Developing Critical Thinking for Children Through EFL Learning

4th Year Methodology II (Curr 411) 2009

Prof. Asmaa G. Gheith

Director, Center for Developing English Language Teaching (CDELT)Faculty of Education Ain shams University Cairo, Egypt

Learning outcomes Through completion of this part, e-learners should be able to: Identify the concept of critical thinking; Identify critical thinking as a life skill; Identify critical thinking as an authentic context; Identify critical thinking as a problem solving approach; Suggest language activities that reflect the concept of critical thinking; and, Understand, criticize, make a decision and reflect various critical thinking skills on language activities. Activities Entire group discussion in a face to face session. Asynchronous and synchronous online activities. E-group activities.

Assessment Techniques Peer review to deepen the learners' own understanding of critical thinking. E-group activities to formulate a theoretical viewpoint concerning critical thinking as a constructivist trend. Suggesting activities to reflect the critical thinking concept. E-quizzes.

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Developing Critical Thinking for Children through EFL Learning

The Spirit of Inquiry: Creativity and Community

AbstractThis Paper is an attempt to determine what critical thinking means for children. A working definition of critical thinking is specified to this paper. Developing critical thinking skills for children is focused. As well as, different learning strategies and activities are enhanced. Teachers of English as a foreign language, supervisors, and researchers in the field should increase awareness of using various activities to develop critical thinking skills through language learning in the early stages of education. This is realized in an authentic and live context. So, both language and critical thinking become a life skill. Various foreign language teaching approaches are adopted and referred to in this paper. Language is thought. Those attempts to separate both phenomena, actually characterize the learning context with failure. Active learning forms do support the context in which freedom of action is the dominant feature. This provides opportunities for the realization of integrative critical thinking and language skills as a common feature of the current needs of this age.

* Paper presented to Concordia University Conference titled "The Spirit of InquiryCreativity and Community: Concordia, 14 15, May 2007

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Different approaches, teaching / learning strategies, as well as, using interesting topics, increase the learners awareness of such an integrative identity and critical thinking that takes place in a non traditional Context Critical Thinking: an Operational Definition Critical thinking in this specific study is that sort of higher order thinking that helps learners act critically through using EFL. It carries surprise, prediction, finding solutions / alternatives, selection, decision making, and follow up. This critical action contains three main dimensions: Practicing critical thinking procedures Developing language skills integratively with higher order thinking esteem. Individual and collaborative context.

Critical Actions

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This three dimensional process of higher order thinking, taking place in a collaborative learning context to develop both thinking and language skills, elicits the learners following skills:

Awareness of the status- quo and pro- quo and accordingly, Formulating a different futuristic vision Awareness of the type of thinking they practice

Selection of most appropriate alternatives to solve a problem / establish a pro-quo Adopting some individual, as well as collaborative strategies and techniques to proceed forward

Developing successful self expression and self evaluation to create a different context . Critical Thinking and Foreign Language: a Life skill In this global age, foreign language learning is not luxury. However, learners do actually contact the others to discuss an issue, to establish a dialogue or to express own idea. This takes place in their daily life. This motivates them to, at least, exchange ideas through reading and writing with the others. This foreign language use is no longer an issue of communication. However, with the use of worldwide technological communication, using language takes place to realize ultimately different purposes. Language is currently used for discussing an issue, posing a problem, like backwash effects of pollution, jobs all over the world, war and peace problems etc. Such controversial need a worldwide awareness, in addition to the previously mentioned skills.

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At the same time, these integrative thinking and language skills do occur in a much more comprehensive world than a mere mechanical process of language learning.

This situation demands different visions produced by curriculum designers, teachers, and learners who should be able to predict future characteristics according to their own visions. So, practicing critical thinking through language learning is a step forward for better future. To sum up, language should be managed as an identity not separate skills. At the same time, it should formulate an integrative identity with critical thinking skills that develops the following skills:

Formulating own vision out of thinking of a different future.

Posing problems: through having a panoramic overview to predict events / problems as a result of reading life events. Self esteem: through fostering skills of analysis, finding alternatives and priorities and filterization of sources and facts in an attempt to solve a given problem appropriately.

Decision making; as a result of the ambiguity and dissatisfaction of a given situation, contemplation, raising arguments and dialoguing other colleagues and finally, creating different new scene or even compromises.

Self monitoring; in an ongoing process of thinking, consulting resources, reading events and finding similarities and differences with the others experiences, i.e. a formative evaluation process that builds up experiences through feedback for further improvement.

