Critical Thinking, Questioning and Reasoning as Inclusive Teaching Methods for English Language Learning with Gifted Students

Proceedings of The 4th International Conference on Applied Research in Education

Year: 2022

DOI:

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Critical Thinking, Questioning and Reasoning as Inclusive Teaching Methods for English Language Learning with Gifted Students

Alice Azzalini

ABSTRACT: 

Critical thinking is becoming one of the basic foundations of modern teaching and learning: it implies not only complex (meta)cognitive abilities able to forge one’s personality, but it can be applied as a key-method during English classes for language learning and teaching, being applicable to both receptive (reading and listening) and productive (writing and speaking) skills. In addition, it has been confirmed that verbally gifted students show a high ability of thinking critically: an essential ingredient that, together with a strong questioning and reasoning attitude, can enrich traditional lessons bringing innovative ideas and supported argumentations, investigating facts and theories, nurturing personal criticism about characters, historical facts or daily events. For all these reasons, critical thinking methods applied to inclusive language learning could be a way to raise language teaching to higher levels, giving each student the possibility of becoming a consciuous builder of her/his own knowledge, and not merely a simple receiver.

keywords: Critical Thinking, English Language Learning and Teaching, Gifted Education.