批判性思维注入式教学法在《高级英语》中的教学实践 Teaching Practice of Critical Thinking Infusion Approach in Advanced English

张志敏 武晓蓓

◆摘  要：相對于其他三种批判性思维教学方法一般方法（general approach），混合法（mixed approach），浸没法（immersion approach），注入式教学法（infusion approach）在大学阶段的课程教学中有独特的优势。 依据Robert J. Swartz and Sandra Parks ’s Infusing the Teaching of Critical and Creative Thinking into Content Instruction一书，首先对注入式教学法的概念、教学原则、课程结构和组成部分、教案设计等进行了总体解释和说明，然后以《高级英语》中的一课为例对注入式教学法的教学实践过程进行了详细说明，期望为课程内容学习与批判性思维技能融合提供参考。

◆关键词：批判性思维;注入式教学法;《高级英语》;教学实践

◆Abstract：Compared with General Approach， Mixed Approach and Immersion Approach， Infusion Approach has its advantages in college curricular teaching. Based on the framework in Robert J. Swartz and Sandra Parks ‘s Infusing the Teaching of Critical and Creative Thinking into Content Instruction， firstly the concept， teaching principles， structure and components， lesson plan of infusion approach are explained generally. Then a model teaching practice of infusion approach is presented specifically under Infusion Approach， aiming to show some light on the integration of content  and critical thinking skills at college level.

◆关键词：Critical thinking; Infusion Approach; Advanced English; teaching practice

I. Introduction to Infusion Approach

1.  Infusion approach

Approaches to Teaching Thinking

Teaching of Thinking                                 Teaching for Thinking

Infusion

（Robert J. Swartz and Sandra Parks，1994， p9）

Teaching of thinking by direct instruction means that， in a time period designated for thinking instruction， students learn how to use explicit thinking strategies， commonly guided by the teacher. Such lessons employ the language of the thinking task and procedures for doing it skillfully. Usually it occurs in separate， self-contained courses or programs with specifically designed materials as and is taught outside the standard curriculum. Since the skills are taught using examples that are not curriculum related， they must then be bridged into the curriculum if students are to apply them to content learning.

Teaching for thinking involves employing methods to promote students’ deep understanding of the content. Such methods include using cooperative learning， graphic organizers， higher order questioning， Socratic dialog， manipulatives， and inquiry learning. While student may respond thoughtfully to the content， no thinking strategy is taught explicitly.

Infusion Lessons are crafted to bring into content instruction an explicit emphasis on skillful thinking so that students can improve the way they think. Classroom time is spent on the thinking skill or process， as well as on the content. Infusion lessons feature a variety of effective teaching practices that characterize the way thinking is explicitly emphasized in these lessons：

lThe teacher introduces students to the thinking skill or process by demonstrating the importance of doing such thinking well.

lThe teaching uses explicit prompts to guide students through the skillful practice of the thinking as they learn concepts， facts， and skills in the content areas.

lThe teacher asks reflective questions which help students distance themselves from what they are thinking about， so that they can become aware of how they are thinking and develop a plan for doing it skillfully.

Thinking about what to do is called “decision making.” The different choices you were thinking about are called “options.”

The teaching effects of Infusion approach have been approved by Ennis and other scholars. Based on the experiences of his students and himself， Ennis claimed that infusion approach not only projected critical thinking skills， but also helped students to memorize the content of the subject. Under this approach， students’ critical thinking skills and dispositions were improved with no weakening and reducing the content. He recommended infusion approach to The Wisdom CTAC Program （ Robert H. Ennis，2013）.

2. Teaching principles

lThe more explicit the teaching of thinking is， the greater impact it will have on students.

lThe more classroom instruction incorporates an atmosphere of thoughtfulness， the more open students will be to valuing good thinking.

lThe more the teaching of thinking is integrated into content instruction， the more students will think about what they are learning.

3. Components of Infusion Lessons

（Robert J. Swartz and Sandra Parks，1994， p22）

（Robert J. Swartz and Sandra Parks，1994， p24）

4. Infusion lesson plan

Title

Subject：

Grade：

Objectives

Content                                          Thinking skill/process

Methods and Materials

Content                                           Thinking skill/process

Lesson

Introduction to content and thinking skill/process

Thinking actively

Thinking about thinking

Applying thinking

Extension

Assessing student thinking

（Robert J. Swartz and Sandra Parks，1994， p25）

II.  Infusion Approach in Advanced English

1.Steps in teaching

2. Methods integrating thinking skills with content study in Advanced English：

[Critical thinking skills Content study Interpretation Paraphrase Analysis Analyze the global meaning and local meaning of the text or （global/local structure） Inference

Drawing the implications of words， expressions and sentences in the context. Explanation Explaining the effects of rhetorical devices and special language forms in the text Evaluation Evaluating author’s attitude， stance， emotion， and view towards a person， issue， opinion， etc. Self-regulation In light of the text study， ask students to bring out their opinions on the issues involved in the text in form of group discussion or written work and make corrections of preconceptions or misconceptions. ]

