Critical thinking in Moroccan

Textbooks of English
nd
The reading skill in 2 year Bac Textbooks as a
case study
This part is divided into 3 sections:
• Section 1: some literature related to CT.
• Section 2: Presentation of the study
• Section 3: Discussion of the findings of the study + giving some
recommendations for a better cultivation of CT in the
curriculum.
• As we have seen in the previous part of this research paper
there are numerous definitions of critical thinking.
• Some of these definitions emphasize the skills of CT? others
emphasize the process, In others the focus is on arguments and
evidence. Whereas some definition debate about its precise
meaning and scope.
Examples:
• Facione (1986) defines CT as ‘the ability to properly construct
and evaluate arguments.’
(evaluation of information).
• Paul, B, Adamson, and Martin (1989): CT is
‘the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in
order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or
more defensible.’
(focus on clarity of thinking and the meta cognitive aspect).
• Matt Lipman (1988) defines critical thinking as ‘skillful,
responsible thinking that facilitates good judgment because it 1)
relies on criteria, 2) is self-correcting and 3) is sensitive to
context’
(focus on evaluation based on some criteria)
 • Ennis (1992): ‘Critical thinking is the disciplined mental activity
of evaluating arguments [information] or propositions and
making judgments that can guide the development of beliefs
and taking action.”
(evaluation of information before taking action)
• Richard Paul and Michael Scriven (1992) defined critical thinking
as "the intellectual disciplined process of actively and skillfully
conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or
evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,
observations, experience, reflection, reasoning, or
communication as a guide to belief and action"
( Here there is focus on HOTS) ( The last 3 in Blooms taxonomy of
ed. objectives)(A,S,E)
1-1.Skills involved in Critical Thinking
From the above definitions the core of CT skills can be inferred:
• Observation
• Interpretation
• Analysis
• Inference
• Evaluation
• Explanation
• Metacognition (thinking about thinking)
1-2.Why CT is important?
• To learn is to think
• To think poorly is to learn poorly
• To think well is to learn well
• All content, to be learned, must be intellectually
constructed and processed
• For Lge learning CT underlies reading, writing, speaking,
listening and the basic elements of communication.
• CT is a path to freedom from half-truths, prejudices and
deceptions. (A liberating force)
 • Creates the willingness to change one point of view as we
continue to examine and re-examine ideas that may seem
obvious.
• Enables us to distinguish between facts and opinions, ask
good questions, make observations, use sound logic and
solid evidence before making decisions.
1-3.Characteristics of critical thinker
• Critical thinkers always base their views on evidence.
• Critical thinkers are hard workers.
• Curious
• Problem solvers
• Evaluates statements & arguments
• Distinguish between facts and opinions
• Careful and active observers
• Seek evidence to support assumptions and beliefs
• See critical thinking as a life-long process of self-assessment
• Wait till all facts are analyzed before making judgments and
decisions.
1-4. Questions to fire up critical thinking skills
According to P. Facione (1992), different qs are used to trigger CT.
these vary according to the different core skills involved in CT
Interpretation: Ex. questions
• How should we understand this?
• What is the best way to categorize this?
• How can we make sense out of this?
Analysis: Ex. questions
• Why do you think that?
• Please tell us your reason for making that claim?
• What are the arguments pros and cons
• What is your basis for saying this?
• How can we accept that claim?
Inference: Ex. questions
• What conclusions can we draw from this?
• What does this evidence imply?
• What are the consequences of doing things this way?
 Evaluation: Ex. questions
• How credible is that claim?
• How strong are those arguments
Explanation: Ex. questions
• What were the specific findings of the investigation?
• Why do you think that was the right answer?
• How would you explain this?
Self-regulation: Ex. questions
• How good was our methodology, and how well did we
follow it?
• How good is our evidence?
• Our position on this issue is still vague can we be more
precise?
It is clear that all these types of questions involve CT skills and call for
some reflection before getting to the answers.

