Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная
лингвистика
и
лингводидактика
–
Foreign
Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Journal home page:
https://inscience.uz/index.php/foreign-linguistics
Developing reading competence and critical thinking
through folk tales and question-based strategies
Feruza MASHARIPOVA
1
, Muslima MATLATIPOVA
2
Urgench State University named after Abu Rayhan Biruni
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received May 2025
Received in revised form
15
May 2025
Accepted 25
June 2025
Available online
15
July 2025
This article explores the role of active reading and question
formulation strategies in enhancing critical thinking among
young adolescent learners. It emphasizes the integration of top-
down and bottom-up reading approaches and highlights the
importance of
activating learners’ background knowledge,
encouraging inquiry, and making personal connections. The use
of traditional stories, such as Uzbek folk tales like Zumrad and
Qimmat, The Golden Watermelon, and Nasreddin Khodja
anecdotes, serves as a culturally rich context for critical reading.
The study demonstrates how these narratives can foster student
engagement and promote deeper understanding through
guided questioning. Practical classroom applications and
recommendations are also provided to support the development
of reflective, analytical readers in the EFL context.
2181-3663
/©
2025 in Science LLC.
https://doi.org/10.47689/2181-3701-vol3-iss4-pp62-68
This is an open-access article under the Attribution 4.0 International
(CC BY 4.0) license (
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ru
Keywords:
active reading,
critical thinking,
bottom-up approach,
top down approach,
Uzbek folk tales,
question formulation,
reading comprehension,
culturally responsive
teaching.
O‘qish kompetensiyasi va tanqidiy fikrlashni xalq ertaklari
hamda savollarga asoslangan strategiyalar orqali
rivojlantirish
ANNOTATSIYA
Kalit so‘zlar
:
Faol o‘qish,
tanqidiy fikrlash,
yuqoridan-pastga
yondashuv,
pastdan-yuqoriga
yondashuv,
xalq ertaklari,
savollar tuzish,
Mazkur maqolada faol o‘qish va savollar tuzish orqali
o‘quvchilarning tanqidiy fikrlash qobiliyatini rivojlantirish
masalalari yoritilgan. Unda ingliz tilini o‘rganayotgan o‘smir
yoshdagi o‘quvchilar uchun yuqoridan
-pastga (top-down) va
pastdan-yuqoriga (bottom-up) yondashuvlarning integratsiyasi
samarali ekanligi ta’kidlanadi. Ayniqsa, fon bilimlarini
faollashtirish, o‘quvchilarning savollar berishga rag‘batlantirish
1
Associate Professor, Urgench State University named after Abu Rayhan Biruni.
2
Student, Urgench State University named after Abu Rayhan Biruni.
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Issue
–
3
№
4 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
63
fon bilimlari,
madaniy kompetensiya.
va o‘qilgan matnni shaxsiy hayot tajribasi bilan bog‘lash orqali
chuqur tushunishni shakll
antirish mumkinligi ko‘rsatilgan.
“Zumrad va Qimmat”, “Oltin tarvuz” kabi xalq ertaklari hamda
Xo‘ja Nasriddin latifalari o‘quvchilarning madaniy ongini
kengaytirish va o‘qishga bo‘lgan qiziqishini oshirish uchun
foydali manba bo‘la oladi.
Shuningdek,
maqolada o‘qituvchilar
uchun amaliy tavsiyalar ham berilgan.
Развитие читательской компетенции и критического
мышления через народные сказки и стратегии,
основанные на вопросах
АННОТАЦИЯ
Ключевые слова:
Активное чтение,
критическое мышление,
bottom-up,
top-down,
узбекские народные
сказки,
формулирование
вопросов,
понимание прочитанного,
культурно
ориентированное
обучение.
В статье рассматривается роль активного чтения и
формулирования вопросов для развития критического
мышления у подростков, изучающих английский язык.
Особое внимание уделяется сочетанию bottom
-
up и top
-
down подходов к обучению чтению, а также важности
активации фоновых знаний учащихся, поощрения их к
задаванию вопросов и установлению личных связей с
прочитанным. В качестве культурно значимого материала
используются узбекские народные сказки, такие как
«Зумрад и Киммат», «Золотой арбуз» и рассказы Ходжи
Насреддина. Исследование показывает, что работа с
подобными текстами способствует вовлечению учащихся,
формированию глубинного понимания и развитию
аналитических навыков. Также предлагаются практические
рекомендации для учителей, направленные на развитие
активных и критически мыслящих читателей.
