critical thinking use for the inference exercises in mosaic 1, 4th edition

...21 Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập và nghiên cứu... 36 Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập và nghiên cứu... Abbreviation: Critical Thinking CT Trung tâm Học

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Cantho University School of Education English Department

Critical Thinking Use for the Inference

Exercises in Mosaic 1, 4 th Edition

B.A Thesis

Field of study: English Language Learning

Supervisor: Mr Nguyễn Hồng Chí Researcher: Võ Thị Thu Thảo

Code: 7044867 NN0454A3 Course 30

Cantho, May 2008

Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập và nghiên cứu

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Contents i

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract iv

List of tables and figures……… v

Chapter One: Introduction……… 1

1.1 Background information……… 1

1.2 The need of CT in education……… 2

1.3 The expansion of CT……… 2

1.4 CT and English language learning……… 3

1.5 The thesis organization……… 4

Chapter Two: Literature Review……… .5

2.1 Concepts of CT……… .5

2.1.1 Definitions of CT……… .5

2.1.2 Relationship between CT skills and dispositions……… .8

2.2 CT and Academic achievement……… .8

2.3 CT and Social achievement……… .9

2.4 CT and reading comprehension ……… 9

2.5 Definitions of inference ……… .11

2.6 The possible relationship between CT and making inference……… 12

Chapter Three: Research Methodology……… 15

3.1 Research designs……… .15

3.2 Participants……… .16

3.3 Materials……… .16

3.4 Research instruments……… 17

3.4.1 Reading selection……… 17

3.4.2 Questionnaire on CT use for inference exercises……… 18

3.5 Procedure……… 20

Chapter Four: Results of the Data Collation And Discussions about the Research Findings 21

4.1 Students’ level of CT use for the inference exercises in Mosaic 1, 4th edition……… .21

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4.1.1 The mean scores of students’ CT use ……… 21

4.1.2 The differences in the levels of CT skills and disposition ……… 23

4.2 Students’ choices of general CT use for inference exercises……… .24

4.2.1 The use of other techniques for inference questions……… .24

4.2.2 Students’ choices of general CT use for inference exercises……… 25

4.3 Discussions about the research findings……… 29

4.4 Classroom implication……… 30

Chapter Five: Limitations and Directions for Further Research……… 31

5.1 Limitations……… 31

5.1.1 Methological limitations ……… 31

5.1.2 Some other limitations ……… 32

5.2 Directions for further research……… 32

References……… 34

Appendices……… 36

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This thesis could not have been completed without the great support

and assistance of the wonderful people

Firstly, I wish to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor - Mr

Nguyen Hong Chi – who instructed enthusiastically to do the research

For his helpful guidance, generous and patient attention, invaluable

suggestions, critical reading, academically and personally, motivated me

to stand firm on my own research path

Secondly, I am very grateful to Mark Dalgarno who spent his precious

time reading and correcting all of the errors in order that my papers

sound good It was his kindness that made this research better than I

expected

In addition, I wish to express my deep appreciation to Mrs Bui Thi

Hong Anh, Mrs Ngo Hoang Anh, and Mr Tran Quoc Hung, for the

help of data collection It was their great help that led to the completion

of this study

My sincere thanks also go to English majors (Education and Bachelor),

course 31 who volunteered to participate in the questionnaire survey

Without their cooperation, this study would have not been possible

Finally yet importantly, to my friends and family, I appreciate your

persistent encouragement, continuous support, and assistance Your

companionship made difficult times enjoyable I appreciate you more

than words can express

Best for all,

Cantho, 19 May 2008

Vo Thi Thu Thao

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Critical thinking is a central outcome in education because it will equiplearners self-regulation and independent thinking in order that they arecapable to meet challenges in the new era The conceptualization of CTcould be achieved through the findings of the Delphi study in 1990 Theresults of the research note that CT could have been correlated withthinking ability in school and in professionalism development Readingcomprehension is hypothesized to have the significant correlation with

CT When a learner’s CT is enhanced, his or her reading ability might beimproved Because learners sometimes have to read a text whosemeaning is implied and that they have to infer for understanding of thetext Therefore, this research reports the qualitative investigation to whatextent students use CT for making inference and the quantitative survey

of general CT use for inference questions Results might illustrate aneffect: the ability to make inferences increases with an increase in CTuse These positive findings would help students majoring in English getdeeper understanding about using CT when they study readingcomprehension

Abbreviation: Critical Thinking (CT)

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List of Tables and Figures

Figure 2.1: The core CT skills……… 6

Figure 2.2: The dispositions toward CT……… 7

Figure 4.1: Total mean score of students’ CT use……… .21

Figure 4.2: Mean scores of two categories of CT……… 22

Table 2.1: Six levels of learning in terms of making inference ……… 13-14 Table 3.1: Aims of the items in the second section……… 19

