An investigation into the teaching of critical reading skills for 11th graders at tran phu high school in ho chi minh city a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

Responses to question 5: Do you find teaching critical reading skills in reading classes very useful for your language study?. Responses to question 7: In your opinion, what are the trou

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE

HOÀNG THỊ HƯƠNG NGUYÊN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE TEACHING OF

AT TRAN PHU HIGH SCHOOL IN HO CHI MINH

CITY

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby certify my authorship of the Master’s thesis submitted today entitled:

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE

AT TRAN PHU HIGH SCHOOL IN HO CHI MINH CITY

in terms of the statement of the Requirements for the Thesis in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any Degree or diploma in any other institutions

Ho Chi Minh City, December 2013

HOANG THI HUONG NGUYEN

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, HOANG THI HUONG NGUYEN, being the candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s thesis deposited in the University Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis

Ho Chi Minh City, December 2013

Signature………

HOANG THI HUONG NGUYEN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate of originality i

Retention and use of the thesis ii

Table of contents iii

List of abbreviations vi

List of charts xi

List of tables xii

Acknowledgements xiii

Abstract xv

CHAPTER 1 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 1

1.1.1 Teaching and learning English at Tran Phu high school 2

1.1.2 Teaching reading at Tran Phu high school 2

1.1.3 The description of “Tieng Anh 11” 3

1.1.3.1 The aims and objectives of “Tieng Anh 11” 4

1.1.3.2 Reading sections of “Tieng Anh 11” 5

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 7

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 7

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 7

1.5 OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS 8

CHAPTER 2 9

LITERATURE REVIEW 9

2.1 DEFINING READING 9

2.2 MODELS OF THE READING PROCESS 10

2.2.1 Bottom-up model 10

2.2.2 The top-down model 11

2.2.3 The interactive model 12

2.3 CRITICAL THINKING 13

2.4 DEFINING CRITICAL READING 14

2.4.1 Bloom’s taxonomy 16

2.4.2 The importance of critical reading in language teaching and learning 19

2.5 THE THREE PHASES IN TEACHING READING 20

2.5.1 Pre-reading phase 20

2.5.2 While-reading phase 22

2.5.3 Post-reading phase 24

2.6 STRATEGIES FOR CRITICAL READING 25

2.6.1 Ruggiero’s four steps of critical reading strategy 25

2.6.2 Meagher’s and Henry’s reading strategies 27

2.6.2.1 Previewing strategies 28

2.6.2.2 Active reading strategies 29

2.6.2.3 Reviewing strategies 31

2.6.3 Elder and Paul’s reading strategies 34

2.7 PREVIOUS STUDIES OF CRITICAL READING AND CRITICAL TEACHING 36

CHAPTER 3 39

METHODOLOGY 39

3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 39

3.2 STUDY SETTING 39

3.3 PARTICIPANTS 40

3.3.1 Students: 40

3.3.2 Teachers 41

3.4 INSTRUMENTS 41

3.4.1 Observations 41

3.4.2 Questionnaires 42

3.4.2.1 Questionnaire for the students 43

3.4.2.2 Questionnaires for teachers 44

3.4.3 Summary 45

CHAPTER 4 47

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 47

4.1 ANALYSIS AND THE RESULT FROM CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS 47

4.1.1 Activities at pre- reading stage from the observation checklist 47

4.1.2 Reading activities at while- reading stage 50

4.1.3 Activities at post- reading stage 52

4.2 RESPONSES TO STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE 53

4.2.1 Responses to question 3: Is reading skills important to you? 53

4.2.2 Responses to question 4: Which type of reading lesson do you prefer? 54

4.2.3 Responses to question 5: Do you find teaching critical reading skills in reading classes very useful for your language study? 55

4.2.4 Responses to question 6: How often do you do these activities in the reading

comprehension lessons? 56

4.2.5 Responses to question 7: In your opinion, what are the troubles students may get when being exposed to critical reading skills teaching in reading classes? 60

4.2.6 Responses to question 8: What teachers of English should do in reading classes? 63

4.3 RESPONSES TO TEACHERS’QUESTIONNAIRE 64

4.3.1 The teachers’ attitudes towards critical reading teaching 64

4.3.2 Teaching reading lessons in reality in grade 11 66

4.4 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 73

4.4.1 Findings for research question 1 73

4.4.2 Findings for research question 2 74

CHAPTER 5 76

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 76

5.1 CONCLUSIONS 76

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS 77

5.2.1 Recommendations to students 77

5.2.2 Recommendations to the teachers 78

5.2.3 Recommendations to school administrators 81

5.3 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY AND RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 81

