How Can Logic Help High School EFL Learners Write?
Prepared by
Tan Liang Ye
Contents
1. Background & context
2. Examples of class activities
3. Discussion & implication
Writing course for 2nd year senior high
First batch of students to start writing classes since year 1
Weekly writing class, 50 minutes each
6 classes of 2nd year high school students
Class includes mixed levels
Divided into half (approx. 22 students)
No grammar
Sample topic: Should high school students be allowed to do part-time jobs?
A well-known proverb says that “a man is not an island”. When students go to high schools, they learn many things. Many people learn about many things in school, and some people do not learn enough things in school, and it is well-known that there are some things that are not so important to learn and different people learn different things. Communication is important, and this is because it is important to communicate with each
other and no man is an island.
“CT”
An analogy from basketball (Fisher, 2001)
this time with
the new technique
Explicit instructions on critical thinking
Meta-analysis of 117 studies by Abrami et. al. (2008) found empirical evidence that explicit instructions has the largest effect
“…critical normally means making sound judgements and claims that meet epistemologically acceptable standards”
—Abrami et. al. (2008)
Trial and error
up
ground
from the
Building lessons
Guiding Principles
Fluency over accuracy
Learn a little, use a lot
Introduction
Conclusion
Body
5-sentence essay
Logic introduced in curriculum
Cause & effect
Chain reasoning
A
B
A
B
time
because
effect
cause
time
now
Future
cause
effect
will
If
, (S)
Hypothetical scenario
Peter is hungry | The tree has fallen | The car is broken | The window was smashed | The dog is running |
The door is open | The bicycle is broken | Suzy is angry | I passed Eiken | The chair is broken |
It is cold in this room | The boy is crying | The laundry is still wet | Susan failed her test | I am sleepy |
The room is dark | Tom is upset | Lisa is happy | Sally was late | Bob has no money |
The computer is broken | The air-con is off | Billy is sad | The girl is laughing | The teacher is happy |
Logical errors introduced in curriculum
Circular reasoning
No relationship in cause and effect
Cause and effect are reversed
Insufficient explanation
What’s wrong?
He threw the ball at the window because the window is smashed.
Cause and effect are reversed
What’s wrong?
Because the batter ran for the first base, the batter hit the ball.
Cause and effect are reversed
What’s wrong?
I studied English very hard because I am better at English.
Cause and effect are reversed
What’s wrong?
The rugby player is injured because he cannot play.
Cause and effect are reversed
What’s wrong?
Fast food is unhealthy
because it is bad for our body.
Circular reasoning
What’s wrong?
Because it is oily.
No effect mentioned
(a common grammar error
from L1 interference)
What’s wrong?
It is raining because
the Sakura flowers bloomed.
No relationship
What’s wrong?
I become poor
because I eat fast food.
Insufficient explanation
No relationship
Chain reasoning
Chain reasoning
I become poor because I eat fast food.
Chain reasoning
Fast food is more expensive than home-cooked food. If I eat fast food everyday,
it will cost me a lot of money. Therefore, I will become poor if I eat fast food everyday.
Chain reasoning
Fast food is more expensive than home-cooked food. If I eat fast food everyday, it will cost me a lot of money. Therefore, I will become poor if I eat fast food everyday.
Chain reasoning
Fast food is more expensive than home-cooked food. If I eat fast food everyday, it will cost me a lot of money. Therefore, I will become poor if I eat fast food everyday.
Chain reasoning
Fast food is more expensive than home-cooked food. If I eat fast food everyday,
it will cost me a lot of money. Therefore, I will become poor if I eat fast food everyday.
Chain reasoning
Fast food is more expensive than home-cooked food. If I eat fast food everyday,
it will cost me a lot of money. Therefore, I will become poor if I eat fast food everyday.
Chain reasoning
Fast food is more expensive than home-cooked food. If I eat fast food everyday,
it will cost me a lot of money. Therefore, I will become poor if I eat fast food everyday.
Thesis statement | I agree that it is important to learn a foreign language. |
Paragraph | First, if I learn a foreign language, I can speak a foreign language. If I can speak a foreign language, I can speak to foreigners. If I do not learn a foreign language, I cannot speak to foreigners. For example, because I speak a foreign language, I can speak to foreigners. |
Using extreme examples
Sample essay:
Do you think it is a good thing for high school students to do part-time jobs?
Discussion
“…cultural differences are a strong argument for its explicit introduction” – Davidson (1998)
Recent research tends to support this view (see Lun, Fischer, & Ward, 2010)
Discussion
Discussion
Thank you
References
Abrami, P., Bernard, R. M., Borokhovski, E., & Wade, A. (2008). Instructional interventions affecting critical thinking skills and dispositions: A stage 1 meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 78(4), 1102–1134. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308326084
Atkinson, D. (1997). A critical approach to critical thinking in TESOL. TESOL Quartely, 31, 71–94. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587975
Davidson B. W. (1998). Comments on Dwight Atkinson's "A critical approach to critical thinking in TESOL": A case for critical thinking in the English language classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 32(1), 119–123.
Fisher, A. (2001). Critical Thinking: An Introduction. 2nd Ed. Cambridge.
Golpour, F. (2014). Critical thinking and EFL learners' performance on different writing modes. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 18(1), 103–119.
Lun, V. M., Fischer, R., & Ward, C. (2010). Exploring cultural differences in critical thinking: Is it about my thinking style or the language I speak? Learning and Individual Differences, 20(6), 604–616.
Moghaddam, M. M. & Malekzadeh, S. (2011). Improving L2 writing
ability in the light of critical thinking. Theory and Practice in
Language Studies, 1(7), 789–797.