Table 3.2: Aims of the items in the questionnaire……… .19

Table 4.1: Descriptive Statistics of students’ level of CT use……… 21

Table 4.2: Descriptive Statistics of two dimensions of CT use……… .22

Table 4.3: Differences between the mean scores of two CT dimensions……… 23

Table 4.4: Other techniques for inference questions……… 24

Table 4.5: CT use for inference exercises about vocabulary ……… 25

Table 4.6: CT use for the activity after reading a long selection ……… 25

Table 4.7: CT use for the strategy after reading a long selection ……… 26

Table 4.8: CT use for the activity after giving an inference ……… 27

Table 4.9: CT use for the strategy of making an inference ……… .27

Table 4.10: CT use for the activity after finishing inference exercises ……… 28

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Chapter 1 Introduction

This chapter will address (1) the background information of this research, (2) the need of

CT in education, (3) the expansion of CT, (4) CT and English language learning and (5) the thesis organization.

1.1 Background information

Since 1980s, the world economy has reached an era known as globalization In thisera, the development of technology, media and transportation has boosted strongcooperation between nations in terms of economy, culture, politics and society According

to Vu (2006), these achievements made the world smaller by “high speed, small distance,high density and great intensity” Therefore, a person has access to the giant resources ofthe world’s knowledge just by a click at home Knowledge now not only belongs to an

individual, an organization, or a nation but the world as reporter Bao Binh told on Vietimes

on November 15, 2007

Not only have multinational corporations and governments, but individuals as wellintegrated deeply in the wave of the globalization Therefore, “global citizenship” wasconceptualized in order to indicate that each individual acts may contribute (or destroy)benefits not only for his or herself, but for society and even for the world This connection

is required in the global community as Bao Binh once again mentioned this on Vietimes on

the same date How can a person become a global citizen? They must be equipped withknowledge and necessary skills such as thinking independently and critically, advocatingideas and listening to others and reasoning logically Therefore, Friedman (2006) signifiedthat it is education that plays an important role to train intellectual citizens possessing fourquotients: IQ (Intellectual Quotients), EQ (Emotion Quotients), CQ (Curiosity Quotients)and PQ (Passion Quotients) That is to say, schooling not only transfers the “prepackagedknowledge” stuffed with facts, figures, definitions, and formulas but also the skills to thinkcritically, analyze, communicate, cooperate and solve problems In other words, afterschooling, graduates can innovate and boost the progress of the society they live in and therest of the world by their CT skills and knowledge

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1.2 The need of CT in education

We can observe that globalization entails a world where good thinking is focused on

as an important element of life success in life (Huitt, 1995; Thomas & Smoot, 1994)because the educational policy would have indicated a national developmental strategy Theenthusiasm with which North America has come to embrace CT as a central outcome ofhigher education (Facione, Facione, Gainen & Giancarlo, 1995) Of these, the U.S enactedthe National Goals of Education 2000 aimed at college graduates who demonstrate anability to think critically, communicate effectively and solve problems in order that theypossess knowledge and skills to compete in the context of globalization (Facione, Facione,Gainen & Giancarlo, ibid.) Besides that, Singapore highly evaluated thinking ability inindividuals as Ministry of Education’s version: “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation” Infact, Singaporean education made great efforts for graduates mastering both knowledge andskills capable of meeting the challenges of the 21stcentury, the spirit of life long learningafter leaving school

1.3 The expansion of CT

CT has a long history dating from the era of the ancient Greek philosopher Socratesover 2000 years ago through the Socratic Method, even “CT came before schooling wasever invented, it lies at the very roots of civilization” (Facione, 2006, p.9) Accordingly,learning by raising questions permits learners to shape their thinking habits, the enjoyment

of knowledge, constructing knowledge’s meanings and ability them to apply to the futurelife Therefore, it is not an exaggeration when Facione (2006, p.9) said, “CT is a cornerstone in the journey human kind to global sensitivity.” However, it was not until the 1930’sthat CT was discussed by John Dewey, the pioneering American educator, when heidentified “learning to think” as the primary purpose of education in 1933 The reason isthat the thinking process will help learners approach knowledge with acquisitions orinnovations, new knowledge to make contributions to knowledge and to society, and tohuman kind (Facione, 2006)

Nevertheless, the positive meaning of CT is usually misunderstood According toPaul and Elder (2004), one reason is from the very meaning of the word “critical” which isusually inclined to convey something negative or focused on trivial faults However, thisview is wrong because Facione (2006, p.3) pointed out, “CT is the thinking that has apurpose (proving a point, interpreting what something means or solving a problem)”

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Accordingly, a learner having “a critical spirit” means that he is very open-mindedpositively to listen to what people say, willing to admit his faults and change his mind whengiven good reasons to change, comfortable when being criticized, not arrogant when giving

an idea that may be better than others or put him or her into another’s situation withsympathy and empathy

Facione et al (1990) achieved progress of CT when they conducted the Delphistudy This study had to do with how college level CT should be defined so that peopleteaching at a college level know which skills and dispositions to cultivate in their students(Facione, 2006, p.9) From those results, CT has been focused as a central outcome inhigher education in order that graduates have better grades and high – order thinkingability

1.4 CT and English language learning

In globalization, English is most widely used international language (Grimes, 1996,O’Neil, 2008) which entails the need to learn English A typical student statement

(Tollefson, quoted in Pennycook, 2004, p.27) demonstrates this by the saying, “Learning

English might be the pathway to achieve the desired life, because English knowledge could lead me to have a better job, a successful career and a chance to develop my own country.”

