Integrating Reading, Writing, and Thinking into Freshman English Through the ReaderResponse Approach

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Integrating Reading, Writing, and Thinking into
Freshman English Through the Reader-Response
Approach

• National Taichung University
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Typical EFL instruction and materials
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What research says about Asian EFL learners
regarding thinking

• Fox, H. (1994). Listening to the World Cultural
  issues in academic writing. Urbana, IL National
  Council of Teachers of English.
• Japanese learners as group-oriented,
  harmony-seeking, hierarchical, and non-critical
  thinkers
• Atkinson, D. (1997). A critical approach to
  critical thinking in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly,
  31(1), 71-94.
• There have been doubts about the prospect of
  success for critical thinking in the ESL/EFL
  classroom
• Harklau, L. (1994). ESL versus mainstream
  classes Contrasting L2 learning environments.
  TESOL Quarterly, 28, 241-272.
• Taiwanese students in U.S. high school classrooms
  believe that being quiet is good.
• Verplaetse, L. S. (1998). How content teachers
  interact with English language learners. TESOL
  Journal, 7, 24-28.
• L2 students received significantly fewer
  high-level cognitive and open-ended questions in
  initiating and scaffolding moves than L1
  students.
• Stapleton, P. (2002). Critical thinking in
  Japanese L2 writing rethinking tired constructs.
  ELT Journal, 56(3), 250-257.
• Asian learners of English lack individual voices
  and critical thinking skills

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A few facts about teaching thinking skills to EFL
learners

• Instructional
• Teachers have a false notion that L2 learners
  are not capable of thinking critically.
• Its not mandated for competency in teaching
  EFL.
• Cultural
• Our culture does not emphasize higher-order
  thinking skills.
• Academic
• EFL instruction usually does not teach the
  academic language that is needed for higher-order
  thinking.

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A few facts about teaching higher-order thinking
skills

• There is confusion over a clear definition of the
  construct.
• Being critical is sometimes mistaken as
  finding faults and emphasizing the negatives.
• It is difficult to measure thinking through tests.

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However

• By only using and knowing the meaning, learners
  do not become proficient in the target language.
  Learners can only become proficient language
  users if they, besides using the language and
  knowing the meaning, could display creative and
  critical thinking through the language.

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Besides, higher-order/critical thinking helps
students to develop

• The tolerance of others opinions
• The ability to recognize and assess value
  judgments
• Problem-solving strategies
• See what is relevant in a given context
• Self-critical thinking
• Recognize sound and faulty reasoning

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• Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience
  to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to
  assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to
  dispose and set in order and hatred for every
  kind of imposture.
• Francis Bacon (1605)

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• Critical thinking is the intellectually
  disciplined process of actively and skillfully
  conceptualizing, applying, analyzing,
  synthesizing, or evaluating information gathered
  from, or generated by, observation, experience,
  reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a
  guide to belief and action.
• The National Council for Excellence in
  Critical Thinking Instruction

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Definition of critical thinking

• Healthy skepticism
• Reasonable and reflective thinking
• The ability to take charge of what you think and
  develop sound criteria and standards for
  analyzing and accessing thinking
• To achieve understanding, evaluate view points,
  and solve problems

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How to teach creative and critical thinking skills

• Creative and critical thinking skills should not
  be taught separately as an isolated entity, but
  embedded in the subject matter and "woven into
  the curriculum."

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A response-based EFL reading and writing syllabus
for critical thinking

• My FE class
• Reading materials
• Reading and writing activities
• Samples of students writings
• Student survey findings

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Basic tenets of reader-response approaches

• focus on developing transaction with text
• students are guided in connecting their own
  emotions and experiences during reading
• encourages multiple interpretations of complex
  stories
• Responses may take various forms
• Read aloud, drama, music, writing

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Convergence between the reader-response approach
and critical thinking pedagogy Researchers
have found that

• through responses to carefully crafted questions,
  students can develop a more meaningful
  understanding of what they read
• encourage students to answer open-ended critical
  questions will help to meet the increasing need
  for people who can manage information, see
  patterns, identify needs, and solve problems
• literary thinking is a complex reasoning process
  that involves analyzing, synthesizing,
  reformulating, linking, and generalizing ideas   

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Integrating thinking into reading and writing

• Pre-reading
• Research the background of the author and story,
  small group discussion
• Reading
• Teacher-student conference
• Small group discussion
• Post-reading
• Presenting, questions and answers, discussion,
  writing
• Response journal

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Hands-on reader-response activity

• The Unicorn in the Garden
• Popular Mechanics

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Unicorn in the Garden

• The unicorn eats roses and lilies. Lilies often
  symbolize purity what do roses suggest? The man,
  we are told, has a high heart (line 12) because
  of the unicorn in his garden. What do you suppose
  high heart means? What do you think the unicorn
  represents?

