Abstract:
Explicit teaching may provide great opportunities for critical thinking to
flourish. This paper examines the degree to which the need for developing
such a critical view of language learning among English as Second/Foreign
Language (ESL/EFL) teachers is rigorously felt and is taken into
consideration. To this end, a researcher-made inventory, namely Criticalityoriented
English Teaching Perceptions Inventory (CEPTI), was distributed
among 150 EFL teachers. The results of the questionnaire and follow-up
face-to-face interviews indicated that teachers were still not ready for a
change towards explicit teaching of criticality-oriented skills inside the
English language classes. Subsequent to assessing teachers‟ perceptions,
Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, Form A (WGCTA-FA) was
given to a total number of 100 EFL learners. Findings revealed that learners
did not score high on the WGCTA. The pedagogical implications of the study
are discussed
Machine summary:
85-102, 2017 Assessing Teachers’ Perceptions of Using Criticality-Enhancing English Language Materials inside EFL Classes Momene Ghadiri* Assistant Professor, Language Center, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan Mansoor Tavakoli Full Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Isfahan Abstract Explicit teaching may provide great opportunities for critical thinking to flourish.
This paper examines the degree to which the need for developing such a critical view of language learning among English as Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teachers is rigorously felt and is taken into consideration.
The results of the questionnaire and follow-up face-to-face interviews indicated that teachers were still not ready for a change towards explicit teaching of criticality-oriented skills inside the English language classes.
As a particular case in point, L2 academic writing demands that learners also practice the promotion of their critical thinking skills, a process which has shown to be very challenging for most learners (Atkinson, 1997, 1998; Atkinson & Kaplan, 1994; Atkinson & Ramanathan, 1995; Briggs, 1999; Pennycook, 1996; Thompson, 2002; Wilson, 1998).
In this connection, a qualitative analysis of interviews helped the researcher identify a number of general trends as to whether and under what conditions 95 criticality oriented components might be included in the English teaching syllabus: All the teachers agreed upon the fact that the primary focus of EFL classes should be learning a language for communication and cognitive abilities including critical thinking though necessary should be in service of learning a foreign language.