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"FROM PASSIVE READERS TO CRITICAL THINKERS:
IMPLEMENTING CRITICAL READING IN ELT"
Gavkhar Mavlonova
a graduate student of
Webster University in Tashkent
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13832142
Abstract
This article explores the concept of critical reading in the context of
English Language Teaching (ELT). It discusses the differences between critical
reading and other types of reading, highlighting the benefits it offers for
language learners, such as improved proficiency and analytical skills. The article
also addresses the challenges associated with implementing critical reading in
the classroom, including educational and cultural barriers. Finally, it provides
potential solutions, such as scaffolding, specialized techniques, and the use of e-
readers, to enhance critical reading skills in students.
Keywords: critical reading, critical thinking, reading strategies, educational
challenges, scaffolding, e-readers, analytical skills
В этой статье рассматривается концепция критического чтения в
контексте преподавания английского языка (ELT). Обсуждаются отличия
критического чтения от других типов чтения, а также преимущества,
которые оно даёт изучающим язык, такие как улучшение владения
языком и аналитических навыков. В статье также рассматриваются
проблемы, связанные с внедрением критического чтения в учебный
процесс, включая образовательные и культурные барьеры. Наконец,
предлагаются возможные решения, такие как организация поддержки,
специальные техники и использование электронных книг для улучшения
навыков критического чтения у студентов.
Ключевые слова: критическое чтение, критическое мышление,
стратегии чтения, поддержка (scaffolding), электронные книги,
аналитические навыки
Ushbu maqolada ingliz tilini o'rgatishda tanqidiy o'qish tushunchasi ko'rib
chiqiladi. Tanqidiy o'qishning boshqa o'qish turlaridan farqlari va bu usul til
o'rganuvchilari uchun til bilimi va tahliliy ko'nikmalarni rivojlantirish kabi
afzalliklari yoritilgan. Shuningdek, maqolada sinfda tanqidiy o'qishni qo'llash
bilan bog'liq qiyinchiliklar, jumladan, ta'lim va ma’lum madaniy to'siqlar
muhokama qilinadi. Nihoyat, o’quvchilarda tanqidiy o'qish ko'nikmalarini
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rivojlantirish uchun yechimlar sifatisa maxsus uslublar va elektron kitoblar
taklif etiladi.
At the beginning of the 21st century, many educational institutions
started to change their attitude toward teaching reading skills. They emphasized
reading using critical thinking skills instead of traditional content-oriented
reading. It became clear that, in English Language Teaching, developing
students’ critical thinking skills improves their target language proficiency and
nurtures their effective literacy in English.
Kalit so’zlar: tanqidiy o’qish, tanqidiy fikrlash, o‘qish strategiyalari,
ta'limdagi qiyinchiliklar, yordam (scaffolding), elektron kitoblar, tahliliy
ko‘nikmalar
This article briefly defines the meaning and importance of critical reading
in the classroom as well as highlights the main differences between critical
reading from other types of reading strategies. The main aims of this article are
to find the challenges of critical reading in the classroom and to analyze suitable
suggestions to overcome these challenges.
Critical reading is defined differently as a term in various sources.
Critical
reading, i.e. “deep reading”, is the process of receiving information by predicting,
analyzing, questioning, and searching (Pirozzi, 2003).
Wallace (2003) wrote that
critical reading is reading at a high level in which specific processes are applied.
Critical reading may be defined as the type of reading in which critical thinking
skills are used and it involves producing reasoned arguments after reading and
analyzing the text.
Critical reading differs from other types of reading because of some
features. This type of reading is different from basic reading by the level or
degree of engagement with the text. Jensen (2019) noted that
while noncritical readers try to comprehend the main message or narrative of
the text, readers who use critical thinking skills probe deep into the text.
Ordinary readers aim at facts and the external meaning of the text, but critical
readers read the information with a critical eye by previewing, analyzing, and
re-reading. The basic reader reads the text and tries to find the details or
information, however, the critical reader dives into the text and creates their
ideas which may or may not be similar to the authors’ ideas (p. 47).
This information proves that in critical reading, the difference between the
author’s and the reader’s views is accepted. The reader is not asked to produce
the same idea or conclusion as the author’s ideas.