Using the foreign language purposefully as an individual need for producing ideas and sharing own constructed meaning with the others.

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Refined study skills as an immediate result of feeling the need to raise questions, write a statement, suggest an idea, oppose / support others opinions. So, learners motives pave the way for learning different Thus, a coherent system of critical thinking practice can merge side by side with purposeful language use in this global age.

In this very rapidly changing world, there are increasing needs, not only to meet challenges, but also to predict future needs. I dare say, that language learning challenge is not a mere communicative process, but rather, a much more critical and genuine production. Thus, language users are negotiating knowledge and, at the same time, mutual understanding of people. This interprets the language learners' continuous attempts to create their own special world, in which language is used and not learned about. It becomes obvious that an authentic language learning world completely exists apart from our classroom language.

Critical Thinking, Language Use in An Authentic Context: Thus, an authentic context should be transmitted into the school. At the same time we should help the learners, stretch their intellectual powers by teaching out-of-doors through interactional relationships with life resources. It means that thinking skills and language skills used in the learners real life should formulate the base line for learning as it simply supports both learning and product. In short, developing integrative language and critical thinking should not take place apart from the children real life experiences.

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Hence, children will be close to the family and community contexts through the development of their personal skills. Authenticity reflects the dominance of using the internet in the children daily life; thus, learning should not follow but lead the children attempts for improving the quality of their lives. The current use of what is called "internet language" should be analyzed with the purpose of bridging the gap between the actual use and what goes on in the language classrooms. Otherwise, in the long run, a strange language identity will emerge. This should draw our attention to the aims we need to realize out of teaching the language, such an interactive context, the learners choice of guidelines, the mental processes they demonstrate and the decisions they evoke, which demands much more challenges other than learning about language. In an attempt to maximize the use of the internet, children should be invited to: Identify the resource, the producer of the text and the stream of thought.

Investigate the issue, main and embedded ideas, and purposes of the text.

Understand and analyze the content.

Find where they stand and whether they agree / disagree and why. . Hence, I need to refer to a different collaborative learning, actually practiced by the children. It comes as a result of using computer authentically in daily life. This sort of accidental learning is more influential on children lives. As well as, the reflection of environmental dimension on the language classroom entails that:8

Produce own opinions concerning the raised issues

Environmental topics represent a rich resource of content Environmental issues are real and familiar to children Environmental topics motivate children for further learning.

This provides learners with real rich resources for more choices and variety of real experiences. So, they should possess both critical thinking and language skills to match the needs of such learning.

Inquiry Approach: Children are not taught to live in a static world, but one with increasing complicity. Most of our children are going to live in more complicated contexts, and education is not to give them ready made solutions.

However, tools for life-long education should be managed. A most prominent learning feature should not be what to know, but the challenge is how we come to know, and for what purposes .so, rich contexts for learning are those which raise successful questions rather than give readymade answers.

Questions with Why and How are often reflective questions that elicit the childrens ability to: Think, select and estimate priorities Relate new information to prior knowledge Lead to further understanding of language nature Structure language around concepts Develop critical thinking skills9

Enhance assessment skills Help meeting the challenge of what is not known yet.

Problem Solving: Problem Solving implies reflecting the learners perspective on a given phenomenon / problem, considering present and past interactive factors, visioning the future and then, promoting things forward to and supporting own vision. Problem solving is a sort of critical thinking. It involves: Defining the problem, as reflected by the learner, colleagues, teacher and community. Investigating resources. So, different resources are investigated where the learner knows a lot about what is not known in a real learning process. Determining different alternatives, through discussion, brainstorming or pair / group work. All solutions are discussed to arrive at compromises. Making decisions which reflects group or individual decisions. This involves raising questions about expected changes, steps to follow, needed resources, and determining tasks for group members. This is the action plan of the entire group of participants. Monitoring implementation and change. Some questions such as; are there changes, are these changes positive or negative. What should we learn from this problem solving.

It means providing positive, as well as, negative appraisal. More or less, it is a sort of critical thinking.

Systemic Approach:

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This approach is also linked to childrens lives, interests, and motivation to participate actively in varied learning contexts. In the early attempts for literacy learning, freedom of action is a domineering feature in a context that offers opportunities for practicing problem solving, e.g. children are exposed to letters to formulate familiar words. And then, smoothly they are required to move up and formulate sentences, paragraphs, and even a story out of sequential events. The focus of this approach is to have a comprehensive viewpoint to include all factors of a phenomenon integratively and interactively.

