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67TECHNICAL SCIENCE
УДК: 811.111(07)
Мусабекова З. С., Калихайдарова Г. Е.
Евразийский Национальный Университет им. Л.Н. Гумилева
Казахстан, Нур-Султан DOI: 10.24411/2520-6990-2019-11035 ВНЕДРЕНИЕ КРИТИЧЕСКОГО МЫШЛЕНИЯ ПРИ ГОВОРЕНИИ НА УРОКАХ
АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА
Mussabekova Z.S., Kalikhaidarova G.E.
L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan
INCORPORATING CRITICAL THINKING INTO SPEAKING ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH CLASSES
Аннотация
Данная статья призвана раскрыть различные идеи по определению критического мышления теоретически и исследовать эффективные методы развития навыков критического мышления в разговорной деятельности в преподавании английского языка. Критическое мышление рассматривалось как необходимый компонент в образовательном процессе при обучении говорению на уроках английского языка. Были предложены такие методы, как метод дебатов, метод Социологического опроса, метод ролевых игр, с тем чтобы повысить развитие способности учащихся к критическому мышлению при его включении, в частности, в разговорную деятельность.
Методы включают анализ психолого-педагогической, методической литературы и научных периодических изданий; классификация и обобщение изучаемых вопросов.
Результаты. Рассмотрены современные подходы к формированию критического мышления и проблема его определения в научной литературе; показаны методы повышения эффективности учебного процесса при внедрении критического мышления в разговорную деятельность на уроках английского языка.
Abstract
This article is aimed to reveal different ideas on defining critical thinking theoretically and to survey effective methods of developing critical thinking skills in speaking activities in English language teaching. Critical thinking has been considered as a necessary component in the educational process when teaching speaking in English classes. There have been suggested such methods as debate method, Socratic questioning method, role play method so that to enhance the development of students' critical thinking ability when incorporating it in speaking activities in particular.
The methods involve the analysis of the psychology-pedagogical, methodical literature and the scientific periodical publications; classification and arrangement of the considered issues.
Results. Current approaches to the rendering of critical thinking and the problem of its defining in the scientific literature have been considered; the methods of improving the educational process efficiency when incorporating critical thinking in speaking activities in English classes have been shown.
Key words: critical thinking, teaching methods, language learners, speaking activity, communications skills, comprehension, argumentation, debate method, Socratic questioning method, role play method.
Ключевые слова: критическое мышление, методы обучения, обучение языку, говорение, навыки общения, понимание, аргументация, метод дебатов, метод социологического опроса, метод ролевых игр.
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Critical thinking is one of the most central concepts for teaching and learning. According to many existing definitions, critical thinking skills include observation, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, explanation and metacognition. The latter, as it is defined in The Free Dictionary, means thinking about one's own mental processes. The notion is widely used in psychology.
The importance of incorporating "critical thinking" into education is widely and globally acknowledged. The concept of critical thinking has been refined and enriched since its appearance 2500 years ago. By looking through literature, various definitions were found to help one understand the nature of critical thinking. Dewey J. is the first to define critical thinking as "reflective thinking...active, persistent, and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds which support it and the further conclusions to which it tends" [1, p.99-113]. John Dewey further suggested a 5-phase critical thinking model which included:
1. suggestions
2. problem definition
3. hypothesis generation
4. reasoning
5. hypothesis testing.
In this definition, J. Dewey further states that the necessity for individuals to actively and persistently participate in their own thinking process through reflections, giving reasons and interpretations to the conclusions and evaluate it. Examining different critical thinking definitions, one thing is agreed upon by most researchers: that is critical thinking includes not only critical thinking skills (containing both a process of thinking and thinking ability), involving analysis, interpretation, inference, explanation, evaluation and self-regulation but also critical thinking dispositions including clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, fairness. Hence, critical thinking is, in short, a process of thinking or an important thinking ability that the students must possess to gain knowledge, such as analysis, interpretation, inference, explanation, and evaluation to encounter and cope with various problems, formulate the questions, and provide possible solutions and plans effectively.