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The use of critical reading can offer several advantages for English language
learners. Firstly, many students read the text as passive consumers, but critical
reading enables the use of critical thinking and reading skills simultaneously
which activates the passive process. Furthermore, acquiring critical reading
strategies turns students into text analysts. As Wallace (1995) wrote, they can
read the material “with a suspicious eye” and can identify manipulations e.g.
emotive, feminist language used by the author (Wilson, 1999).
Moreover,
critical reading helps to improve other areas of literacy and language learning
.
According to the study conducted by Anuar & Awang (2020), ELT learners
reported that the use of critical reading in the classroom helped to improve their
overall knowledge (92%), English language (81%), and creativity (34%). It is
clear that use of critical reading in the classroom is beneficial and educational
establishments have to apply critical reading skills in teaching process.
The use of critical reading in the classrooms may cause some challenges
and challenges related to students’ backgrounds occurred frequently in ELT
classrooms. These challenges may be related to educational, cultural or social
backgrounds. Firstly, some students may be from different educational
backgrounds where reading critically is not valued, and much emphasis is laid
on memorizing and surface reading.
Wilson (2016) pointed out that some
universities design their materials only to develop memorization, and the use of
critical thinking skills is not accepted.
In addition, some establishments do not
have appropriate books and teachers to develop critical reading.
According to
Jensen (2019), teaching critical reading requires special knowledge from the
teacher, and it is impossible to teach reading critically without proper training.
Another challenge may be related to cultural differences and some cultures or
traditions may have different cultural capital which does not support critical
thinking. Moreover, students who are from some political backgrounds which do
not foster critical debate are sometimes not prepared to comprehend critical
thinking in the classroom.
These challenges can be solved by effective scaffolding which means
providing support for students to improve learning and help students to succeed
in difficult tasks. Wilson and Devereux (2014) claimed that EFL teachers are
sometimes passionate about teaching critical reading and do not regard
students’ backgrounds and their passion may cause tiredness, confusion, and
ignorance in learners. For example, Wallace (2003) used critical reading tasks
for Arabic students to whom she introduced some challenging texts on Islam and
as a result, students refused to attend the course because the author disregarded
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cultural differences and the importance of delicate scaffolding. In the study
which was conducted by Wilson (2016), the teacher wanted to teach critical
reading tasks with great enthusiasm and wanted transformation in students’
dispositions, but she chose inappropriate materials for her students’
backgrounds. As a consequence, despite the teacher’s enthusiasm, the course did
not produce effective results but led to boredom and ignorance of learners.
According to Wilson (2016), the process of developing critical reading should
not be daunting for students and teachers should not disturb learners’
worldviews. Instead, ELT teachers should suggest “delicate scaffolding” where
learners acquire new skills feeling security and enough support. Teachers and
institutions may offer different approaches for improving reading critically, but
Moore (2013) noted that the main aspect is to enhance the extra level of
consciousness of texts.
Critical reading is a complex process of reading and students sometimes
do not know how to use critical reading techniques because of not being familiar
with this type of reading. and they may face challenges in the process of reading.
Bilki (2022) wrote that critical reading is the process of engaging with the text
actively and learners have to engage in an interactive dialogue with the text and
an author. This process is not simple and it consumes much time and energy of
English language learners. In many cases, learners read the text but do not know
how to go beyond it, or how to use critical reading strategies i.e. how to analyze,
question, interpret, and summarise. As a result, learners get confused and
abandon the process of critical reading. Learners skip the reading and take some
notes instead.
Students’ challenges that occur due to the lack of practice in critical
reading can be solved with the help of special reading prompts which are
designed to question and analyze any type of reading material.
Tomasek (2009)
suggested the use of reading prompts which can be useful to realize the meaning
of critical reading and may help to improve critical reading skills. The prompts
serve to facilitate the connection between the reader and the text (Tompkins,
2006). These basic questions can orient learners with a stance in critical reading
by guiding them while they are reading. The goal of the prompts is not to aid
learners to gather facts or to complete some assignments, but to help them to
synthesize information and to collect the ideas of the material. While Wallace
(2003) introduced prompts as critical synopsis questions and according to her
five questions learners may know what to achieve after reading, Tomasek
(2009) created six sets of prompts that target to development of specific critical
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reading skills. In the following list, two sets of reading prompts which are
suggested by these two authors are compared.
