Critical Thinking and Critical Reading: Issues and Implications

Amir Reza Nemat Tabrizi1

Critical thinking is an important and vital topic in modern education; but much evidence
suggests that students thinking skills are not adequate to meet the challenges that they face.
Many educational reports have argued that the education systems fail to teach many students
how to think effectively. All educators are interested in teaching critical thinking to their
students. Many academic departments expect their professors and instructors to be well
informed about the strategy of teaching critical thinking skills identify areas in ones courses
as the proper place to emphasize and teach critical thinking and develop and use some
problems in exams that test students critical thinking skills.
On the other hand, Reading critically precedes thinking critically. Readers discover
information and ideas when they analyze and reflect on the ideas they read. The topic of
teaching students to think while reading critical reading should be central to any
discussion of thinking skills.
This paper reviews some theoretical issues of critical thinking and critical reading in English
language teaching and defines some strategies that help students handle difficult material with
confidence. Moreover, to pave the way for better thinking, the paper discusses the strategies
involved in critical thinking while reading. It also elaborates the ways to teach critical
thinking in the classroom and suggests the tactics employed during the class to ensure that
students are actively engaged in thinking critically. Finally, this paper explains all classroom
areas (lecture, homework, term papers and exams) in which critical thinking can be presented
or emphasized.

1
- PhD - Islamic Azad University Roudehen Branch
Introduction
It is hard to imagine how human social life could exist without some kind of language. The
emergence of language, long ago in the prehistory of human species, made possible the kind
of social existence which men take for granted today. On the other hand, movement to the
information age has focused attention on good thinking as an important element of success in
life (Huitt, 1998; Thomas and Smoot, 1994). These changing conditions require new
outcomes, such as critical thinking, to be included as a focus of schooling. Old standards of
simply being able to score well on a standardized test of basic skills, though appropriate,
cannot be the sole means by which teachers judge the academic success or failure of their
students.
Moreover, critical thinking is a sophisticated process which includes skills, dispositions and
metacognition. Specifically, critical thinking is disciplined, self-directed, reasonable and
reflective thinking that one performs when deciding what to believe or do. It is a purposeful,
self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation and inference as
well as advocacy of ones position. Critical thinkers are open-minded, flexible and persistent.
It is evidenced by the ability and disposition to improve ones thinking by systematically
subjecting it to intellectual self-assessment.
Critical thinking involves the application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation of information so
it can be used to construct personal meaning. Scriven and Paul (1992) describe critical
thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing,
applying, analyzing, synthesizing and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated
by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication as a guide to belief and
action.
Hence, critical thinking is greatly needed but much evidence suggests that students thinking
skills are not adequate to meet the challenges that they face. Many educational reports have
argued that the education systems fail to teach many students how to think effectively. While
no one probably wants to admit that he or she does not think critically, the abundance of
everyday examples and the research evidence suggest that many people need to improve their
ability in these skills and that this should be an important goal for teachers and students.
That students are lagging in problem-solving and thinking skills is apparent at all levels of
education. However, critical thinking courses and texts, in particular, may result in
fragmentation of thinking skills. Thinking cannot be divorced from content; in fact, thinking
is a way of learning content (Raths, Jonas, Rothstein and Wassermann, 1967). In every
course, and especially in content subjects, students should be taught to think logically, analyze
and compare, question and evaluate.
On the other hand, the need to teach higher order thinking skills is not a recent one. Education
savants have called for renewed interest in problem solving for years. As far back as 1967,
Raths, Jonas, Rothstein and Wassermann (1967) decried the lack of emphasis on thinking in
the schools. They noted that memorization, drill, homework, the three Rs and the quiet
classroom were rewarded while inquiry, reflection and the consideration of alternatives were
disgraced. It is apparent that students are loitering in problem-solving and thinking skills at all
levels of education. However, critical thinking courses and texts, in particular, may result in
fragmentation of thinking skills. Thinking cannot be divorced from content. In fact, thinking
is a way of learning content. In every course, especially in content subjects, students should
be taught to think logically, analyze and compare, question and evaluate the content. Skills
taught in isolation do little more than prepare students for tests of isolated skills (Spache and
Spache, 1986).
By the same token, at each educational level, thinking must be practised in each content field.
This means hard work for the teacher. It's much easier to teach students to memorize facts and
then assess them with multiple-choice tests. In a course that emphasizes thinking, objectives
must include application and analysis, divergent thinking and opportunities to organize ideas
and support value judgments. McMillen (1986) notes that it really boils down to whether
teachers are creating an environment that stimulates critical inquiry.
Over and above, it has been argued that an authors meaning can never be recaptured in its
entirety. It can be claimed that just recapturing the authors meaning is not enough. Advocates
of critical reading (Fairclough ,1995 and Wallace, 1992, a&b ) reveal that texts are dependent
on presuppositions stemming from their authors own particular world view, their ideology.
By spotting such ideological presuppositions, a critical reader evaluates a text in its cultural
context.

