Students, resources and critical thinking: An EAP perspective

Critical thinking(CT) should probably be developed within any English language course, however, the pressure on pre-sessional and sessional EAP course students to develop their CT ability is arguably more crucial than in many other language learning courses. In the teaching of EAP courses, teachers are encouraged to adopt a number of different approaches. Fairbairn and Winch (2011, p. 36) expand on the SQ3R approach proposed by Beard (1990), which is a planned and scaffolded approach. The other possible approach can be an unplanned ‘critical thinking moment’ (de Chazel, 2014). De Chazel suggests that teaching critical thinking that involves different cognitive processes should be seen as a ‘state of mind’ (de Chazal, 2014, p. 143) It has many challenges, the least of which is making students aware of diverse perspectives. This session starts with an initial short presentation and sharing of techniques and resources successfully used by the presenter to facilitate critical thinking for pre-sessional and sessional tertiary EAP students. It supports a combination of a planned and unplanned approach. Following that, the presenter will invite session attendees to share successful resources and technique they have found useful. The workshop will conclude with a Q and A session