Intertextual Reading: Analyzing EFL Context via Critical Thinking

Abstract

One of the most significant debates among academics is the role of critical and logical thinking in constructing and assuring meanings of intertextual texts. This argument is, however, more valid in the context of undergraduate EFL learners, who have the potential to use their critical thinking and creativity in the act of reading. The phenomenon of intertextuality acts as a constructive and meaningful link between readers and texts. In other words, the reading texts become comprehensible when readers connect what they read to their prior knowledge, using critical thinking skills to understand and interpret them. This study examines how critical and logical thinking skills make intertextual connections between texts and readers’ personal and social experiences during reading tasks. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview based on an excerpt from an article ''Women in the Working Class'' was conducted with EFL students to collect their responses on intertextual connections. The analysis of the interviews revealed that intertextual reading helps promote critical thinking among readers of EFL and assist them in analysing, synthesising, interpreting, and evaluating texts. The findings of this study have some pedagogical implications due to the multicultural complexes of values and images in reading English literary texts.