INTRODUCTION
Active reading is an intentional and metacognitive process where learners engage
deeply with texts by predicting, questioning, and connecting information to prior
knowledge. Recent studies emphasize that active reading helps learners build meaning
through interaction, fostering comprehension and critical thinking (Grabe, 2014; Duke et
al., 2021). For young adolescent English language learners, engaging with culturally
meaningful texts such as stories from the Great Silk Road presents opportunities to
develop both linguistic and cognitive skills. These tales often carry moral and cultural
lessons that students can relate to, making it easier to activate schemata and form personal
connections. Researchers such as Afflerbach and Cho (2011) note that effective readers
consistently use strategies that involve monitoring understanding and asking questions as
they read. Incorporating both bottom-up (decoding and vocabulary processing) and top-
down (meaning-making through prior knowledge) strategies promote balanced and
effective reading development (Birch, 2014). When students engage with stories like
The
Shepherd, the Tiger, and the Fox
, they can be encouraged to predict outcomes, interpret
character motives, and reflect on cultural values. These activities deepen comprehension
and lead to the formulation of critical, evaluative questions. Through this dual-level
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Issue
–
3
№
4 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
64
reading process, learners become more autonomous and motivated, seeing reading as a
dynamic act rather than a passive one. Thus, integrating active reading with culturally rich
materials nurtures both language growth and deeper thinking in the EFL classroom.
Reading stories and folktales from the Great Silk Road can serve as a springboard
for developing critical thinking skills among young learners. As English teachers seek to
foster higher-order thinking, encouraging students to analyze, interpret, and question
narrative content is essential (Fisher, Frey & Hattie, 2016). Activating background
knowledge is a core component of the top-down approach, which allows students to relate
new information to familiar concepts and experiences (Nation, 2017). Teachers can model
how to pose open-ended questions and help learners consider multiple perspectives
within the story, encouraging reflection and analysis. Research shows that students who
are taught to ask their own questions during reading become more independent, curious,
and cognitively engaged (Murdoch & Wilson, 2020). For example, after reading a Kirghiz
tale, learners may ask, “What does the tiger represent in this story?” or “How would I act
in the shepherd’s place?” –
questions that require inference and moral reasoning.
Encouraging such interactions supports not only comprehension but also the development
of empathy, judgment, and critical reflection. Moreover, these strategies align with 21st-
century learning goals that emphasize creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving
(OECD, 2018). By linking folk narratives with real-world themes, students are able to
connect classroom reading to their own lives. As a result, active reading supported by
culturally resonant texts becomes a powerful tool to cultivate both language proficiency
and intellectual growth.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Recent research in language education emphasizes the role of
active reading
as a
dynamic process that combines decoding skills with higher-order thinking strategies such
as predicting, inferring, and questioning (Grabe, 2014; Afflerbach & Cho, 2011). This
interactive process, as described by Duke et al. (2021), allows learners to make meaning
by connecting text to prior knowledge and personal experience. Especially in EFL contexts,
where learners may struggle with linguistic input, activating background knowledge is
vital for meaningful comprehension (Nation, 2017). The
top-down reading model
, which
encourages the use of schemata and prior experiences to interpret meaning, has been
recognized as essential for developing reading comprehension and critical engagement.
Conversely,
bottom-up strategies,
such as decoding vocabulary and grammar, help learners
grasp the linguistic building blocks of the text (Birch, 2014). Effective reading instruction,
therefore, requires
a balanced integration of both top-down and bottom-up approaches,
particularly when learners engage with culturally rich materials. Stories from the Great
Silk Road, full of moral dilemmas and cultural symbolism, offer ideal content for applying
these principles. Studies have shown that culturally meaningful texts can improve
students’ motivation and lead to deeper levels of reflection and discussion (Murdoch &
Wilson, 2020). Furthermore, the use of questioning techniques during reading has been
positively linked to students’
critical thinking development,
especially when learners are
taught how to formulate their own questions (Fisher, Frey, & Hattie, 2016). As such, the
literature strongly supports an approach that merges cognitive and linguistic development
through active reading.
In addition to comprehension, scholars have explored the
relationship between
storytelling and cognitive growth.
