İngilizce öğretiminde eleştirel yaklaşım: Öğrencilerde eleştirel düşünmeyi geliştirmek

Year 2021, Issue: Ö9, 364 - 373, 21.08.2021

Ceren Işıklı

https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.984809

Abstract

İngilizce ders kitaplarında içerik incelemesi sonucu hegemonya kültüründen bağımsız olduğunu iddia eden bu kitaplar tam olarak gerçeği yansıtmamaktadır. Bu kitaplarda, dolaylı da olsa, İngilizce dilinde konuşan ülkelerin kültürünü tanıtan güçlü bir kültür bileşenin ortaya çıktığı görülmektedir. Bu bağlamda yabancı dil eğitiminde yerli kültür, tarih, yaşantı ve hatıralar odaklı yeni bir eğitim anlayışı sağlamak amacıyla yetkin karar organlarının desteğiyle eleştirel pedagojinin meşru bir yöntem olarak müfredata dâhil edilmesi gerekmektedir. Bununla birlikte, geleneksel ders kitaplarının benimsediği davranışçı ideoloji çizgisinin ötesinde, cinsiyet, kültür, etnisite, din ve benzeri farklılıkları dikkate alacak şekilde işleyen konuların da müfredata dâhil edilmesine ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Türkiye’de özelikle üniversite düzeyindekiler başta olmak üzere eğitim kurumlarının, eleştirel pedagojiye öncelik tanımaları büyük önem taşımaktadır. Türkiye’nin içinde bulunduğu hassas jeopolitik konumundan dolayı Türk öğrencilerine yabancı dili sadece iletişim amaçlı değil, dış dünya ile iletişim kurduklarında gerek eleştiri yapabilen, gerek yöneltilen eleştirilere karşılık verebilecek donanımda yetiştirmeyi hedefleyen eğitime ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır. Öğrencilerin eleştirel İngilizce becerisi olmadan sosyal, kültürel ve siyasi alanlarda muhtelif konuları içeren bu tür tartışmalara aktif ve etkin bir şekilde katılım sağlamaları mümkün müdür? Bu çalışmada İngilizce öğretimi kapsamında eleştirel yaklaşımı yerel bağlama bağlayan kılavuz ilkeler önerilmektedir. Bu amaçla, gerek alan yazın gerek saha çalışmalarında elde edilen kabuller temelinde böyle bir pedagojinin kıstaslarını içeren bir kontrol listesi oluşturulmuştur. Böylece, program geliştirme uzmanları, öğretmen eğiticileri ve İngilizce öğretmenleri meslek hayatlarında ve sınıf içi uygulamalarında eleştirel pedagojiyi daha iyi anlamak ve kavramak için bu listeden faydalanabilirler.

Keywords

İngilizce öğretiminde eleştirel yaklaşım, eleştirel düşünme becerileri, İngilizce öğretimi

Critical approach in English language teaching: Developing learners’ critical thinking skills

Abstract

Although coursebooks publishers for English as a foreign language claim their contents to be culturally neutral, this does not exactly reflect the reality, as even a cursory glance demonstrates cultural elements promoting mostly the culture of English speaking countries. It is thus imperative that education policy makers embrace critical perspectives in teaching English to help shift the focus to local cultures, experiences, and histories, as well as to move foreign language education beyond behaviorist ideologies to include forms of social difference such as gender, culture, racism, and religion among many others, as topics of study. It is even more pertinent that critical approach becomes a priority in higher education, considering that learners reach cognitive maturity at this stage and are immune to the risks of indoctrination. It is important that in geopolitically sensitive regions, such as Turkey, for example, young generations learn not only how to communicate in English but also how to critique and be critical in English. As future agents of social improvement, without experiencing criticality could it be feasible for them to effectively engage in discussions on matters of social, cultural and political importance to their real worlds, while communicating with the outside world? Based on inferences and insights from literature review, this study aims to highlight some of the important points in critical ELT in connection to local contexts, offering a better understanding of critical approach for EFL teachers, material designers, and teacher trainers.

Keywords

Critical ELT, critical thinking skills in EFL instruction, English teaching

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