Developing Students’ Critical Thinking and Discourse Level Writing Skill Through Teachers’ Questions: A Sociocultural Approach
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Yaping Chen
Yaping CHEN is a professor of English linguistics at the School of English and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University. Her research efforts have focused on second language acquisition and psycholinguistics.
Abstract
The present study adopts a quantitative design to explore the effects of pre-designed teachers’ questions as the mediation tool to scaffold the development of students’ critical thinking and their discourse level writing skills in English from a sociocultural perspective. The participants were 39 sophomores from two classes. The results showed that: (1) teachers’ questions targeting specific critical thinking skill in the classroom and in after-class conferences, as well as in written homework feedback were effective; (2) students backslid a little while internalizing teachers’ questions concerning critical thinking; (3) students improved reliably in terms of local and global coherence in their written production with the help of teachers’ questions. The findings indicate that teachers’ questions facilitate students’ development of critical thinking and enhance their discourse level writing skill.
About the author
Yaping CHEN is a professor of English linguistics at the School of English and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University. Her research efforts have focused on second language acquisition and psycholinguistics.
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Appendix 1: 35 Dimensions of critical thinking
Cognitive strategies
| Macro-abilities | Micro-skills |
|---|---|
| refining generalizations and avoiding oversimplifications | comparing and contrasting ideals with actual practice |
| comparing contexts analogous situations: transferring insights to new | thinking precisely about thinking: using critical vocabulary |
| developing one’s perspective: creating or exploring beliefs, arguments or theories | noting significant similarities and differences |
| clarifying issues, conclusions or beliefs | examining or evaluating assumptions |
| clarifying and analyzing the meanings of words or phrases | distinguishing relevant from irrelevant facts |
| developing criteria for evaluation: clarifying values and standards | making plausible inferences, predictions, or interpretations |
| evaluating the credibility of sources of information | giving reasons and evidence and alleged facts |
| questioning deeply: raising and pursuing root or significant questions | recognizing contradictions |
| analyzing or evaluating arguments, interpretations beliefs or theories | exploring implications and consequences |
| generating or assessing solutions | |
| analyzing or evaluating actions or policies | |
| reading critically: clarifying or critiquing texts | |
| listening critically: the art of silent dialogue | |
| making interdisciplinary connections | |
| practicing Socratic discussion: clarifying and questioning | |
| beliefs, theories or perspectives | |
| reasoning dialogically: comparing perspectives, interpretations | |
| or theories | |
| reasoning dialectically: evaluating perspectives, interpretations | |
| or theories |
Affective strategies
| thinking independently | developing intellectual courage |
|---|---|
| developing insight into egocentricity or sociocentricity | developing intellectual good faith or integrity |
| exercising fair-mindedness | developing intellectual perseverance |
| exploring thoughts underlying feelings and feelings underlying thoughts | developing confidence in reason |
| developing intellectual humility and suspending judgment |
Appendix 2: Sample essays on Campus Love
1st version with the teacher’s questions:
Trial Marriage
Trial marriage is first seen in American judge Ben. B. Lindsay’s book Companionate Marriage published in 1894. As the name implies, it means couples can live together as a kind of experiment to see whether they are suitable for each other. During trial marriage, sex should be allowed freely. Though trial marriage has been criticized by traditional Confucianism, with the modernization and Westernization of young generations, trial marriage has become a widely-accepted action among young people in China nowadays.
Comment 1: Source needed.
A survey done in this June among people in their 20s shows that 57.4% of them support trial marriage. However, in my opinion, trial marriage is bad for young people.
Most importantly, without a marriage certificate, trial marriage cannot be promised.
Comment 2: Meaning?
On the one hand, in the legal system of China, trial marriage is categorized as concubinage.
Comment 3: Source needed.
That is to say, unlike real marriage, trial marriage is not protected by law. On the other hand, trial marriage, as its name suggests, is based on a try-and-see attitude. People in trial marriage think it is good if trial marriage turns into real marriage, but there is also possibility that it turns into failure.
Comment 4: Are there any exceptions that you haven’t considered? Are your personal experiences and feelings representative? Have you done any survey?
People will not treat it as seriously as real marriage.
Comment 5: Isn’t this so in a marriage? Have you considered potential opposing ideas? What would those who oppose your idea say? Are there any facts that might contradict your idea?
Both sides still consider each other independent. So neither legally nor mentally will people have responsibility towards their partner. They do not consider it an obligation to keep their relationship stable. Thus, trial marriage is unstable.