The most widely used framework for thinking skills is Bloom's taxonomy of thinking skills. These skills are commonly represented as a pyramid, with understanding and remembering as the foundation. From B.S. Bloom's point of view, learning objectives directly depend on the hierarchy of thought processes from the most basic to the most advanced: Knowledge - Comprehension - Application - Analysis - Synthesis (creating) - Evaluation [2, 3].
Thus, critical thinking refers to higher levels of thinking that learners need to enable them to think effectively and rationally about what they want to do and what they believe is the best action. It consists of identifying links between ideas, analysing points of view and evaluating arguments, supporting evidence, reasoning and conclusions.
There are three core areas within the area of Critical Thinking:
• Understanding and analysing links between ideas refers to a learner's ability to organize information from different sources through identifying patterns. Analysing information through comparison and contrast enhances a learner's understanding of the content and this understanding, coupled with comprehensive collection of information, helps them build up critical evaluation.
• Evaluating ideas, arguments and options is related to a learner's ability to judge which arguments, ideas or options they can rely on and which they should be sceptical about. This helps learners to identify and prioritize problems they are facing in education or at the workplace and consider ways to solve them. When facing more than one problem, they are able to see the links between them and identify the real cause. Mastering this core area helps learners establish an analytical framework to deploy strong arguments and advance their own points of view.
• Synthesising ideas and information is an on-going process which requires learners to construct different aspects of their ideas drawing from the ideas of others. It involves creative thinking that helps them generate new ideas [4].
Critical thinking involves much more than accumulating information or processing information, rather critical thinking involves identifying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to yield actionable knowledge to make effective decisions. Critical thinking has been approached through many different lenses: for example, as logic, as argumentation, as 'reflective thinking' and as metacognition (thinking about thinking). Among the plethora of approaches to critical thinking, M. Davies and R. Barnett have identified three main threads, which can be summarized as:
• critical thinking as reflective thinking skills;
• critical thinking as dispositions;
• critical thinking as critical pedagogy [5].
So far we have focused our attention on exploring some theoretical aspects of critical thinking, though every English language teacher knows it might be hard to find the way to apply critical thinking in viable and realistic way. As it is regarded, teachers have long seen critical thinking as a desirable educational outcome. Since critical thinking is a process, which is involved in any research activity, it can be considered as a principle concept to education, especially at higher levels.
The teaching of speaking skills is also important due to the large number of students who want to study English in order to be able to use English for communicative purposes. Therefore, the teaching of speaking skills has become increasingly significant as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) context. Thus, speaking skills also play an important role for language learners who use it for instruction, discussion, and argumentation presentations. To become fluent in a language one must be able to think critically and express those thoughts to argument and speaking.
Actually, when teaching a foreign language to students, teachers use various methods aimed to develop speaking skills together with critical thinking. The most
commonly used techniques are debate method, Socratic questioning method and role play method.
One of the applicable methods to improve the students' English-speaking skill is debate. M.J. Dobson, who asserts that debate helps students to speak more fluently, supports this statement. Moreover, during a debate they can represent their feelings and thoughts on an issue. Having the same thought, A. Maryadi states "debate can motivate students' thinking, moreover if they must defend their stand or opinion which is in contradiction with conviction themselves". This strategy can involve all students to be active, not only debate performer. In addition to providing meaningful listening, speaking and writing practice, debate is also highly effective for developing argumentation skills for persuasive speech and writing. For that reason, it can be concluded that debate is one of the best speaking instructional activity that can trigger the students to speak and express their feelings, and thoughts.
