critical thinking development at english classes

On a journey to think critically

As teachers, it’s not always easy to embrace uncertainty.  There is comfort in knowing exactly what a lesson will cover, what questions are going to be asked, and how students are supposed to respond.

However, a paradigm shift often occurs when teachers push students toward thinking critically.  By its very nature, critical thinking brings teachers and students to a much more ambiguous place.  There is no single correct answer—but many.  Teachers are asked to adopt a “pedagogy of questions” instead of a “pedagogy of answers.” 4  They might not have all the answers, and answers might themselves be in the form of questions.

Managing such ambiguity in the classroom is no simple task, yet many researchers continue to cite the benefits of teaching students to think critically.  Evidence suggests that teaching critical thinking in the language classroom improves both speaking and writing and increases motivation. 11   Kabilan goes so far as to suggest that foreign language learners are not truly proficient until they can think critically and creatively in the target language. 7

In addition to embracing ambiguity, teachers must grapple with what “critical thinking” actually is , for there are countless definitions in the literature. 9   Is it making decisions independently? Developing criteria for analyzing one’s own thinking? Evaluating different perspectives, forming opinions, and taking action?  Making inferences?  Challenging assumptions?  Withholding judgment?

In fact, critical thinking has become an umbrella term encompassing all of these skills.  In looking at the literature, it also becomes clear that critical thinking is not a one-off task, but a journey, where students must discover and evaluate what they believe, why they believe it, and how new evidence challenges or supports what they believe.  It is a journey, but one that requires several stops along the way.  Part of our role as educators is to scaffold this journey of inquiry for our students.

In class, the first step of this journey often starts with a thought-provoking question.  What does it mean to be polite?  Why do things yourself?   Does advertising harm or help us?  Questions such as these allow for multiple viewpoints and set a trajectory. Questions also motivate students because they become a puzzle to be solved. 3

At this stage, teachers must consider students’ abilities, and scaffold appropriately. 8 Before asking students to share their opinions, for example, instructors may first need to give them the language necessary to do so.  This may involve teaching basic chunks such as I believe that or One reason is because before a discussion.

Teachers can also reinforce critical thinking skills by paying careful attention to the language they use in class.  Using higher-level terminology from Bloom’s Taxonomy, such as compare, predict, analyze, and recommend, will help students acquire the meta-language needed to understand what critical thinking is and what it does.

There is also art to asking questions.  A student may say, I think that advertising helps consumers .  It is natural for teachers to follow-up with Why? to encourage critical thinking.  Too often, however, the Why? question can feel like an assault and lead to uncomfortable silence.  Instead, rephrasing Why? to Can you explain that? can result in less student anxiety, and a more immediate and relaxed response.

Once the journey of inquiry has been established, new content helps to keep the momentum going.  However, interacting with the content will require careful pauses.  After a reading text or a listening, for example, students often need opportunities to stop and think, considering how the new information has modified their understanding of the question.  Here teachers can scaffold new perspectives by adding on to the initial question. What does it mean to be polite….at work?  At school?  With family?  With friends?

Students may also be encouraged to challenge or support their initial beliefs based on new evidence from the text.  When mediating such discussions, teachers must be mindful of their students’ cultural backgrounds.  Atkinson, for example, points out that in some cultures, the nature of critical thinking as an act of self-expression is not encouraged. 1  In culturally sensitive contexts, a lighter approach could involve asking students to think about how their experiences connect to those explored in a reading or listening, rather than demanding an outright opinion.  This can still lead students toward re-evaluating beliefs, but in less intrusive way.

Often the journey must be messy in order to allow disparate elements to come together in the discovery of something new.  That “aha” moment may come at one stop or another, but more often than not, it appears at the final destination.  This is when students synthesize what they think with the knowledge they have gathered through a formal speaking or writing task.   Students’ answers to the question may take a new direction, or several directions.  Graphic organizers that help students organize their ideas can help scaffold this process of discovery.  For example, when answering the question, Does advertising help or harm us? , students could use a T-chart to list reasons that support “yes” and “no” answers.