Critical Thinking Vs. Critical Reading

The topic of teaching students to think while readingcritical reading--should be central to
any discussion of thinking skills. Critical reading has been defined as learning to evaluate,
draw inferences and arrive at conclusions based on the evidence (Zintz and Maggart, 1984).
One method that promotes critical reading involves the use of news media in the class.
Newspapers, magazines, television, and radio can motivate students to develop critical
listening and reading skills. Differing accounts and editorials can be compared as a way of
helping students read with a questioning attitude. Students can construct their own arguments
for discussion or publication in student newspapers. In the process, they become more
discriminating consumers of news media, advertising, and entertainment.
Reading critically precedes thinking critically. Readers discover information and ideas when
they analyze and reflect on the ideas they read. However, when they later evaluate these ideas
by questioning their validity (based on their own previously accumulated background
knowledge), then and only then are they thinking critically. Critical reading is based on
textual analysis, which depends on knowing what to look for when reading any text. Critical
thinking, on the other hand, is based on making inferences from texts based on prior evidence.
One can distinguish between critical reading and critical thinking in the following way:
Critical reading is a technique for discovering information and ideas within a text.
Critical thinking is a technique for evaluating information and ideas, for deciding what
to accept and believe.
Critical reading refers to careful, active, reflective and analytic reading. Critical thinking
involves reflecting on the validity of what people have read in light of their prior knowledge
and understanding of the world.
Steps of Critical Reading
Critical reading examines the specific choices made by the author, in terms of content,
language use and text structure. It also examines the effects of these choices on overall
meaning. The first step consists of examining what a text says. This is achieved by a simple
restatement of facts within a text. Then the focus is on what a text does, Which includes
arguing, criticising, describing or contrasting the structure and content of the text. Finally, the
reader infers what the text as a whole means, thus reaching a final whole interpretation of
the meaning of the text.
For example, consider the following sentence:

Parents are buying expensive cars for their kids to destroy them.
As the terms are used here, critical reading is concerned with figuring out whether, within the
context of the text as a whole, them refers to the parents, the kids, or the cars, and whether
the text supports that practice. Critical thinking would come into play when deciding whether
the chosen meaning was indeed true and whether or not the reader, should support that
practice.
The Two Together in Harmony: In actual practice, critical reading and critical thinking work
together. Critical thinking allows people to monitor their understanding as they read. If they
sense that assertions are ridiculous or irresponsible (critical thinking), they examine the text
more closely to test their understanding (critical reading).
Conversely, critical thinking depends on critical reading. You can think critically about a text
(critical thinking), only if you have understood it (critical reading). Individuals may choose to
accept or reject a presentation, but they must know why. They have a responsibility to
themselves, as well as to others, to isolate the real issues of agreement or disagreement. Only
then can they understand and respect other peoples views. To recognize and understand those
views, they must read critically.
Critical reading is an active, intellectually engaged process in which the reader participates in
an inner dialogue with the writer. Most people read uncritically and so miss some part of what
is expressed while distorting other parts. A critical reader realizes the way in which reading
means entering into a point of view other than his own, the point of view of the writer. A
critical reader actively looks for assumptions, key concepts and ideas, reasons and
justifications, supporting examples, parallel experiences, implications and consequences and
any other structural features of the written text, to interpret and assess it accurately and fairly.
The following critical reading strategies (from Longview Community College, Lee's Summit,
Missouri; 2000) can be learned readily and then applied not only to reading selections in a
Literature class, but also to other college reading. Mastering these strategies will help one
handles difficult material with confidence.
1. Annotating
2. Previewing
3. Contextualizing
4. Questioning
5. Reflecting
6. Outlining
7. Summarizing
8. Evaluating an Argument
9. Comparing and Contrasting Related Readings

Critical Thinking when Reading

Critical thinking when reading is essential to academic success since much of the writing
individuals do for assignments will include critical analysis of the work of other people. It is
the ability to think, examine, analyze and evaluate texts; yet this whole complex process
begins with simple skepticism, which generally refers to challenging assumptions and
preconceived notions. Only then can they as educators succeed in teaching critical to their
students.
Cotterall (1990) claims that critical thinking when reading involves the following:
1. Identifying the line of reasoning in the text.
2. Critically evaluating the line of reasoning.
3. Questioning surface appearances and checking for hidden assumptions or agendas.
4. Identifying evidence in the text.
5. Evaluating the evidence according to valid criteria.
6. Identifying the writers conclusions.
7. Deciding whether the given evidence supports these conclusions.

