VIETNAMESE EFL STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING VIA REFLECTIVE JOURNALS IN EFL LITERATURE CLASSES

Tóm tắt

Critical thinking has been recently recognised as an important skill in Vietnamese education and in EFL field. However, research on critical thinking practices or critical thinking development in Vietnamese EFL classes is still rare. This study investigated some Vietnamese EFL students’ critical thinking via their reflective journals in American-British Literature classes.

30 reflective journals of 15 students were analysed to look for the evidence of the students’ critical thinking. Seven students (out of 15) were then invited for a semi-structured interview to further understand their thoughts in their reflective journals and to get their opinions about the role of reflective journal writing for opportunities to express or develop critical thinking. Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) cognitive levels and Barnett’s (1997) criticality domains were combined to form a framework for analysing the data in this study.

The study found that the students demonstrated their critical thinking by being able to analyse, evaluate and create not only literary knowledge but also themselves and the world. Reflective journal writing was found to assist the opportunities to develop students’ critical thinking. It is implied from the study’s findings that the critical thinking framework which combines Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) cognitive levels and Barnett’s (2015) criticality domains can be used as a reference tool to develop and assess critical thinking or to design teaching contents with the integration of critical thinking. Reflective journal writing activity can be widely used in EFL content classes in general and in EFL Literature classes in particular to promote students’ critical thinking.

https://doi.org/10.26459/hueuni-jssh.v129i6B.5786
PDF (English)