Debate is definitely one of the most exciting and valuable experiences for students. Those who learn to debate well learn how to research and gather a significant question in depth. They also learn how to organize research or arguments into a meaningful and persuasive presentation. In addition, the debater learns to defend his or her presentation against the attack of the opponents through critical thinking and listening. Thus, the good debater should know how to search and research the data, build the constructive arguments, present and defend the arguments, refute and rebut the opponents' arguments, and so forth. Debate is the process of presenting ideas or opinions which two opposing parties try to defend their idea or opinion. D. Krieger says that debate is an excellent activity for language learning because it engages students in a variety of cognitive and linguistic ways. Similarly, A. Halvorsen says that debate forces students to think about the multiple sides of an issue and it also forces them to interact not just with the details of a given topic, but also with one another [6].
Thus, debate method has been considered one of the modern methods that can be used in teaching speaking skill in English classes for students of Informetion Technology. It is regarded as an active learning process because students learn more through a process of constructing and creating, working in a group and also sharing the knowledge. In general, debate is one of the speaking classroom activities which requires two teams consisting of two or more speakers speak out their arguments and oppose the opponent's arguments in terms of the topic or motion given.
For example, when studying unit "Living in a digital age" in order to learn and understand the material better, students are suggested a sort of controversial debate topic "The Internet has made our life easier". All the participants are divided into two groups, each group must decide which side of the argument to take: FOR or AGAINST the proposed topic of discussion. This is followed by:
1. a 3 -minute constructive speech from each side
2. two or three 2-minute rebuttals from each side turn by turn
3. a 3 -minute concluding speech from each side
4. questions from the floor - the audience can address questions to both sides after the debate
It is important to use Vocabulary for debates and discussion, such as: In my opinion..., I think that..., The point is., I agree with you entirely, Could you give an example, That's not the point, You must admit that, etc. In language speaking terms, the autamatisa-tion process means being able to draw on a set of memorized procedures in order to take part in real-time interaction.
Socratic Questioning is an effective way of teaching critical thinking and a useful tool for a teacher as well. The Socratic approach to questioning is based on the practice of disciplined, thoughtful dialogue. In this technique, the teacher professes ignorance of the topic in order to engage in dialogue. The Socratic Questioning technique is an effective way to explore ideas in depth. It can be used at all levels and is a helpful tool for all teachers. It can be used at different points within a unit or project. By using Socratic Questioning, teachers promote independent thinking in their students and give them ownership of what they are learning. Higherlevel thinking skills are present while students think, discuss, debate, evaluate, and analyze content through their own thinking and the thinking of those around them. These types of questions may take some practice on both the teacher and students' part since it may be a whole new approach. Questions contribute to a deeper understanding of the studied material, assimilation of information. The method of Socrates can be used both to consolidate the material passed, and to study new information. Questions are usually prepared by the teacher in advance, although, as practice shows, new questions can be proposed to students, based on their answers to pre-prepared questions of the teacher. For example:
• What do you mean by.?
• Could you put that another way?
• What do you think is the main issue?
• Could you give us an example?
• Could you expand upon that point further?
Here are some consequence questions:
• What effect would that have?
• Could that really happen or probably happen?
• What is an alternative?
• What are you implying by that?
• If that happened, what else would happen as a result? Why?
Role-play is an effective technique to animate the teaching and learning atmosphere, arouse the interests of learners, and make the language acquisition impressive. They can be used to reinforce, recycle or review vocabulary and expressions that students have learnt. Role-play activities allow learners to learn through social constructivism. The peer interaction helps learners to learn social skills. These exercises require the students to use imagination, background knowledge appropriate to the character being role-played, communication skills [7].
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The main reason for role play within an educational setting is the ability to develop the students' ability to think outside of what is taught and look for, test, and examine additional outcomes to a presented problem or scenario. The implications of having role-play within curriculum can benefit the student in several ways.
