The Role of Discussion Styles in Developing EFL Persuasive Writing and Critical Thinking Skills of Postgraduate Students

This study aimed at exploring the impact of Online Threaded Discussion on developing persuasive writing and critical thinking skills of Master in Business Administration (MBA) and Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) Students – Faculty of Business, Ain Shams University. Participants were 30 MBA and DBA Students. They were assigned equally to three groups; the first face-to-face experimental group which was taught using Fishbowl Discussion Strategy, the second experimental online group was taught using Online Threaded Discussion and the third experimental blended group was taught using both Online Threaded Discussion and Fishbowl Discussion Strategy. The instruments used in this study were a pre-post persuasive writing test and a pre-post critical thinking test. The working LEA program was administrated to the three experimental groups in 2023 at El Sewedy Electric Group. The results showed that there was statistically significant overall improvement of students’ persuasive writing and critical thinking skills. Implications and recommendations as well as suggestions for further studies were provided.