In fact, to be a global citizen, English is a tool of inquiry for each person to work for him orher own and contribute to human kind if he or she hopes to do so However, it isconsiderably difficult to learn English and to be able to think critically is Lazere (1987)pointed out that when instructed to apply CT in learning language should lead learners tothe ability to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas, to reason inductively and deductively,and to reach factual or judgmental conclusions Of the four English skills (writing, reading,listening and speaking), reading was hypothesized to have a significant correlation with CTbecause if learners can read better, they might think better, and as a result, they get bettergrades (Facione, 2006) However, sometimesthe information does not appear in black andwhite on the written pagefor readers to look at and comprehend In other words, readershave to go beyond what is read How can learners deal with this kind of reading task but donot misunderstand the message the author conveys? That requires the ability to read what isunstated in the text orthe skill to infer In order to infer meaning, readers must combine theinformation that the author has written with his or her own experiences—both readingexperiences and life experiences (Prezsler, 2004, p.2) However, not all students can deal

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with the inference task in reading comprehension as well as they expect, even when theyreread the text several times (Oakhill, 1984) A similarity is found in Cantho University(CTU) where as a student of English language learning, I was deeply involved When Iworked with the inference exercises in Mosaic 1, 4th edition at school, I saw that theseinference exercises were quite difficult because the meaning of the text was implied Evenwhen rereading carefully before drawing an answer, I still made mistakes As a result, I wasafraid of these exercises and not sure to explain the reasons for my choices Therefore, Iconduct this survey to check Facione’s (2006, p.18) hypothesis whether knowing how toapply CT during inference process can improve students’ inference ability.

This study aims at conducting a small – scale survey to answer the researchquestion, “To what extent did English – majors, course 31 at CTU use CT to deal with theinference exercises in Mosaic 1, 4th edition?” This survey does not care about how muchcorrect choices they have, but whether attention is paid to how they finished those exercisesthrough the use of CT (i.e., CT skills and dispositions) From this, the students’ intellectualability might correspond to Bloom’s (1956) levels of learning (i.e., knowledge,comprehension, analysis, application, synthesis and evaluation) Finally, this research aims

at knowing the students’ general CT use for inference questions The result of the study,possible pedagogical actions that aim at promoting the students’ CT use at CTU wouldconsider

1.5 Thesis organization

This research consists of six chapters Chapter 1 is the introduction In Chapter 2, Iwill review the literature relevant to the interaction between students’ CT and theirinference performance In chapter 3, I will introduce the research methodology that Ifollowed to conduct this study, which includes the research design, the participants, thematerials and the procedure of the study In chapter 4, I will report the results of theinvestigations and the discussions about the research findings In chapter 5, I will reflect onthe weakness of the research and suggest future research

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Chapter 2 Literature review

The concepts of CT have been discussed and contemplated in educational circles over the last several decades Educators have shown a great interest in teaching thinking skills and determined its correlation with academic achievement and long life learning (Fisher, 2001) In this chapter, I present (1) the concepts of CT, (2) CT and academic and social achievements, and (3) the possible relationship between CT and making inference.

2.1 Concepts of CT

2.1.1 Definitions of CT

Dewey’s (1933) concept of CT as “reflective thinking” Accordingly, learners

should be active to master knowledge and use it for decision making or problem solving.The decision is based on logic reasoning, evidence, and no biases In fact, Dewey (ibid.)emphasizes reasoning skills because learners are skillful in reasoning, it means that theyinvolve in their issues deeply Although this definition highly evaluates learners’ reasoningability, it does not fail to say that they consider judgments of others if those judgments arereasonable and deserved following

Paul’s (1993) definition of CT as meta-thinking Accordingly, CT makes learners

aware of their intellectual ability and know how to apply it effectively Learners organize,rearrange their knowledge by themselves, not memorizing and use it for their reasoning.Thanks to this awareness, they know how to develop their strong points and reduce weakpoints However, Paul (1993) failed to address attributes that enable learners to becomeaware of their meta-thinking such as they are drilled to think critically or inherited thinkingskills

Glaser’s (1941) dispositions toward CT Glaser (1941) looks CT at the category of

CT dispositions According to him, learners do not apply CT mechanically, but depends ontheir attitude, emotion and purposes to know when they use and how to use effectively Forexample, someone may be skilled at reasoning, but not interested to do so, as a result, he orshe may not reason well In fact, Glaser (ibid.) emphasized that CT is partly a matter ofhaving thinking skills, more importantly it is also a matter of being disposed to do usethem However, if someone desires to think critically, but he lacks CT skills, as a result, he

or she cannot think critically Thus, that Glaser’s concept emphasizes CT dispositionsrather than skills proves to be insufficient

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Dewey’s (1933) concept is about “reflective thinking”, Paul’s (1991) definitionconsiders CT as meta-thinking and Glaser (1941) emphasizes the dispositions toward CT.Overcoming the differences of these conceptualizations, Facione et al (1990) conductedthe research about how college level CT should be defined, well-known as Delphi study.The study’s findings are used for educational instructions and assessments.