This Implies: Awareness of the whole context and its interactive factors

Understanding and familiarity with various different elements

Selection, organization and reorganization of given elements Reflection of prior knowledge Testing solutions and giving priorities Involving individual efforts in collaborative work

Producing language realizations out of practicing higher order thinking. The previously mentioned approaches, with other thinking evoking ones, provide an area for practicing critical thinking, which enables teachers to raise inquiries and pose thinking steering questions, rather than mechanical teaching. There are some common features shared by such approaches.

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The following features support critical thinking practice in a linguistic context:

Formulating futuristic vision Increasing an area of awareness Internalization of individual learners prior knowledge Posing questions Analysis of a given context / problem

Keeping an inquiring active mind that enlarges the area of awareness Increasing self confidence Identifying and increasing thinking skills Learning things outside oneself Stretching risk taking attitude Development of self - evaluation skills

Parallel to the approaches and strategies evoking critical thinking teaching, some techniques provide support to the context. Also, language collaborative activities that encourage the learners to act positively increase self-realization and self-confidence. The maximum benefit out of practicing critical thinking in English as a foreign language Context is producing authentic language realizations integratively with a critical thinking attitude. Linguistic activities should not draw a traditional scenario that focuses on memorization of idioms and grammatical rules. But rather, efforts should be made to increase childrens abilities to write about things they like / dislike, to write about journals and short stories, to12

talk about dreams and their future hopes and the imaginative world they dream to live in. Thus, linguistic and thinking context should be an enjoyable interesting place for children.

Assessment and Evaluation Assessment of such activities is not a problematic area. Such activities could be assed on the spot through the teachers observation. Some Key- question words and expressions can be used to satisfy formative evaluation as well as administrative purposes such as;

it.

Plan for a project that reflects. Tell a story about. Tell a dream you had last Suggest a solution for the problem of . Compare those two pictures Draw a picture of that (event) and write a phrase to describe You are alone at home, you are in trouble. How can you solve the problem MCQ

1. Find whether the following statements are true or false: 1.1. Critical thinking increases learners' awareness of the status-quo and pro-quo ( ). 1.2. The challenges of foreign language learning are merely communicative ( ). 1.3. Critical thinking activities promote individual, as well as collaborative strategies ( ). 1.4. Foreign language can be used purposefully for producing ideas and sharing them with others ( ).

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1.5. We cannot depend on environmental topics as a rich resource of content ( ). 2. Complete: 2.1. Using computers authentically in daily life is a sort of learning. 2.2. To enhance learners' critical thinking skills, teachers can implement many approaches such as 2.3. Critical thinking activities can be assessed on the spot through the teacher's . 2.4. The approach is linked to children's lives, interests and motivation. 2.5. In order to be able to discuss controversial issues, EFL learners need a worldwide 3. Choose the correct answer between brackets: 3.1. Children are taught to live in a (static- complicated- stable) world. 3.2. (Reflective- Objective- Direct) questions elicit the children's ability to think. 3.3. Learners can find different alternatives through (discussionbrainstorming- both discussion and brainstorming). 3.4. Having a comprehensive viewpoint requires understanding and (familiarity- challenge- disagreement) with various different elements. 3.5. The maximum benefit of practicing critical thinking in an EFL context is promoting (authentic- individual- accurate) language use. 4. Match the statements in columns A and B: A 1. Rich contexts for learning 2. Critical thinking practice can 3. Thinking skills and language skills 4. Individual and collaborative contexts 5. Critical thinking enhances learners' decision making process B 1. as a result of raising arguments and creating new comprises. 2. should formulate the base line for learning to support both learning and product. 3. raise successful questions rather than give readymade answers. 4. enable learners to formulate futuristic visions. 5. represent a main dimension of a given critical action.14

Further ReadingsHelping Students Learn Critical Thinking Skills: A Resource for Teachers http://www.etsu.edu/criticalthinking/default.asp Creative Thinking Strategy Websites http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/thinking.htm Chatter, Clatter, and Things That Matter http://chatterandclatter.blogspot.com/ Developing Critical Thinking through Cooperative Learning http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=C753B42C-4EAE-416683FE-45F01E8C7BE8 Developing critical thinking http://info.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/critical_thinking.htm? PHPSESSID=9g7jqo8fdtd8rcam32eup8u227& Introduction to Critical Thinking http://www.freeinquiry.com/critical-thinking.html Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Skills http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/critical.htm What is Critical Thinking? http://www.criticalreading.com/critical_thinking.htm

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