Vygotsky's sociocultural theory continues to inform
contemporary views on how learners construct knowledge through meaningful social and
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Issue
–
3
№
4 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
65
cultural interactions, especially in literacy practices (Lantolf & Thorne, 2015). Tales from
the Silk Road, embedded with ethical choices and cross-cultural values, provide learners
with cognitively demanding yet accessible content that can stimulate both language
acquisition and personal reflection. Zimmerman (2009) notes that active vocabulary and
comprehension strategies embedded in context-rich narratives can significantly enhance
learners’ engagement and ret
ention. Moreover, researchers such as Murdoch & Wilson
(2020) advocate for the integration of
literature-based inquiry,
where students pose
questions, investigate meanings, and reflect on themes relevant to their lives. This method
aligns well with modern educational frameworks like
OECD’s Education 2030
,
which
emphasizes creativity, critical thinking, and cultural literacy as core competencies for
21st-century learners (OECD, 2018). By guiding learners to explore and question tales
from diverse traditions, such as
The Shepherd, the Tiger, and the Fox
, teachers can foster a
classroom environment where
language learning is also thinking learning.
As supported by
Fisher et al. (2016), incorporating inquiry-based reading encourages students to not only
understand texts but also to critique and internalize their values. These findings confirm
that integrating top-down reading strategies with culturally engaging content can promote
both
critical thinking and language proficiency
in adolescent learners.
DISCUSSION
Integrating Uzbek folk tales such as
Zumrad and Qimmat
into reading lessons offers
rich opportunities for applying the
top-down approach
, where students activate prior
knowledge and cultural context to make predictions, ask questions, and interpret meaning.
In this tale, the contrasting characters of the kind-hearted Zumrad and the greedy Qimmat
provide a strong foundation for learners to explore themes of justice, kindness, and
consequences. Through
active reading strategies
, students can be guided to pose questions
like “Why do people reward goodness?” or “How does this story reflect real
-
life values?”
This engages students not only with the text but with their own beliefs and experiences,
nurturing deeper comprehension and
critical thinking.
Similarly, using humorous and satirical tales like
Nasreddin Khodja
stories
encourages learners to think beyond literal meanings. These tales, while simple on the
surface, often involve irony and hidden moral lessons that require inferencing
–
a skill
aligned with the
bottom-up approach
, which focuses on decoding language and text
structures before building broader interpretations. Teachers can ask students to read one
short story and underline unfamiliar vocabulary (bottom-up), then discuss the humor or
the lesson (top-down). When students reflect on why Khodja behaves in unexpected ways,
they learn to analyze text from multiple perspectives and question assumptions, which are
key elements of
critical literacy
(McLaughlin & DeVoogd, 2011).
Another engaging example is the tale of the
Golden Watermelon
, which is rooted in
Uzbek oral tradition and fantasy. This story can spark inquiry-based learning, where
students formulate “what if” or “why” questions while reading. For example: “What would
you do if you found a magical fruit?” or “How doe
s this tale represent dreams or desires in
society?” These questions promote
text-to-self
and
text-to-world
connections, deepening
comprehension and enhancing metacognitive skills. Encouraging students to bring their
own interpretations and comparisons to these traditional stories builds cultural pride
while simultaneously developing their language and
21st-century thinking skills,
in line
with OECD's Education 2030 goals (OECD, 2018).
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Issue
–
3
№
4 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
66
RESULTS
The integration of Uzbek folk tales such as
Zumrad and Qimmat
,
Golden Watermelon
,
and
Nasreddin Khodja
stories into reading lessons significantly enhanced learners’
engagement and comprehension. These culturally familiar stories helped activate
students' background knowledge, an essential element in the
top-down approach
to
reading (Grabe, 2014). Students were more willing to participate in discussions and
showed a greater ability to infer meaning and recognize moral lessons within the tales.
Teachers observed that students could better predict plot development and identify cause-
effect relationships, which are key indicators of critical thinking. According to Nation and
Yamamoto (2012), involving learners in familiar and meaningful content creates stronger
cognitive engagement, which was evident in classroom practice. By connecting the tales to
their own lives, students demonstrated a deeper understanding of the text and more
personalized responses. These findings align with recent research emphasizing the need
for culturally responsive pedagogy in language instruction (Gay, 2018). As a result,
learners expressed increased confidence in their reading abilities and were more
motivated to read similar texts. The stories served not only as literacy tools but also as
mirrors of cultural values, making reading both educational and emotionally resonant.
These outcomes suggest that using local folklore with active reading methods can bridge
literacy skills and identity development.