Another way to support critical thinking at the end of the journey is to ask students to reflect on their responses to the question when revising.  When students revise the final assignment, for example, they could directly compare how their response of the question compares to their response from the beginning of the journey.  To scaffold, teachers could offer chunks of language to frame the comparison: Originally, I believed that…but now, I think that…because…  This kind of reflection will push them to see and summarize the journey as a whole and could be added to their concluding remarks.

Seeing critical thinking as a journey with several stops treats it as an essential part of the lesson plan, which explains why critical thinking is often paired with content-based instruction. 3 It also acknowledges that students may not have a complete answer to a question right away, but will build on their answer as they travel through the lesson and encounter additional input.  It is a means to an end.

It is tempting to assume that teaching content and skills will result in higher-order thinking without explicit instruction, but research suggests otherwise.  Fostering critical thinking in the classroom becomes the teacher’s responsibility.  However, when done effectively, it can be one of the most rewarding experiences for students and teachers alike.  There is great satisfaction in witnessing students think about what they think, and taking them through that journey of discovery, one stop at a time.

1 Atkinson, D. (1997). A critical approach to critical thinking. TESOL Quarterly , 31(1), 71-94.

2 Brookfield, S. (2011). Teaching for Critical Thinking.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

3 Crocker, J.L., & Bowden, M.R. (2011). Thinking in English: A content-based approach.  In A. Stewart (Ed.), JALT2010 Conference Proceedings . Tokyo: JALT.

4 Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed . New York: The Seabury press.

5 Freire, P. (1973). Education for Critical Consciousness . New York: The Seabury Press

6 Halvorsen, A. (2005). Incorporating critical thinking skills development into ESL/EFL courses. Internet TESL Journal , 11(3).  Available: https://iteslj.org/Techniques/Halvorsen-CriticalThinking.html

7 Kabilan, M. (2000). Creative and critical thinking in language classrooms. Internet TESL Journal , 6(6).  Available: https://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kabilan-CriticalThinking.html

8 Liaw, M. (2007). Content-based reading and writing for critical thinking skills in an EFL context. English Teaching and Learning , 31(2), 45-87.

9 Long, C.J. (2009). Teaching critical thinking in Asian EFL contexts: theoretic and practical applications. Proceedings of the 8 th Conference of Pan-Pacific Associate of Applied Linguistics.

10 Mayfield, M. (2001). Thinking for Yourself: Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Reading and Writing (5 th ed.). United States: Thomas Learning.

11 Shirkhani, S. & Fahim, M. (2011).  Enhancing critical thinking in foreign language learners.  Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences , 29, 111-115. Available: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042811026759

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Interesting read indeed; there is only 1 huge problem: teens in particular are not critical in their own native language, how can we expect them to be in a second language ????!:)

I understand the frustration in your question. However, the tips presented here seem designed to develop critical thinking, not simply tap into it. This approach could work in both a native language and 2nd language context. Consider if you will language acting as the facilitator in the development of the student’s thinking process which can then be applied in either language, and either culture.

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4 ways to increase critical thinking in the English language classroom

Much of what we do in the language classroom is focused on fluency and accuracy. Most teachers aim for students to use vocabulary and grammar accurately, and be able to read and listen with enough understanding to answer comprehension questions. However, language learning is different from other academic subjects, many of which are based around retention of knowledge.

Learning a second language involves a lot more than simply remembering the right words to use. The more that students activate their critical thinking brains, and employ Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), the more they will develop flexibility, confidence and the ability to self-evaluate in the work that they do, making them better language users in any situation where they have to use the language they learn.

Critical thinking includes a range of HOTS which can be useful to language learning, enabling students to develop learning strategies which can help them to work independently and develop in their own ways beyond the classroom and the set curriculum that you teach . Fostering a critical / analytical environment takes students further than simply supplying correct answers to pass tests, or repeating memorised chunks of language which may not apply to their real lives. Here are some simple ways of facilitating critical thinking in your classroom:

Ask for more than just information

The vast majority of questions asked by teachers in the language classroom are designed for students to answer based on something they have just been told, or that they need to remember from previous classes. In most cases, the teacher already knows the answer to the questions, which have been designed for teaching rather than actual sharing of information. Questions where the answer is already known are called ‘display’ questions, and are a useful teaching tool. However, the level of thinking required to answer them is not highly cognitive. Often, students either know the answer or they don’t - there is little room for calculation, deduction or other higher types of reasoning.

