality of students
learning.
In the light of the findings from all these studies and with
limited information on using STH strategy in the Bhutanese
context, this study was motivated to use STH strategy for
seventh grade ESL students to develop their writing skills and
creativity.
30 i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, Vol. 10 l
2. Methodology
2.1 Research Design
A quasi-experimental study was employed in this study to
investigate the effect of using STH strategy on the
development of writing skills and creativity of the seventh
grade EFL students.
2.2 Sample
A total of 56 (n=34 experimental, n=32 control group)
seventh grade EFL students studying in one of the higher
secondary schools in central Bhutan were involved using a
random sampling method.
2.3 Research Instrument
This research which was experimental in nature had
employed a pretest and posttest achievement test to
gather the data. The pretest and posttest was administered
for each group (control and experiment group) on the
three texts chosen from the grade seven English textbook.
The test questions were submitted to the group of TEFL
experts and to the group of English lecturer from one of the
Education Colleges under Royal University of Bhutan for the
content validation. The face validity was done to ensure
test questions and their relevance to the characteristics of
each thinking hat as well as their appropriateness to writing
skills and also the clarity of the test questions. The reliability of
the instrument was established through a pilot test involving
25 participants who had already learnt the chosen text for
the study in their previous grade. The test was found reliable
after obtaining internal consistency (Cronbach alpha 0.89)
for all the test items.
2.4 Procedures
After pretest was conducted on both the groups, it was
established that both the group had no prior knowledge on
the STH strategy in writing and thinking. One section was
assigned randomly as experimental group which was
taught using the STH strategy for the duration of seven
consecutive weeks. The other section as a control group
which was taught using conventional method. Same three
text was taught in both the groups. The test was conducted
at the end of each text lesson on both the groups. The test
question were framed according to the characteristics of
each thinking hats. In every test, the group of five with six
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 RESEARCH PAPERS

students each were asked to write their answer to the given significant differences between experimental and control
questions according to each thinking hats they have group in terms of its mean scores (p>.05), supporting our
chosen. Once they finished answering the given questions hypothesis that both the groups possessed homogenous
about each hats, then the students shared their written learning before the treatment.
answer, organized their ideas and wrote a well-developed However, when posttest results of both the groups were
answer to the questions of the text. Their answers were compared to examine whether the writing skills of students
evaluated by the group of TEFL experts in the school. The were enhanced due to the treatment of STH strategy, it
students' answers and their writing skills were assessed indicated significant differences in the mean scores in
based on the rubrics developed: content and favor of the experimental group (p=.00).
comprehensibility (10), organization of ideas (5), grammar
3.2 Comparison of Creativity Components in Writing
and spelling (10) and sentence structure (5).
Table 2 shows the pretest and posttest mean for both the
The students' creativity in writing were assessed using
groups in terms of creative thinking components in writing.
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking components with 5
The pretest mean for control group ranges from 3.76 to
points each: (1) fluency (2) flexibility (3) originality. The
4.35 and for the experimental group, it ranges from 3.85 to
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking can be employed to
4.53. The p-value of three creativity components fluency
assess creativity in writing from pre-school to graduate
(.09), flexibility (.26) and originality (.14) for the control group
school (Rababah, 2018; Cheung, 2005) due to the test
were statistically not significant.
being comfortable and easy for the students. The self-
However, for the experimental group, there was a statistical
developed rubric for score in each test components were
significant difference in the mean scores for the same
used while assessing the students' creativity in writing.
creativity components (p=.00), signifying the effect of STH
In the course of teaching the experimental group with STH
strategy in developing creativity of EFL students in writing.
strategy, the process in each thinking hats has provided the
4. Discussion
students to structure their thinking to well-developed written
The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of using
answers to the questions creatively.
STH strategy on the development of writing skill and
2.5 Data Analysis
creativity of seventh grade EFL students. The study has two
The data obtained from pretest and posttest achievement
findings:
test were analyzed using t-test and descriptive statistics.
Control Group Experimental Group
3. Result Variables (Conventional method) (STH strategy)
Pre Post Pre Post
3.1 Achievement Test Result
Mean 11.22 11.89 1.05 15.17
The research objective of this study requires to examine the S.D 2.60 2.46 .37 2.23
effect of using STH strategy on the development of writing p value 0.78 .00

skill and creativity of seventh grade EFL students. Since the

Table 1. Comparison of Pretest and Posttest on Writing Skill
pretest and posttest data of the students are not
independent, it is not plausible to examine the mean Pretest Posttest
P
Group Variables M SD M SD
differences obtained due to the impact of the STH strategy
Control Fluency 3.98 1.33 4.63 1.74 .09
for the experimental group.
Flexibility 3.76 1.10 4.11 1.43 .26
Thus, as shown in the Table 1, the mean of the pretest for Originality 4.35 1.09 4.86 1.69 .14
Fluency 3.89 0.93 5.19 1.00 .00
control group (M=11.22; SD=2.60) taught using
Experiment Flexibility 4.53 1.17 6.87 1.55 .00
conventional method and experimental group (M=11.05; Originality 3.85 1.04 6.04 1.54 .00
SD=2.37) taught using STH strategy was compared. The
independent samples t-tests revealed that there were no Table 2. t-test for the Creativity Components in Writing

