CRITICAL AWARENESS AND CLASSROOM STRATEGIES IN ESP CLASSES

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CRITICAL AWARENESS AND CLASSROOM STRATEGIES IN ESP CLASSES

Journal Title: Knowledge International Journal - Year 2018, Vol 26, Issue 2

Abstract

ESP books are usually treated with regard in the classroom. These learning and teaching materials are viewed as unbiased concerning the view of the teachers and institutions. Therefore, teachers and students usually accept the ESP books by challenging the content and assumptions expressed within the text. Since professional education should focus on enhancing students' ability for thinking, doing and making, it is important for the students to be able to view and question the topics critically. There are several classroom strategies that can be used in the classroom where students can develop their critical awareness about the topic/content. Regarding reading, the paper describes strategies at pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading ESP topics, with a focus on language accuracy and fluency, as well as in content. It focuses on reading/understanding, thinking/analyzing, writing/exercises, and speaking abilities. The assumption is that critical awareness and critical thinking ability is bound to further their ESP language in every learning skill. As such, this paper will try to give advice to all ESP teachers how to make the student think, actually, not what to think, but how to think; and this will help the students groom and become independent learners not in the specific field only. There are always different indicators of critical thinking in ESP text reading (at different stages) and these indicators deal with reasoning skills, judgement, evaluation, or skills of solutions. However, it is of importance to add that critical reading in ESP classes is not simple, but it can somehow and sometimes be more challenging. It is teachers’ responsibility to provide thoughtful and purposeful teaching/learning material. The conclusion indicates that critical reading (and its three-stages) can make a significant difference in student learning. This reading/learning enhancement advocates active learning that can cause both: 1). students to think critically and, 2). also can make the text more enjoyable. Likewise, the ESP teachers give thoughtful consideration to current ESP teaching methods and to critical reading, which is related with their personal beliefs that critical thinking and various student statements drive them to commitment to be actively involved in the learning process. Naturally, other specific strategies that encourage critical thinking may also be construed within the reading activities. Nevertheless, there can also occur limitations that encourage critical thinking: time constraints such as frequency of techniques applied in classes and/or duration of those techniques, as well as class size.

Authors and Affiliations

Edita Bekteshi

Keywords

EP ID EP50021
DOI -
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