Abstract
Little research has been done to examine the development of thinking skills in the context of second language learning and teaching. This article reports the results of a study that assesses the effectiveness of a Philosophy in Schools (PIS) programme in developing English as a Second Language (ESL) students’ thinking skills in Hong Kong. In the study, training and support were provided for two English teachers to enable them to teach PIS to their Secondary 4 ESL students during English lessons. The students were found to be capable of reasoning and arguing about philosophical problems arising from various stimuli prepared by their teachers according to the English curriculum. Also, PIS was found to play an important role in promoting the students’ critical and creative thinking. The findings of this study suggest that integrating philosophy into the English curriculum can promote critical and creative thinking in ESL students. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Applied degree education and the shape of things to come |
| Editors | Christina HONG, Will W. K. MA |
| Place of Publication | Singapore |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Pages | 301-318 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9789811993152 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789811993145 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Citation
Lam, C.-M. (2023). Education for the future: Cultivating thinking through thinking about thinking. In C. Hong & W. W. K. Ma (Eds.), Applied degree education and the shape of things to come (pp. 301-318). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9315-2_17Keywords
- Philosophy in schools
- Philosophy for children
- ESL classroom
- Critical thinking
- Creative thinking
- Hong Kong