Tài liệu tham khảo

  1. Ahn, S.-Y. (2015). Criticality for global citizenship in Korean English immersion camps. Language and Intercultural Communication, 15(4), 533-549.
  2. Alagozlu, N. (2007). Critical thinking and voice in EFL writing. Asian EFL Journal, 9(3), 118-136.
  3. Allan, G. (2003). The effect of undergraduate student involvement on critical thinking: A meta-analysis of the Literature. Jounal of College Student Development, 44(6).
  4. Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives (Complete Edition ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
  5. Asraf, R. M., Ahmed, S., & Eng, T. K. (2018). Using focused freewriting to stimulate ideas and foster crtical thinking during prewriting. TESOL International Journal, 11(4), 67-79.
  6. Badger, J. (2019). A case study of Chinese students and IEP faculty perceptions of a creativity and critical thinking course. Higher Education Studies, 9(3), 34-44.
  7. Bailin, S., Case, R., Coombs, J. R., & Daniels, L. B. (1999). Conceptualizing critical thinking. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 31(3), 285-302.
  8. Barnett, R. (1997). Higher Education: A Critical Business. London: SRHE and Open University Press.
  9. Barnett, R. (2015). A Curriculum for Critical Being. In M. Davies & R. Barnett (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of critical thinking in higher education (pp. 63-76): Springer.
  10. Bean, J. C. (2011). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom. Wiley: Hoboken, N.J.
  11. Binh, N. T. T. (2017). Integrating critical thinking in EFL classes: current practices and prospects. Journal of Inquiry into Languages and Cultures, 2(2).
  12. Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives. Vol. 1: Cognitive domain: New York: McKay.
  13. Bobkina, J., & Stefanova, S. (2016). Literature and critical literacy pedagogy in the EFL classroom: Towards a model of teaching critical thinking skills. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 6(4).
  14. Bobkina, J., & Stefanova, S. (2017). The effectiveness of teaching critical thinking skills through Literature in EFL context: A case study in Spain. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 6(6).
  15. Boud, D. (2001). Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice. New Direction for Adult and Continuing Education, 90.
  16. Boud, D., & Walker, D. (1998). Promoting reflection in professional courses: the challenge of context. Sudies in Higher Education, 23.
  17. Brookfield, S. D. (2011). Teaching for critical thinking: tools and techniques to help students question their assumptions. CA: Jossey-Bass.
  18. Brumfit, C., Myles, F., Mitchell, R., Johnston, B., & Ford, P. (2005). Language study in higher education and the development of criticality. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15(2), 145 - 168.
  19. Bryman, A. (2001). Social science research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  20. Carter, R., & Long, M. (1991). Teaching Literature. ELT Journal, 37(1).
  21. Daud, N. M., & Hustin, Z. (2004). Developing critical thinking skills in computer-aided extended reading classes. British Journal of Educational Technology, 35(4), 477-487.
  22. Dumteeb, N. (2009). Teachers' questioning techniques and students' critical thinking skills: English language classroom in the Thai context. (Doctor of Education), Oklahoma State Univerisity, The U.S. (3372164)
  23. Fahim, M., & Sa' eepour, M. (2011). The impact of teaching critical thinking skills on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(4), 867-874.
  24. Hill, J. (1986). Using Literature in Language teaching Essential language teaching series,
  25. Houghton, S., & Yamada, E. (2012). Developing criticality in practice through foreign language education: Peter Lang Frankfurt Am Mein, Germany.
  26. Jantrasakul, P. (2012). Utilizing critical thinking-based EFL lessons: A means to improve language skills and encourage student engagement in Thai EFL classes. Journal of Education and Practice, 3(6), 22-32.
  27. Johnston, B., Ford, P., Myles, F., & Mitchell, R. (2011). Developing Student Criticality in Higher Education: Undergraduate Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences: Continuum International Publishing Group.
  28. Kabilan, M. K. (2000). Creative and critical thinking in language classrooms. The Internet TESL Journal, 6(6).
  29. Langer, J. (1997). Literacy acquisition through literature. Journal of Adolescent and Adult literacy, 40.
  30. Lazere, D. (1987). Critical thinking in College English studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7784-5_3
  31. Lin, Y. (2018). Developing Critical Thinking in EFL Classes: An Infusion Approach. Singapore: Springer.
  32. Luk, J., & Lin, A. (2014). Voices Without Words: Doing Critical Literate Talk in English as a Second Language. TESOL Quarterly, 49(1), 67-91.
  33. Madondo, N. M. (2012). Teaching literature for critical thinking in a secondary school. (Master of Education), University of KwaZulu-Natal. Retrieved from http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10413/9566/Madondo_Nkosinathi_E_2012.pdf?sequence=1
  34. Mok, J. (2010). The new role of English language teachers: developing students' critical thinking in Hong Kong secondary school classroms. Asian EFL Journal, 12(2), 262-287.
  35. Oster, J. (1989). Seeing with different eyes: Another view of Literature in the ESL class. TESOL Quarterly, 23(1).
  36. Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2002). Critical thinking: teaching students how to study and learn (Part I). Journal of Developmental Education, 26(1), 36-37.
  37. Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2008). Critical thinking: The art of Socratic questioning, Part III. Journal of Developmental Education, 31(3), 34-35.
  38. Petek, E., & Bedir, H. (2018). An Adaptable Teacher Education Framework for Critical Thinking in Language Teaching. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 28, 56-72. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2018.02.008.
  39. Rubenfeld, M. G., & Scheffer, B. K. (2014). Critical thinking TACTICS for Nurses Retrieved from https://books.google.com.vn/books?hl=en&lr=&id=FfJHAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=Critical+Thinking:+Theory+and+Applications+Rubenfeld+M.+G.,+and+Scheffer+B.&ots=wCOP2miIbr&sig=CNMTjlqvgovrBNKquGvXTJVw5wk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
  40. Shen, P., & Yodkhumlue, B. (2012). A case study of teachers' questioning and students' critical thinking in college EFL reading classroom. International Journal of English Linguistics, 2(1), 199-206.
  41. Sung, K. (2012). Critical practices in Asia: A project of possibilities in the era of World Englishes. In K. Sung & R. Pederson (Eds.), Critical ELT Practices in Asia: Sense Publishers.
  42. Thunnithet, P. (2011). Approaches to criticality development in English literature education: a second language case study in a Thai university. (Doctor of Philosophy), University of Southampton.
  43. Tsui, L. (2001). Faculty attitudes and the development of students' critical thinking. The Journal of General Education, 50(1), 1-28.
  44. Yamada, E. (2010). Reflection to the Development of Criticality: An Empirical Study of Beginners' Japanese Language Courses as a British University. Intercultural Communication Studies, 19(2), 253.
  45. Yuan, R., & Stapleton, P. (2019). Student teachers’ perceptions of critical thinking and its teaching. ELT Journal. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccz044