The Effectiveness of Using Constructive Learning Strategies in Teaching English Language on Developing the Achievement of Grammar, Translation, and Critical Thinking Skills for the Third Grade Intermediate Students

The aim of the chapter is to provide both theoretical and practical ideas about critical thinking development within English language teaching contexts. Encouraging language learners to be critical thinkers is important in teaching English as a foreign language. However, achieving the goal remains a challenge. Using various strategies together seem to be effective when properly implemented. Therefore this chapter outlines these strategies which include communicative language tasks, using authentic meaningful texts, using critical literacy, being aware of whole-brain learning, adopting a reflective teaching, enabling students to become autonomous, using explicit instruction, teacher questioning, using active and cooperative learning strategies, using literature in English classes, using creative drama, and adopting self-assessment. Teachers can enable learners to have critical thinking skills and more efficient English lessons by combining these strategies in a new way or by designing critical thinking activities in the classroom.

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Fostering Critical Thinking Using Instructional Strategies in English Classes

Research Anthology on Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Students ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-3022-1.ch005 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 79-96

Author(s):

Şenol Orakcı ◽

Mehmet Durnali ◽

Osman Aktan

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

Language Learners ◽

Critical Literacy ◽

English Language ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

English Language Teaching ◽

Self Assessment ◽

English Classes

The aim of the chapter is to provide both theoretical and practical ideas about critical thinking development within English language teaching contexts. Encouraging language learners to be critical thinkers is important in teaching English as a foreign language. However, achieving the goal remains a challenge. Using various strategies together seem to be effective when properly implemented. Therefore this chapter outlines these strategies which include communicative language tasks, using authentic meaningful texts, using critical literacy, being aware of whole-brain learning, adopting a reflective teaching, enabling students to become autonomous, using explicit instruction, teacher questioning, using active and cooperative learning strategies, using literature in English classes, using creative drama, and adopting self-assessment. Teachers can enable learners to have critical thinking skills and more efficient English lessons by combining these strategies in a new way or by designing critical thinking activities in the classroom.

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Portraying Teacher’s Metacognitive Knowledge to Promote EFL Young Learners’ Critical Thinking in Indonesia

International Journal of Language Education ◽

10.26858/ijole.v5i1.13043 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 552

Author(s):

Rika Riwayatiningsih ◽

Sri Setyarini ◽

Rahmat Agung Azmi Putra

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Language Learning ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

English Language ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Metacognitive Knowledge ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

Young Learners ◽

Fifth Grade Students ◽

New Information

Teaching English as a foreign language to young learners in Indonesia requires specific strategies because young learners have different characteristics compared to adults. It demands English teachers to have sufficient metacognitive knowledge to promote students’ critical thinking skills. Therefore, this research paper presents findings on teacher’s metacognitive knowledge to promote EFL young learners critical thinking. A case study was employed involving one class of fifth-grade students with one English teacher and three instruments to collect data, namely classroom observation, interview, and document analysis. The data analysis was done by referring to the theory of metacognitive knowledge and stages in promoting critical thinking in EFL classroom. The findings reveal that the teacher performed three types of metacognitive knowledge, such as person, task, and strategic knowledge. These types of knowledge determined teacher’s strategy in running the class. It was indicated from the teacher’s statement showing that metacognitive knowledge guide herself through what, why, and how to implement learning strategies and predict outcomes by considering students’ needs and characteristics. Consequently, the students were able to analyze, evaluate, compare, contrast, and construct new information from their previous knowledge and experience.Keywords: Critical thinking, EFL young learners, English language learning, Indonesian educational context, Teacher’s metacognitive knowledge

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Fostering Learner’s Critical Thinking Skills in EFL: Some Practical Activities

European Scientific Journal ESJ ◽

10.19044/esj.2017.v13n29p126 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (29) ◽

pp. 126

Author(s):

Marsela Harizaj ◽

Veneranda Hajrulla

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

English Language ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Foreign Language Teachers ◽

Learning And Teaching

Developing student’s critical skills is one of the major concerns of foreign language teachers. Professional teachers and novice ones try to find ways to motivate their students. Developing communicative competence requires students to develop learning strategies and focus on language function and context. In every course assignments, learners understand and realize better that communication is not an easy thing. Developing accuracy and fluency in foreign language classes enhance students critical thinking too. However, What is critical thinking? What is the perception of learners about it? What communicative activities can foreign language teachers use in the classroom to enhance student’s critical thinking? These are some research questions that this paper brings in focus, from theory to practice. The study is based on observations in EFL classes. From observations, it was found that developing critical thinking skills help learners to enhance their communication, enlarge their vocabulary, and help them to learn how to use language for different purposes in a variety of contexts. Foreign language teachers can help learners develop critical thinking skills. In this paper, some suggestions for foreign language teachers to use practical activities to foster critical thinking will be presented. Thus, in English language learning and teaching contexts, critical thinking becomes more dynamic.