REFERENCES 82

APPENDIX 1 90

THE EXAMPLE OF HOW ANNOTATING AND MARKING STRATEGIES USED 90

APPENDIX 2 91

OBSERVATION CHECKLIST 91

APPENDIX 3A 93

STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE IN VIETNAMESE 93

APPENDIX 3B 97

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (IN ENGLISH) 97

APPENDIX 4A 101

TEACHERS’ QUESTIONNAIRE IN VIETNAMESE 101

APPENDIX 4B 105

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS (IN ENGLISH) 105

APPENDIX 5 109

OBSERVATION REPORT CLASS 109

APPENDIX 6 151

AN EXAMPLE OF ANNOTATING FOR THE MAIN IDEA AND TONE 151

APPENDIX 7 152

LESSON PLANS (SUGGESTIONS) 152

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.4.1: The use of Bloom's Taxonomy for formulating questions in EFL classes 18

Table 3.2.1: Students’ personal information 40

Table 3.2.2: Teachers’ personal information 41

Table 3.4.3a: Summary of research tools and data collection procedure Table 3 4.3b : The illustrations of the investigation timeline: 46

Table 4.1.1: Summary of the frequency of pre-reading activities 48

Table 4.1 2: Summary of the frequency of while-reading activities 50

Table 4.1 3: Summary of the frequency of post-reading activities 52

Table 4.2 1: Frequency of classroom activities that can enhance critical reading skills 57

Table 4.2 2: Students’ opinions on the troubles encountered in reading classes 60

Table 4.2 3: Students’ recommendation on teaching reading comprehension 63

Table 4.3 1 1: The usefulness of encouraging critical reading skills in reading classes at high school 65

Table 4.3 1 2: Teachers’ opinions about the frequency of enhancing critical reading skills in reading lessons 65

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 4.2 1: Students’ perceptions of the importance of reading skills 54

Chart 4.2 2: Students’ preference for types of reading lessons 55

Chart 4.2 3: Students’ opinions about the usefulness of critical reading 55

Chart 4.2 4: Frequency of classroom activities that can enhance critical reading skills 58

Chart 4.2 5: Students’ opinions on the troubles encountered in reading classes 61

Chart 4.3.2 1: The frequency of activities that teachers used in reading classes 67

Chart 4.3.2 2: The troubles teachers and students get when exposed to critical reading in reading classes 69

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Above all, I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Le Thi Thanh, for her encouragement, helpful comments and guidance at every stage of this research Her time reading the drafts, her kind support, explanation, and comments has encouraged me to complete this project Without her excellent academic guidance and support, I could not have finished this thesis

I am very much indebted to Dr Nguyen Kieu Thu and Dr Le Hoang Dung, Dean of the Department of English Linguistics and Literature, Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and all my professors for their dedication and helpful instruction during the course

My sincere thanks to all teachers and students at Tran Phu High school who were willingly to respond my questionnaires, especially to the school administrators and the teachers who have offered favorable condition for my thesis data collection

Finally, I am deeply grateful to my parents, my family, and my friends for all their encouragement, devotion, friendship and ready assistance during the course of study

The data analysis reveals that (1) the students seriously lack a chance to develop critical reading skills through learning and practices; (2) the teaching material does not include a variety activities or the tasks for helping improve critical reading; (3) teaching and learning condition obstructs teachers’ teaching; and (4) a proportion

of teachers do not have critical ways of teaching reading

Based on the findings of the study, the thesis recommends that (1) the teachers need to master critical strategies and then apply them creatively, effectively, and actively to their teaching reading comprehension; (2) the learners must have proper attitudes towards learning reading and improving critical reading regularly; (3) besides the textbook, material development should be offered by adapting or selecting suitable texts that can enhance critical reading

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

According to Blake (1989), reading is one of our keys to the world In highlighting the importance of reading comprehension, Rivers (1981, p 147) stated that “reading is the most important activity in any language class, not only as a source

of information and a pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s which are knowledge of the language” Truly, “with strengthened reading skills, ESL/EFL readers will make greater progress and attain greater development in all academic areas.”(Anderson, 1999, p.1)

It is obvious that enhancing critical reading is one of the elements that teachers must consider for an EFL reading class

In the ESL/ EFL reading class, however, one great challenge is that even when students can read in their second language, much of their reading is not fluent Students are not actively engaged with the text in a meaningful way (Anderson, 1999, p.1)

Wallace (2005) claimed that reading should be an active, fluent process that involves the reader and the reading material in building meaning Often, however, it is not As a rule, critical reading is not presently being effectively taught at the high school Consequently, students neither read critically nor reach an evaluative understanding of the text and develop their thinking ability Oftentimes, students get frustrated and lose motivation for independent reading because they are used to listening to teachers’ explanations

What should be emphasized here is that students tend to get surface meaning of reading texts and fail to understand the broader and deeper implications behind the texts The students in many high schools are “simply expected to passively absorb information and then to repeat it back on tests.” (Bassham et al, p.1)

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In the view of these problems, the main purpose of this thesis is to investigate how critical reading skills were carried out at Tran Phu high school in Ho Chi Minh City

1.1.1 Teaching and learning English at Tran Phu high school

This section presents a brief description of teaching English at Tran Phu high school, Ho Chi Minh City, and the overview of the course, the textbook and syllabus