"We understand critical thinking to be purposeful, self-regulatory judgmentwhich results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well asexplanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, orcontextual considerations upon which that judgment is based CT isessential as a tool of inquiry."

Accordingly, CT is the self-regulating process that learners know what to do orwhat to believe to response the circumstances’ impacts In other words, CT is the thinkingthat has a purpose when learners apply it to prove a point, interpret what something means

or solve a problem (Facione, 2006) In addition, in order to draw their judgment, learnersare using five core CT skills: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well asexplanation Five CT skills can be visualized in the diagram figure 2.1

Figure 2.1: The core CT skillsThe ball diagram also gives another explanation that CT is non-linear as well asrecursive and learners cannot identify exactly this order The recursive process is described

as follow: Learners can interpret a set of data, they are also able to explain their analysis,analyze their interpretation, or evaluate their inference, or use self – regulation to examinethat analysis as that interpretation as well (Facione et al., 1990) They just know to usethose CT skills in their mind to form their judgment about what they believe or what they

do Moreover, because of the complexity of six skills’ occurrence in the mind, it isimpossible to identify exactly which skill learners have used to interpret a definition for

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example Indeed, in reality that is true because no one can solve a problem just by one skill

in isolation Thus, through the verbal thinking of learners in the learning process, otherpeople only could identify a cluster of CT skills learners apply In fact, CT is an essentialtool of inquiry for their learning process that helps learners be confident and able tocomprehend and acquire knowledge by themselves

Facione’s et al definition introduces relatively sufficient about CT skills and anotherindispensable factor: dispositions toward CT which is mentioned in another finding ofDelphi study That is the rich description of the ideal critical thinker

"The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, trustful ofreason, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in evaluation, honest in facingpersonal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider, clearabout issues, orderly in complex matters, diligent in seeking relevantinformation, reasonable in the selection of criteria, focused in inquiry, andpersistent in seeking results which are as precise as the subject and thecircumstances of inquiry permit."

The dispositions toward CT is characterized as the consistent internal motivation toengage problems and make decisions by using CT (Facione, Facione & Giancarlo, 1996).Accordingly, the idea thinker can be characterized not merely by her or his CT skills butalso by how she or he approaches problems and decisions in life That habit is formed onthe base of using seven aspects of CT dispositions: truth-seeking, open- mindedness,analyticity, systematicity, self-confidence, inquisitiveness, and maturity The figure 2.2visualizes seven aspects of dispositions toward CT

Figure 2.2: The dispositions toward CTOnce again, the ball diagram points out those seven aspects of CT dispositions arenon-linear as well as recursive Similarity with six core CT skills, identifying each aspect inisolation learners have used for their purpose is unable To know that someone is disposed

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to use CT skills just by their outwardly represented thinking in the learning or solving –problem process such as “inquisitiveness with a wide range of issues, self-confident in theirability to reason or willingness to reconsider and revise views where honest refectionsuggest that change is warranted” (Facione, 2006, p.9).

2.1.2 The relationship between CT skills and dispositions

The Delphi study also mentions about the relationship between CT skills anddispositions The findings show that there is a correlation between CT skills anddispositions Facione, Facione and Giancarlo’s (2000) research proved the existence of thisrelationship The study was conducted with the participation of the College Nursingstudents represented at program entry and at program exit The results signified astatistically significant correlation (i.e., the program entry is r =.201, p<.001 and theprogram exit, r =.169, p<.001) The findings support the theory that there is a positivecorrelation two categories of CT From that, it could be inferred that CT and dispositionsare not identical, but two sides of the same coin If a person lacks one in two sides, he is notconsidered to thinking critically Therefore, Facione (1998) confirms that "educational andprofessional success required nurturing one's consistent internal motivation to think as well

as developing one's thinking skills" (p.16) Accordingly, it is necessary for learners to beinstructed and motivated to think critically

2.2 CT and Academic Achievement

Niewoeher’s (2006) empirical study about applying CT for engineering education atUnited States Naval Academy indicates the positive results This model was employed toprovide architecture the analysis and evaluation of thought so as to improve their thoughts.Students’ thinking ability is enhanced through being creative, critical, and curious toacquire and to organize their knowledge (instead of memorizing) in order that they canmake comparisons, contrasts, assumptions or conclusions In fact, this model helpsengineering students learn how to think and how to describe their own thinking and hencebetter develop their thinking

Participating in the model applying CT for the engineering syllabus, the futurearchitectures are self-regulated in thinking not only for schooling but also for lives aftergraduation This academic achievement signifies that CT should be applied more ineducation such as technical, military, social science like language learning and many othermajors