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• Why do you think the man wakes his wife up the
  second time? Why do you think she reacts as she
  does? What does the man mean when he says (line
  19), Well see about that?

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• Think about the husbands actions
• Surely he can hear his wife shouting. Why do you
  suppose he doesnt come into the house right
  away?
• What would explain his response to the
  psychiatrists question?
• Are you surprised that he allows his wife to be
  taken away cursing and screaming?

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• Is the husband crazy? Discuss the evidence for
  and against the view that he is.

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• Dramatize the story.

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Popular Mechanics

• Who are he and she? Would the story be
  stronger if the characters had names? Why or why
  not?

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• What do you think the baby represents to each of
  them?

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• Do you think she is correct in saying that the
  man is hurting the baby (line 48)? Why or why not?

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• Dramatize the story.

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Writing assignment Compare the two stories

• What aspects of the two stories are similar or
  different.
• What advice would you give to the husband/wife in
  the story?

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Writing Samples

• Journal snapshotsJapanese Hamlet.doc
• Hills like White Elephants
• Angela TsaiAEN095104 Angela Tsai.doc
• Jocelyn Wong AEN095115 Jocelyn Wong.doc
• Sandy Hsu sandy.doc
• Sylvia Sun Sylvia Sun.doc
• Vincent Chien Hills Like White Elephant.doc
• Gorden Gorden's.doc

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Grading Rubrics- Global understandinghttp//www.i
ntercom.net/local/school/sdms/mspap/readrubs.html

• Score Point 1
• The student demonstrates little initial
  understanding of the total text.
• The response reflects a poor or flawed
  understanding of the primary purpose of the text.
  
• The response focuses on one or more minor details
  rather than the essential elements of the text.
• Score Point 2
• The student's initial understanding of the text
  is incomplete.
• The response reflects a partial understanding of
  the primary purpose of the text.
• The response may reflect a grasp of some of the
  essential elements of the text.

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• Score Point 3
• The student demonstrates an initial overall
  understanding of the text.
• The response reflects a substantial understanding
  of the primary purpose of the text.
• The response generally reflects a grasp of the
  essential elements of the text.
• Score Point 4
• The student demonstrates an initial overall
  understanding of the total text.
• The response reflects a thorough understanding of
  the primary purpose of the text.
• The response reflects a grasp of the essential
  elements of the text.

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Developing Interpretations

• Score Point 1
• The reader's response shows little understanding
  of the text key information may be missing.
• The reader's response does not include accurate
  supporting information or the examples are
  unrelated to the topic.
• The reader makes little or no attempt to blend
  information or ideas within the text.
• The reader's response reveals no evidence of
  abstract thinking, or uses words copied directly
  from the text.
• Score Point 2
• The reader provides an extended understanding of
  the text, but the response is not completely
  developed or clearly explicit.
• The reader's response includes little accurate
  supporting information using relevant text
  features, or contains some supporting information
  using irrelevant text features.
• The reader attempts to blend information or ideas
  within and/or across texts, but these linkages
  are not always clear, consistent, and coherent.
• The reader's response reveals literal
  understanding but little or no evidence of
  abstract thinking (reading between the lines).

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• Score Point 3
• The reader provides a complete, developed, and
  extended understanding of the text.
• The reader's response includes some accurate
  supporting information using relevant text
  features as examples.
• The reader blends information or ideas within the
  text and/or across texts. The linkages are
  generally clear, consistent, and coherent but
  there may be gaps in clarity and consistency.
• The reader's response contains evidence of
  abstract thinking (reading between the lines).
• Score Point 4
• The reader provides a complete, developed, and
  extended understanding of the text.
• The reader's response includes extensive and
  accurate supporting information using relevant
  text features as examples.
• The reader blends information or ideas within the
  text and/or across texts. The linkages are clear,
  consistent, and coherent.
• The reader's response contains evidence of
  abstract thinking (reading between the lines).