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Enhancing Learning Through Reflection– A Case Study of SEEU

SEEU Review ◽

10.1515/seeur-2017-0004 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 53-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Brikena Xhaferi ◽

Gezim Xhaferi

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Careful Consideration ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

Good Tool ◽

Self Reflection ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Study Results ◽

The Impact

Abstract Learning through reflection is one of the most interesting experiences that students might have. It is considered a very good tool for self-assessing learning. It is believed that “teachers who promote reflective classrooms ensure that students are fully engaged in the process of making meaning” (Costa and Kallick, 2008, para.5). Dewey (1991) was among the first researchers who based his work and research on the positive roles that reflection plays in fostering self-reflection and critical thinking. He has defined it as an active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief. Reflections give students opportunities to think and reflect about their learning and note down the obstacles they might face during this process. The present study aims to investigate the impact of journal writing in promoting critical-thinking skills, and its impact on enhancing learning. The study uses two instruments, a student refection journal and an interview. Also, Marzano’s New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives developed in 2000 was used in the third phase of the study. This Taxonomy contains Three Systems: the Self-system, the Metacognitive system and the Cognitive system. The overall study results show that reflection journals help students to become more independent learners, reflect on their learning experiences and identify the most useful learning strategies. Most importantly, all study participants hold positive attitudes towards reflection and they consider it as a valuable tool which can increase learning.

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Long-term trends accentuate the import of creative and critical thinking skills developed by design thinking and ill-defined questions

Teaching Public Administration ◽

10.1177/0144739416680850 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 190-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Robert A Peters ◽

Janice Maatman

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

Design Thinking ◽

Learning Strategy ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

The Great Recession ◽

1960S And 1970S ◽

The 1960S ◽

Fiscal Pressure

The economic, financial, and political trends such as stagnating standards of living, fiscal pressure, and an escalating mistrust of government were set in motion during the 1960s and 1970s. Due to the duration of the trends, the magnitude, but not the nature, of the challenges confronting the health care, nonprofit and public sectors has changed. Consequently, with the exception of adding topics relating to strategies for securing voluntary compliance and effectively interacting with constituents who are increasingly angry and opposed to government intervention, the Great Recession and subsequent Age of Austerity do not appreciably affect the Master in Public Administration (MPA) curriculum’s content. However, the intractable nature of the challenges accompanying the trends places a premium on cultivating the students’ critical thinking and creative skills. Meeting this challenge necessitates the adoption of learning strategies that shift to students a greater share of the responsibility for learning. One of the options for achieving the outcome is to provide students with the foundational materials and an ill-defined problem that, in conjunction with design thinking, maximizes the students’ freedom to independently define the problem, identify the requisite information for analysis, and develop solutions. The article provides examples of the learning strategy that has been applied in several courses.

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CRITICAL THINKING DEVELOPMENT OF NON-LINGUISTIC STUDENTS THROUGH THE EDUCATIONAL FOREIGN-LANGUAGE TEXT

Pedagogical Review ◽

10.23951/2307-6127-2021-2-124-134 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 124-134

Author(s):

Инна Вячеславовна Шукурова ◽

Наталья Евгеньевна Чеснокова

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Foreign Language ◽

English Language ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Educational Process ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

Language Resources ◽

Extraneous Material ◽

Language Text

Рассматривается вопрос развития критического мышления студентов средствами иностранного языка. Оценивается место и роль дисциплины «Иностранный язык» в развитии универсальных компетенций студентов и в их адаптации к современным требованиям, предъявляемым будущим специалистам. Представлены составляющие умения критического мышления, которые позволяют осмысливать полученную информацию, обобщать и отделять ее от второстепенных фактов, формулировать выводы, оценивать. Средством развития критического мышления студентов выбран учебный иноязычный текст, который рассматривается не только как источник информации, но и как средство активизации мыслительной деятельности. Отмечается недостаток методик, способствующих развитию критического мышления. Описывается возможность использования таксономии педагогических целей Б. Блума в работе с учебным текстом. Таксономия позволяет правильно ставить образовательные цели, формулировать мотивирующие задания и отслеживать прогресс в развитии умений. Приведен пример работы с учебным текстом по принципу таксономии, который дает возможность корректировать учебную деятельность студентов, направленную на развитие их критического мышления. The article considers the process of students’ critical thinking development through the English language resources. The authors highlight the importance of English in the developing of students’ universal competencies and their adaption to the current professional requirements. The article outlines the essential critical thinking skills that allow students to comprehend the received material, break down the material into its constituent parts, to distinguish relevant information from extraneous material, to synthesize, to infer and evaluate it. The educational foreign-language text is used as a means of students’ critical thinking development. The authors emphasize the text’s multifunction nature and its contribution into enhancement of students’ thinking activity. Despite the teachers’ keen interest in the process of critical thinking developing some authors prove the lack of methods and techniques promoting its growth. The article gives an overview of Bloom’s taxonomy and outlines its application in the educational process. The taxonomy is widely used to set educational objectives, to formulate motivating exercises and monitor headway in knowledge and skills developing. The study shows that not all textbooks and tasks are intended to enhance critical thinking skills. So, the authors analyzed their English textbook and changed their approach to work with the texts. The article describes the experience proving that new challenging tasks help students comprehend the received information, distinguish relevant facts, summarize and learn to evaluate.