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2.3 CT and Social Achievement

Simpson and Courney’ report (2007) about integrating CT in training curriculum forthe Middle-Eastern nurses to promote CT skills also gains the positive effects Nurses andnurse educators favored a model that supported CT because they were given to use theirthinking to their problem solving In fact, this model also contributed to creating a learningenvironment for developing CT, as well as promoting professionalism in nursing.Therefore, the effects of applying CT for the Middle-Eastern nurses might be applied forother professions if employees’ thinking ability needs to be improved and workachievements needs to be achieved

Two studied above were applied for two different subjectives (the first is forengineering students, the second for nurses) but the similarities are found as follow Beforeattending the model using CT in training, both engineering students at United States NavalAcademy (U.S) and the Middle-Eastern nurses lacked independent thinking skills In otherwords, they were not supplied with CT, a tool of inquiry for students stepping into thesociety and employees succeeding in their careers After these courses, two positive effectswere found (1) both subjectives were developed the skills to think critically, to solve theirproblems or to make decisions (2) two models emphasize the interaction between studentsand with teachers instead of explaining – copying as the old method Two empirical studiesabove signify that thinking in general and CT in particular plays an important role ineducation and professionalism Thus, it is not difficult to answer the question “Why is CT

of particular value?” CT would be of value because it is a tool of inquiry for learners toapproach knowledge in schooling to get better grades, and then approach life to have greatsuccess in work (Facione, 2006)

I have presented the academic and social achievement of integrating CT in trainingcurriculum for engineering education at United States Naval Academy, the Middle-Easternnurses and mentioned the role of CT in Vietnamese context Since CT use for inferenceexercises in reading comprehension is the focus of this study, so a discussion on this topicwill be followed

2.4 CT and reading comprehension

CT is applied for reading comprehension is not new in research because it is usuallyknown as critical reading Paul (1993, p.125), “Critical reading is critical thinking applied

to the process of reading” Accordingly, thinking critically about what is read would help

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engender reading performances In other words, when students apply CT for evaluatinginformation and ideas in their reading activities, they could read better.

As English majors and non - English majors in higher education, they are toofamiliar with reading comprehension as one in four basic English learning skills (theremaining is writing, listening and speaking) As usual in Vietnamese context, non -English majors study General English because after finishing it, students will take Englishfor specific purposes (ESP) courses In theses course, the apparent emphasis is ondeveloping students’ ability to read materials relating to the field they major in (Tran, 2006,p.19) Therefore, General English is considered the important preparation for ESP courses.Meanwhile reading comprehension is the compulsory core subject for English majorswhich most university students are not strange with reading activities, in other words,

“learning to read” occurs frequently in classroom When applying CT in reading, studentsnot only “learn to read” but also “read to learn” It means that students read by theirthinking and desire to give evaluations and judgments about what is read In other words,beside making a correct answer, students are able to explain why and how they have achoice Having a deep understanding about the reading selection makes them confident intheir choice and in their reasoning even faced with other explanations On the other hand,the quote of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe makes the role of thinking in reading essential,

“Every reader, if he has a strong mind, reads himself into the book, and amalgamates his thoughts with those of the author.” Accordingly, if students “read to learn”, they can make

sense of what is read, enrich their understanding and read the message of the author Incontrast, without thinking, the effects of reading activities might be lessened by a half

As readers, we have a lot of purposes to read such as reading for pleasure, forevaluation, for finding faults or inquiring about something new but we sometimes forgethow far beyond the written page our reading goes (Preszler, 2006) In others words, we canunderstand the implicit meanings that the author unstates in the passage Preszler (ibid.)notes that one of the most difficult skills readers need to learn is the skill to read what doesnot appear in black and white on the written page or the skill to infer (p.1) It is difficultbecause readers must combine the information that the author has written with their ownexperiences—both reading experiences and life experiences However, not all readers areable to infer although they have the text and reread several times (Oakhill, 1984) Onceagain, according to Preszler (ibid.) not only is the process of making inferences difficult for

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readers, the process of teaching students to make inferences is not an easy one Therefore,like many other skills of reading comprehension, the inference skill needs to be instructedand students have to practice inference exercises until they do not hesitate to deal with thiskind of exercise anymore.

The inference exercises in reading comprehension are known as “Reading betweenthe lines” In Mosaic 1, Reading, 4th edition (Wegmann & Knezevic, 2004), there are threecategories of processing: inference about the vocabulary, the sentence and the text Whatare inferences? And why do teachers find it difficult to teach making inferences andstudents to do with this task? The next paragraph will answer these questions

2.5 Definitions of inferences

“Inferences are the conclusions a reader draws about the unsaid in a passage based

on what is actually said by the author” (Preszler, ibid., p.4) Accordingly, readers have tolook for information to fill in the gaps between what is said and unsaid in the text Incontrast, it is possible for a reader to understand all of the words in a passage of text, butstill to fail to grasp the implicit message contained "between the lines" (Wren, 2003).Therefore, this is why inference exercises are considered not easy to deal with However,the mind is capable of “filling in these gaps” which is what inferential thinking is all about(Hartmann, 2006, p.4) In other words, inference exercises requires much learners’intellectual ability to search for missing words in order to sense the facts they have from thepassage Therefore, modeling of the thinking that underlies inference can make students’inference ability enhanced instead of encouraging them “read between the lines” which isconsidered vague (Buehl, 2001) At that time, students learn to read and comprehend textwith joy and understanding, learn and grow through reading, and read critically andthoughtfully (Preszler, ibid.)