2-Critical thinking in the Moroccan context

Presentation of the study:

• Small scale research
nd
• Based on document analysis: The Textbooks used in the 2
year Bac:
-Insights into English
-Ticket to English
-Gateway to English
• The focus of this study was on the reading skill
• Objective of the study: To see if there is any manifestation
of CT in the Moroccan Textbooks of English- Second year
Bac
• Research question: Is there any manifestation of critical
thinking in the reading skill in 2nd year Baccalaureate
Textbooks ?
 • Methodology:
- A document analysis was carried out in which we analyzed all the
main reading texts of the 3 textbooks of English, especially the
types of questions that are used by the author of these books in
the pre-reading, the reading and post-reading stages.
- These reading questions were classified into two categories:
1. Simple questions ( calling for factual information or related just
to language.)
2. Critical thinking questions ( those questions calling for some
critical thinking skills/ reflections. i.e. related to high order
thinking skills.
Presentation of the results of the case study:
“Gateway to English 2”
Units Simple questions Critical thinking questions

Unit 1 4 5

Unit 2 4 4

Unit 3 4 6

Unit 4 5 6

Unit 5 4 3

Unit 6 4 3

Unit 7 4 3

Unit 8 3 3

Unit 9 4 4

Unit 10 4 4

Total 40 41
“Ticket to English(2)”

Units Simple questions Critical thinking questions

Unit 1 2 6
Unit 2 4 4
Unit 3 6 5
Unit 4 5 4
Unit 5 5 3
Unit 6 5 4
Unit 7 4 5
Unit 8 4 3
Unit 9 3 4
Unit 10 5 5
Total 43 43

“Insights into English(2)”

Units Simple questions Critical thinking questions

Unit 1 5 3
Unit 2 6 4
Unit 3 3 6
Unit 4 5 5
Unit 5 4 3
Unit 6 5 4
Unit 7 4 4
Unit 8 5 6
Unit 9 3 3
Unit 10 5 5
Total 45 44
 Generally speaking these are the findings of the case study

Testbook Simple Critical thinking

questions questions

“Gateway to English 2” 49% 51%

“Ticket to English(2)” 50% 50%

“Insights into English(2)” 51% 49%

Analysis of the results of the study

• There is manifestation of both types of questions in the

reading skill in these textbooks.
• The percentage of C T questions is quite good in all the 3
textbooks (51% in Gateway to English, 50% in Ticket to
English and 49% in Insights into English.
• To answer our starting question in this study: Is there any
manifestation of critical thinking in the reading skill in 2nd
year Bac Textbooks?
• Yes.
• This shows that the content of these textbooks is critically
fleshy.
• There is room for critical thinking questions and
consequently for critical thinking.
• This is also reflected in the themes of the units dealing with
up-todate and global issues such as: cultural issues and
values, brain drain, education, citizenship, women and
power, sustainable development, science and technology,
international organizations.
• Our students need to know all these things and think
critically about them because these are essential to qualify
them as citizens in this era of globalization
 Challenges and recommendations
Challenges
• Are all our students qualified for critical thinking ?
• Yes, but
• There are some constraints/ barriers such as the linguistic
competence of the SS and the communicative competence.
(some SS can not voice their opinions b/c of lge problems).
• The background of some Ss and the type of education they
received (shyness, fear..) impact the development of CT
skills.
Recommendations:

Critical thinking can be fostered/cultivated in English language

curriculum through:
• Dialogues/Debates: stimulate useful discussions in the
classroom (all students critically think about a given issue).
• Spontaneous role play: groups are assigned different roles
to play in a discussion (such as leader, information giver,
opinion seeker,…). Students are motivated to reflect about
what to say according to the roles they play. So, some
thinking is involved here.
• Cooperative Learning: In cooperative learning
environments, learners engage in active, critical thinking
with continuous support and feedback from peers.
• Use of questions: This can be reflected in the daily
pedagogical discourse through thought provoking questions
that trigger critical thinking.( Socratic dialoguing: engaging
students in the questioning process).
• Problem-solving tasks: these are the most convenient
activities to promote CT.
 Conclusion:

Whose responsibility is CT?

CT is the responsibility of all agents involved in education starting

from:
parents:who should be aware of the importance of CT.
Be close to their children, listen to them, encourage their creativity
and respond positively to their curiosity and inquisitive minds.
( children come to this world with question marks, but they are
faced with full stops).
Teachers: who should never forget that they have a double role. As
language teachers and as educators contributing to the
development of Ss’ personality in which CT should be a major
component.
The school: should also encourage creativity and CT as integral
parts of the school mission in modern education( ex. Encouraging
creative talents through magazines, school clubs, drama, public
speaking…)