III. A Model Lesson

Title：  Lesson 9  “ A More Perfect Union”  by Barack Obama （2008）

Course： Advanced English

Textbook： Advanced English （Book 1） ，3rd edition by Zhang Hanxi， 2011

Grade： 1st semester， Grade 3， English major

Introduction to Content and Thinking Skill/Process （ Objectives）

Content： This article is an argumentative speech， delivered on March 18， 2008， during Obama’s campaign for presidency. It is a response to the Jeremiah Wright controversy. In this speech， by using his own story and stories of others， Obama argues that only if individuals do some positive work， can the union be perfected. Through the discussion of this lesson， students are supposed to learn the structure and development of argumentative speech; to learn how to present an argument; to learn words， expressions， special sentence patterns and rhetorical devices.

Thinking skill/process： The core skills of critical thinking—interpretation， analysis， explanation， evaluation， inference， self-regulation are infused and practiced in the course of learning .

Methods and Materials

Content： individual work， pair work， group work， teacher’s instruction;

The text， Obama’ speech video， pictures and references related to this speech

Thinking skill/process： prompts， graphic organizers， mind-mapping， brain storm

Thinking Actively

lParaphrase the difficult sentences in the text.（ Interpretation）

lAnalyze the structure of the speech. （Analysis）

a.Introducing the four different patterns of argument to help students identify and analyze the speech.

Divergent            Serial               Convergent              linked

（Martin Davis & Ronald Barnet 2015， p220）

b.Prompting students to find reasons and conclusions by figure and questions：

（Robert J. Swartz and Sandra Parks，1994， p226）

1）What is Obama trying to convince the audience to accept or do？

2）What reasons does the Obama provide to support accepting or doing that？

Are there any words that indicate support （e.g.， “therefore，” “so”， “because”）？

Does he provide any other indication as to why he concludes what he does？

3）Is there anything that you think he believes is common knowledge that he does not state but uses to support the conclusion？

lMake a comment on the structure， idea and language style of his speech. （evaluation）

lSelect some statements from the text， ask students to get the implied meaning， the hidden assumption or belief in the statements. （inference）

lIn the speech， Obama reveals a lot of facts about American reality， concerning racial conflicts， problems in educations， unemployment， in whites and blacks. What can you draw  from his argument？ Does this article throw some light on your understanding of America and shape anything of your vision of America？ If so， in what way？ Does his speech benefit you in improving your own thinking and writing？（self-regulation）

Thinking about Thinking

lWhat thinking skills are used in your work？

lAre they effective to help you accomplish the tasks？

lIn what way are they effective？

Applying Thinking

lImmediate transfer： ask students to apply the above thinking skills in the same situation.

Far transfer： ask students to apply the thinking skills in other courses or daily life.

lReinforcement later： revision and repetition of the thinking skills in other lessons in this semester.

Extension

lAsk students to analyze Obama’s other speeches， and political leaders ‘ speech of different cultures and countries， focusing on the similarities and differences in terms of structures and values.

lAsk students to deliver an argumentative speech or a debate on disputed issues in reality.

Assessing

lPeer assessing： students exchanging their experiences in applying critical thinking skills in study and life and making mutual evaluations.

lTeacher assessing： teacher assessing students’ written work in terms of language， clarity in thinking， organization and logic.

作者简介

张志敏（1965—），女，陕西铜川人，延安大学外语学院教授，研究方向语篇分析，批判性思维。

武晓蓓（1983—），女，陕西榆林人，延安大学创新学院副教授，研究方向，批判性思维。

参考文献

[1]Robert J.Swartz and Sandra Parks.Infusing the Teaching of Critical and Creative Thinking into Content Instruction[M].Pacific Grove：Critical Thinking Press & Software，1994.

[2]武宏志等.《批判性思维初探》，[M].北京：中国社会科学出版社，2015.

[3]张汉熙等.《高级英语》（1、2）（第三版），[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2011.

[4]高等学校外语专业教学指导委员会英语组.高等学校英语专业教学大纲[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社， 2000.[6].

[5]Robert H.Ennis.“Critical Thinking across the Curriculum：The wisdom CTAC Program”，Inquiry：Critical thinking across the Disciplines， vol.28， No.2（2013），p34.

[6] Facione， et al.Test Manual：The California Critical Thinking Skills Test， 2002 Revised Edition.Millbrae， C.A.：California Academic Press，2001.

[7] Facione，et al.Inventory Manual：The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory，Millbrae，C.A.： California Academic Press，2002.

[8] Martin Davis & Ronald Barnet.The Plalgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education[M].New York：Palgrave Macmilan， 2015.

[9] Dr.Linda Elder & Dr.Richard Paul.25 Days to Better Thinking & Better Living [M].New York：Person Prentice Hall，2006.

本文為延安大学2019年教改项目“批判性思维注入式教学法在英语专业教学中的实践与探索”阶段性成果。