Fostering Critical Thinking Using Instructional Strategies in English Classes

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.

Fostering Critical Thinking Using Instructional Strategies in English Classes

2019 ◽  
pp. 299-316
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.

scholarly journals Critical Thinking Development: The Case of the English Course in the CPGE Classes in Meknes, Fes and Kenitra

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Karima Belghiti ◽  
Yamina El Kirat El Allame ◽  
Mohamed Chana
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
English Language ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
English Classes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Thinking Instruction

Critical thinking is generally claimed to be an essential requirement to effective learning and productive living. In a world of rapid change and globalization, skills such as problem solving, decision making and critical thinking are believed to be particularly acute for engineering graduates. While the Moroccan public university has just started to gain interest in critical thinking development (Belghiti, 2012; El Kirat & Belghiti, 2014), the Moroccan engineering education has been fostering such skills for many years now; this has led the English Language Teaching (ELT) guidelines of the Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Ecoles (CPGE) in Morocco to clearly emphasize the explicit use of critical thinking instruction in the English courses to develop the students' critical thinking and prepare them for the social and professional life. Accordingly, this study has attempted to investigate the extent to which critical thinking skills are important in the English course in engineering preparatory classes. It has also aimed to investigate the teaching and assessment practices used in the English classes to develop the students' critical thinking skills. Adopting the mixed methods approach, the study focused on the CPGE centers in Meknes, Fez, and Kenitra. The findings of the study revealed that both CPGE students and teachers are aware of the importance of critical thinking at the professional, academic, social and personal levels. The findings also revealed that the teaching and assessment of critical thinking is done in an explicit way in the CPGE English classes.

scholarly journals Effect of Instructions in Course Book Tasks on Promoting Higher-Order Thinking Skills

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
Hanoof Khalid Alshaiji ◽  
Shaima Jamal Al-Saeed
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
English Language ◽  
Higher Order Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Higher Order Thinking Skills

As stakeholders of educational systems, teachers are urged to participate in social change through the implementation of critical thinking skills into the educational setting. English language teaching has primarily focused on critical thinking, particularly in the recent years. Therefore, teachers are required to examine their teaching materials to ensure that they meet the needs of the 21st century. This study investigates the extent of implemented higher-order thinking skills using revised Bloom’s taxonomy. It examines tasks in course books used at the College of Technological Studies at the Public Authority of Applied Education and Training in Kuwait. The course books examined are Tech Talk at the elementary, pre-intermediate, and intermediate levels. The findings of this study prove that most of the tasks in the sample chosen encourage students’ lower cognitive skills. Therefore, syllabus and material designers and teachers should include tasks that foster higher-order cognitive skills. The results are expected to serve as reference for direct language teachers when planning lessons in their course book adaptation and with curriculum development.  

scholarly journals Peculiarities Of Developing Critical Thinking In Primary School Students In The Process Of English Language Teaching

2020 ◽  
Vol 02 (12) ◽  
pp. 223-229
Author(s):  
Mamadjanova Nozima Adhamovna ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
School Students ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
Development And Management

This article discusses that the ability to think critically does not develop spontaneously. On the contrary, teachers play a major role in the development and management of the learning process. Foreign language classes help to develop critical thinking through a variety of materials and interactive learning technologies. Exploring the essence of critical thinking allowed him to move on to taking into account his abilities. As a result of studying this problem, it can be said that the foreign literature pays special attention to critical thinking skills.

scholarly journals Improving Pupils’ Genuine Love for Reading and Critical Thinking Using the Strategies of the Four-Pronged Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 41-51
Author(s):  
Antonieta Sevilla Palasan
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental

This study aims at improving the language skills of pupils, particularly their Genuine Love for Reading (GLR) and Critical Thinking Skills (CTS), which are two components of the Four-Pronged Approach to English language teaching. The other two components are Grammar and Oral Language Development (GOLD) and Transfer Stage (TS) but they were not included in this study. The researcher conducted the study using the pre-test—post-test quasi-experimental research design in which fifth grade pupils were divided into two groups: the control group exposed to the regular teaching approach and the experimental group exposed to the instructional strategies of the four-pronged approach for 78 sessions. Prior to the conduct of the interventions, a pre-test was administered to determine the pupils’ level of GLR and CT. The researcher also prepared lessons plans that followed the instructional plan of the four-pronged approach, which were used during the 78 sessions. Results revealed that the experimental group’s Genuine Love for Reading (GLR) and Critical Thinking Skills (CTS) improved significantly as compared to those in the control group. The findings suggest that the strategies of the Four-Pronged Approach help enhance in English language abilities of pupils. Relevant recommendations are forwarded in light of the outcomes of the study.

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

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

scholarly journals Improving EFL Learners’ Critical Thinking Skills in Argumentative Writing

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabila Nejmaoui
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
English Language ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Argumentative Writing ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Experimental Group

In the 21st century where information has become easily available and accessible, education has shifted its attention to teaching students how to process and think critically about the information they receive. Welcoming the changes that education constantly witnesses, the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) has embraced the integration of critical thinking. Accordingly, the present paper aims to explore the effect, if any, of integrating critical thinking on learners’ use of critical thinking skills in argumentative writing. To this end, an experimental study was conducted; 36 Moroccan EFL learners from the department of English were divided evenly into an experimental group and a control group. While the participants in the experimental group were taught writing with critical thinking skills, the others were taught writing with no reference to these skills. The participants in both groups took a pre-test and posttest to evaluate the development of their use of critical thinking skills in argumentative writing. The data which has been quantitatively analyzed indicates that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group. The students’ ability to use more credible evidence, address alternative arguments, support conclusions, and maintain the logical flow of ideas in their essays did not reach a mastery level in the posttest, yet the average level they reached is reassuring in view of the short time of the training they had. An integration of CT for longer periods may bring forth encouraging outcomes.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Visual Mind Mapping Strategy for Improving English Language Learners' Critical Thinking Skills and Reading Ability

2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-150
Author(s):  
Wafa’ A. ◽  
Moath Khalaf
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
English Language ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Mind Mapping ◽  
Mapping Strategy ◽  
And Control

<p style="text-align: justify;">This study investigated the effectiveness of visual mind mapping as a reading strategy for improving English language learners' critical thinking skills. Students from two general English courses were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. California Critical Thinking Test was used to assess participants' critical thinking skills. The findings revealed a statistically significant difference at (p < .005) in the mean scores of the experiment and control groups in the post-test due to visual mind mapping strategy in favor of the experimental group with a positive and significant impact on participants' critical thinking skills. The findings also showed that the experimental group’s scores were significantly improved in all indicators of critical thinking. The study results showed that visual mind mapping strategy affected the increased of critical thinking skills and reading comprehension ability. The study's findings revealed that using a visual mind mapping strategy had a significant improvement impact on English language learners critical thinking skills and reading ability.</p>

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