Critical Thinking Syllabi: Developing Student Thought Process through Theme Repetition

Nicholas Musty, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan, ID LLCE2018-324;      Abstract: As pressure increasingly comes upon students to improve their performance in critical thinking tests, courses which allow learners repeated exposure to a relatively small set of linguistic items provide one way in which courses can focus on skill development. The opportunity to learn skills through a language, as opposed to developing language skills, can be seen as a target for broadening learner perspectives. With this in mind, the researcher developed two syllabi with a focus, in one case, on cultural studies, and in another, on the world of business. Students enrolled in these courses initially reflected on relevant input. Following on from this, the former course saw them compile questionnaires, before writing reports on their findings which they later presented to the whole class. The latter course involved the construction of videos, initially one which demanded the construction of role plays which were developed into video presentations, with a reflection paper on classmate videos forming the final part of the course. This presentation will explain the benefits of the courses and the considerations required in their execution.

Key Words:

critical thinking, EFL, syllabus, language, project based learning, English