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USING OF CRITICAL THINKING TECHNOLOGY ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LESSONS
Ulzhabayeva A.G.1, Yeralinova T.Y.1 ©
1Master of pedagogics, teacher of foreign languages department, Karaganda State University named
after the academician E.A. Buketov
Summary
The article deals with using of critical thinking technology on English language lessons. The main objectives of teaching is the formation of creative and critical thinking, the ability to operate on the received information and to apply knowledge into practice in a variety of situations that allows the specialist to be successful in today's society.
Keywords: critical thinking, learning a foreign language, technology, skill, to develop logical thinking, ability.
Ключевые слова: критическое мышление, изучение иностранного языка, технология, навыки, развитие логического мышления, способность.
The modern system of education is not only aimed at the transfer of a certain set of knowledge and skills, but also on the intellectual and moral development of the individual. The main objectives of teaching is the formation of creative and critical thinking, the ability to operate on the received information and to apply knowledge into practice in a variety of situations that allows the specialist to be successful in today's society. Today, no one doubts the fact that students should be involved in research and creative activities, to learn to understand, innovate, develop new, express their ideas, make decisions, and be able to critically evaluate the accuracy, precision of something; critically perceive the situation as a whole, and if necessary - to change its position on the facts and arguments.
Many believe that critical thinking is inherent in our nature. But if it is not controlled, it often becomes a one-sided, distorted and fragmented.
With regard to the concept of critical thinking there are a great diversity of opinions and assessments. On the one hand, it is associated with the negative, as it assumes as dispute and conflicts. On the other hand, it combines the concept of "analytical thinking", "logical thinking", etc.
Professor Robert H. Johnson from Canada defines critical thinking as a special kind of mental activity that allows a person to make a sound judgment about his proposed a point of view and behaviors.
German scientists are R. Paul and L. Elder define critical thinking as a kind of thinking (this applies to all items of content or problems) in which a person improves the quality of his thinking, making it an integral part of his life. It involves mastering of certain qualities of thinking and leads to the development of creative abilities in communication and solving of problem.
D. Halpern, revealing the essence of critical thinking, writes: "When we think critically, we evaluate the results of their thought processes, how well our decision or how well we coped with the task. Critical thinking also includes an assessment of the thought process - the course of reasoning which have led to our conclusions or the factors that we take into account when making a decision" [1, 352].
D. Klooster identifies the following parameters of critical thinking:
1. critical thinking is thinking itself;
2. critical thinking it is social thinking;
© Ulzhabayeva A.G., Yeralinova T.Y., 2017 г.
3. critical thinking begins with asking questions and understanding the problems to be
solved;
4. critical thinking is seek to convincing argument.
D. Halpern, thinking about the intellectual skills of critical thinking, stops on the following
ones:
- analysis / conclusions;
- extension, formulation, hypotheses of development;
- activation of previously acquired knowledge;
- activation of the cause-effect relationships;
- the significance of analysis;
- applications in the real world;
- evaluation and its accuracy;
- generalization of ideas;
- the study of other points of view;
- finding and assessment solutions and alternative ways of dealing with the problem;
- definition of the problem in the text [3, 11].
This means that students need to independently identify the problem and apply their existing knowledge to solve it.
When teaching foreign language development of critical thinking can be seen as a factor of formation of communicative competence. Formation of critical thinking is the basis of work with foreign language information in the broadest sense, i.e., when learning and practical use of different types of speech activity [2, 98].
Despite on the existing research on the subject, foreign language teaching experience has shown that students often do not know how to consistently and convincingly explain their point of view, they substitute the logic of the argument with unsubstantiated allegations by emotional statements. This fact leads to the conclusion that the argumentation skills reflect the degree of development of logical thinking and the need for laborious training.
Argumentation is, of course, higher order skill, an art in which are important both manner of behavior, ability to communicate with the audience, diction as well correct registration of speech. At the same time the basis argumentation is the logic, and no matter how correct was formalized our speech, no matter how it was emotional and expressive, the form can not replace the content, namely well-constructed evidence. Thus, before the foreign language teacher gets a double task: on the one hand, to teach students the skills of correct implementation of their thoughts in a foreign language, and on the other - to develop their logical thinking, the ability to consistently and convincingly prove their point of view.
Using exercises and tasks for teaching argumentative statement increases the effectiveness of training, their role to educate. At the senior course materials for teaching argumentation can recommend articles by foreign critics. Before studying the article there is a need to answer the questions:
1) what is the purpose of the author;
2) whether the problem/topic formulated correctly;
3) whether the author essential facts leads, experiences and information? Is it possible to check the statement and how exactly it is? Whether the author covers complex aspects of the question?;
4) does the author adequately traces the line of argument that can be easily identified? How and in what way it comes to the important final conclusions?
5) whether the author explains and illuminates the concept, key terms, and the main idea in
detail?
The introduction of competition elements, the tabling of the closest to this audience problem intensifies interest in studies.
However, it is much more useful to provide students with an opportunity to define a controversial issue, offering them excerpts of texts, articles with debatable character, as a result of the analysis which draw some conclusions.
Accurately formulated position on a controversial problem represents the thesis which should be proved further.
At the initial stage of work arguments (so-called for and against) are offered students in finished form to force them to reflect on the set problem. In order to the arguments sounded more convincing, they should be provided with illustrations. Of course, the vast amount of material for the illustration can be submitted by students based on their own life experiences, everyday observations. At the same time, the student can be offered in advance to prepare for the discussion of the issue: talk to your fellow students and / or parents to ascertain their point of view, to pick up the statistics of articles, books, etc.
Analysis and illustrations offered in ready-made arguments at a later stage of the work give way to independent search for students of arguments to prove their point of view. Here the basis argument is the reasoning by induction methods of deduction and analogy [4, 18].
Teaching argumentative statement to the students in a foreign language lessons has a special meaning: it helps formation of communication skills with the audience, as well as the development of the basic skills which are necessary for the conduct debates and discussions, not only foreign, but also in their native language.
The formation of critical thinking of students in the foreign language lessons contributes an increase in specific gravity of use of active, creative forms and methods of learning such as discussions, business and role-playing games, "brainstorming", essay writing, drawing table (I know, has learned a new, want to know more ), "thick" and "thin" questions etc.
Criteria and indicators of critical thinking formation of students on lessons in a foreign language:
1) ability to allocate essential communications, ability to establish cause and effect relationships and relations, to classify information;
2) non-standard thinking, ability to develop own non-standard schemes during the work with new information and problems, ability to consider a problem from the new, nonconventional parties;
3) ability to independently make decisions proceeding from real conditions, to undertake the right to formulate the purposes in difficult situations;
4) ability to the analysis of own activity, ability to reveal a problem, to formulate contradictions.
The critical thinking helps the student to estimate, analyze information that increases efficiency of its perception; increases interest in the studied material and in a subject: ability to think, reflect; to work in cooperation (in groups, couples); increases quality of education; develops ability to individual independent activity, and in a foreign language helps to form communicative skills. This technology gives to the teacher the chance to create the comfortable psychological atmosphere of openness and cooperation; to make active participants; to become the practician who is able to analyze the activity.
References
1. Halpern D. Psychology of critical thinking. - 2000. - 512 p.
2. Butenko A.V., Hodos E.A. Critical thinking: method, theory, practice.Miros, 2002. - 176 p.
3. Klooster D. Critical thinking and new forms of literacy. -2005. - P. 5-13.
4. Temple Ch. Critical thinking and critical literacy. - 2005.- № 2. - p.15-20
