Development of Students’ Critical Thinking Skills via Teaching English

Natalia Moskovskaya,Elena Kalinovskaya,Veronika Starichkova

doi:10.3897/ap.5.e1641

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to investigate the educational potential of the foreign language as a university subject and to verify theoretically and practically the possibility of developing critical thinking skills of students in the process of foreign language acquisition at the tertiary level of education. The student age is a sensitive period for the development of the intellectual sphere of an individual especially in general and critical thinking. The research about critical thinking suggests that this type of thinking is a category of interdisciplinary knowledge and represents a set of certain skills: reflection, goal setting, decision making, problem-solving, and other skills. Experimental teaching and practical evaluation of the methods designed to develop students’ critical thinking skills by means of the foreign language showed that in the process of specially organized teaching and educational activities, students successfully master critical thinking skills if they are taught step-by-step; learning content is thoroughly selected; an appropriate system of exercises is designed; the problem- and communication-oriented teaching is provided. It is necessary to implement the communicative approach and the approach of interrelated teaching of language skills, to ensure a close connection of the content of the exercises with students’ real life (to use exercises that allow analyzing students’ real-life situations, events, behavior, actions), to use active methods of teaching (role play, case-method, project method).

Highlights

IntroductionModernization processes taking place in the system of worldwide tertiary education outline fundamentally new approaches to the realization of the educational potential of academic disciplines, and to the development of cognitive abilities and intellectual skills of students
Observations carried out during the experimental teaching showed that the indicators of the level of critical thinking skills (CTS), the ability to apply them in daily life and learning activities have improved considerably in the experimental group
The first questionnaire included the following questions: a) Have you noticed any changes in your own thinking process during the course? Provide examples. b) How did your understanding of critical thinking as a particular type of intellectual activity change as the course progressed? c) What skills did you acquire during this curriculum? d) Which of the topics did you especially remember and like? Why? The second questionnaire was an adapted variant of the questionnaire “Student Perception of Critical Thinking in Instruction” developed at the Centre of critical thinking development in the USA headed by R

Summary

Introduction

Modernization processes taking place in the system of worldwide tertiary education outline fundamentally new approaches to the realization of the educational potential of academic disciplines, and to the development of cognitive abilities and intellectual skills of students. According to the experience of world methodologists and teachers, one of such areas is the development of the critical thinking (CT) of students. The question of the development of critical thinking skills (CTS) of students is important for many humanitarian and science disciplines

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion