With a lot of recent focus on critical thinking skills, many English teachers are asking, “How do we take advantage of Critical Thinking in our English classes?” See how is it used in the S.M.A.R.T. teaching approach and in the English Quest series.
Critical Thinking in the EFL Classroom
When teaching English as a foreign language from beginner level, students are still unable to convey their thoughts and opinions in English. Asking them to do so would be very demotivating and unproductive. This does not mean we can’t prepare students to be able to understand the skills that are required to become a critical thinker.
The steps that lead to students being successful critical thinkers come from learning to solve problems, ask questions and connect ideas in their first and second language. The way language is approached by native English speakers is very different to the way it is approached by Japanese. Look at most business meetings, books, newspapers, school lessons and day-to-day conversations between friends, and you’ll immediately see that beyond the language, the method of communication is very different.
The first step to being a successful critical thinker in English is to understand the differences in the way native English speakers use and manipulate language in order to convey their ideas. This means looking at how native speakers approach cohesiveness in their communication by looking at compare and contrast, giving opinions, narratives, cause and effect and many other functional parts of language that lead to successful communication with a native speaker.
With beginner students, it is important that as they learn a language, they get to see it in the context of the above ideas so they can grow a sense of how the language is to be used. Focusing purely on grammar rules and memorizing vocabulary will help students to pass tests, but by itself will not lead students to be successful speakers of English.
Critical Thinking Activities
The SMART English teaching approach makes sure that language is always activated, rather than presented. Activation means that rather than being presented an idea in their first language and then having it translated, teachers use flashcards, actions, examples, etc, to give the students an ‘image’ or ‘sense’ of the language as it is introduced.
Tapping into prior knowledge and building up connections to previously learned language is also vitally important. The more networked connections you can make in English, the easier it is for students to navigate the language they already know in order to communicate the ideas they want.
The English Quest series has many activities that help promote these ideas by making sure students have to actively process the language as they learn rather than passively apply it. Throughout the English Quest series, activities are included where the students:
- give their own opinions or call on their own experiences in order to personalize the language,
- process the rules of the language to solve problems with the language,
- use their imagination to role play situations using the target language,
- and more,
The Importance of Critical Thinking
In its most basic form, critical thinking involves having an open and questioning mind. Don’t accept everything at face value. Be critical, and use your own judgement and common sense to answer questions, approach unfamiliar situations and be open, yet discerning about the world around you.
Different cultures have different ways of approaching problems and dealing with situations and this comes through in the way they use language. If a Japanese person were to have native level grammar and vocabulary, but a poor understanding of western culture, in many situations they would still come across as poor communicators. The same can be said for a Native English speaker learning Japanese. Unless they understand the ‘rules’ of communication for the language, they will come across as rude, direct and somewhat overpowering, and in many situations this would make communication more challenging.
For English learners wishing to communicate in an international arena in the future, an awareness of differences in culture and ways of thinking/approaching problems is vitally important. Take a simple example from one of my old students who had many Dutch and American co-workers: A new piece of equipment comes into the office and the Japanese staff jump to the operating manual for a discussion about the machine before anyone dared touch it – they all looked in horror, though as the Dutch and American workers just turned it on and started playing around with it figuring it out as they went along. My student’s comment – ‘But how did they know how to use it?’
As Japan opens its doors to more and more foreign businesses and as other countries start to become more competitive in fields traditionally dominated by Japanese companies, it’s clear to see that Japan may need to start taking a different approach. In order to change a culture’s way of thinking, a critical approach is necessary. Being able to test assumptions and look at the way things are done from a different perspective, is important for bringing about change. Being able to do this while also maintaining all the highly valuable traditions of the culture, will take keen and open minds on the part of those making the changes and those following behind.
As the term ‘critical thinking’ starts making more of an appearance in Japan, educators are having to consider how to approach their own teaching in order to incorporate the necessary skills. For most subjects, looking at the western approach to education provides some good examples. In language classes, while western teaching styles provide good ideas and methodologies that can be used here in Japan, the overall approach taken to testing, especially at the university level, makes dedicating time to these approaches more challenging. However, there are still many key skills we can focus on that lead to students being able to develop stronger critical thinking skills. In turn, the understanding of these skills will build a better understanding of English language and culture and hence better overall English communication.
Ian Daniels
Smart ELT
