Abstract:
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the reflection of critical thinking in
ESAP textbooks developed by SAMT in Iran. To this end, three textbooks including
English for Students of Veterinary Medicine (Medical Sciences), English for Students
of Psychology (Soft Sciences) and English for Students of Сivil Engineering (Hard
Sciences) were analyzed based on Peterson’s model to identify the frequency of
different types of critical reading questions. Moreover, 153 students of these majors
filled out a critical thinking questionnaire. The results showed that approximately half
of the exercises reflect general reading questions not critical reading questions in
ESAP textbooks. The results of Chi-Square tests showed that while there is not any
significant difference between the applications of critical reading questions in the
ESAP textbooks, there is a significant difference between different types of critical
reading questions in ESAP textbooks. In addition, the results of the one-way ANOVA
showed that there is not any significant difference between critical thinking of
students of the three majors.
Machine summary:
To this end, three textbooks including English for Students of Veterinary Medicine (Medical Sciences), English for Students of Psychology (Soft Sciences) and English for Students of Сivil Engineering (Hard Sciences) were analyzed based on Peterson’s model to identify the frequency of different types of critical reading questions.
critical thinking, textbooks, critical reading questions, ESAP Associate Professor, Department of English Language and bLiterature, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures,University of Tehran,Tehran, IR Iran.
Regarding the increasing importance of critical thinking in reading and the established role of textbooks, the present study is an attempt to answer the following research questions: 1.
The model was used by Talebinezhad and Matou (2012) to analyze EFL reading comprehension textbooks at university level under the light of critical thinking.
Table 1 Frequency and percent of critical reading questions in ESAP textbooks ESAP textbooks Vocabulary in Context Literal Comprehension Extended Reasoning General Total English for the 301 315 350 735 1701 Students of Veterinary Medicine (17.
As stated earlier the present study was an attempt to investigate the application of critical thinking in ESAP textbooks developed by SAMT Organization currently being used as the main medium of classroom instruction for students of Veterinary Medicine, Psychology, and Civil Engineering.
This finding is not supported by Aliakbari and Sadeghdaghighi (2011) who found a significant effect of different fields of study (engineering, humanities and basic sciences) on critical thinking ability of Iranian ESAP students.