From this, it is obvious that thinking plays an important role in the inference activitythat and students’ inference performance can be improved when modeling thinking in theinference process Meanwhile, as mentioned in section 2.2 and 2.3 in this chapter, CT isfound to have the positive effects on academic and social achievements Therefore, whetherintegrating CT in the inference process, students’ inference ability can be enhanced or there

is a possible relationship between CT and making inference If a relationship between CTand making inference exists, that is the interaction between two categories of CT: six CT

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skills as well as seven aspects of CT dispositions and making inference The next part willdescribe the possible relationship between CT and making inference.

2.6 The relationship between CT and making inference

First, the interaction between six cognitive skills of CT manifested by interpretation,analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation and self-regulation and making inference isdescribed As mentioned in section 2.1 about the happening of CT in mind, learners justknow that they could use few or all six CY skills but cannot identify exactly which skill inisolation they applied in the inference process Therefore, learners use CT skills forinference exercises might be seen these following representations (1) Interpretation: learnerscan recognize the intention, viewpoint or theme that the author implies, distinguish a mainidea from subordinate ideas in a text or paraphrase what is read by their own words; (2)Analysis: learners can identify unstated assumptions, sketch the relationship of sentences orparagraphs to each other and to the main purpose of the passage; (3) Evaluation: this skillhelps learners to be able to assess the most credible ideas among many statements or judge ifthe evidence at hand supports the conclusions being drawn; (4) Inference: learners use thisskill to see the implications behind the printed words in the text, to synthesize many separateideas into a main idea or predict what will happen based what is known in the text; (5)Explanation: after giving a choice, learners can explain the reasons or evidence they base on

to produce the answer or the inference; (6) Self-regulation: this is the most remarkablecognitive skill because learners use it to check whether their choices, assumptions orjudgments is right, if not, they can make changes by themselves The reason is that aperson’s point of view is formed depends on many external and internal factors such as his

or her understanding, biases or others’ ideas or distractions of multiple choices in theexercises affecting to the final choice

Base on the theoretical framework of Facione et al., (1990), lacking the dispositionstoward CT means not to think critically Therefore, learners both know how to use CT skillsand are disposed to do inference exercises Being disposed means that they show how toapproach the challenges from the exercises Once they possess dispositions toward CT,particularly seven aspects of dispositions toward CT represented by truth-seeking, open-mindedness, analyticity, systematicity, self-confidence, inquisitiveness, and maturity, thatcreates a performance called the habit Different from the physical skills, mental skills might

be hard to vanish, as Facione (2006, p.8) said, “It is hard to imagine a person deciding not to

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think” The ball diagram once again signifies that it is impossible to determine which of theseven aspects is used because they might not be used in isolation during the process of CT.Hence, through learners’ performances for inference exercises, these aspects might beobserved as follow: (1) Judiciousness: learners have clarity in stating the question orconcern; (2) Systemacity: learners have orderliness in working with complexity; (3)Inquisitiveness: learners are inquisitive with regard to a wide range of issues in the text,concern to become well-informed whenever approaching a new reading topic; ( 4)Confidence in Reasoning: learners are self-confident in their own abilities to reason; (5)Analyticity: learners are alert to opportunities to use CT (6) Truthseeking: learners trust aninference made from logical reasonings, courageous about asking questions and honest andobjective about pursuing inquiry if their opinions do not support others’ ideas (7) Open-mindedness: learners are honest in facing their own biases or egocentric tendencies andflexible in considering alternatives and opinions.

On the theory of the cognitive domain, Bloom (1956) figures out that learners whohave CT skills and dispositions are able to application, analysis, synthesis and evaluate theirknowledge they absorb Accordingly, a learner’s thinking must be outwardly represented inorder for him or other people to identify in which level of learning his thinking ability is.Therefore, Bloom (ibid.) suggests a model that also applies CT well-known as Bloom’sTaxonomy which includes six levels of learning starting from the simplest behavior to themost complex: (1) knowledge, (2) comprehension, (3) application, (4) analysis, (5) synthesisand (6) evaluation Six major categories involve knowledge and the development ofintellectual skills and can be thought of as degrees of difficulties That is, the first one must

be mastered before the next one can take place In the process of doing inference exercises,learners depict their intellectual skills at each level as Table 2.1

Table 2.1: Six levels of learning in terms of making inference

Knowledge

At this level, learners recall the meanings of the new words in orderthey can choose the word closest in meaning or remember what theyobserved to have the best choice