Tran Phu High school, located at 18 Le Thuc Hoach Street, Tan Phu District,

Ho Chi Minh City, was originally established for 30 years in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, and is regarded as one of the most popular and best high schools in Tan Phu district by the evaluation of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training Among 147 teachers of the whole school for 13 subjects, 20 members are in charge of teaching English The school includes 65 classes of 3 grades: 10, 11 and

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To enter Tran Phu high school, students from junior high schools have to take the entrance examination with 3 subjects: mathematics, Vietnamese literature, and English according to the decision of Ho Chi Minh Department of Education and Training In the academic year 2011-2012, with the standard score of the 10th grade entrance examination was 35.25/40; it was ranked the sixth of 57 public high schools

1.1.2 Teaching reading at Tran Phu high school

At Tran Phu high school, reading is one of the important sections in teaching and learning English However, the researcher has observed that in EFL reading classes students usually do not have the opportunity to perform higher order thinking tasks for their reading such as applying, hypothesizing, analyzing, synthesizing, comparing, and evaluating Besides, the teaching and learning atmosphere in reading

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classes is quite boring Students have developed only one “reading strategy” over the years: listening to the teacher explaining the text word by word, sentence by sentence Because reading classrooms lack class interaction, students are not actively engaged

in the meaning-making process or, at best, the process involves readers’ decoding of text Therefore, the existing knowledge of students is not effectively drawn out for the benefit of the whole class There is a lack of richness and diversity in classroom activity Overwhelmed by the pedagogical goal of comprehending the text, the reading teacher tends to isolate knowledge expansion and development of other language skills

The researcher realizes that students at Tran Phu high school have little chance

to be exposed to critical reading skills Consequently, they neither learn to read critically nor reach an evaluative understanding of the text to develop their thinking ability

In relevance to the researcher’s real teaching situation, this paper aims to focus

on one of reading comprehension strategies - critical reading How teachers of English teach reading comprehension, and how teachers enhance critical reading in the classroom In other words, the thesis aims to examine whether critical reading skills are enhanced to students while progress in basic reading skills are maintained

1.1.3 The description of “Tieng Anh 11”

The textbook “Tieng Anh 11”, issued by Vietnamese Ministry of Education

and Training (MOET), was designed to meet the new demand of ELT in Vietnam It was piloted nationwide in the 2007 academic year and was introduced to the curriculum in the school year 2007-2008

The textbook consists of 16 units with 16 themes developed from 6 topics: (You and me, Education, Community, Nature and environment, recreation, People and places) According to MOET, from the academic year 2011- 2012, two units

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(unit 5 and 14) were not taught to reduce the overload of the programme The book aims to cover all four language skills and consists of 16 teaching units and 6 review sections titled “Test yourself “ Each unit has been divided into five sections; reading, speaking, listening, writing and a ‘language focus’, with each section having

a teaching time of 45 minutes Besides, 11th graders have to take 2 tests of 45 minutes, 3 of 15 minutes, and the final examination for each semester

1.1.3.1 The aims and objectives of “Tieng Anh 11”

The teaching objectives of “Tieng Anh 11” are cited in Teacher’s book – Grade 11

(published by MOET in 2007) By the end of the school year of grade 11, students are expected to

(1) use English as a tool of communication at the basic level of listening, speaking, reading and writing;

(2) obtain basic, logical, and suitable knowledge of English to their level;

(3) and have general awareness of geography, people, and cultures of some English speaking nations in order to form both their love and positive attitudes towards those countries and their pride, love, and respect for their own Vietnamese culture and knowledge

3 Reading

skill

Comprehend the main ideas and details of contexts about 240-270 words within the topics in the syllabus and develop linguistic skills; how to use a dictionary, how to use words in real situations, synonyms and antonyms; distinguish grammar points, cohesion

4 Writing

skill

Write a 120-130 word essay / messages based on samples or cues relevant to the topics in the syllabus or serve communicative needs and simple communication

(Hoang et al., 2007, pp.3-4)

1.1.3.2 Reading sections of “Tieng Anh 11”

The textbook is divided into 6 themes with 16 units and taught during 2 terms with 111 periods Among them, reading sections appeared in each theme as

follows:

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Themes / topics Units Objectives of reading sections

You and me Unit 1: Friendship

Unit 2 : Personal experience Unit 3 : A party

Guessing meaning in context

Identifying main idea Understanding the sequence of events in a history Passage comprehension

Scanning for specific information Identifying and correcting false information Education Unit 4 : Volunteer work

Unit 5: Illiteracy Unit 6: Competitions

Word formation Word meaning in context Dictionary skills Identifying main idea Extensive reading: multiple- choice questions Passage comprehension

Scanning for specific information Community Unit 7: World population

Unit 8: Celebrations Unit 9: The post office

Guessing meaning in context

Dictionary skills Word meaning: antonyms Deciding on True or False statements Passage comprehension

Scanning for specific information Nature Unit 10: Nature in Nature

Unit 11: Sources of energy

Guessing meaning in context

Identifying main idea Passage comprehension Identifying meaning in context Scanning for information Passage comprehension Gap-filling

