INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF A BLOOM’S TAXONOMY-BASED STRATEGY ON EFL STUDENTS’ SELF-GENERATED READING QUESTIONS AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS: A VIETNAMESE CLASSROOM STUDY

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of explicit instruction in Bloom’s Taxonomy on the cognitive levels of self-generated reading questions by Vietnamese EFL university students, as well as their perceptions of this strategy. Adopting an exploratory case study design, the researcher worked with 15 university students from non-English majors, who took part in three online sessions of a reading course. The participants were asked to formulate their own comprehension questions before and after being introduced to Bloom’s hierarchical framework. Content analysis of the questions revealed a modest shift toward higher-order thinking, with the emergence of Create-level questions (5.6%) and increases in Apply and Evaluate categories. Meanwhile, thematic analysis of the students’ written reflections revealed a gradual shift in their perceptions, moving from initial uncertainty and difficulty to increased confidence, strategic awareness, and recognition of cognitive benefits. Despite remaining challenges in formulating higher-level questions, most of the students expressed a willingness to apply the strategy in future academic reading. The findings highlight the pedagogical potential of Bloom’s Taxonomy not only as a tool for teachers but also as a metacognitive scaffold to support learner autonomy and critical engagement with texts in EFL contexts.