Comprehension

This level identifies that learners understand what they have read andcan rewrite or restate by their own words Moreover, they can connectwhat in the text with other information to draw out a correct answer

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Synthesis Learners can combine every separate events, details in the text into a

whole

Evaluation

Learners can make judgments about the text being read to be valued towithdraw a message or the choice being drawn to be true of thereading’s requirements

I have presented the possible relationship between CT and making inference Thisstudy aims at incorporating CT in English language learning in the context of CTU Beforeintegrating it into the curriculum, it is necessary to see to what extent students in CTU used

CT in order that plans for instruction would have been designed Therefore, two nullhypotheses motivate this study: #1: The students did not use CT for the inference exercises

in Mosaic 1, 4th edition #2: If the students had used CT, the extent of CT use might havebeen at the moderate level To test two null hypotheses, I conducted this study

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Chapter 3 Research Methodology

In the previous chapter, I reviewed the literature relevant to the CT, making inference and the possible relationship between CT and making inference In addition, I hypothesized that the students at CTU did not use or used CT at the moderate level To investigate the extent of CT use for inference exercises and the survey about the general CT use for inference exercises, I conducted this study In this chapter, I will describe the research methodology of the study including (1) the research designs, (2) the participants, (3) the materials, (4) the research instruments and (5) the data collection procedure.

3.1 Research designs

To conduct this study, I followed the qualitative and quantitative research.According to Borgdan and Biklen (1998), qualitative researchers are interested to knowwhat participants are thinking In fact, following the qualitative research, I want to knowthe extent students used CT when answering inference exercises in Mosaic 1 Besides that,the quantitative research was carried out to capture students’ perspective about inferenceexercises in general as well as find out in which level of learning of Bloom’s taxonomy(1956) participants are when they use general CT for inference exercises The descriptivestatistics indicated which perspective about inference exercises the students agreed mostand which level of learning the students were in

The qualitative and quantitative research was carried out by the survey, theexploratory and the descriptive approach Three approaches are described as follow (1)The survey approach is used because it helps researchers have the opinion of a large group

of people about a particular topic or issue (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2000) Indeed, I can find outperspectives for inference exercises as well as general CT use that students apply for theirinference activities (2) The exploratory approach is applied to identify the extent studentsused CT skills and dispositions when answering the inference exercises (3) The descriptiveapproach is aimed describing phenomena that occur naturally and no treatment is involved

in (Seleger & Shohamy, 1989) In fact, I was effort to describe the students’ CT use forinference exercises in Mosaic 1 as well as their perspectives for general CT use forinference questions

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3.2 Participants

Participants in this study were 75 (out of 181) ELT and ELS students1, course 31,semester 2, 2007-2008 academic year at CTU Of these, 68 are females and 7 are males.Most of the participants have learned English for 10 years Their English major includes 31ELT students and 44 ELS ones During the 2007-2008 academic year, the participants weretaking Mosaic 12, Reading 4th edition (Wegmann & Knezevic, 2002) as the main readingcourse book

English majors, course 31 were chosen as the participants in this study for thefollowing reason In the 2007-2008 academic year, they worked the entire Mosaic 1,Reading 4th edition In this book, “Focus on Testing” presents practical tips and strategiesfor maximizing a student’ advantage in the vocabulary and reading selections ofstandardized exams for English, such as TOEFL (Wegmann & Knezevic, 1997, p.xi).Therefore, choosing them as the participants of this study, I hoped to see to what extentstudents used CT for inference exercises in Mosaic 1 From the research findings, I couldmake proposals in developing the students’ CT use

3.3 Materials

In the English major reading program, teaching and learning material is Mosaic 1, 4thedition (Wegmann & Knezevic, ibid.) The book covers 12 chapters in which the inferenceexercises are in section “Focus on Testing” The participants in this study were assigned tolearn all 12 chapters of this coursebook In a typical lesson, after finishing vocabularydevelopments, reading skills, language and CT skills or culture, the students would do thetests in “Focus on Testing” The common features of these exercises are that (1) they are amultiple – choice format and (2) all the answers are not available, so a choice is made fromthe students’ inferences As usual the students first work on their own, and then work inpairs or groups to review their choice before advocating the answer After finishing, theycorrect their work and try to understand the mistakes they have made Because the readingselections are tricky (Wegmann & Knezevic, ibid., p.35), so circling a correct answer is noteasy, but it is much more difficult to explain the reason for the answer This is the obstacle

1 According to the curriculum of English – major training of English Department, School of Education, CTU, currently there are four courses (30-33) attending and divided into two majors: English Language Teaching (ELT) and English Language Study (ELS) The participants of this study are both ELT and ELS, course 31.

2Under the agreement from English Department, the reading strand of the InteractionsMosaic, 4th edition series are chosen as the course books for 4-year English majors The series include Interactions 1 and 2; Mosaic 1 and 2.