Recreation Unit 12: The Asian Games

Unit 13: Hobbies Unit 14: Recreation

Guessing meaning in context Scanning for specific information Dictionary skills: explaining meaning in context Passage comprehension

People and places Unit 15: Space conquest

Unit 16: The wonders of the world

Identifying main ideas: matching Summarizing skills

Guessing meaning in context Passage comprehension Scanning for specific information

(Cited from the book map of English (page 8-9) of “Tieng Anh 11”-published by

MOET in 2011)

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1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of this study are: (1) to investigate EFL teachers and students’ behaviour to a critical reading pedagogy at Tran Phu High school, HCMC ; (2) to find out the utility of this critical reading pedagogy in EFL reading; (3) to give recommendations to help teachers for their enhancing critical reading in the classroom effectively

reading into their teaching and learning?

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Firstly, the study hopefully can, to some extent, contribute some efficient ways

to help students improve critical reading through their involvement in English reading comprehension lessons in class Students can learn skills and strategies to become more flexible, adaptive, independent, and engaged readers

Secondly, the findings from the research can help the teachers and the administrators make more decisions concerning the syllabi and the course with the aim to create useful instructions and positive learning environment

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1.5 OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS

The thesis is organized in five chapters

Chapter 1 introduces the scope of the study, the background to the study as

well as states the research aims and research questions of the thesis

Chapter 2 reviews the related literature such as the reading models, critical

reading and strategies of teaching critical reading and revises the previous studies about critical reading as well

Chapter 3 presents the methodology employed to conduct the study including

a description of the subjects and the questionnaire, observation sheet, the way of carrying out the survey

Chapter 4 displays the collected data, the discussion of the results

Finally, chapter 5 is the summary of the main findings and then the

suggestions, recommendations to the administrators and teachers and students at Tran Phu High School

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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter shapes the conceptual framework that is relevant to the topic under investigation in the present study by firstly exploring the definitions, concept of reading, critical reading Secondly, it takes Bloom’s taxonomy into the consideration when teaching critical reading in English in foreign language classes Thirdly, the importance of critical reading in language teaching and learning will be explored The chapter, fourthly, will consider the reading activities and the three phases in encouraging critical reading Finally; it examines the strategies for critical reading

“Critical reading” is basically a reading process which involves critical thinking Consequently, to define critical reading it is necessary to identify what reading and critical thinking is

2.1 DEFINING READING

Reading, as defined by Williams (1989), is a process whereby one looks at and understands what has been written Nuttall also agrees that the view of reading is concerned with meaning Reading, although has been defined in a number of complex ways, can in general terms, best be defined as a process which involves the reader, the text, and the interaction between reader and text (Goodman, 1996) This interaction can occur through reading strategies Research in this area has shown that successful readers use different strategies than less successful readers (Anderson, 1991) In essence, reading is an active, fluent process in which readers use powerful strategies in the pursuit of meaning Readers and texts interact with each other in various ways, which forms different models of reading

Anderson (1999, p 1) pointed out that “Reading is an essential skill in English as second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) students; and for many, reading is the most

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important skill to master With strengthened reading skills, ESL/EFL readers will make greater progress and attain greater development in all academic areas” This alerts us that the context for most of the discussion is in reading for academic purposes programs in high school education settings

2.2 MODELS OF THE READING PROCESS

Emerging from the research (Goodman, 1973, 1976; Gough, 1985; Rumelhart, 1985; Stanovich, 1980), Anderson states that the reading models can be divided into three categories: bottom up-models, top-down models, and interactive models

of linguistic signals (letters, morphemes, syllables, words, phrases, grammatical cues, discourse markers) and use their linguistic data-processing mechanisms to impose some sort of order on these signals

The meaning of the text is expected to come naturally as the code is broken based on the reader's prior knowledge of words, their meanings, and the syntactical patterns of his/her language (McCormick, 1988)

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A bottom-up reading model is a reading model that emphasizes the written or printed text, says reading is driven by a process that results in meaning (or, in other words, reading is driven by text), and proceeds from part to whole (Dechant, 1991)

Bottom-up advocates believe the reader needs to identify letter features, link these features to recognize letters, combine letters to recognize spelling patterns, link spelling patterns to recognize words, and then proceed to sentence, paragraph and text-level processing

2.2.2 The top-down model

In contrast to bottom-up models, top down models are diametrically opposed to these lower-level processes (Stanovich, 1980)

In the top-down processing, we draw on our own intelligence and the prediction we can make, based on the schemata we have acquired- to understand the text (Nuttall, 1982)

experience-With the higher-level skills, the role of the readers is considered to be quite active: they draw on their intelligence and experience to understand the text They interpret assumptions and draw inferences, make use of the prior knowledge, common sense, emotion, culture… that they bring to the text to see the overall purpose of the text and make a reasonable guess about the likely trend of the argument at the next step