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 RESEARCH PAPERS
Firstly, the STH as strategy for writing skill has developed the
writing skill of the seventh grade EFL student after the
experimental group was taught with using STH as a strategy
for development of the EFL students' writing skill. Secondly,
the STH as a strategy for writing skill has improved the
seventh grade EFL students' creativity in their writing.
The first finding was in line with the study conducted by Al-
Khataybeh and Al-Tarawneh (2015). In their study, Al-
Khatayeh and Al-Tarawne (2015) have administered a
writing ability test by employing STH strategy for the
experimental group while the control group was taught with
conventional method. Their findings indicated a statistically
significant difference in favor of the experimental group
taught with STH strategy. Similar results of statistical
signficance in favor of the experimental group were also
reported in the findings of Tooley (2009) and Al-Bakri (2011).
The STH strategy strongly incorporates the concepts of
developing the writing skills of the learners. So, it is
reasonable that the impact of having higher mean score
for the experimental group were noticed in the study. As a
new strategy introduced in the learning context of the
Bhutanese students for the first time, STH strategy might
have possibly engaged them to remain connected and
totally engaged. In this strategy, the assignment of the
writing task in the group was done by wearing each thinking
hats with strong emphasis on cooperative learning.
Subsequently, such supportive learning strategy might
have perhaps assisted and motivated the student who
lacked the writing skills to excel at par with the other better
performing students. The other reasons could also be due
to the distinctive aspects of the each thinking hats that
engaged the students in meta cognition and provided
scaffolding in writing thereby, creating the supportive
classroom environment which empowers children develop
their writing (Mayer, 2007).
The second finding revealed that there was improvement
in the seventh grade EFL students' creativity in their writing
components. The finding was in congruence with the study
conducted by (Saffin, 2003) as cited in Kumari (2014)
(Kumari, 2014) who reported that the children become
more critical, constructive and creative in the way they
32 i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, Vol. 10 l
think during reflection activities through writing activity. The
finding also agrees with the finding of Kwayotha and
Tantriratna (2008), who investigated the effect of using STH
on the development of EFL students' thinking skill besides
reading and writing skills. Their study reported a higher
performance in students' thinking than the specified
criterion. Likewise, a study by Fodah and Abdo (2005) also
examined the effect of using the six thinking hats in
developing the skills of creative thinking.
In general, as De Bono (1994) asserts, writing is a powerful
thinking tool that fosters creative thinking. The STH as a
thinking tool provided the platform for the groups or the
individuals wearing six colour hats to think more creatively
and comprehensively (De Bono, 1992). The assignment of
the thinking hats to each student during group work alerted
their participation to be more responsible in terms of
thinking and sharing the information. Moreover, this study
observed that the experimental groups were motivated by
the STH strategy as it helped students to be creative,
imaginative, and cautious of their thoughts before writing
their answer to the questions.
5. Recommendations
In the light of the findings of this study, it was found
imperative for the teachers teaching English as foreign
language to use STH strategy as an alternative strategy in
teaching writing skill that provides students to think
creatively in the process of writing. The STH strategy still
remains as a new strategy in the Bhutanese context due to
limited documents, curricula materials and research. This
study thus, commends future studies to focus on using STH
strategy on other skills of English such as reading and
speaking. The effects of using STH strategy in STEM subjects
sounds interesting.
While this study did not investigate the Bhutanese students'
attitude towards STH as a strategy for the development of
their writing skill, this is a scope for the future researches that
may attempt to examine the Bhutanese students' attitude
towards STH strategy as well. STH strategy is new for most of
the Bhutanese teachers, the study recommends the
stakeholders concerned in organizing seminars and
workshops to train teachers and familiarize on
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 RESEARCH PAPERS
implementing the STH in teaching English language and
other subjects.
6. Limitations
This study investigated the effect of using STH strategy on
the development of writing skill and creativity of seventh
grade EFL students in one of the higher secondary schools
under Trongsa district, Bhutan. The findings from this study
are limited to the seventh grade EFL students only.
Generalizing the findings to rest of the EFL students in the
schools of Bhutan might not be appropriate. In future, the
study could be conducted to investigate the effects of STH
strategy in teaching on other skills of English and other
subjects like STEM subjects to expand the findings and its
generalizability.
Conclusion
This quasi-experimental study investigated the effect of
using STH strategy on the development of writing skills and
creativity of the seventh grade EFL students. The t-test result
for experimental group on the posttest revealed the
significant development in writing skill and creativity of the
seventh grade EFL students. However, it was noted that no
statistical significant were established in posttest for control
group. Thus, the study revealed the development of
students' writing skill on experimental group after taught with
STH strategy. It also revealed that use of STH strategy in
teaching writing skill of English has effect on developing the
students' creative thinking in the process of writing.
Therefore, STH strategy is effective for developing writing skill
and creativity of the EFL students, moreover the teacher
may use as an alternative strategy for developing scientific
concepts and creative scientific thinking.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Ugyen Phuntsho is teacher at Sherubling Central School in Central Bhutan. He is currently teaching English to EFL students. His
research interest includes Action Research and Pedagogical Practices in teaching English and Mathematics to EFL students.

Dumcho Wangdi teaches Physics at Bajothang Higher Secondary School, Wangdue in Western Bhutan. He has M.Sc. in Science
and Technology Education from Mahidol University in Thailand. His research interests include Science Education, Science
Teaching, Metacognition, Social Bonds, and Teacher Professional Development.

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