LANGUAGE TEACHING IN AN INTERCULTURAL CONTEXT

This paper reports on a methodology of teaching critical thinking skills in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes in an institution of higher education in Kazakhstan. The study findings suggest that the use of critical thinking impacts students’ learning in the content area as it makes them aware of critical thinking as a way to approach intercultural exploration. The research results provide practical suggestions on how to guide students to develop and apply critical thinking skills. The critical thinking-based learning of EFL is conceptualized as the development of teaching strategies to help promote critical thinking in regards to students’ intercultural awareness. The paper suggests a sample critical thinking lesson plan for engaging in critical thinking when teaching English as a foreign language and examines critical thinking strategies that can be used to foster critical thinking and relevant skills to deal with various problematic issues of conceptualization successfully. INTRODUCTION In recent years, critical thinking has become a ‘buzz word’ in educational circles (Fisher, 2001), particularly in North America and the UK (Bailin, Case, Coombs, and Daniels, 1999a). It has also received particular attention in educational journals in Kazakhstan. Following the work of Bailin. et.al. (1999a), we consider the conceptualization of critical thinking as the ability to acquire what can widen our background knowledge, operational knowledge of appropriate standards, knowledge of key concepts, and of certain vital habits of mind. By applying these intellectual resources one can do his/her best to create an environment of critical thinkingbased learning through redesigning lessons in which the students are involved. This paper examines critical thinking strategies, which can be used to foster critical thinking and critical thinking skills to deal with various problematic issues of conceptualization related to intercultural proficiencies successfully. Existing conversations on creating an environment of critical thinking-based learning in EFL classes in an intercultural context in Kazakhstan are also addressed in a novel way. The objective of the present research is three-fold: 1) to review teaching strategies effective in enhancing critical thinking in EFL classes, 2) to discuss why foreign language teachers should avoid the teacher-centered method to language instruction described by Paul (1995) as “the mother robin teaching” (p.1), and 3) to explore some of the arguments that call for “critical thinking lesson plan remodeling” (Paul, Binker, Martin, & Adamson, 1986). To achieve these goals, a review of the research literature on critical thinking provides a background for the study. It considers the concept of critical thinking, the critical approach, the strategies and skills associated with them, and how to teach thinking critically to develop an effective critical thinker. Second, these underlying issues are discussed in connection with the pedagogical teaching implications, and specifically those present in an EFL classroom. They are discussed as specific ways of applying critical thinking to EFL classes by providing the practical instructions on designing or redesigning a critical thinking lesson plan. The summary of theoretical premises and pedagogical suggestions and their implications conclude the discussion. THEORETICAL OVERVIEW Although the term “critical thinking” is used widely in reference to teaching and learning and is often in the center of educational discourse, many educators are unclear of what critical thinking is. Davidson (1998) commented on a survey research completed by in Ruminski and Hanks’ in 1995, who found that “the majority of 172 college journalism and mass communication educators had no clear concept of what critical thinking was, though 89 percent of them believed themselves to be teaching it” (p.120). A review of relevant sources reveals differences in the way critical thinking is conceptualized and therefore defined. According to Bailin, Case, Coombs, and Daniels (1999), critical thinking is “a normative enterprise in which, to a greater or lesser degree, we apply appropriate criteria and standards to what we or others say, do, or write” (p.285). In his discussion of critical thinking in TESOL, Atkinson (1997) argued this type of conceptualization with a different and rather controversial point of view when he defined critical thinking as a “social practice” (p. 72) and concluded that "critical thinking is cultural thinking"” (p. 89) – heavily dependent on socialization patterns and therefore approached with caution in the teaching of English as a non-native language. In contrast, Davidson (1998) offered multiple researchers’ definitions of critical thinking – and some of the suggestions included "the The Online Journal of New Horizons in Education January 2017 Volume 7, Issue 1 www.tojned. net Copyright © The Online Journal of New Horizons in Education 24 educational cognate of rationality”, “healthy skepticism”, and "reasonable and reflective thinking that is focused upon deciding what to believe and do" (p.121). Additionally, critical thinking was often defined as “a cognitive activity, associated with using the mind” (Cottrell, 2005); “a basic competency, akin to reading and writing, which needs to be taught” (Fisher, 2001); the ability to recognize, construct, and evaluate arguments, where an argument means “the presentation of a reason(s) to support a conclusion(s), or: Argument = Reason + Conclusion” (Haskins, 2006, p.6); and “that mode of thinking – about any subject, content or problem – in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them” (Paul, Fisher, & Nosich, 1993, p.4). This paper adopted a working definition of critical thinking as an activity where one can build confidence in his/her own ability by applying techniques in argumentation and reasoning to challenge other people’s views from an informed perspective when this is appropriate. The described multiple definitions of critical thinking highlight the multidirectional understanding educators apply to the discourse on critical approaches. More specifically, the employment of teaching strategies that promote and enhance critical thinking in EFL classes is justified by the fact that the ability to recognize, construct, and evaluate, which are inherent when engaged in language learning, are at the heart of critical thinking. Yet, these existing connections, raise culture-specific issues that need to be further addressed. In our efforts to seek applications of critical thinking in EFL teaching specifically in Kazakhstan, it is important to address claims of perceived inappropriateness of teaching critical thinking in the Asian context. Presenting the background for such claims, Hongladarom (1998b) stated that “some Western educators who teach at schools or universities in a number of Asian countries have voiced their difficulties and problems they encounter while trying to teach critical thinking and other related skills to Asian students” (p. 1). He further commented on an idea shared by both Davidson (1995) and Atkinson (1997) that successful utilization of critical thinking skills for some Asian students is influenced by elements in their culture. In response, Hongladarom argued that “critical thinking is not necessarily incompatible with Asian traditional belief systems” (p. 1). On the contrary, he suggested that Asian cultural traditions could be and are reexamined, reinterpreted and adapted in the conditions of the contemporary world (p.2). This article itself is a glimpse into how language learning and teaching are reflective of history and culture and their influence on the thinking and attitudes of people who belong to different cultures. The authors support Hongladarom's ideas that historical events and social decisions do play a significant role in adopting a particular set of values and his suggestion that societies evolve for the benefit of their members, in relation to the present circumstances of the world while they learn lessons from their historical experiences. As Paul et.al.(1995) stated, knowing world cultures, religions, politics, geography has become so essential that without this understanding survival seems to be impossible in the coming centuries. CRITICAL THINKING IN THE CLASSROOM The next concern is how critical thinking teaching fits with language instruction, how and when critical thinking should be introduced to students, and how students’ use of critical thinking skills in classroom activities applies particularly in an intercultural context. Scholars have questioned the relevance of critical thinking to language teaching. For example Fisher (2001) argued that although critical thinking skills are taught “to facilitate their transfer to other subjects and other contexts” (p.1), they are not considered to be taught in an intercultural context. Atkinson (1997) also expressed doubts that critical thinking is “appropriate for ESL/EFL classes” (p.72). Tsui (1999) studied students’ self-reported data on growth in critical thinking in a variety of disciplines, including foreign language courses. Tsui examined the role of the type of course and form of instruction, and found that both need to have association with critical thinking in order for students report growth. However, slightly greater impact was found for instruction. Tsui (1999) concludes that “the identification of instructional techniques that are influential to critical thinking can assist those within the academic community to implement changes that will enable courses across the curriculum to become more effective in meeting the widely supported educational objective of educating students to think critically”” (p.198). However, more research is needed to develop better understanding of the issue