Vocabulary expansion through critical thinking (some instructions for teachers and students)

Abstract

The subject of the analysis is critical thinking and vocabulary acquisition strategies in English language teaching in educational institutions. The methods of description, analysis and synthesis are used in the paper. The method of interdisciplinary approach helps to describe the basic characteristics of critical thinking. The observation of the educational process and the description of own pedagogical experiences are based on the empirical method. The article presents a series of sequential instructions for teachers of higher and secondary education on how to develop students’ vocabulary in English language teaching through critical thinking. Domestic and international theoretical and practical prerequisites in this area are described, reflecting the author’s own pedagogical experience. It has been found that critical thinking and the process of teaching/learning new vocabulary material are closely related, which requires a clear algorithm for implementation. The article focuses on the description of the following instructions: understanding the complexity of the problem and choosing a new approach; Bloom’s taxonomy and students’ vocabulary; language skills and language components: what to pay attention to; understanding the essence of the strategy; becoming familiar with all the strategies and ways of memorizing new words that have already been outlined by researchers; encouraging students to identify the vocabulary acquisition strategies they use and to share them in their own practical experience. It has been noted that students’ awareness of the relevant strategies can improve their skills and lexical competence. Among the strategies of vocabulary acquisition, the author mentions social, cognitive, metacognitive strategies and strategies for identifying and memorizing new lexical items. Using the example of one textbook, it has been proved that its structure and the nature of certain types of tasks contribute to the development of students’ independence and cognitive flexibility, but the teacher can use other types of work, such as finding semantic connections between words, asking questions (“thick” and “thin”), etc. Working with videos on the topic (metacognitive strategy) promotes targeted assessment, control, decision-making and responsibility for the learners’ own learning process.