After I gave a talk on student-generated materials to colleagues at a former school, I was a little surprised at their responses. I explained how English could be used to consider issues, express opinions and think more deeply. Some of those former colleagues thought otherwise: “Students will not write questions; they won’t even answer questions!” “Students are not critical enough even to start asking questions.” “Japanese students lack the ability to take a critical attitude.” And so on. They were skeptical that Japanese students had any critical capacity at all, much less in English.
I disagreed. Maybe they based their assumptions on students’ initial responses to class activities. At first, from the outside of attitudes, Japanese students appear to not be very critical at all. But to dig in deeper to the interior of their genuine reactions and academic needs, they start to be different, more critical people. Students are incredibly critical about issues and often feel that is easier to be critical in English. However, all too often, English classes in Japan do not provide time and space, much less instruction and direction, for critical thinking.
Since English textbooks in high school and even at colleges rarely introduce students to how to think in English, many students have trouble doing it. At least at first. “My brain hurts,” one student told me after one class of questions and discussion, and everyone else nodded in unison. Students, though, like a little “brain pain.” Those old colleagues had never given students the tools or encouragement to be critical, so they assumed students were naturally uncritical. When pointed in the right direction, though, students disagree with articles, write strong, sharp opinions and find creative solutions.
The real problem with not encouraging thinking in English is that when students achieve higher levels of fluency and grammatical correctness, they have no other place to go after that. They can get a high test score, but cannot begin to use the language in productive, meaningful ways. They become ‘paper drivers’ of English, fully ‘licensed’ by the grammar study system and standardized tests, but with no real on-the-road experience. Without learning to think critically in English, they have no car, no place to go and worse, no desire to go anywhere.
I am always surprised that students seem shy to express opinions. They always ask things like, “Is it OK to tell my opinion?” or start their essay exam answer, as one student did recently, with, “First of all, this report is almost my opinion so you may think it's not right. Please read it comfortably.” I do not want comfort in an essay; I want interest, energy and thoughtfulness. Students often feel they need permission or must apologize before being critical.
However in English, many students do feel, strangely, more comfortable with being direct, critical and decisive. “It’s easier to be critical and to communicate more deeply in English,” one of my students told me. She explained that in Japanese, she is softer and milder. Only in English could she express her strongest opinions. Over the years, many students have said the exact same thing.
Her comment was itself a critical one, of course. Like many students, they find that English offers a welcoming linguistic and cultural space to be critical, analytic and thoughtful. That does not mean they never do that in Japanese, but English students often learn to be critical while learning the language. The English debate movement, speech contests, and the recent emphasis on critical essay writing ability all show that students are highly capable of thinking in English, in strong, bold and innovative ways. When a place, and expectation, for being critical is set up, students will jump into it with zeal.
Ironically, once they learn phrases for being critical, they often overdo it. Some papers I get have phrases like, “In my opinion…” “I think…” and “I would argue,” sprinkled all through the paper, sometimes in every other sentence. Though I usually suggest reducing the total number of these, their enthusiasm for expressing their opinions comes out clearly! Once they get going on opinions, it is as if all their opinions saved up for years finally come rushing out.
When that happens it is exhilarating. Once students start the flow of opinions and ideas, they invest themselves more fully into their studies. They know that English is connected to more than just abstract rules of grammar. Being critical in English makes the language personal. It is not just a correct sentence, but their own true opinion on the page. Being critical energizes students because their ideas and opinions start to have personal meaning, not anonymous correctness. Studying grammar is so enervating because it is so alien and distant, something that anyone could do. Critical English moves the language directly into the thinking and feeling of individuals, where it becomes alive.
That is not easy to do, though. Students will often ask me, "How do I ask a question?" I have gotten used to this question about how to ask questions, but I am still always a little surprised by it. It is as if all questions except testing questions had been banned from the English classroom, or as if only teachers have the right to ask questions. Yet, for learning English, question asking is one of the key ways to practice, learn and communicate. By reframing sentences into questions, students practice grammar, though the main purpose of questions is to force students to think.
At first, thinking is hard. When I tell students “OK, the homework is to write 15 questions,” they groan and quibble: “What about 10 questions?” or “What if I can’t make 15 questions?” Of course, I say, “OK, there, that’s one question!” And they groan some more. They are not used to really thinking up questions, an active process, and prefer to try to answer questions, as if all learning were just an exam. Then, I add, “I want good questions, not just the right number.” The groans get even louder. But inevitably, they will write questions, and almost always do it well.
The quality of questions and seriousness of thinking in my university students always surprises me a bit, especially since most students tell me they have never asked even one question all through high school. The emphasis in many English classes is on language that is polished, perfect, correct and nice. Being critical in language, though, means that what is produced is sharp and directed but also a little messy and confusing. Students will learn much more through active critical thinking than through passive grammatical perfection.
After all, language is inherently critical. Being critical is one of the purposes of language. Making one’s English perfect is pointless unless one also uses English to think deeply, listen actively, organize information in meaningful ways and to confront old ideas while creating new ones. Critical can be defined in many ways, but at its roots, it is a questioning and thinking approach to learning and using language. To teach English uncritically and unreflectively is to hardly teach it at all.
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