Some Concepts of Critical thinking in ELT

Some Concepts of Critical thinking in ELT

Janpha Thadphoothon

Authors	Concepts of critical thinking	Areas
Hymes 1964; Widdowson 1978	Appropriate communication, Communicative competence	CLT
Rubin, 1975; O'Malley & Chamot 1990; Oxford 1990; Chamot 1995	Learning strategies The main assumption being: Learning strategy training will result in improved language learning ability.	Learning strategies
Atkinson 1997; Hawkins 1997	A social practice which is bound by specific culture: critical thinking is cultural thinking	L2 Writing & CDA
Davidson 1997, Gieve 1997	Philosophical approach: Rational judgment	Informal Logic Movement
Aarts 1997; 2002	Argumentation in linguistics, Argumentation in syntax	Traditional linguistics
Maley 2001	Cognitive properties embedded in language with cultural appropriateness	L2 Writing & Traditional linguistics
Thomson 2002	Skills university students need to acquire	CDA
Day 2004	Many levels of critical thinking, ranging from basic to complex levels	Traditional linguistics & Informal Logic Movement
Tan, Gallo, Jacobs and Lee 1999	Thinking skills	Informal Logic Movement

In this research, CT is conceptualized in the context language learning. It has been hypothesized as having three major components: (1) thinking critically about language learning (learning strategies), (2) using language for reasoning (appropriate reasoning), and (3) appropriate communication.

It must be noted here that L2 proficiency, indeed, matters in L2 communication. What are its major roles in L2 contexts? If a leaner can’t express himself in L2, he is not a successful L2 learner. This is an obvious case. Experience has informed us that many adult learners, despite having limited linguistic repertoire, are often equipped with highly developed communicative skills in L1. They can perform complex non-verbal tasks successfully, e.g. solving mathematical problems, given clear instructions in L1. From this angle, it seems their cognitive ability functions independently of their linguistic faculty. Ideas expressed in L2 may have to be filtered based on different sets of knowledge.

The model presented requires that learners think critically, or be reflective about their own language learning, i.e. strategies, attitudes towards language learning as well as their perception of their own ability. In addition, learners need to be able to communicate their ideas and feelings appropriately. Their reasoning, to be deemed as appropriate, must be logical and not harmful to others.

Since it is unlikely that we will be able to directly observe what is going on in people’s heads in the near future, all we can do at the present is to infer how and what people think from the language they have produced. Ben Jonson put it aptly that ‘Language most shows a man: speak that I may see thee’. Research in the field of language learning has reported that competent language users are effective communicators, and that is that they have the ability to organize sentences or texts as well as use them for communication effectively. In other words, they need both language knowledge and strategic competence (Bachman & Palmer, 2000; Doughlas, 2000; Weigle, 2002). Critical thinkers are individuals who can sort “sense from nonsense” (Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, 1994, p. 57). When language learners ask appropriate questions, build connections among ideas, they are thinking critically. Such learners are also creative and open to new experiences.