This approach requires the readers to use the framework of background “real world” knowledge to interpret the difficult parts of the text, make predictions about the data they will find in a text and confirm this by relating them to their past experiences and knowledge of the language The readers form hypotheses or make assumptions about the text elements and then “sample” the text to determine whether

or not the hypotheses are correct

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To sum up, a top-down reading model is a reading model that emphasizes what the reader brings to the text says reading is driven by meaning, and proceeds from whole to part

2.2.3 The interactive model

This type combines elements of both bottom-up and top-down models, Stanovich (1980, p.36) states that in interactive models “processes at any level can compensate for deficiencies in lower-level processes” Murtagh (1989, p 102) emphasizes that the best second language readers are those who can ‘efficiently integrate’ both bottom-up and top-down processes

Grabe (1991) stresses two conceptions of interactive approaches The first relates to the interaction that occurs between the reader and the text; “meaning does not reside in the text itself but that as readers interact with the text their own background knowledge facilitates the task of comprehending” The second conception

of interactive approaches relates to the interaction between bottom-up and top-down processes Fluent reading involves both decoding and interpretation skills and it integrates several skills, strategies, and processes Grabe (1991, p.378) points out the complexity of defining reading by stating “a description of reading has to account for the notions that fluent reading is rapid, purposeful, interactive, comprehending, flexible, and gradually developing”

Anderson concludes that the interactive model is the best description of what happens when we read and he states “My teaching of reading has improved as I have come to understand that reading is an interactive process of both bottom-up and top-down models” (Anderson 1991, p 4) Second language readers do some bottom-up activities when they read such as decoding unfamiliar vocabulary, struggle with poor printing of a handout the researcher has given them, wonder about a part of speech of

a particular word; and they do some top-down things when they read for example,

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predict what is coming next in the text, draw on their previous experience The conclusion is that the two approaches top-down and bottom-up work together to help readers understand the reading text

2.3 CRITICAL THINKING

In literature various definitions of critical thinking exist, ranging from ones which envisage critical thinking as a broad construct (Davidson and Dunham, 1997) which concentrates primarily on reasonable and reflective thinking which is focused

on what to believe or do, to others which view it more narrowly or exclusively to a certain content area (McPeck, 1981) For Marshall and Rowland (1998), critical thinking occurs when students question their own beliefs or what they are told In

parallel with this, Kurland (2000) states that Critical thinking is a technique for

evaluating information and ideas, for deciding what to accept and believe Scriven and Paul (1996) define critical thinking as “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.” Learning to think critically can produce enthusiastic language learner, and Marshall and Rowland (1998, p.34) describes critical thinking produces “joy, release, relief, and exhilaration

as we break through to new ways of looking at our personal, work and political worlds.”

Synthesizing these definitions, we will see that critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively analyzing, questioning, judging, and evaluating information obtained from texts, experience, and reflection A person with adequate critical thinking will question, challenge, analyze, and evaluate any ideas or opinions he gets He will never passively absorb other people’s opinions without

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trying to find out whether they are truly sound or not Critical thinking is a vital feature for the improvement of teaching and learning

2.4 DEFINING CRITICAL READING

The word “critical”, defined from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, is

“expressing disapproval of somebody/something and saying what you think is bad about them” By combining the meaning of critical thinking with the meaning of reading, we can say that critical reading is the application of critical thinking in a reading activity

The term “critical reading” was officially defined by many scholars in the papers, articles These definitions have made a considerable contribution to the overall understanding of the one reading strategies labeled critical reading

According to Crossen (1948, p 289), ‘critical reading’ denotes reading which involves: (1) Gaining a clear and correct grasp of the sense meaning of the selection read, (2) Gaining an accurate perception of relationships, both expressed and implied,

in the selection read (3) Evaluating precisely the content as to its validity, comprehensiveness, accuracy, and usefulness to the reader’s purpose and (4) Drawing correct conclusion conclusions, and making valid inferences about what is read

In A Dictionary of Reading and Related Terms, Harris and Hodges (1981, p 74) defined critical reading as (1) “the process of making judgments in reading: evaluating relevancy and adequacy of what is read…” (2) “an act of reading in which

a questioning attitude, logical analysis, and inference are used to judge the worth of what is read according to an established standard…” Among the identified skills of critical reading involved in making judgments are those have to do with the author's intent or purpose; with the accuracy, logic, reliability and authenticity of writing; and with the literary forms, components, and devices identified through literary analysis

Critical reading, as defined by Ruggiero (2007), is “active, thoughtful reading, as opposed to passive acceptance of whatever appears on the printed page” (p 63) Critical readers evaluate what they read, and their standard of judgment is not how the author’s view matches their own, but whether it is accurate or reasonable

In short, critical reading which has been defined in various ways by Harris and Hodges (1981), Zintz and Maggart ( 1984) , Flynn (1989) and Paul (1993), Ruggiero ( 2007) concentrated on the cognitive processes of analysis, synthesis and evaluation

of the writers’ ideas

In contrast, Rubin (1982) considered that critical readers must be able to collect, interpret, apply, analyze and synthesize the information In addition, critical reading requires the reader to be able to differentiate between fact and opinion, fantasy and reality and identify propaganda in the text Afterwards, Blake (1989) stated that critical reading is to make judgments about how the text is argued In other words; critical reading is judging what you read That is, judging the messages writers send to you “When you read critically, you do two things: You deal with the facts and