Comment 6: Do you think your idea is a bit extreme? Are there any exceptions that you haven’t considered? Does the conclusion follow naturally what the previous sentences say?
Based on that, trial marriage may not serve the initial goal for couples to decide whether they are suitable for each other. Because of the instability, people are afraid that trial marriage will fail for many reasons. They may hide the real-self. For example, a girl with a bad temper wants to yell at her boyfriend when he plays video games all day long, but
Comment 7: Are you contra-dicting yourself? Go back to paragraph 2 and see what you have said. also necessary in real marriage. Through collisions, married couple can find ways to adjust to each other, which is necessary for harmonious marriage.
to keep their trial marriage life steady, she may oppress her anger and keep being nice. Because they fear that they may break up, they may avoid collisions in life which is not only sure to happen but
Comment 8: Is your idea a bit over simplified?
Hence we know that trial marriage is very different from real marriage. Couples may not experience real marriage life, instead they are more likely to live in illusions made up by each other. LIU Yong in his Across the Boundaries of Self writes about trial marriage as “In my opinion, it is like eating oranges in order to learn the taste of apples.” Trial marriage may not serve the purpose of experiencing marriage life before getting married.
Also, failure of the trial marriage may hurt people mentally. When a trial marriage breaks down, many problems may occur.
Comment 9: Is this really a problem? Or can this problem be solved?
The first to come is the financial problem. Couples who have lived together for some time cannot be totally financially independent. How can they divide things they buy together? How to decide which side has spent more money during the trial marriage? How to compensate the one who has spent more? If it is divorce, all these problems can be solved by legal measures.
Comment 10: We need evidence to support this.
Since trial marriage is not protected by law, these problems may turn into fierce conflicts. To women, this problem can be more complicated. Sexuality is almost inevitable in trial marriage. Living in a society where virginity is still considered a virtue for unmarried women, losing virginity means they might suffer strange stares from people around and it can also be an obstacle when they want to start another relationship. Not to mention the physical hurt women get if they get pregnant and have to have abortion. These may take enormous toll on them and cause fear towards real marriage, which will definitely have great impact on their mate choice and marriage life in the future.
Well, some young people may claim that the cost of trial marriage is much less than real marriage, so because of the high living cost these days, trial marriage is a better choice for young people who do not have much money.
Comment 11: Is money the main consideration for trial marriage? Does this argument need to be modified or further developed? Also we need evidence to show that the “hurt” is really a big problem. So far it’s all based on your opinion without any evidence. You may have to cite some cases.
I would say if trial marriage fails, the hurt they receive cannot be measured by money. Also the time and passion people put in also cannot be measured by money. These things cannot be bought. Money can be made, but time will not come back. Also, if couples are sure that each other is their Mr./Mrs. Right but they do not have enough money to get married, they can choose to get married in a plain way.
All in all, I want to suggest this to all the young people: trial marriage is not a wise action. This fragile relationship between couples may lead them to harm both mentally and physically.
Comment 12: Right transition?
Let alone that this kind of experiment may not be successful in serving the goal of finding out whether they are suitable for each other.
Comment 13: Who?
So they must think twice before they step into trial marriage.
2nd version:
Trial Marriage: Bad for Young People
Trial marriage is first seen in American judge Ben. B. Lindsay’s book Companionate Marriage published in 1894. As the name implies, it means couples can live together as a kind of experiment to see whether they are suitable for each other to get married. During trial marriage, sex should be allowed freely. Though trial marriage has been criticized by Chinese traditional morality, with the modernization and Westernization of younger generations, trial marriage has become a widely-accepted action among young people in China nowadays. A survey done this June by South-Central Minzu University among people in their 20s shows that 57.4% of them support trial marriage. However, in my opinion, trial marriage is bad for young people.
Most importantly, without a marriage certificate, the seriousness of couples in a trial marriage cannot be guaranteed. On the one hand, trial marriage is not protected in the Chinese legal system. According to the first article of Some Explanations on the Implement of Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China from the Supreme Court, cases in which both parties cohabit shall not be accepted. That is to say, unlike real marriage, trial marriage is not protected by law. On the other hand, trial marriage, as its name suggests, is based on a try-and-see attitude. People in trial marriage think it is good if trial marriage turns into real marriage, but there is also possibility that it turns into failure. They tend not to treat it as seriously as real marriage. Anyhow, they are not bound by the Marriage Law, nor do they have to go through those complicated legal procedures like divorce when they break up. Sense of responsibility between these couples is not as strong as that between real married couples. Thus, trial marriage is unstable.