Rather than simply asking students for the answers to the questions they are studying, or for the information in the texts they read, push them to tell you more about aspects of the text which are not explicitly mentioned in the writing. This type of ‘referential’ question leads to much more authentic, spontaneous and personal information sharing, and requires more reflective and critical thought. Examples of higher-order referential questions (here, for a reading or listening exercise) might be:

Why does the writer use the word ‘_______’ in this sentence?

Why do you think the writer starts the article in this way?

Do you agree with the writer when she says ‘________’? Why?

Do you think the writer feels positive / negative / happy / sad / worried… by the topic? Why?

What does the word/sentence ‘__________’ make you think of?

Some of these questions are quite high-level in terms of the language needed to respond, but questions about simple tone or feeling, or emotional response questions, can be used with lower-level learners to help them reflect on their reaction (and the author’s feeling) about the writing. This takes the student out of the traditional understanding / comprehending / answering factual questions from the text that may restrict their thinking as they read.

Get students deducing meaning from context

Another area of language where critical thinking can be used is in vocabulary study. Traditionally, teachers focus very strongly on accuracy of meaning when teaching new words, then find ways of helping students to remember the words effectively. However, the majority of new words that a student meets, both in and out of the classroom, will not be the focus of specific teaching stages with a teacher going through pronunciation, meaning and use .

More critical/analytical approaches to vocabulary can help students to develop independent strategies for dealing with new words without constant support. The skill of deducing meaning based on language clues is an invaluable skill for anyone using a second language, and a skills which can be developed in the classroom. All that is needed are some ways of spotting the clues in a new word, sentence or paragraph, which can reveal different aspects of meaning:

At word level, a lot of meaning can be deduced from prefixes, suffixes and stems. By getting students to identify the stem meaning of a word, then applying prefixes and suffixes, they will be surprised at how they can decode new meanings more easily, as in:

Undeniable = prefix: un- + stem: -deny- + suffix: -able

If a student knows the word ‘deny’, they can build the meaning of

un- (not) + -deny- (refuse) + -able (be able to)

This kind of inductive work leads to activities with word families, where one stem word can be explored for all its related forms: deny, denial, deniable, undeniable, etc., building several words form a single, known root.

In sentence examples, clues to meaning (contextual clues) can be designed and added in to help students deduce new meanings, as in:

Janine was happy, but Bob was miserable

The key clue here comes from the contrast marker ‘but’ - if students know the meaning of happy, and they know that ‘but’ is followed by a contrasting idea, then they can deduce that ‘miserable’ means ‘unhappy’, even if they have never seen the word before.

Presenting vocabulary in a sentence context like this takes students beyond the level of single word meanings, and gets them using other information around a new word to think critically and engage with meaning in different ways. By teaching your students the skill of deducing meaning, you can save a lot of time teaching new words one by one, and get them working with different examples on their own, or working with a partner.

Use project-based activities

Another way of developing higher-order skills is by focusing students on the processes that they follow when they learn. A great way of doing this is to get them working on projects rather than individual language tasks. Projects are different toothed types of activity because they involve collaboration and allocation of work between different members of a group to get the job done. The process of planning, delegating and taking responsibility for different aspects of a project can involve some high-level critical thinking and reflection (if it is planned into the project by the teacher).

Projects usually result in more complex outcomes than single activities, so require more different skills than just language use. The discussion, role-setting, preparation and creative processes all require different types of interaction and communication, all of which are more authentic than general language-focused pair-work.

Working together to create a poster presentation, a board game or a labelled model involves different language and social skills, leadership, compromise and strategy-setting, which can be performed in English if the students’ level is high enough, or in the students’ first language (in a specific planning stage) if it isn’t. By following the procedure below, you can incorporate HOTS, language and other skills to produce an effective project outcome:

inform students of the goal of the project - what product are they working towards?

