IELTS ACADEMIC READING ACHIEVEMENT: THE CONTRIBUTION OF INFERENCE-MAKING AND EVALUATION OF ARGUMENTS
Abstract
The pivotal undertaking of education today is to endow individuals with the capacity to be able to think flexibly, reason rationally, and have open minds to be able to evaluate and interpret situations. In line with the studies demonstrating the positive relationship between higher-order thinking skills and academic achievement, this study aimed to particularly examine the impact of the two subcomponents of critical thinking, i.e., inference-making and evaluation of arguments on academic IELTS candidates' reading achievements. To achieve the purpose of the study, one hundred and seven IELTS candidates (from different institutes in Mashhad, a city in north of Iran) were asked to complete two tests of the Persian version of the “Watson-Glaser's Critical Thinking Appraisal” after being administered an IELTS reading comprehension test. The results showed that there is a positive relationship between IETLS reading score and EFL learners' inference-making and evaluation of argument. Subsequent data analyses demonstrated that among the variables, inference making is the more powerful predictor of IELTS reading achievement. In addition, the results revealed that the two mentioned variables can predict about 10 percent of IELTS reading achievement. This study has some implications for educators and administrators to take full advantage of these associations by establishing guiding principles for enhancing IELTS candidates' inference-making and evaluation of arguments.
Article visualizations:
Keywords
References
Afflerbach, P., Pearson, P. D., & Paris, S. G. (2008). Clarifying differences between reading skills and reading strategies. The Reading Teacher, 61, 364-373.
Ahmadi, M. R., & Hairul, N. I. (2012). Reciprocal teaching as an important factor of improving reading comprehension. Journal of Studies in Education, 2(4), 153-173.
Akyuz, H. I., & Samsa, S. (2009). The effects of blended learning environment on the critical thinking skills of students. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1, 1744-1748.
Alderson, J.C. (2000). Technology in testing: the present and the future. System 28, 593-603
Bagheri, F., & Ghanizadeh, A. (2016). Critical Thinking and Gender Differences in Academic Self-regulation in Higher Education. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 3(3), 133-145.
Beck, I. L. (1989). Reading and reasoning. The Reading Teacher, 42, 676–682.
Bernard, R. M., & Zhang, D., & Abrami, P. C. (2007). Exploring the structure of the Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal: One scale or many subscales? Thinking Skills and Creativity, 18, 124.
Beers, K. (2003). When kids can't read: What teachers can do: Heinemann Portsmouth, NH.
Berber, F., Akbulut, F., Maden, H., Gezer, M., & Keser, S. (2002). Düsünme ve elestirel düsünme (Thinking and critical thinking). Retrieved May 2014 from: http://www.sevketkeser.net/docs/alldoc/dusunmeveelestireldusunme.pdf.
Boloori, L. (2010). The relationship between critical thinking and performance of Iranian EFL learners on the inferential reading comprehension test. Unpublished master’s thesis, Azad University of Takestan, Iran.
Brookfield, S. D. (1987). Developing critical thinkers. Milton Keynes: Open University Press: Buckingham.
Cain, K., & Oakhill, J. V. (1999). Inference making ability and its relation to comprehension failure in young children. Reading and writing, 11(5-6), 489-503.
Casteel, M. A., & Simpson, G. B. (1991). Textual coherence and the development of inferential generation skills. Journal of Research in Reading, 14, 116-129.
Chastain, K. (1988). Developing second language skills: theory to practice (3rd ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publisher.
Collins, N.D. (1993). Teaching critical reading through Literature. ERIC Digest, 4, 1-5.
Connolly, M. (2000). What we think we know about critical thinking. CELE Journal, 8, 120-134.
Cook, J.E., (1991). Critical Reading? How? Why? Teaching PreK-8. 21(6), 23-24
Criper, C., & Davies, A. (1988). ELTS validation project report. University of Cambridge, Local Examinations Syndicate.
Davidson, B. (1998). A case for critical thinking in the English language classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 32, 119-123.
Davidson, B., & Dunham, R. (1997). Assessing EFL student progress in critical thinking with the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test. JALT Journal, 19 (1), 43-57.
Descartes, R., & De Spinoza, B. (1961). Rules for the direction of the mind. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Prometheus Books, New York.
Edwards, S. (2007). Critical thinking: a two phase framework. Nurse Education in Practice, 7(5), 303 314.
Enright, M, Grabe, W, Koda, K, Mosenthal, P, Mulcany-Ernt, P., & Schedl, M, (2000). TOEFL 2000 reading framework: A working paper, TOEFL Monograph Series 17 ETS, Princeton
Farr, R., Carrey, R., & Tone, B. (1986) Recent Theory and Research into the Reading Process: Implication for Reading Assessment. In J. Orasanu (Ed.) Reading Comprehension: From Research to Practice. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erbium Associates.
Elder, L., & Paul, R. (2002). Critical thinking: distinguishing between inferences and assumptions. Journal of Developmental Education, 25(3), 34-37.
Ertmer, P.A., & Newby, T.J. (1996). The expert learner: Strategic, self-regulated, and reflective. Instructional Science, 24, 1-24.
Hillsdale, N.J., Erlbaum. Graesser, A. C., Singer, M., & Trabasso, T. (1994). Constructing infer- ences during narrative text comprehension. Psychological Review, 101, 371-395.
Horng, J., Hong, J., Chanlin, L., Chang, S., & Chu, H. 2007. Creative teachers and creative teaching strategies. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29(4), 352 358.
Garnham, A., & Oakhill, J. V. (1996). The mental models theory of language comprehension. In B. K. Britton & A. C. Graesser (Eds.), Models of understanding text (pp. 313-339).
Ghanizadeh, A. (2011). An investigation into the relationship between self-regulation and critical thinking among Iranian EFL teachers. The Journal of Technology & Education, 5(3), 213–221.
Ghanizadeh, A. (2016). The interplay between reflective thinking, critical thinking, self-monitoring, and academic achievement in higher education. Higher Education, DOI 10.1007/s10734-016-0031-y
Ghanizadeh, A., & Mirzaee, S. (2012). Critical thinking: How to enhance it in language classes. Germany: LAP.
Goudvis, A., & Harvey, S. (2000). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding. York, ME: Stenhouse.
Grimmett, P. (1988). The nature of reflection and Schon’s conception in perspective. In P.Grimmett, & G. Erikson (Eds.). Reflection in teacher education. NY: Teachers College Press.
Halpern, D. F. (2003). Thought and knowledge: An introduction to critical thinking. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
Hashemi, M. R., & Ghanizadeh, A. (2012). Critical discourse analysis and critical thinking: An experimental study in an EFL context. System, 40(1), 37–47.
Johnston, P. H. (1983). Reading comprehension assessment: A cognitive basis. New Jersey: I. R. A.
Khabiri, M., & Pakzad, M. (2012).The Effect of Teaching Critical Reading Strategies on EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Retention. The Journal of Teaching Language Skills (JTLS), 4 (1), Ser. 66/4.
Kamali, Z., & Fahim, M. (2011). The relationship between critical thinking ability of Iranian EFL learners and their resilience level facing unfamiliar vocabulary items in reading. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(1), 104-111.
Ku, K. Y. (2009). Assessing students’ critical thinking performance: Urging for measurements using multi-response format. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 4(1), 70-76
Kuhn, D. (1992). Thinking as argument. Harvard Education Review, 62 (2), 155-178.
Kuhn, D., & Dean, D. (2004). Metacognition: a bridge between cognitive psychology and educational practice. Theory into Practice, 43(4), 268–274.
Long, D. L., Oppy, B. J., & Seely, M. R. (1997). Individual differences in readers’ sentence-and text-level representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 36(1), 129-145.
McIntosh, E (1985) What Do Practitioners Need to Know about Current Inference Research? The Reading Teacher, 38, 8, 755-760.
Maclellan, E, (1997). Reading to learn. Studies in Higher Education, 22, 277-288.
Meneghetti, C., Carretti, B., & De Beni, R. (2006). Components of reading comprehension and scholastic achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 16, 291-301
Miller, S. (1981). The impact of a program of critical thinking on reading comprehension remediation and critical thinking of middle and high school students. Unpublished PhD. Dissertation. United states International University.
Mohammadyari, A. (2002). The relationship between critical thinking and change management of the heads of the educational departments in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Unpublished master's thesis, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran.
Moon, J. (2008). Critical thinking: An exploration of theory and practice. UK: Library of Congress.
Moon, J. (1999a). Reflection in learning & professional development: Theory & practice. London: Kogan Page.
Moon, J. (1999b). Learning Journals: A hand book for academic, students and professional development. London: Kogan Pag
Munby, J. (1978). Communicative syllabus design. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
Oakhill, J. (1982). Constructive processes in skilled and less skilled comprehenders' memory for sentences. British Journal of Psychology, 73(1), 13-20.
Oakhill, J. V. (1984). Inferential and memory skills in children’s comprehension of stories. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 31-39.
Oakhill, J. V. (1996). Mental models in children’s text comprehension. In J. V. Oakhill & A. Garnham (Eds.), Mental models in cognitive science: Essays in honour of Phil Johnson-Laird (pp. 77-94). Hove, U.K.: Psychology Press.
Omanson, R. C., Warren, W. M., & Trabasso, T. (1978). Goals, inferential comprehension and recall of stories by children. Discourse Processes, 1, 337-354.
Paul, R. W. (1985). The Critical-Thinking Movement. Paper presented at the National Forum: Phi Kappa Phi Journal.
Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2001). The miniature guide to critical thinking: Concept and tools. Dillon Beach, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking.
Paris, S. G., & Lindauer, B. K. (1976). The role of inference in children’s comprehension and memory for sentences. Cognitive Psychology, 8, 217-227.
Paris, S. G., & Upton, L. R. (1976). Children’s memory for inferential relations in prose. Child Development, 47, 660-668.
Paris, S., Wasik, B. A., & Turner, J. C. (1991). The development of strategic readers. In R. Barr, M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, & D. Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Research (vol. 2, pp. 609-640). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Paul, R. (1996). Critical thinking and the state of education today. Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines, 16(2), 12-34.
Perfetti, C., & Hogaboam, T. (1975). Relationship between single word decoding and reading comprehension skill. Journal of Educational Psychology, 67, 461-469.
Perry, J. (1999). Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 350 Sansome St., San Francisco, CA 94104.
Renner, C. E. (1996). Enrich learners’ language production through content-based instruction. Paper presented at the a National Conference on Lingua e Nuova Didattica, Modena, Italy.(ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 411 694).
Rodgers, C. (2002). Defining Reflection; Another look at John Dewey and reflective thinking. Teachers College Record, 104(4), 842-866.
Rumelhart, D. E. (1994). Toward an interactive model of reading. In R. Rudell, M. R. Rudell, & H. Singer (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4th ed.) (pp. 864-894). Newark, DA: International Reading Association.
Seferoglu S., & Akbıyık, C. (2006). Critical thinking and education. H.U. Journal of Education, 30(3), 193 200.
Shang, H. F. (2011). Exploring the relationship between EFL proficiency level and reading strategy use. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(1), 18-27.
Singer, M. (1994). Discourse inference processes. In M. A. Gernsbacher (Ed.), Handbook of psycholinguistics (pp. 479-515). San Diego: Aca- demic Press.
Singhal, M. (2001). Reading proficiency, reading strategies, metacognitive awareness and L2 readers. The Reading Matrix, 1(1), 1-22.
Sheikhi, B. R. (2009). The relationship between autonomy, critical thinking and reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Unpublished master’s thesis, Azad University of Science and Research, Tehran, Iran.
St. George, M., Mannes, S., & Hoffman, J. E. (1997). Individual differences in inference generation: An ERP analysis. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 9(6), 776-787.
Suliman, W. A., & Halabi, J. (2007). Critical thinking, self-esteem, and state anxiety of nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 27(2), 162-168.
Sweet, A. P., & Snow, C. (2002). Reconceptualizing reading comprehension. In C. C. Block, L. B. Gambrell, & M. Pressley (Eds.), Improving comprehension instruction (pp. 17-53). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Tovani, C. (2000). I read it, but I don't get it: Comprehension strategies for adolescent readers: Stenhouse Publishers.
van den Broek, P. (1994). Comprehension and memory of narrative texts: Inferences and coherence. In M. A. Gernsbacher (Ed.), Handbook of psycholinguistics (pp. 539-588). San Diego: Academic Press.
Vaughn, L. (2008). The power of critical thinking: Effective reasoning about ordinary and extraordinary claims (2nd ed.).Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Waters, A. (2006). Thinking and language learning. ELT Journal, 60 (4), 237- 319.
Watson, G., & Glaser. E. (2002). Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. UK Edition: Practice Test. Psychological Corporation.
Weir, C.J. (1983). Identifying the language needs of overseas students in tertiary education in the United Kingdom. PhD thesis, Institute of Education, University of London
Worrell, J. A., & Profetto-Mcgrath, J. (2007). Critical thinking as an outcome of context-based learning among post RN students: A literature review. Nurse Education Today, 27(5), 420-426. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2006.07.004
Zhang, Z. (1993). Literature review on reading strategy research. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, November 10-12, 1993.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v0i0.618
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright © 2015 - 2023. European Journal of English Language Teaching (ISSN 2501-7136) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms.
All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
