Indonesian EFL Learners’ Critical Thinking in Reading: Bridging the Gap between Declarative, Procedural and Conditional Knowledge

Abstract

Critical thinking is explicitly mentioned in many school and university curricula around the world including in the Indonesian education curriculum but it is rarely promoted inside the classrooms. Lack of agreement on its definition and clarity of instruction in the curriculum, the unfavourable culture and the teacher-centered teaching arguably prevent critical thinking to grow. Therefore, more research needs to be undertaken on students’ understanding of and engagement in critical thinking in reading. To fll the gap, this study was conducted, which aimed to investigate Indonesian learners’ critical thinking in reading. One research question was postulated, i.e., How critical are Indonesian EFL learners’ thinking in reading? To answer the question, a mixed method approach was undertaken. The participants of this study were 55 semesters four students enrolled in two classes of Critical Reading and Writing II (CRW2) of the English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta in the even semester of 2014. The instruments employed were a Likert-scale questionnaire and students’ reflections. Results from both quantitative and qualitative data analyses suggest that most of the students had sufficient declarative knowledge of critical thinking in reading. However, their procedural and conditional knowledge about critical thinking in reading were insufficient. Overall, students indicated some level of critical thinking in reading, but to become critical, they need to be in a learning environment where their critical thinking in reading could be regularly and intensively nurtured. The findings of the research are expected to inform English teachers, lecturers and researchers in Indonesia and other parts of the world about the importance of designing and carrying out the teaching-learning processes that can enhance learners’ declarative, procedural and conditional knowledge about critical thinking in reading.

The Influence of Attributional Beliefs On Indonesian EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

“…Once they were familiar with these strategies and developed the ability to think metacognitively, they would be able to perform higher order thinking skills. The students would learn to evaluate and monitor the development of their progress independently (Mbato, 2019). The finding supported earlier researchers" (Gatcho & Hajan, 2019;Mbato, 2013) recommendation, who argue that language teachers should introduce metacognitive strategies in their reading classes so that their students could have a large number of skills at their disposal and experiment them in various reading contexts.…”

“…This results suggested that students need to be introduced to a variety of strategies and do experiments with each strategy to find the best strategy and make learning plans for themselves (cf. Gatcho & Hajan, 2019;Mbato, 2013;Mbato, 2019). The interview results revealed that the reading strategy applied by many students was reading the text and interpreting every word and then rereading it to understand the entire meaning.…”

“…In this case, Mistar et al, (2016) suggest that teachers should provide effective guideline instruction to their students by 1) using the strategy"s concept, 2) using the model of reading strategies, 3) providing the feedback in every practice, 4) encouraging students to train their reading skills, and 5) providing content-based materials so students understand the reading purpose. Students must be introduced with two kinds of strategies in reading, i.e., cognitive and metacognitive strategies (see Mbato, 2013;Mbato, 2019). Once they were familiar with these strategies and developed the ability to think metacognitively, they would be able to perform higher order thinking skills.…”

“…EFL learners are expected to think critically in order to gain new knowledge from the text (Berkeley et al, 2011). Mbato (2019) investigates Indonesian EFL learners" critical thinking in reading. His findings show that students were able to use some critical thinking in reading if they were in a supporting learning environment and regularly nurtured to become critical readers.…”

Preparing English Department Students for Industry 4.0 Era through Critical Thinking Skills Development

“…In another study, it was found that not only the interest factor that plays a role in determining the success of the students' critical thinking skills development. Through some reflection activities among 55 English Department students in Yogyakarta, it was found that students' unsatisfactory critical thinking skills were also affected by several internal factors such as inability to maintain their concentration during reading activities, lack of interest in the topic, insufficient knowledge of the topic, reluctance to criticize, laziness, and the level of the text difficulty [25]. To tackle these constraints, they asserted that they need a learning environment in which they can intensively nurture their critical thinking skills.…”