Cultivating Critical Thinking in the Literature Classroom through Poetry

Abstract

Aim. The development of learners Critical Thinking (CT) is considered to be one of the most important skills in today’s fast pacing world. It has also been regarded as the mainstay and an important component of literature teaching. However, this is one of those areas that was mainly overlooked in eastern culture in general and in the EFL classrooms in particular. Thus, we aim to assess the effectiveness and usefulness of the use of poetry in fostering learners’ critical thinking skills. Methods. To this end, to foster learners’ critical thinking skills, a poetry programme was specifically designed to draw learners’ attention to the significance of CT. Through a case study approach, a poetry programme with a focus on culture--specific information was incorporated into the course. Four female students were engaged in a number of tasks in which they gradually learned to think critically through reflecting on and evaluating the assigned poems. A checklist was generated and used to observe and rate students’ CT before and after the intervention through teacher diaries. Results. Analysis of the case study data indicated that students’ CT had improved and they developed good critical habits as a result of their involvement in the intervention. Due to the application of poetry based teaching, the ability to critically assess the ideas presented during the classes and to express one’s opinions was significantly improved among the study’s participants. Conclusions. The conducted study allowed us to conclude that poetry could be regarded as a useful and effective source for developing critical thinking skills among students.