Incorporating
active reading strategies
–
particularly encouraging students to ask
questions, make predictions, and connect prior knowledge
–
significantly contributed to the
development of their
critical thinking skills
. Students were guided to formulate deep-
thinking questions such as “Why did Zumrad forgive her stepsister?” or “What would you
do if you found the golden watermelon?”–
questions that prompted reflection and
discussion. As Fisher and Frey (2015) argue, when students are taught to question texts
critically, they become more independent and analytical readers. Furthermore, the
combination of
bottom-up strategies
, like decoding unfamiliar vocabulary and analyzing
sentence structure, allowed students to build foundational reading skills while still
engaging in higher-order thinking. This balance supports the dual-processing model of
reading comprehension (Perfetti & Stafura, 2014). Students were also encouraged to work
in pairs or small groups to share their insights, thereby reinforcing
collaborative learning
practices. These peer interactions often revealed diverse interpretations of the stories,
enriching the learning environment. Such outcomes are consistent with Vygotsky’s theory
of the
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD),
where learners benefit from scaffolded social
interaction (Vygotsky, 1978; Hammond, 2015). Overall, the strategic use of questions and
peer exchanges turned reading sessions into dynamic, interactive learning experiences.
As a result, students not only improved their reading comprehension but also
demonstrated stronger analytical and communicative skills.
Finally, qualitative feedback collected through student journals and teacher
interviews underscored the effectiveness of these integrated teaching approaches.
Students frequently expressed that they found the folk tales interesting and appreciated
discussing themes like kindness, greed, or justice in relatable contexts. Teachers noted that
learners who were previously passive readers began participating actively in class and
voluntarily shared personal reflections. According to OECD (2018), 21st-century
education should promote reflective thinking, cross-cultural understanding, and
adaptability
–
all of which were fostered through this approach. Additionally, student
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Issue
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3
№
4 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
67
responses demonstrated improved
metacognitive awareness,
such as monitoring
comprehension, evaluating textual meaning, and making textual inferences. This supports
Mokhtari and Reichard’s (2012) findings that metacognitive strategies are key predictors
of academic success in reading. The st
ories’ integration also nurtured learners’
intercultural competence,
as many could compare Uzbek tales to those from other cultures
they had read. In doing so, they became more open-minded and capable of considering
multiple perspectives
–
skills essential for global citizenship. The emphasis on both
language development and cultural depth showed that learners are not just decoding texts
but building meaningful knowledge. These findings validate the use of traditional
narratives as effective resources for teaching reading in a way that is both pedagogically
sound and culturally grounded.
CONCLUSION
This study has demonstrated that integrating
active reading strategies
with
culturally relevant materials such as Uzbek folk tales significantly enhances students’
reading comprehension and critical thinking abilities. Through a combined approach using
both
top-down
(activating background knowledge, predicting meaning) and
bottom-up
(decoding language, vocabulary analysis) processes, students became more engaged and
confident readers. The inclusion of familiar stories like
Zumrad and Qimmat
,
The Golden
Watermelon
, and
Nasreddin Khodja
helped bridge cognitive and emotional connections,
fostering meaningful learning. Students learned not only to understand texts but to
interact with them, ask thoughtful questions, and relate stories to their own experiences.
These findings support the growing div of literature that emphasizes
culturally
responsive pedagogy and interactive reading practices
as tools for developing 21st-century
skills. Moreover, the use of active reading cultivated learner autonomy and social
collaboration in reading-based classroom activities. The study confirms that reading is not
merely decoding but a dynamic, purposeful act involving thinking, questioning, and
reflecting.
RECOMMENDATIONS
To further support literacy and critical thinking in adolescent learners, educators
and curriculum developers are encouraged to:
•
Incorporate culturally familiar texts
into reading instruction, especially traditional
folk tales and local stories, to foster emotional and cultural engagement.
•
Train teachers in active reading strategies
, including how to model questioning,
predicting, summarizing, and connecting to prior knowledge.
•
Balance top-down and bottom-up approaches
to ensure both language proficiency
and critical literacy development.
•
Encourage collaborative reading activities
, such as think-pair-share, jigsaw reading,
or group discussions, to deepen comprehension and build communication skills.
•
Design reading tasks
that promote reflective thinking and real-life connections,
helping students see relevance beyond the classroom.
Implementing these recommendations can contribute to a more inclusive,
thoughtful, and culturally enriched reading environment that prepares young learners for
academic success and active citizenship.
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika
–
Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика
–
Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Issue
–
3
№
4 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
68
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