The ability of the students to bring into the classroom outside experience to solve problems and situations encourages thinking outside the box, as well as using all avenues and resources to problem solve. One of the benefits of role-play in learning language is critical thinking. Critical thinking conveys information to stimulate discussion and communication about various topics as well as situations and potential outcomes. Critical thinking presents multiple ways to solve problems as well as offer solutions to unclear scenarios. Critical thinking also helps to develop an understanding of empathy within students. Role play can help students become more interested and involved, not only in learning about the material, but learning also to integrate the knowledge in action, by addressing problems, exploring alternatives, and seeking novel and creative solutions. Role playing is the best way to develop the skills of initiative, communication, problem solving, self-awareness, and working cooperatively in teams, and these are above all - certainly above the learning of mere facts, many if not most of which will be obsolete or irrelevant in a few years will help students to be prepared for dealing with certain challenges.
The choice of the role-play relies on the learning agenda and has to have clear aims and objectives. Role-play can work in various ways.
a) Observation: Learning through observation and reflection happens when a group of learners watches a specifically constructed - role-play using actors, simulators or even played by the tutors.
b) Modelling: Helps to learn a concept or an idea through participation. For example, students can learn about history and historical figures by acting out scenes. While adults can participate in a constructed scenario - like an angry customers, worried patients etc.
c) Contemplation: It helps to stimulate analysis through exploring complex concepts and debating issues - usually ethical problems where there is no clear right or wrong.
d) Skills development: The participant can practice and develop skills such as breaking bad news, calming down an angry client, negotiating with customers etc.
e) Self-reflection: through participating in role-play the learners are bring many of their hidden attitudes to the surface and it helps them understand their own prejudices biases and assumptions. It helps to see the world through the other persons' eyes and understand methods of communicating.
f) Re-enaction: By re-enacting a past experience it helps to bring recall, catharsis and also helps to identify creative solutions to a problem that could have previously difficult due to emotional distress [8].
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The topics for the role-play for students of the department "Information Technology" are very diverse and interesting. For example, to consolidate the topic "Jobs in IT", the teacher divides students into two teams: 1) representatives of the HR agency and 2) applicants who have applied for different vacancies, i.e. web master, help desk technician, web designer, etc. The first group of students is given questions for interviewing. The second group of students is given a curriculum vita. Students are given a little time to read and prepare for the role play. Thus, students have an opportunity to apply the gained knowledge professionally, pretending that they are a staff of the IT Company.
In conclusion, the use of debate, role play, Socratic question significantly improve the students' critical thinking and speaking skill.
Using these methods in the process of learning English, increase student interest, deepen knowledge and expand vocabulary. These techniques also allow the students to think critically about the issues and to work together with the teammate in terms of searching for the information, fact, data, and so forth as well as to speak out about particular issues academically and accordingly. This is ultimately going to make students become well-cultivated and competent speaker.
In the case of the use of critical thinking strategies in English classes, students have the opportunity daily to learn the language in accordance with the requirements of life. In addition to critical thinking skills, debates, role play also demand the development of oral communication skills, which are vital for success in most careers.
References
1. Dewey, J. How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Boston, MA: Health, 1933.
2. Bloom, B. S. Taxonomy of educational objectives. Handbook I: The cognitive domain. New York, NY: David McKay Company, 1956.
3. Clark, D. R. Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains. Retrieved July 10, 2012 from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html/.
4. Cambridge Life Competences Framework. Critical Thinking. (https://languageresearch.cambridge.org/images/Lang uage_Research/Cam-FLiC/CLCF_Critical_Thinking.pdf)
5. Developing Critical Thinking in EAP: a guide for teachers. https://languageresearch.cam-bridge.org/images/Language_Research/CambridgePa-pers/CambridgePapersInELT_CriticalThinkingEAP-Teachers_2019_ONLINE.pdf
6. Iman, J. N. Debate Instruction in EFL Classroom: Impacts on the Critical Thinking and Speaking Skill //International Journal of Instruction, October 2017, Vol.10, No.4
7. Dobson, M. J. Effective techniques for English conversation groups. Washington, D. C.: United States Information Agency, 1987
8. Brown, H.D. Teaching by Principles-An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. NY: Addison Wesley Longman, 2011.