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most of the students have in their learning process Besides working on Mosaic 1, 4thedition, students were assigned to do the inference exercises form the other sources such asTOEFl iBT/IELTS (53%), Reading between the lines and TOEFl ibt/IELTS (33,3%), andTOEFL Reading flash, TOEFL pBT (12%) Therefore, choosing Mosaic 1 as the material

to measure the students’ CT use for the inference exercises ensured that all students hadcompleted this book In Mosaic 1, the inference exercises are categorized into three groups:vocabulary (p.51), sentence (p.37) and text comprehension (p.96) Students read andcomprehended the multiple-choice exercises carefully to eliminate three incorrect choicesbefore deciding the best answer

3.4 The research instruments

Two instruments: the reading selection and the second section in the questionnairewere employed in this study to measure the students’ CT use for the inference exercises inMosaic 1, 4th edition Besides that, the third section of the questionnaire was used to surveythe students’ general CT use for inference questions Two instruments will be described inthe following parts

3.4.1 The reading selection

The reading selection comprises 11 questions withdrawn from the inferenceexercises in Mosaic 1 and is divided into 3 parts Part 1 contains five vocabulary multiple-choice questions Students were asked to practice guessing the meaning from the contexts.Part 2 consists of three statement multiple-choice answers This exercise aims to teststudents’ ability to recognize the answer that is closest in meaning to the original sentence.Part 3 includes three passages that come from the article “Executive Takes Chance onPizza, Transforms Spain.” These questions are designed to ask students to make aninference about each reading That means the students have to read each passage of 60words and then to infer a true idea that is not stated in the passage However, the researcherfailed to get the copies of the inference exercises from Mosaic 1, 4th edition, so theinference exercises from Mosaic 1, 3rd edition (Wegmann & Knezevic, 1997) werereplaced Although, the organization of the text is different, the content remains unchanged.The participants were assigned to deal with questions numbered 1 to 11

The reading selection was used to collect information on "how" the students used

CT for the inference exercises in reading comprehension That is to say, the number of thecorrect answers is not important as the reason for giving those answers

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3.4.2 Questionnaire on CT use for inference exercises

The questionnaire includes 36 questions in total and is divided into three sections.The details of each section will be described as follows

On the first section of the questionnaire appeared 9 questions asking about thedemographic information about the participant and their ideas about inference exercisesincluding name, class, gender, English major, years of learning English, frequency of doinginference exercises, opinion about inference exercises in general, other sources of inferenceexercises and knowledge about CT The instruction was first read to fill in, put a check orcircle the appropriate choices

Next on the second section appeared 18 items (No.10 to 27) on CT use for inferenceaim at measuring the participants’ level of CT skills and their dispositions to do so for theinference exercises in Mosaic 1, 4th edition To design these items, I based on thetheoretical framework about CT skills and dispositions (Facione et al, 1990) and Bloom’smodel for CT (1956) In these frameworks, underlying CT activities are 6 CT skillsmanifested by interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation and 6 aspects of CT dispositions represented by open-mindedness,inquisitiveness, cognitive maturity, truth-seeking, analyticity, systematicity and self –confidence The representatives of these two categories might correspond to Bloom’s levels

of learning (knowledge, comprehension, analysis, application, synthesis and evaluation).Hence, the foci of the questionnaire are on these two categories

18 items are divided into 3 parts that correspond with the order of the readingselection It means that the items focus on the CT use for inference of vocabulary,statement and text comprehension The items are categorized into two clusters:

- In the cluster of CT skills (12 items), the items focus on checking (1) the CT skillapplication and (2) the effectiveness of CT use for inference exercises

- In the cluster of CT dispositions (6 items), the items aim to collect informationabout students’ motivation to use CT for inference exercises Table 3.1 below specifies theaims of each item or the couple of items

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Table 3.1: Aims of the items in the second section

Clusters Items Aims

Skills 10, 11,

14, 15

Recalling the meanings of the words

13 Understanding the context of the passage

17 Understanding the meanings of the words

18, 25 Understanding the meanings of the words

Generalizing every single idea to choose the best/closest meaning answers

19 Understanding the meanings of the words to recognize

incorrect choices

22 Distinguishing between facts and opinions

23 Recognizing the focused ideas in the relation to the answer

24 Understanding the context of the passage

Relating the prior knowledge for this study to choose the best answer

Finally, 9 questions appeared at the end of the questionnaire They are designed toinvestigate the general CT use for inference exercises Of these, questions 30 to 35 arebased on Bloom’s level of learning Table 3.2 specifies the purpose of each item Theinstruction was first read to circle or fill in the appropriate choices

Table 3.2: Aims of the items in the questionnaire

28 Other techniques usually used besides those which asked in second section for

inference exercises

29 The idea about doing inference exercises

30 Knowledge: Recalling the meaning of all new words

31 Comprehension: Paraphrasing a statement

32 Application: Focusing on the main idea and some illustrations

33 Analysis: Identifying the reasons for students’ choice

34 Synthesis: Combining the information that the author has written with students’

own experience

35 Evaluation: Making judgments about the value of the materials students have

done

36 The invitation for a semi structure interview

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