JALT Toyohashi's April 2022 meeting

Incorporating the use of literature into the EFL classroom: Pedagogical approaches to develop critical thinking of Japanese learners of English
At 'Plat' Toyohashi Arts Theatre (near Toyohashi Station)

The purpose of this presentation is to explore the benefit of using literature as a material for “the training of critical thinking” (Kramsch and Kramsch, 2000: 567) in the EFL classroom in Japan. Although developing critical thinking skills has been seen as a primary goal in higher education for decades (MEXT, 2008), opportunities to acquire these skills are limited and Japanese undergraduate students tend to possess inadequate critical thinking skills (e.g., Sugimoto, 2015). However, little has been discussed about the effective use of literature to foster critical thinking in the EFL classroom in Japan. With these in mind, this presentation aims to look at some of the most practical teaching methods of using literary texts to develop critical thinking skills of Japanese learners of English (JLEs) in the university EFL classroom setting.