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Personal Response

• Score Point 1
• These responses provide sufficient evidence that
  the student has seen the assignment and attempted
  to respond to it. The response may not relate
  personal experience and/or prior knowledge to the
  text in a relevant manner.
• The reader's response may include irrelevant
  personal experience.
• Examples from the text are unrelated to the topic
  or are not included.
• The reader's response reveals no evidence of
  abstraction (reading between the lines).
• The reader makes little or no attempt to provide
  links between personal experience and the text.
• Score Point 2
• The reader relates some personal experience
  and/or prior knowledge to the text.
• The reader's response may include some examples
  from personal experience and/or prior knowledge.
  Examples from the text may be insufficient and/or
  irrelevant.
• The reader's response reveals literal
  understanding but little evidence of abstraction
  (reading between the lines).
• The reader attempts to provide between personal
  experience and the text. Noticeable flaws may
  affect the clarity.

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• Score Point 3
• The reader consistently and relevantly relates
  personal experience and/or prior knowledge to the
  text.
• The reader's response includes some examples from
  personal experience and/or prior knowledge and
  utilizes relevant examples from the text.
• The reader's response contains evidence of
  abstraction (reading between the lines).
• The reader provides links between personal
  experience and the text. These linkages are
  generally clear, consistent, and coherent but
  there may be gaps that affect the clarity and
  consistency.
• Score Point 4
• The reader consistently and relevantly relates
  personal experience and/or prior knowledge to the
  text.
• The reader's response includes extensive examples
  from personal experience and/or prior knowledge
  and utilizes relevant examples from the text.
• The reader's response contains evidence of
  abstraction (reading between the lines).
• The reader provides extensive links between
  personal experience and the text. These linkages
  are clear, consistent, and coherent.

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Critical Stance

• Score Point 1
• The student's response demonstrates no attempt to
  examine the author's craft. The response
  indicates that the student did not form a
  judgment.
• These responses show no attempt to examine the
  elements of the text.
• These responses show no evidence that the student
  has evaluated the author's choice of language.
• These responses show no evidence that the student
  examined the author's purpose and viewpoint.
• The ideas are vague, confusing, or unrelated.
• Score Point 2
• The student's response demonstrates an attempt to
  examine the author's craft. The response
  indicates that the student has formed a judgment
  that was flawed or was based on a
  misunderstanding of the text or the way the
  author writes.
• These responses provide evidence that the student
  did not understand the elements of the text
  (flashback, propaganda devices, organizational
  structure) and/or how these elements affect the
  text as a whole.
• These responses show little or no evidence that
  the student has evaluated the author's choice of
  language.
• These responses may demonstrate a
  misunderstanding of the author's purpose and
  viewpoint.
• The examples used to support the judgment are
  sometimes general, limited, or unrelated.

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• Score Point 3
• The student's response demonstrates an
  examination of the author's craft. The response
  indicates that the student has formed judgments
  based on an understanding of the text and the way
  the author writes.
• These responses provide evidence that the student
  generally understands the elements of the text
  (flashback, propaganda devices, organizational
  structure) and how these elements affect the text
  as a whole.
• These responses provide evidence that the student
  has evaluated the author's choice of language.
• These responses demonstrate an understanding of
  the author's purpose and viewpoint.
• These responses include some examples to support
  the judgment.
• Score Point 4
• The student's response demonstrates a thorough
  examination of the author's craft. The response
  indicates that the student has formed sound
  judgments based on an understanding of the text
  and the way the author writes.
• These responses provide evidence that the student
  fully understands the elements of the text
  (flashback, propaganda devices, organizational
  structure) and how these elements affect the text
  as a whole.
• These responses demonstrate a thorough
  understanding of the author's purpose and
  viewpoint.
• These responses provide evidence that the student
  has effectively evaluated the author's choice of
  language.
• The response includes specific examples that are
  expanded to fully support the judgment.

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Conclusion

• Critical thinking can be developed through
  reading and writing.
• Reading and writing supports the development of
  critical thinking.
• Critical thinkers are good language learners.