LEVEL 3 – LOOKING FOR THE HOLY GRAIL?
… and then they lived happily ever after Piret Paju
AGENDA
Some samples from BILC descriptors (productive skills)Competences LearningReality
BILC LEVEL 3 SPEAKING
Can use the language to perform such common professional tasks as answering objections, clarifying points, justifying decisions, responding to challenges, supporting opinion, stating and defending policy.
LEVEL 3 WRITING
Can convey abstract concepts when writing about complex topics (which may include economics, culture, science, and technology) as well as his/her professional field. The relationship and development of ideas are clear, and major points are coherently ordered to fit the purpose of the text.
DEANNA KUHN & her The Skills of Argument (1991)
A majority of people cannot, even when prompted, reliably exhibit basic skills of general reasoning and argumentation. Even if humans were naturally inclined to think critically, it would still be difficult to master because it is what cognitive scientists call a “higher-order skill.” That is, critical thinking is a complex activity built up out of other skills that are simpler and easier to acquire.
RANGE OF COMPETENCES
General competences – not specific to language, but which are called upon of all kinds, including language activities.
Communicative language competences – which empower person to act using specifically linguistic means.
GENERAL COMPETENCES
Declarative knowledgeSkills and know-how“Existential” competenceAbility to learn
LINGUISTIC COMPETENCES
Lexical competenceGrammatical competenceSemantic competencePhonological competenceOrthographic competenceOrthoepic competence
THEY ARE INTERRELATED
One doesn’t come without another at least not for level 3 Level 2 can be
“street-wise” and fluent
Level 2 can be linguistically correct but ….
PROCESS
LEARNING Planned process Formal study in an
institutional setting
ACQUISITION Observation or
intuition Without torture Learning takes
place without formal teaching
HOW DO LEARNERS LEARN?
With regard to ability to learn, learners develop their study skills and heuristic skills and their acceptance of responsibility for their own learningImportance in studies of cognition and learning is growing and this is addressed to the development of skilled thinking or critical thinking
COGNITIVE SKILLS OF CTAPA Delphi Study (Facione, 1990)
Interpretation – categorization, decoding significance, clarifying meaning
Analysis – examining ideas, detecting and analysing arguments
Evaluation – assessing claims and arguments Inference – quering evidence, conjecturing alternatives,
drawing conclusions Explanation –stating results, justifying procedures, presenting
arguments Self-monitoring -- self-examination and correction Information seeking, Discriminating, Predicting, Applying
Standards, Logical reasoning (Nursing Delphi Study, Scheffer & Rubenfeld, 2000)
HOW DOES IT WORK?
HOLISTIC APPROACH
Critical Listening = monitoring how we listen Critical Thinking = disciplined, self-directed,
thinking about thinking Critical Writing = requires disciplined
thinking, expression of disciplined thinking Critical Reading = inner dialogue with writer,
enter point of view of writer Critical Speaking = others gain in-depth
understanding of speaker’s perspective
FINAL REFLECTIONS
Critical thinking is both a process and an outcome Critical thinking involves reflection in knowing and in action and
self monitoring Critical thinking is composed of specific traits or dispositions
and cognitive skills. Critical thinking is a diagnostic reasoning and professional or
clinical judgment. Critical thinking can be supported in Reflective Practice Critical thinking is based on a triggering event or situation, a
starting point, scaffolds, processes, and outcomes that make up a continuous or iterative feedback loop
.
Californian Critical Thinking Skills Test measures 5 skills Interpretation Analysis Evaluation Inference Explanation
Metacognition is not measured by the test
.
Scores were significantly correlated with College grade point average NO of English courses taken in high
school (native speakers!) Reading ability
METACOGNITION
Is a potential bridge to bring together educators and researches who work on developing skilled thinking
But like many other intellectual skills – they do not develop to the level we would like …
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
AcademicsIsolated from the demands of classroom, pure joy of knowledge
PractitionersNeed methods that
work and QUICKLY
WHO DO WE DEAL WITH
Realist Absolutist Multiplist Evaluativist
Assertions are COPIES of an external reality
are FACTS that are correct or incorrect in their representation of reality
are OPTIONS freely chosen by and accountable only to their owners
are JUDGMENTS that can be evaluated and compared according to criteria of argument and evidence
Knowledge comes from an external source and is certain
comes from an external source and is certain but not directly accessible, producing false beliefs
is generated by human minds and therefore uncertain (WHATEVER!)
is generated by human minds and is uncertain but susceptible to evaluation
Critical thinking is UNNECESSARY is a VEHICLE for comparing assertions to reality and determining their truth or falsehood
is IRRELEVANT Is valued as a VEHICLE that promotes sound assertions and enhances understanding
.
MANY ADULTS REMAIN ABSOLUTISTS OR MULTIPLISTS FOR LIFE. ONLY AT THE EVALUIST LEVEL ARE THINKING AND REASON RECOGNISED AS ESSENTIAL SUPPORT FOR BELIEFS AND ACTIONS.
THANK YOU…
AND DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?