Supporters of trial marriage say that their main purpose is to get to know each other better to see whether they are suitable for each other to get married (Eladies.sina.com par.5), so whether their relationship stay, stable is not the very first concern. As far as I’m concerned, just because trial marriage is unstable, it may not serve the initial goal. Because of the instability, people are afraid that trial marriage will fail for many reasons. They may hide the real-self because of the fear of getting parted. Or they may avoid collisions in life which are not only sure to happen but also important in real marriage. Through collisions, a married couple can find ways to adjust to each other, which is necessary for a harmonious marriage. Also, because in trial marriage couples are not restrained by duty and obligation, psychologically it is possible for them not to treasure their trial marriage as real married couples, and it is harder for them to be tolerant and to accommodate to each other (Yi 210). Hence the “marriage life” they experience is different from real marriage. Trial marriage may not serve the purpose of couples experiencing marriage life before getting married.
Also, failure of the trial marriage may hurt people greatly. When a trial marriage breaks down, many problems may occur. The first to come is the financial problem, which is one of the most frequent disputes that might occur after the failure of trial marriage (Gui, par. 4). Couples who have lived together for some time cannot be totally financially independent. How can they divide things they buy together? How to decide which side has spent more money during the trial marriage? How to compensate the one who has spent more? Notary office does not notarize any contracts in trial marriage about distribution of property (Lu, par. 3). To women, there is a more serious problem. Sexuality is almost inevitable in trial marriage. Studies have shown that though the young generation is becoming more and more open-minded on sex, they are still strongly influenced by traditional conservative ideas about virginity (Zhang 96). Living in the environment where virginity is still considered a virtue for unmarried women, losing virginity means they might suffer strange stares from people around and it can also be an obstacle when they want to start another relationship. Not to mention the physical hurt women get if they get pregnant and have to have an abortion. These may take an enormous toll on them and cause fear towards real marriage, which will have a great impact on their mate choice and marriage life in the future.
All in all, I want to suggest this to all young people: trial marriage is not a wise action. This fragile relationship between couples may harm them both mentally and physically. Also, this kind of experiment may not be successful in serving the goal of finding out whether two people are suitable for each other. So people should think twice before they step into trial marriage.
Works Cited
Gui Junjie. “Trial Marriage.” News.sina.com.cn 4 Dec. 2006. Web. 28 Oct. 2013
Lu Chengcong. “Two White-collar Workers Took ‘Trial Marriage Treaty’ to the Notary Office.” News.163. com. 1 Dec. 2006. Web. 28 Oct. 2013
Yi Yun. Psychology of Love in Everyday Life. Beijing: New World Press, 2011. Print.
Zhang Yunxi. “A Research on the Love Attitudes of Post-90s College Students.” The Chinese Journal of Human Sexuality. Vol. 22 No. 8 (2013): 92-96.
n.a. “Four Advantages of Trial Marriage.” Eladies.sina.com.cn 13 Dec. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2013
© 2019 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Second Language Writing
- Developing Students’ Critical Thinking and Discourse Level Writing Skill Through Teachers’ Questions: A Sociocultural Approach
- Chinese University EFL Teachers’ and Students’ Beliefs About EFL Writing: Differences, Influences, and Pedagogical Implications
- Teacher Development for Business English Guest Editor: Lifei Wang
- Becoming a Teacher of Business English in China: A Critical Narrative
- An Empirical Study of Business English Teachers’ Knowledge Structures in Different Course Modules
- On Teachers’ Professional Qualities Structure and Development Mechanisms in the Business English Discipline
- Course Design and Material Evaluation
- Learnability of Grammatical Sequencing: A Processability Perspective of Textbook Evaluation in EFL Settings
- Book Review
- An Emerging Communicative Paradigm in Ecolinguistics
- 中文提要
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Second Language Writing
- Developing Students’ Critical Thinking and Discourse Level Writing Skill Through Teachers’ Questions: A Sociocultural Approach
- Chinese University EFL Teachers’ and Students’ Beliefs About EFL Writing: Differences, Influences, and Pedagogical Implications
- Teacher Development for Business English Guest Editor: Lifei Wang
- Becoming a Teacher of Business English in China: A Critical Narrative
- An Empirical Study of Business English Teachers’ Knowledge Structures in Different Course Modules
- On Teachers’ Professional Qualities Structure and Development Mechanisms in the Business English Discipline
- Course Design and Material Evaluation
- Learnability of Grammatical Sequencing: A Processability Perspective of Textbook Evaluation in EFL Settings
- Book Review
- An Emerging Communicative Paradigm in Ecolinguistics
- 中文提要
