The collaborative work in the project was intensive, varied and fruitful. One of the project work collaborative results is writing and reviewing the article on one of the project’s thread lines, “Critical Thinking & Interactive Teaching for Professional Training of Pre-Service English Teachers” from the webinar series “Holistic Language Pedagogies: Ways Forward in English Language Teaching & Learning”:
Podosynnikova, H., & Piadka, A. (2023). Forming pre-service English language teachers’ competence in critical reading through authentic short stories / Формування компетентності в критичному читанні у майбутніх учителів англійської мови на матеріалі автентичних коротких оповідань. Іноземні мови, 4, 21-28. (in English) DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32589/1817-8510.2023.4.295043
http://fl.knlu.edu.ua/article/view/295043
The article was written by the project member Associate Professor Hanna Podosynnikova, PhD, the Head of the Department of English Philology and Linguodidactics (Sumy Makarenko State Pedagogical University) and the Head of the Inter-University Research Laboratory of Modern Technologies of Teaching Foreign Languages and Cultures, with a student co-author Artem Priadka who is the Lab’s member – and was review and recommended to publishing by the project member Professor Valentina Chernysh, Doctor of Sciences, the Head of the Department of Pedagogy and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages (Kyiv National Linguistic University) and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal «Іноземні мови» (“The Foreign Languages”). The journal is one of the oldest and the most respected scientific editions in Ukraine that specialize in theory and practice of foreign language teaching issues.
The journal is the only subscribed professional edition of Category B in the field of pedagogical sciences and foreign language teaching in Ukraine. The journal publishes the results of original theoretical and applied scientific research on the current problems of methodology of teaching foreign languages and cultures. For more information about the journal see: http://fl.knlu.edu.ua/about.
This project, under the auspices of Childhood Education International (Centre for Professional Learning), Hunter College, City University of New York, and RELO at the US Embassy in Ukraine, brought together 30 leading experts in English language teaching methodologies from across Ukraine, aiming to enhance the preparation of domestic English language teachers.
Abstract. The article is devoted to the problem of developing critical reading competence and critical thinking skills of pre-service English language teachers by means of interactive teaching on the material of authentic short stories. The phenomenon of critical thinking is considered thoroughly, its definition is given, and its features are described. Critical thinking is defined as the process of using cognitive techniques and strategies with the purpose of skilful and active understanding and evaluation of observations, communication, information, and argumentation that increase the probability of obtaining the desired final result. The critical thinking skills are outlined, as well as the stages of their formation in correlation with the stages of interactive foreign language teaching. The definitions of critical reading and critical reading competence are worked out. It is established that critical reading is a process of reading which presupposes the use of reflection with the purpose of content evaluation and reasonable judgments in relation to it. Critical reading competence is defined as a person’s ability to read authentic texts of various genres with full understanding, analysis, and evaluation of their content; which is based on relevant abilities, skills, knowledge, and communication skills, in order to respond intelligently and adequately to what is read. The potential of using authentic short stories to develop critical reading competence of pre-service English language teachers has been explored. The difficulties of forming critical reading competence on the material of authentic short stories are considered. The methodology of teaching critical reading on the material of authentic short stories to pre-service English language teachers is suggested: the stages of developing critical reading skills are distinguished and described; the strategies and techniques of teaching critical reading on the material of authentic short stories with interactive method are presented.
Keywords: critical thinking; critical reading; competence in critical reading; authentic short stories; critical reading skills; critical reading strategies; interactive foreign language teaching; interactive techniques for the development of critical thinking and critical reading skills.