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Case Study Analysis of High School English Reading Instruction for Developing Critical Thinking Competencies

Author(s)

Xue Yu

Affiliation(s)

Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong, China

Abstract

In response to the new curriculum standards 'requirements for cultivating critical thinking, this study explores effective approaches to foster logical reasoning, critical analysis, and creative thinking in high school English reading classes. Using the ‘Scientists Who Changed the World’ unit from Yilin Press Edition 4 as a case study, we integrated cognitive stratification, constructivist tasks, and a three-dimensional critical model. Through observation, interviews, and text analysis tracking the entire classroom intervention process, the results demonstrated that chain tasks focusing on title prediction, structural summarization, viewpoint questioning, and role transfer can continuously activate students' higher-order thinking. These tasks guide learners from information extraction to meaning creation and value judgment, significantly enhancing independent thinking and cross-textual expression abilities. The research indicates that explicitly embedding critical thinking cultivation into news narrative reading provides an operational framework for implementing core competencies in English education.

Keywords

Thinking Quality; English Reading; Core Literacy; Teaching Cases

References

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