In sum, the foregoing overview of critical reading has highlighted, most of the processes are similar in essence to the various levels of the cognitive domain suggested by Bloom et al (1956) in the cognitive domain of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives ( Bloom’s taxonomy)

2.4.1 Bloom’s taxonomy

Bloom’s cognitive domain comprises six processes which require learners to demonstrate knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation as learning from “lower order” to “higher order” thinking In other words, Bloom’s Taxonomy is a multi-tiered model of classifying thinking according to six cognitive levels of complexity Throughout the years, the levels have often been depicted as a stairway, leading many teachers to encourage their students to "climb to

a higher (level of) thought." The lowest three levels are: knowledge, comprehension, and application The highest three levels are: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation "The taxonomy is hierarchical; [in that] each level is subsumed by the higher levels In other words, a student functioning at the 'application' level has also mastered the material at the 'knowledge' and 'comprehension' levels." (UW Teaching Academy, 2003), (Quoted from Forehand, M (2005))

Learners are expected to store in their mind

information for later recall

The knowledge question is often used during

or after reading a passage to encourage learners in an EFL class to recall the content

of the passage

Comprehension

In EFL classes, there are three types of

comprehension behaviour: (a) translation

(learners translate from the second language

to the first language); (b) interpretation

(reorder ideas into a new configuration); and

(c) extrapolation (making predictions based

on what is given in a passage as opposed to

abstraction which is derived from other

experiences)

Critical reading questions which require students to translate a passage are not relevant in EFL classes since both teachers and learners use the target language However, EFL learners are required to interpret and extrapolate meaning during and after reading

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Application

Applying a language rule, theory, method or

process to a problem or situation and

referring to the learners' ability to use the

learning materials in new and concrete

situations

A critical reading teacher in EFL classes will ask application questions about the topic before, during and after reading a passage Questioning before a reading encourages students to anticipate what is possible; questioning during the reading directs learners to focus on the function of the topic; and questioning after the reading directs learners to apply the concepts in a new context

Analysis

Analysis refers to the ability to break down a

passage into its component parts so that its

organizational structure may be understood

In critical reading for an EFL class, analysis questions can be used during and after reading activities to encourage learners to understand the content and the structure of the given passage

Synthesis

Synthesis encourages students to create

something new and to rely on original and

creative thinking Students may make

predictions and solve problems and make a

variety of creative answers

Synthesis activities in an EFL class can include: (a) solving problems which are described in the passage; or (b) communicating with the author in the target language

Evaluation

Evaluation is concerned with the ability to

judge the value of material, the solution to a

problem or the facts about particular cultures

Critical reading in an EFL class may use evaluation as a means of focusing on learners' personal judgments derived from their existing schemata

Table 2.4.1: The use of Bloom's Taxonomy for formulating questions in EFL classes

(Quoted from Queensland Journal of Educational Research, pp 227- 244)

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In the research, Surjosuseno and Watts (1999) concluded that Bloom's Taxonomy, when modified to suit the needs of the particular context, can be particularly useful as a tool for planning to teach critical reading in EFL classes

2.4.2 The importance of critical reading in language teaching and learning

The importance of critical reading was realized almost 400 years ago, Bacon(quoted in Ruggiero, 2007, p.63) advised people not to dispute an author’s view nor to accept it uncritically, but to “weigh and consider” it In the nineteenth century, Burke also agreed on this view: “to read without reflection is like eating without digesting.” In the twenty century, a scholar expressed the same view in the following explanation:

There is one key idea which contains, in itself, the very essence of the effective reading, and

on which the improvement of reading depends: reading is reasoning When you read properly, you are not merely assimilating You are not automatically transferring into your head what your eyes pick up on the page What you see on the page sets your mind at work, collating, criticizing, interpreting, questioning, comprehending, comparing When this

Critical reading teaching plays so significant role in language learning process that Blake (1989) stated: “critical reading is so valuable that we cannot get along without it” (p.113) Because we use critical reading to find out what is true and what

is not true The separating the true from the untrue is important for two reasons: first

of all, one of the main purpose of reading is to learn, we use what we learn as a base for learning other things And we, it goes without saying, are in trouble if what we learn through reading is not true, we cannot base further learning on mistakes or false statements We cannot make good decisions if the information we use to help us choose is untrue Second, another chief purpose for reading is to find out how to do something Untrue information can cause us to do something incorrectly; it can lead

to someone’s getting hurt (Blake, 1989, pp 113 -114)

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According to Ruggiero (2007), critical reading is crucial when the text is intended to persuade the readers, especially when the author argues for one perspective or opinion over others Persuasive texts or writing can be found in every subject at school and in textbooks Critical reading skills are essential for students in high school, as they help students understand literature, problem solving, test taking and homework assignments Consequently, developing the habit of critical reading is necessary

