Abstract Book of the 9th International Conference on Research in Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2025
DOI:
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Critical Thinking in Literary Analysis: A Study of English Major Students’ Essays on a Literary Text
Matasam Al Raaisi
ABSTRACT:
This workshop employed action research to investigate the critical thinking skills of English major students as evidenced in their written essays in a course offered to students at the Centre for Preparatory Studies at Sultan Qaboos University (Lanc1120). The study examined how the students attempted to use their real-world knowledge and personal experiences in their analysis of a literary text (Animal Farm by George Orwell). Twenty essays of the students were collected and analysed to search for attempts of constructing arguments and relating the text to the society at large. Then, five of the students went through very short interviews to find out how they developed their arguments, what strategies they used and what difficulties they faced. The findings show that students vary in terms of the levels of thinking complexity (i.e., basic, average and advanced) when trying to analyze literary texts, demonstrating different strategies when trying to connect literary analysis to real-world knowledge. Mostly, they resort to the basic level to feel secure, which centers around paraphrasing and summarizing to complete their writing task. This study suggested different teaching activities and strategies on what can be done by teachers to promote and uplift the level of critical analysis in writing.
keywords: Writing, critical thinking, analysis