OVERVIEW

“I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.” – Albert Einstein

We tend to think of critical thinking as an intellectual skill that appears in explicit, academic-type tasks. In fact, it’s part of a holistic approach to learning founded on being curious, objective and fair. It’s implicit in all we do and, in ELT, is applicable to all four skills, grammar and vocabulary, and to all levels and all ages. This approach encourages deeper engagement with content, deeper processing of language, and ultimately greater learner independence. In this presentation we’ll illustrate the benefits of a critical mindset in a wide variety of contexts, and look at examples of how critical thinking as a skill can be included in multiple lesson and task types, from young learners to adults.