How to Incorporate Critical Thinking into EFL Reading at Bangladeshi Institutions: A Practitioner's Suggestions

Abstract

Critical thinking (CT) is high order thinking and, according to experts, it plays an important role in shaping the way students learn and think. Many people think it automatically develops among students as their study progresses, but experts disagree. And based on what experts have said, my view, too, is that there is a need for systematic direct instruction aimed at nurturing and infusing effective critical thinking skills into the students of English in Bangladesh and that only through a systematic direct instruction, could CT skills be infused into students. Starting with defining and discussing CT, this paper, with a detailed sample unit plan, aims at suggesting ways of nurturing the CT skills in students of English by incorporating CT skills into reading lessons, thus providing EFL practitioners in Bangladesh with a framework for creating teaching methods that could provide effective direct instruction for the development of critical thinking skills of their students.