Pedagogical Implications
Nevertheless, Schafersman (1991) proposed two ways to teach critical thinking in the
classroom. The first method is the easiest, the least time-consuming and the least expensive.
This method is to modify one's teaching and testing methods slightly to enhance critical
thinking among one's students. The second method more difficult, time-consuming and
expensive is briefly described here. This method makes use of formal critical thinking
exercises, programs and materials that have been prepared by specialists and can be purchased
for immediate use by the teacher or the instructor. For a single classroom such formal critical
thinking materials cost a lot of money.
On the whole, the following tactics should be employed during class to ensure that students
are actively engaged in thinking about the content. Students should be called on randomly so
that everyone participates. Students should be routinely called upon to:
1. Summarize or put into their own words what the teacher or another student has said.
2. Elaborate on what they have said.
3. Relate the issue or content to their own knowledge and experience.
4. Give examples to clarify or support what they have said.
5. Make connections between related concepts.
6. Restate the instructions or assignment in their own words.
7. State the question at issue.
8. Describe to what extent their point of view on the issue is different from or similar to the
point of view of the instructor, other students, the author etc.
9. Take a few minutes to write down any of the above.
10. Write down the most pressing question on their mind at this point. The instructor then
uses the above tactics to help students reason through the questions.
11. Discuss any of the above with a partner and then participate in a group discussion
facilitated by the instructor.

Critical thinking can be presented or emphasized in all classroom areas: lecture, homework,
term papers and exams. Some extra effort on the part of the instructor will be necessary but
the effort will be worthwhile because the results are valuable for the student. While teaching
critical thinking, the instructor should also teach why it is worthwhile.
According to Schafersman (Ibid) Critical thinking can be taught during:
1. Lecture
2. Laboratories
4. Quantitative Exercises
5. Term Papers
6. Exams
It is worthwhile to mention that critical thinking cannot be taught by lecturing. Critical
thinking is an active process, while, for most students, listening to lectures is a passive
activity. The intellectual skills of critical thinking analysis, synthesis, reflection, etc. must
be learned by actually performing them. Classroom instruction, homework, term papers and
exams should emphasize active intellectual participation by the student.

Suggested Framework and Classroom Activities

Khalil Jabr (2004, p. 22) proposes the following frameworks for critical reading:
Focus on one critical reading strategy only for a period of two weeks.
Model the strategy to students.
Assign several tasks to review the strategy being focused on.
Divide students into small groups for extra practice and guidance.
Conduct individual conferences to focus on individual problems.
Conduct a whole-group session to review the strategy.
He (Idem) also maintains the following classroom activities:
Text evaluation.
Oral discussion and debates.
Written reactions or reflections on readings.
Vocabulary logs.
 Open-ended reading questions.
Reading journals.
Internet searches or Web quests.
Summarizing.

Conclusion
The urgent need to teach thinking skills at all levels of education continues. But we should not
rely on special courses and texts to do the job. Instead, every teacher should create an
atmosphere where students are encouraged to read deeply, question, engage in divergent
thinking, look for relationships among ideas, and grapple with real life issues.
Consequently, in every course, students should be taught to think logically, analyze and
compare, question and evaluate. At each educational level, thinking must be practised in each
content field. This means hard work for the teacher. In a course that emphasizes thinking,
objectives must include application and analysis, divergent thinking and opportunities to
recognize ideas and support value judgments. Without this ability, students cannot go beyond
the mere collection of information to weave information threads together in the creation of
knowledge (Laverty, 1998).
Moreover, the significance of critical thinking contribute to teaching, material design and
testing. Teachers are suggested to apply critical thinking strategies and techniques to alleviate
the reading sessions. Furthermore, the material designers should keep in mind the significance
of the critical thinking strategies and techniques while preparing the reading texts for the
instruction. On the other hand, test developers should address critical thinking skills while
designing tests for examinations. Exam questions should be devised to promote critical
thinking rather than rote memorization. They should test the ability of the students to analyze
information and draw conclusions. To prepare any facet of the academic process, one needs to
be able to formulate some good critical questions.
Critical thinking is the ability to think, examine, analyze and evaluate texts; yet this whole
complex process begins with simple skepticism, which generally refers to challenging
assumptions and preconceived notions. Only then can we as educators succeed in teaching
critical to our students.
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