Students break the project into parts and assign roles to each group member (in first language with lower-level groups)

Students produce a plan for creation of the project, step by step to get everything done in good order and within the time limit (again, in first language if necessary)

Students each work on their role for the project, keeping in communication with each other at each step

Group members check each others’ work for accuracy of language, quality and how well it fits the project brief from 1)

In larger classes, further critical thinking can be developed by having each group present their work to another group for feedback - what do the other group(s) think of their work? Each group writes action points to improve their product and goes back to make any changes they think are necessary.

Each group presents their project to the class, either in a show-and-tell style, or by moving from project to project to view each others’ work.

Develop students’ reflective skills

Self-reflection is one of the highest of the HOTS. Without stopping to evaluate any task that we have done, it is much more difficult to develop better ways of doing a good job in future. This applies to language learning as much as it does to any other kind of activity.

A simple way of bringing self-reflection into he classroom is to include a short stage at the end of each activity that you do, or at the end of each class, which focuses on how students performed. Some simple questions that can prompt self-reflection after a period of class activity are:

How do you feel after completing this activity?

Did you find it easy or difficult? Why?

What did you find most useful in that activity?

How did you complete the activity? What did you do first, then what did you do?

If you did it again, what would you do differently?

You don’t need to ask all of these questions after every activity, but questions like these can prompt a little bit of thought about how students are working, not just whether they succeeded in a task or not. This can raise awareness about learning strategies, thought processes and how different students approach different types of activity . They can also inform you about how your students work, and therefore how they might benefit from different types of support from your teaching.

As we have seen, critical, analytical and higher-order work can be incorporated into the language classroom without too much disturbance of your planned work. A few small additions here and there, and some rethinking of tasks and activities, can raise the level of thinking that goes on, and help students to help themselves when they come to perform in English in situations outside the classroom. Start by including some small critical or reflective questions in your classes, and see how your students respond. You (and they) might be surprised at the results!

Tom Garside is Director of Language Point Teacher Education. Language Point delivers the internationally recognised RQF level 5 Trinity CertTESOL in a totally online mode of study , and the RQF level 6 Trinity College Certificate for Practising Teachers , a contextually-informed teacher development qualification with specific courses which focus on online language education or online methodology.

If you are interested to know more about these qualifications, or you want take your teaching to a new level with our teacher education courses, contact us or see our course dates and fees for details.

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Evaluating critical thinking of English learners using modern technologies and GTMA

• Published: 15 April 2023

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• Fengying Peng   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7279-4952 1  

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The paradigms of teaching and learning are undergoing a rapid transition in the present era of information and communication technology, and this is also true for the study of the English language. Through the use of approaches like flipped learning, blended learning, and a content-based approach, the learners can be given a very suitable environment. However, the most likely option for an efficient learning process is the growth and promotion of critical thinking (CT) in pupils. It encourages kids to reason clearly and make intelligent decisions. The goal of the current study is to analyze and provide an overview of the numerous methods and skills that can help language learners develop their critical thinking. It was determined that the attitudes and knowledge of the teachers play a significant role in the development of the class’s thinking mindset. The improvement of the candidates’ problem solving and thinking skills is greatly helped by improved teaching methodologies and assessment methods. The proposed study has identified a number of features after thoroughly examining the existing research on the development of CT in English language learning, and significant features were selected from them. With the use of the chosen features and the application of the graph theory matrix approach (GTMA), the alternatives were ranked in order of preference. The current investigation has taken this into account and provided a thorough summary of the information currently available on the research topic. The research shows a variety of ways to analyze text so that students can come up with new ideas about the topic.

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DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH READING NEWS ARTICLES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSES

• V. E. Khrabrova

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The paper deals with critical thinking development through reading authentic news articles in English classes. Teachers all over the world are trying to incorporate critical thinking skills into the learning process so as to raise their students as independent critical thinkers. The paper is firstly aimed at presenting a generalized theoretical view of the problem in consideration: background information, some approaches to defining critical thinking, principles of developing this human ability in English classes, etc. Secondly, there are several methodological guidelines for organizing various types of practical activities.

