The Availability of Critical Thinking Skills in the English Course for First Intermediate Grade: Analytical Study

Abstract

T  he aim of this study is to identify critical thinking skills required for middle school students, as well as the availability of critical thinking skills in the English language course for the first intermediate grade. The researcher used the descriptive analytical method, where she analyzed the content of the English course for the first intermediate grade by a designed content analysis form that included five main skills: Recognition of assumptions, interpretation, deduction skill, and inference skill. Findings revealed variance in the percentages of critical thinking main skills and sub-skills in the first intermediate grade English course. Findings also revealed that the English language course lacks a balance between the main skills of critical thinking and sub-skills, especially as the sub-skills complement the main skills. However importance sub-skills of critical thinking have, they do not achieve learning critical thinking required to be learned.