SOME DISCOURSE-BASED SUGGESTIONS THAT BOOST CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IN ELT CLASSES

Abstract

Recent approaches in education aim at cognitive processes, defined in terms of learner autonomy principles. Learners should be taught how to think rather than what to think. Judging, reasoning, problem solving, decision making are vital for successful academic and social lives (Collier, et al., 2002:7). Critical thinking is the ability to judge an idea/claim based on reliable evidence by determining one’s own criteria (Beyer, 1995). Especially, in a rote-memorization based educational system as in Turkey, learners need to be taught to express their own thoughts and to judge the ideas before making a decision and solving the problems. In this paper, some classroom applications to improve critical reading in ELT will be presented

Keywords

• Eleştirel Düşünme Becerileri
• İngilizce Öğretimi
• Okuma

SOME DISCOURSE-BASED SUGGESTIONS THAT BOOST CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IN ELT CLASSES

Öz

Öğretimde yeni yaklaşımlar, bireysel planlama ve sorumluluk alma ilkelerine gore tanımlanan düşünme süreçlerini hedefler. Öğrenciye ne düşüneceğini değil nasıl düşüneceğini öğretmeyi esas alır (Taylor, 2001). Yargılama, sebebe dayandırma, problem çözme, ve karara varma öğrencinin okulda ve hayatta başarılı olmaları için hayati önem taşıyan becerilerdir. (Collier ve ark.,2002:7). Eleştirel düşünce bireyin kendi ölçütlerini belirleyip doğru güvenilir bir kanıta dayan-dırarak bir iddiayı veya bir düşünceyi sorgulama yeteneğidir (Beyer, 1995). Özellikle ezbere dayalı eğitim veren Türk Eğitim Sistemi’nde öğrencilere kendilerini ifade edebilmeleri, problem çözme ve karara varmadan önce sunulan düşünceleri yargılayabilme becerileri öğretilmelidir. Bu makalede, öğrencilerin eleştirel okumalarını geliştirmek için İngilizce Öğretimi’nde kullanılabilecek birkaç sınıf içi uygulama sunulacaktır

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Critical Thinking Skills
• English Language Teaching
• Reading

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