• critical thinking
• critical reading
• newspaper structure
• the author’s intention
• critical language awareness
• critical discourse analysis
• principles of critical thinking

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

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Within the flow of information of today's digital learning environment, university students' ill-informed use of external electronic sources negatively affects the quality of their academic writing. While sanctions represent but the final disciplinary measure, university teachers' preempting such academic misconduct before the final year project remains a necessity. This paper proposes a reconsideration of the teacher's routine evaluation methods to promote good study skills, and thus high quality teaching and learning. Drawing on a personal teaching experience (in the department of English of Saida University), the paper suggests simple methods through which students routinely practise sound referencing. Preliminary observational data that triggered the topic of the present paper consist of samples of students' internet-based assignments and project papers with missing references. Additional notes generated from classroom discussions with postgraduate Master students about (un)intentional plagiarism represent the insider student perspective of its causes. Initial findings reveal that student-submitted non-referenced work was not only due to poor time management, paraphrasing, or note taking skills but also to modelling poor citation habits (illustrated in the academic genres they were exposed to in their formal learning environment, such as PowerPoint presentations, class notes, handouts , and so on). The paper concludes with the necessity to raise teachers' awareness to the importance of providing a good model of well-referenced teaching materials and learning supports as the initial step. Other practical methods consist of constantly checking students' work for missing references, asking them to resubmit their work with requisite paraphrasing, as well as giving scores for correct referencing.

Ikram Ben Ajiba

The present article aims at providing some empirical evidence on the important role student engagement plays in responding to student needs and in enhancing the quality of the teaching and learning environment in Moroccan universities. Student engagement happens at many levels that correspond to the “principles of good practice in undergraduate education” that were suggested by Chickering and Gamson (1987). This article tries to identify these aspects of student engagement and good practice in the English Studies Track (EST) program from the EST students’ perspective. The data were collected in three Moroccan universities: Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tetouan, Ibn Tofail University in Kenitra, and Cadi Ayad University in Marrakech. An adapted version of Student Engagement Questionnaire (Kember, Leung & McNaught, 2009 in Kember…

Moosa Ahmed H A S S A N Bait Ali Sulaiman

Dr. Arnel E . Genzola

The use of personal web publishing and social networking tools has been an emerging practice in the field of Computer Assisted Language Learning or CALL (Campbell, 2003). Weblogging, for instance, has already established itself in the popular media. Given its educational affordances, the utilization of weblogs in English Language Teaching (ELT) and English Language Learning (ELL) is deemed indispensable. This paper presents the implementation of weblogging activities in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program of Jilin University—Lambton College in China. Weblogs provide the students with extensive opportunities to put what they are learning in the classroom to use in expressive, interactive, and immersive ways. In addition to reading and writing practice, weblogs allow the learners to share their thoughts and ideas through blog posts made on the forum section and walls wherein the resulting language exchanges expose them to authentic uses of language that supplemented classroom activities and experiences. A convenience sampling from Jilin University—Lambton College (JULC) consisted of 71 Chinese university students from three different EAP classes participated in this exploratory action research based on weblogging experiences for language learning in English. A survey was distributed at the end of the course to all participating students to gather feedback and input on student views in relation to the classroom-blogging activities employed. Findings from an attitudinal survey performed reveal that the students had an exceptionally positive attitude for weblogging. Citation: Genzola, A. E. (2015, December). Weblogs on language learning: A technology-enhanced instruction in a tertiary- level EFL classroom in China. Arab World English Journal, 6(4), 389-407.

hacene HAMADA

During the last few decades, many teaching philosophies and approaches began to surface and take shape in education. The principles and assumptions underlying these philosophies gained prominence, and started to be adopted and implemented in educational programs and curricula at different learning stages (secondary and tertiary education). The overall aim of these changes is to find better ways (models, approaches) to improve students' learning. Today, in the Algerian educational context, there is an increase demand for more efficient and beneficial teaching approaches. Call for change to take place in teaching has always been raised. Accordingly, there has been a shift of focus in teaching and a tendency on the part of many researchers and educators to advance more innovative, beneficial and student-centered models and approaches to be adopted and implemented in educational programs. Project-Based Teaching is one of these suggested and advocated teaching models. It addresses important concerns and goals in education, and it is characterized by being student-centered. A radical change in the role of teachers and students in the teaching/learning process takes place. The adoption/implementation of such a teaching model is supported by research and is claimed to help develop the students' intrinsic interest in the subject matter, emphasize learning not recall, promote group-work and help students become active, self-directed and independent learners. The main aim of the present paper is to give a compendium of the theory that demonstrates the importance of Project-Based Teaching alongside the different types of learning that can be incorporated in project work (experiential-learning and active-learning). The discussion is also based upon a questionnaire which has been administered to high-school teachers of English, Science, History and Technology in Mohamed Larbi Tlilani high-school (Constantine) in order to explore the efficiency of that model in practice.

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Course details

An introduction to critical thinking.

This is an In-person course which requires your attendance to the weekly meetings which take place in Oxford.

In print, online and in conversation, we frequently encounter conflicting views on important issues: from climate change, vaccinations and current political events to economic policy, healthy lifestyles and parenting. It can be difficult to know how to make up one’s own mind when confronted with such diverse viewpoints.

This course teaches you how to critically engage with different points of view. You are given some guidelines that will help you decide to what extent to trust the person, organisation, website or publication defending a certain position. You are also shown how to assess others’ views and arrive at your own point of view through reasoning. We discuss examples of both reasoning about facts and the reasoning required in making practical decisions. We distinguish risky inferences with probable conclusions from risk-free inferences with certain conclusions. You are shown how to spot and avoid common mistakes in reasoning. 

No previous knowledge of critical thinking or logic is needed. This course will be enjoyed by those who relish the challenge of thinking rationally and learning new skills. The skills and concepts taught will also be useful when studying other areas of philosophy.

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Term Starts:  23rd April 2024

Week 1: What is critical thinking? What is the difference between reasoning and other ways of forming beliefs?

Week 2: What is a logical argument? How do arguments differ from conditionals, explanations and rhetoric?

Week 3: Certainty versus probability: the distinction between deductive and inductive reasoning.

Week 4: Deductive validity and logical form. 

Week 5: When do arguments rely on hidden premises? A closer look at probability. 

Week 6: Inductive generalisations: Reasoning from samples. 

Week 7: Reasoning about causes and inference to the best explanation.

Week 8: Practical reasoning: Reasoning about what to do.

Week 9: When is it appropriate to believe what others tell you? What is the significance of expertise?

Week 10: Putting it all together: We analyse and assess longer passages of reasoning.

Recommended reading

All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Continuing Education Library for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are welcome to use the Library for reference. More information can be found on the Library website.

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Preparatory reading

• Critical Reasoning: A Romp Through the Foothills of Logic for Complete Beginners / Talbot, M
• Critical Thinking : An Introduction to Reasoning Well / Watson, J C and Arp R

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Andrea Lechler holds a degree in Computational Linguistics, an MSc in Artificial Intelligence, and an MA and PhD in Philosophy. She has extensive experience of teaching philosophy for OUDCE and other institutions. Her website is www.andrealechler.com. 

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To help students improve their critical thinking skills.    

Course Objectives:

• To help students reflect on how people reason and how they try to persuade others of their views.
• To make students familiar with the principles underlying different types of good reasoning as well as common mistakes in reasoning.
• To present some guidelines for identifying trustworthy sources of information.

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The tutor will present the course content in an interactive way using plenty of examples and exercises. Students are encouraged to ask questions and participate in class discussions and group work. To consolidate their understanding of the subject they will be assigned further exercises as homework.

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By the end of the course students will be expected to:

• be able to pick out and analyse passages of reasoning in texts and conversations
• understand the most important ways of assessing the cogency of such reasoning
• know how to assess the trustworthiness of possible sources of information.

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Assessment is based on a set of exercises similar to those discussed in class. One set of homework exercises can be submitted as a practice assignment.

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To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

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• DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.2895544
• Corpus ID: 151485904

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

• K. Belghiti , Yamina El Kirat El Allame , M. Chana
• Published 7 January 2017
• Education, Engineering

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Apply critical thinking skills to complex problems.

