Email this article The relationship between reading comprehension and critical thinking among EFL learners
Abstract
Having students think critically is essential to their achieving a successful life, and thus, to develop the society they live in. Reading and critical thinking skills, are essential to acquiring knowledge, especially with foreign languages. This study aims to explore the relationship between reading comprehension and critical thinking among EFL learners. Forty EFL learners were given two tests: a reading comprehension test and the Arabic version of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (1980). The survey’s statistical results indicate a significant and positive correlation between reading comprehension and critical thinking, particularly in inference and interpretation skills. However, three critical thinking skills (argument, assumption and deduction) seemed to be insignificant compared to the participants' reading comprehension scores. The findings, therefore, suggest some pedagogical implications. The most important implication is integrating critical thinking skills in second language skills, like reading. EFL teachers can give learners some tasks to think of reading passages related to their life, and practices can be designed based on critical thinking skills. Teachers can implement guided reading sessions that concentrate mainly on interpreting texts and drawing inferences by using tasks such as real-world scenarios and problem-solving.
Keywords
References
Aloqaili, A. S. (2012). The relationship between reading comprehension and critical thinking: A theoretical study. Journal of King Saud University-Languages and Translation, 24(1), 35-41.
Alsaleh, N. J. (2017). Social Networking Website-based Learning Activities to Develop Critical Thinking Skills Among Undergraduate Students in Saudi Arabia (Doctoral dissertation, University of Leicester).
Baddeley, A. (2007). Working memory, thought, and action (Vol. 45). OUP Oxford.
Baker, L. (1985). Differences in the standards used by college students to evaluate their comprehension of expository prose. Reading Research Quarterly, 297-313.
Bloom, B, (1976). Human characteristics and school learning. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Chi, M. T., & Glaser, R. (1980). The measurement of expertise: Analysis of the development of knowledge and skill as a basis for assessing achievement. Educational testing and evaluation, 37-47.
Da Silva Almeida, L., & Rodrigues Franco, A. H. (2011). Critical thinking: Its relevance for education in a shifting society.
Dewey, J. 1933. How We Think, , Rev. ed., Boston: D. C. Heath-Doyle, W.. (1983). Academic work. Review of Educational Research, 53, 159–199.
DonYei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
Duke, N. K., & Pearson, P. D. (2009). Effective practices for developing reading comprehension. Journal of education, 189(1-2), 107-122.
El-Soufi, N. (2019). Evaluating the impact of instruction in critical thinking on the critical thinking skills of English language learners in higher education (Doctoral dissertation, Durham University).
Ennis, R. H. (1996). Critical thinking dispositions: Their nature and assessability. Informal logic, 18(2).
Ennis, R.H. (1987). A taxonomy of critical thinking dispositions and abilities. In J.B. Baron & R.J. Sternberg (Eds.) Teaching thinking skills: Theory and practice (pp. 9-26). New York: Freeman.
Facione, P. A. Critical thinking: A statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. Millbrae, CA, The California Academic Press: 19. (1990).
Fahim, M., & Pezeshki, M. (2012). Manipulating critical thinking skills in test taking. International Journal of Education, 4(1), 153.
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.
Fahim, M., Bagherkazemi, M., & Alemi, M. (2010). The relationship between test takers' critical thinking ability and their performance on the reading section of TOEFL. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 1(6), 830.
Fahim, M., Barjesteh, H., & Vaseghi, R. (2012). Effects of Critical Thinking Strategy Training on Male/Female EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension. English Language Teaching, 5(1), 140-145.
Farley, M. J., & Elmore, P. B. (1992). The relationship of reading comprehension to critical thinking skills, cognitive ability, and vocabulary for a sample of underachieving college freshmen. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52(4), 921-931.
Gagren, M. (Ed.) The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2010.
Ghabanchi, Z., & Behrooznia, S. (2014). The impact of brainstorming on reading comprehension and critical thinking ability of EFL learners. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 513-521.
Grosser, M. M., & Nel, M. (2013). The relationship between the critical thinking skills and the academic language proficiency of prospective teachers. South African journal of education, 33(2).
Hashemi, M. R., & Ghanizadeh, A. (2012). Critical discourse analysis and critical thinking: An experimental study in an EFL context. System, 40(1), 37-47.
Hosseini, E., Khodaei, F. B., Sarfallah, S., & Dolatabadi, H. R. (2012). Exploring the relationship between critical thinking, reading comprehension and reading strategies of English university students. World Applied Sciences Journal, 17(10), 1356-1364.
Johnson, T. E., Archibald, T. N., & Tenenbaum, G. (2010). Individual and team annotation effects on students’ reading comprehension, critical thinking, and meta-cognitive skills. Computers in human behavior, 26(6), 1496-1507.
Kaviani, M., & Mashhadi Heidar, D. (2020). The Effectiveness of Critical Thinking on Enhancing Productive Skills among Iranian EFL Pre-Intermediate Learners. Applied Research on English Language, 9(3), 303-324.
Kurfiss, J. G. (1988). Critical Thinking: Theory, Research, Practice, and Possibilities. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 2, 1988. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports, The George Washington University, One Dupont Circle, Suite 630, Dept. RC, Washington, DC 20036-1183.
Novakovich, J. (2016). Fostering critical thinking and reflection through blog‐mediated peer feedback. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 32(1), 16-30.
Pei, Z., Zheng, C., Zhang, M., & Liu, F. (2017). Critical Thinking and Argumentative Writing: Inspecting the Association among EFL Learners in China. English Language Teaching, 10(10), 31-42.
Petek, E., & Bedir, H. (2018). An adaptable teacher education framework for critical thinking in language teaching. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 28, 56-72.
Piaget, J., 1952. The Origins of Intelligence in Children. International
Rashid, R. A., & Hashim, R. A. (2008). The relationship between critical thinking and language proficiency of Malaysian undergraduates.
Scriven, M.; Paul, R. Defining Critical Thinking. Available online: http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/define_critical_thinking.cfm (accessed on 7 November 2018).
Sellars, M., Fakirmohammad, R., Bui, L., Fishetti, J., Niyozov, S., Reynolds, R., ... & Ali, N. (2018). Conversations on critical thinking: Can critical thinking find its way forward as the skill set and mindset of the century?. Education Sciences, 8(4), 205.
Shirkhani, S., & Fahim, M. (2011). Enhancing critical thinking in foreign language learners. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 111-115.
Spörer, N., Brunstein, J. C., & Kieschke, U. L. F. (2009). Improving students' reading comprehension skills: Effects of strategy instruction and reciprocal teaching. Learning and instruction, 19(3), 272-286.
Thompson, C. (2011). Critical thinking across the curriculum: Process over output. International Journal of Humanities and social science, 1(9), 1-7. Universities Press, New York.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21831/ltr.v23i3.74118
Refbacks
______________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Litera Journal is published by the Faculty of Languages, Arts, and Culture Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta in collaboration with Himpunan Sarjana Kesusasteraan Indonesia (HISKI)
The International Journal of Linguistic, Literature, and Its Teaching at http://http://journal.uny.ac.id/index.php/litera/ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
__________________________________________________________________________________________________