2.5 THE THREE PHASES IN TEACHING READING

In order to help learners to get information from the text efficiently with full understanding, the three phases should be performed These three phases are named

as pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading

2.5.1 Pre-reading phase

involves introducing the topic and preparing students for the text Pre - reading discussions provide an opportunity for readers to see what they know about a topic and what others may know; more specifically, Brown (2001, p.315) suggested the foreign language teachers that “before you read spend some time introducing a topic, encouraging skimming, scanning, predicting, and activating schemata.” And he goes

on saying that” students can bring the best of their knowledge and skills to a text when they have been given a chance to “ease into” the passage.” Dublin and Bycina (1991, p.202) gave an idea to manage a pre-reading discussion which includes “a series of statements, often provocative in nature, which are intended to challenge students’ knowledge and beliefs about the content of the passage” ( cited in Anderson,

1999, pp 14-15) Here students’ background knowledge plays an important role It

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goes without saying that there have been several activities to be used in the classroom during the pre-reading phase Some pre-reading activities are stated by Auerbach and Paxton (1997, p.259) as follows:

1 Accessing prior knowledge

2 Writing your way into reading(Writing about your experience related to the topic)

3 Asking questions based on the title

4 Semantic mapping

5 Making predictions based on previewing

6 Identifying the text structure

7 Skimming for general idea

8 Reading the introduction and conclusion

9 Writing a summary of the article based on previewing

(Cited in Ajideh, 2003, p 8)

As claimed by Brown (1994), in pre-reading phase, teachers can have learners discuss the topic to be read at first To diversify such discussion activities, teachers can exploit, as Abraham (2002, as cited in Erten and Karakas, 2007) proposed “at the pre-reading stage, through the discussion of titles, subheadings, photographs, identifying text structure, previewing, and so on, both formal and content schemata can be activated”(p.117) Laser (1993) suggested some common pre-reading activities

to activate the necessary background knowledge which readers may lack or cannot easily access include previewing, providing background knowledge, pre-questioning, and brainstorming (cited in Erten and Karakas, 2007) Anderson (1999) also suggested several classroom activities can be prepared to activate prior knowledge in pre- reading phase That is a discussion on the type of text structure and what expectations a reader may have about the organization of the text This could include

a discussion of the kinds of transition or linking words that the reader can expect to find Besides, another way to build background knowledge is using semantic

to the new concept that will be learned, thus helping to build background knowledge prior to

In addition to the above suggestions, Henry (2011, pp 7-8) asserted that in reading phase, teacher can ask students to skim the passage for clues about how it is organized and what it is going to talk about or teach them Also look at pictures and graphs Finally, ask questions such as what the passage is about, what students already know about the topic, how the material is organized, what the purpose for reading is These activities are called surveying and questioning strategies (Henry,

of these tasks when reading texts, students can get understand the coherence and logic

of the information in the texts Students, consequently, “will be able to locate the main ideas and distinguish them from less important information” (as cited in Correia, 2006)

After students have surveyed and asked questions about the text, in this phase,

as suggested by Henry (2011), as students read, monitor their understanding by highlighting key words and ideas and answering the questions based on ideas: what

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new or difficult do they need to look up, what color resemblance is, what examples of color resemblance are, what countershading is, what an example of countershading is, and identify any ideas students need to reread to understand These activities are named Read and annotate (pp 10-11) Similarly, according to Brown (2001, p.315)

“not all reading is simply extensive or global reading.” And he claimed that there may

be certain fact or rhetorical devices that students should take note while they read So the teachers should give them a sense of purpose for reading rather than just reading because they ordered it

In while reading stage, the features of a good and mature reader, according to Cook (1989), is his or her complete attention on reading, anticipation and prediction the contents or the section of the text; and checking predictions, using fix-up strategies when lack of understanding occurs, using contextual analysis to understand new terms, using text structure to assist comprehension, Self-monitoring comprehension by knowing comprehension is occurring, knowing what is being understood Wallace (1992) asserted while-reading activities aim to encourage learners to be flexible, active, and reflective To promote an interaction between the reader and writer, some common while-reading activities used in reading include skimming, scanning, predicting, key sentence, jumbled sentences or sections, group cloze, information gap tasks, multiple choice activity, reciprocal teaching, graphic organizers, and content and process questions (Wallace, 1992; Lazar, 1993; Abita, 2001)

More specifically, the following list is about some reading activities which are useful for students to comprehend the text easily:

1 Note the key words in the first sentences of the paragraph or text

2 Decide which word announces the main topic of the paragraph or text

3 Decide which words announce the specific aspect of this topic of the paragraph

4 Note if there is a sentence that states a probable main idea

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5 Note the most important words from each sentence as you read