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Have you ever tried to find a solution to a problem only to realize you’ve been focusing on the wrong problem from the very beginning? Or you’ve proposed a solution only to have it shut down by your boss or coworkers? How stressful and defeating is that? With massive changes in our world that seem to create the most difficult of circumstances, both personally and professionally, your skills as a critical thinker and problem solver need to be further developed now more than ever.

By the end of this course you will have learned and memorized a practical model to solve problems on your own and with others. These 7 critical steps will ensure that you have looked at a problem from every angle and considered multiple solutions. In fact, this dynamic and holistic approach will help you solve problems once and for all!

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5 videos • Total 27 minutes

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In this module, you will be able to brainstorm solutions to your possible problem. You will choose 3 possible options and analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each option. You will be able to generate more effective solutions.

5 videos 2 readings 1 quiz 2 discussion prompts

5 videos • Total 21 minutes

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2 readings • Total 100 minutes

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2 discussion prompts • Total 45 minutes

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In this module, you will be able to explore your own triggers and how they may show up in our reactions. You'll be able to identify potential responses that could trigger negative reactions. You will be able to prepare and make a recommendation to your problem. You will also be able to engage in feedback.

6 videos 1 reading 1 quiz 1 discussion prompt

6 videos • Total 19 minutes

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• Prepare and Recommend Example • 2 minutes
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• Be and Avoid • 5 minutes
• Engage Feedback • 3 minutes
• Course Summary and Wrap-up • 3 minutes

1 reading • Total 60 minutes

1 quiz • total 30 minutes.

• Module 3 Quiz • 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt • Total 15 minutes

• Analyze Your Triggers • 15 minutes

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

Arab World English Journal, December 2016 ASELS Annual Conference Proceedings, 2016

22 Pages Posted: 13 Jan 2017

Karima Belghiti

Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University

Yamina El Kirat El Allame

Mohammed V University of Rabat - Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences

Mohamed Chana

Mohammed V University in Rabat

Date Written: January 7, 2017

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.

Keywords: CPGE, critical thinking instruction, critical thinking skills, engineering education

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Karima Belghiti (Contact Author)

Sidi mohamed ben abdellah university ( email ).

Dhar Mehraz Fez Morocco

Mohammed V University of Rabat - Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences ( email )

Avenue of Nations United Rabat, 8007.NU Morocco

Mohammed V University in Rabat ( email )

Avenue Al Oumam Agdal Rabat, Rabat 10500 Morocco

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

• January 2017
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• Mohammed V University of Rabat

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Critical thinking definition

Critical thinking, as described by Oxford Languages, is the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement.

Active and skillful approach, evaluation, assessment, synthesis, and/or evaluation of information obtained from, or made by, observation, knowledge, reflection, acumen or conversation, as a guide to belief and action, requires the critical thinking process, which is why it's often used in education and academics.

Some even may view it as a backbone of modern thought.

However, it's a skill, and skills must be trained and encouraged to be used at its full potential.

People turn up to various approaches in improving their critical thinking, like:

• Developing technical and problem-solving skills
• Engaging in more active listening
• Actively questioning their assumptions and beliefs
• Seeking out more diversity of thought
• Opening up their curiosity in an intellectual way etc.

Is critical thinking useful in writing?

Critical thinking can help in planning your paper and making it more concise, but it's not obvious at first. We carefully pinpointed some the questions you should ask yourself when boosting critical thinking in writing:

• What information should be included?
• Which information resources should the author look to?
• What degree of technical knowledge should the report assume its audience has?
• What is the most effective way to show information?
• How should the report be organized?
• How should it be designed?
• What tone and level of language difficulty should the document have?

Usage of critical thinking comes down not only to the outline of your paper, it also begs the question: How can we use critical thinking solving problems in our writing's topic?

Let's say, you have a Powerpoint on how critical thinking can reduce poverty in the United States. You'll primarily have to define critical thinking for the viewers, as well as use a lot of critical thinking questions and synonyms to get them to be familiar with your methods and start the thinking process behind it.

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