Critical synopsis questions offered by Wallace (2011):
Why am I reading the text?
What are the authors of the text trying to do by writing it?
What are the relevant ideas to what I want to find?
How convincing are the authors’ ideas?
To conclude, what use can I find after reading?
Tomasek’s (2009) reading prompts to make connections:
What do I know about the topic?
What is the difference between my previous knowledge and the ideas in the
text?
What are the new ideas that are suggested by authors?
Which principles in the text can be compared with the other courses?
What information can contribute to my interest and knowledge in this topic?
What connections can be made with the other topics?
It can be concluded that these prompts offered by different authors are
similar and Tomasek’s questions focus on a specific context. The challenges
causing confusion in learners may be solved by introducing these reading
prompts that help to analyze reading material critically.
Critical reading, compared to basic reading, takes more time, effort, and
sometimes money which students are not prepared to invest in. According to the
study conducted by Hobson (2004), more than 70 % of students were not able to
complete the task of reading critically on time. Moreover, Jensen (2019) added
that critical reading sometimes requires the use of extra resources such as
money, and books because students are asked to mark, highlight, and take notes
while doing the critical reading. These techniques are often used in critical
reading and students should be ready to spend some money on books or
printing.
Currently, e-readers are being suggested as an alternative for paper books
and this causing a debate among scholars about the use of electronic
technologies to enhance critical reading. Recently, some researchers are
suggesting to develop critical reading with the help of a shift from reading on
paper books to reading on the screen. Jensen and Scharf (2014) advocated the
use of e-readers and emphasizes that doing a critical reading on screen can
create some benefits. Students never run out of room and can insert any
highlights or annotations. E-readers enable learners to bookmark, underline,
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outline, comment, or cross-reference with great flexibility. On the other hand,
Jabr (2013) stated that paper format and pages are important, and critical
reading tasks should be done on paper. To test these two theories, Jensen (2019)
conducted research and analyzed the academic performance of participants who
use e-readers comparing them to paper-format readers. According to the results,
the students who used Kindle for critical e-reading could develop greater
familiarity and showed a positive shift in academic performance (Jensen, 2019).
The benefits of e-readers for reading critically can surpass the benefits of a
paper environment.
Summary
Critical reading is a complex reading process that is different from other
types of readings according to its purpose, form, and procedure. Using critical
reading in ELT classrooms may offer many advantages. It helps learners to turn
their knowledge into wisdom and to develop analytical reading skills. However,
using critical reading in the classroom may be difficult for both teachers and
learners. They may face challenges related to their background, the process of
reading, or lack of resources. These problems can be addressed by organizing
effective scaffolding, teaching special techniques, or using e-readers.
References:
1.
Anuar, N., & Awang, Z. (2020). An explanatory factor analysis of elicited
students' salient beliefs toward critical reading. International Journal Of Modern
Languages and Applied Linguistics, 4(4), 101-115.
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Bilki, Z., & Irgin, P. (2014). Towards becoming critical readers and writers:
ELT students' perceptions on the effectiveness of critical reading and writing
instruction. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching, 9(2), 987-
1003.
3.
Jabr, F. (2013). The reading brain in the digital age: The science of paper
versus screens. Scientific American.
4.
Jensen, M. N., & Scharff, L. F. (2019). Improving critical reading with e-
texts: A controlled study in a collegiate philosophy course. Journal of Scholarship
of Teaching and Learning, 19(3), 49-64.
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Moore, T. (2013). Critical thinking: Seven definitions in search of a
concept. Studies in Higher Education, 38(4), 506-522.
6.
Pirozzi, R. C. (2003). Critical reading, critical thinking: a contemporary
issues approach. Longman.
7.
Tomasek, T. (2009). Critical reading: Using reading prompts to promote
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Higher Education, 21(1), 127-132.
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8.
Tompskins, G. E. (2006). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced
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