6 Ask yourself how this information relates to the information that came before it

7 Look for examples that illustrate the ideas stated before

8 Look for details that provide more specific information on the topic

9 Look for a sentence that concludes this particular aspect of this topic

10 Look for the words that indicate a change in the kind of information

11 Look for a sentence that provides information about a new aspect of this topic ( Aebersold & Field, 1997, p 98)

2.5.3 Post-reading phase

The third phase includes post-reading exercises, in which students are given short comprehension questions, vocabulary work, and opportunity for discussion of the topic and the author's reasoning, and/or a summary writing assignment (Brown (1994)) Similarly, recite and review are after reading activities that proposed by Henry (2011, p 13) After students have read the entire passage, they can connect new information to their prior knowledge about the topic, form opinion about the material and author, record changes in their opinions based on the new information, write about what they have read In addition, students can summarize the most important parts, revisit and answer the questions and finally, review new words and their meanings based on the way they were used in the passage

According to Chastain (1988), post-reading activities help readers to clarify any unclear meaning Ur (1996) suggested summarize as a kind of post-reading activity where the readers are asked to summarize the content of the text in a sentence or two Karakas (2002) proposed that some common activities that help the readers interpret the text are question and answer, and drawing conclusions and

1 Identify the topic of the reading

2 Have a general idea of what the text says about its topic

3 Understand the main ideas put forth in the text

4 Discern the relationships among the main ideas

5 Understand the details given in the text support the main ideas

6 Recognize the information the text implies but does not state

7 Recognize the structure of the information in the text

8 Identify the language used to show the organization of ideas

9 Assess the value of the information presented in the text

10 Recognize language use, such as irony or satire

In sum, reading is best described as a process defined by three phases Each phase has its own thinking steps These activities in three phases are not to be carried out mechanically in every situation In order to apply these teachers should know the features of the learners and their needs, interests and abilities

2.6 STRATEGIES FOR CRITICAL READING

2.6.1 Ruggiero’s four steps of critical reading strategy

Ruggiero (2007) cited out four steps of critical reading strategy: skimming, reflecting, reading, and evaluating

The first step is Skimming: “To skim is to glance at selected parts of a book,

an article or a text in order to gain an overview of it” (Ruggiero, 2007, p 68) When done effectively, skimming will not only make your reading easier and more effective

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but also save your time Hyland (1990), Nunan (1999) and Brown (2001) discussed skimming activities, skimming is thought to be the most valuable reading strategies Through skimming, a reader is able to predict the purpose of the passage, and gets the writer’s message (Flowerdew and Peacock 2001) In this way readers are asked to predict the whole text, though they do not read all of it Similarly, Alderson (2000) proposed that skimming is a metacognitive skill that is used by good readers Bachman and Cohen (1998) and Flowerdew and Peacock (2001) also stated that skimming allows readers to read for general understanding (Cited in Razi, n.d., para 4.2)

When skimming, the readers should identify the main idea(s), the outline, and the major supporting details by answering these questions: “What issue is the author writing about? What is the author writing about? What is the author’s position on this issue? What are the main divisions (subtopics) of the book or article? How much evidence does the author offer in support of his or her view? What type(s) of evidence? ” (Ruggiero, 2007, p 68)

The second step is Reflecting: “Reflection means examining your own views

rather than the author’s.” The readers should ask themselves: “What ideas do I have about this subject that could create bias for or against the author’s view and prevent

me from giving it a fair bearing” (Ruggierro, 2007, p 69)

The purpose of reflection is to become aware of both kinds of bias and to control them during the remaining steps

The third Step is Reading : If the readers have skimmed well, this step will be

easier The readers will already know what the author is saying; they will also understand the sequence of the author’s points so the task is to deepen the understanding by reading the entire work carefully The reader can keep a pen or pencil in hand while reading to underline the most important sentences Where appropriate, the reader can add his / her questions and thoughts in the margin These

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are called marking and annotating by Meagher (1997) and Elder, L and Paul, R

(1994)

The last step is Evaluating: The readers can read their summary carefully so

that they grasp the author’s main point and the evidence offered for each To evaluate, the readers have to answer the following questions:

Are any of the author’s term vague or ambiguous (open to more than one meaning) Does the author use emotionally charged language as a substitute for evidence?

Is the author’s evidence relevant to the issue?

Did the author omit any significant evidence?

Are the author’s examples and cases typical and comprehensive?

If the author cites a scientific study, has been replicated?

Are the experts cited by the author authoritative and reliable?

Do other experts agree with the experts cited by the author?

What criticisms and counterarguments would someone who holds a different position make about this book or article?

Does the author commit any errors in logic? For example, does the author overgeneralize, oversimplify, or assume facts not in evidence?

Is the author’s conclusion about the evidence the most reasonable one or is another conclusion more reasonable?

2.6.2 Meagher’s and Henry’s reading strategies

Meagher (1997, pp.11-21 ); Henry ( 2011, pp.6-15) pointed out a number of

useful reading strategies and one of the most common of these strategies is known as SQ3R, which stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review This and other similar methods all involve strategies in three basic stages: previewing, active reading and reviewing