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An Analysis of English for Palestine- Textbook of Grade Eight Based on Reflective Thinking Skills

مجلة الجامعة الإسلامية للدراسات التربوية والنفسية ◽

10.33976/iugjeps.29.4/2021/37 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

Keyword(s):

Content Analysis ◽

Analytical Approach ◽

English Language ◽

Reflective Thinking ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Teaching English ◽

The Third ◽

Evaluation Strategies ◽

Analyze Data

The current research aimed to analyze English for Palestine- textbook of eight based on reflective thinking skills. To achieve the study purpose, the two researchers adopted the descriptive analytical approach and designed a content analysis card in order to collect and analyze data. The content analysis was designed in terms of reflective thinking skills and refereed by a number of teaching English language specialists and experts in the field of teaching English language. The two researchers used SPSS (22) to get mean, std. deviation, sum and percentages. The results of content analysis showed that English for Palestine-8 includes reflective thinking skills with variant values. Observing got the highest percentage with (22.651%), followed by proposing with a percentage of (22.483%). Inferring got the third rank with a percentage of (20.134%). Then detecting contradictions got a percentage of (18.792%). However, reasoning got the lowest percentage with (15.939%). Thus, the two researchers recommended that the designers of the Palestinian curricula and specialists should focus on enriching reflective thinking skills when setting objectives, teaching and evaluation strategies, and standards should be built in order to evaluate the availability of reflective thinking skills in the English for Palestine textbooks.

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EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TO CRITICAL READING

Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod University Series «Pedagogy Social Work» ◽

10.24144/2524-0609.2021.48.93-96 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 93-96

Author(s):

Nataliia Hromova

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Reading Instruction ◽

Reading Skills ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

Habits Of Mind ◽

Critical Reading ◽

Intermediate Students ◽

English Classes ◽

General Importance

. Critical thinking skills are one of the key requirements for a modern specialist in the professional world nowadays. Applying critical thinking while reading texts must become the essential approach to dealing with information. This study focuses on an exploratory investigation of the students’ attitude to critical reading tasks at the English classes. The present survey aims at exploring low-intermediate students’ attitude to critical reading assignments used at the English classes. The main tasks are the following: 1) to carry out a survey on students’ attitude towards critical reading and critical reading instruction at university; 2) to test the students’ critical reading skills; 3) to interview the students on their assessment of the reading tasks to identify the habits of mind available to develop their critical reading skills. The data were collected from the students’ questionnaire, the critical reading test and the students’ interviews. The findings support the results of the foreign researchers’ surveys about the lack of curiosity, relevant habits of mind and the majority of textbooks containing factual tasks which hinder the development of the readers’ critical attitude to information. Although the students admitted the general importance of critical reading, they did not seem to understand the essence of these skills and showed indifference to critical reading tasks during the second and third stages of the experiment. Thus, the prospects of the further research aim at designing and implementation of a reading English texts program for university low-intermediate students which could involve more critical reading assignments to promote critical habits of mind.

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PENERAPAN STRATEGI RELATING, EXPERIENCING, APPLYING, COOPERATING, DAN TRANSFERING (REACT) UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN BERPIKIR KREATIF MATEMATIS SISWA

Symmetry Pasundan Journal of Research in Mathematics Learning and Education ◽

10.23969/symmetry.v5i2.3265 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lamlam Patimah ◽

Lia Saniah

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

Creative Thinking ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

Attitude Scale ◽

Critical Thinking Skills ◽

Learning Models ◽

Study Population ◽

Embedded Type ◽

Creative Thinking Ability

This research is motivated by the lack of critical thinking skills and the ability to think creatively mathematical mathematical students. This study reviews, Upgrades Critical Thinking Mathematical and Thinking Skills Creative Mathematical and differences between students who apply Learning Strategies Relating, Experiencing, Applying, Cooperating, and Transferring (REACT) with students who received conventional learning models, and relationships critical thinking skills and mathematical creative thinking ability of students. The method used in this study is a mixed methods embedded type. The study population were students of class X SMK Pasundan I Cianjur enrolled in the academic year 2015/2016. The samples used were two classes of 14 existing classes. The instrument used to collect data in the form of instrument test critical thinking skills and the ability to think creatively mathematically, attitude scale, observation and interview sheet. Data were analyzed using mean difference test ie t-test (quantitative) and descriptions (qualitative). The results showed that Improvement of critical thinking skills of students who apply strategies Learning Relating, Experiencing, Applying, Cooperating, and Transferring (REACT) better than students who use learning models conventional.

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