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Hue University Journal of Science: Social Sciences and Humanities ISSN 2588-1213 Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020, Tr. 91–115, DOI: 10.26459/hueuni-jssh.v129i6B.5786 VIETNAMESE EFL STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING VIA REFLECTIVE JOURNALS IN AMERICAN-BRITISH LITERATURE CLASSES Thi Thanh Binh Nguyen*, Thi Thanh Ngoc Tran, Thi Le Ngoc Hoang University of Foreign Languages, Hue University, 57 Nguyen Khoa Chiem St., Hue, Vietnam Abstract: Critical thinking has been recognised as an important skill in ELT. However, research on critical thinking practices or critical thinking development in EFL classes for Vietnamese students is still underresearched. This study aims to investigate how Vietnamese EFL students perform critical thinking. A qualitative approach with document (students’ reflective journals) analysis and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Anderson and Krathwohl’s cognitive levels and Barnett’s criticality domains were combined to form a framework for analysing the data in this study. The results reveal that the students demonstrated their critical thinking. Reflective journal writing was found to assist the opportunities to develop students’ critical thinking. It is implied from the study’s findings that the critical thinking framework used in this study can be used as a reference tool to develop and assess critical thinking or to design teaching contents with the integration of critical thinking. Reflective journal writing activity can be widely used in EFL content classes, in general, and in EFL literature classes, in particular, to promote students’ critical thinking. Keywords: Vietnamese, EFL, critical thinking, reflective journals, literature 1. Introduction Critical thinking has been a focus in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. Numerous studies on critical thinking practices have been conducted in EFL contexts such as China [6, 32, 34, 40, 45], Iran [5, 23], Japan [25], Thailand [26, 42], Turkey [2, 38], or Vietnam [11]. Critical thinking practices have been investigated in various aspects, including EFL or ESSL Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Literature. Lazere [30, p. 87] confirms that literature can be considered one of the various academic disciplines that can come closest to embracing the full range of qualities engaged with critical thinking. Langer [29, p. 607] argues that working with literary texts helps students to reflect on the world around them, opening “horizons of possibility, allowing them to question, interpret, connect, and explore”. This characteristic of literature as a means of developing students’ ability * Corresponding: nttbinh@hueuni.edu.vn Submitted: 23-4-2020; Revised: 1-6-2020; Accepted: 9-7-2020. Thi Thanh Binh Nguyen et al. Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020 to think critically and to explore and discuss social problems is becoming especially valuable nowadays [14] Reflective journal writing is regarded as one of the tools to develop critical thinking [39] As this sort of cognitive writing requires their self-reflection, students are expected to use evidence from the literary text to support their opinions, to evaluate their thinking process, and to apply their prior knowledge and experience to give judgments, make comparisons, and create hypotheses. According to Bound and Walker [16], from merging themselves with the stories and then relate what they have learned with their response by writing reflective journals, students can practice their knowledge and reason, reflect and then perform an action in their real-life critically. This writing practice corresponds to Barnett’s [8, p. 1] notion of “critical being”, including thinking, self-reflection, and action. The importance of reflective journal writing to the development of students’ critical thinking has been mentioned in the literature; however, no empirical research has been done so far to confirm this relationship. In reality, research on critical thinking practices or critical thinking development in EFL literature classes is still rare. Thunnithet [42] studies the students’ critical thinking development in an EFL Literature class in a Thai university and analyses the writings of two students and their in-depth interviews afterwards. In another study on critical thinking in a literature class in Spain, Bobkina and Stefanova [13] formulate a critical thinking framework and use it to help the students analyse a literary work (“IF” poem). Until present, to our best knowledge, there has been no research on the relationship between reflective journal writing and students’ critical thinking in EFL literature classes. Motivated by the gap in research about EFL students’ critical thinking in literature classes, as analysed above, the researchers conducted a study on EFL students’ critical thinking via reflective journal writing activities in American-British literature classes. The authors investigated the relevance of literature studies to the development of students’ critical thinking and the significance of critical thinking in tertiary education. In this study, critical thinking is defined as the use of cognitive skills to analyse and evaluate received knowledge, to question one’s understanding, and thereby to take appropriate action. In this paper, the researchers used reflective journals as a qualitative tool. This study explores the students’ attitudes towards the role of reflective journal writing to the opportunities to display or develop critical thinking in EFL American-British Literature classes. Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions: 1. How do EFL students display their critical thinking via their reflective journals? 2. What are the students’ attitudes towards the role of reflective journal writing and the opportunities for their critical thinking development? 92 Jos.hueuni.edu.vn Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020 2. Literature review 2.1. Critical thinking and second/foreign language education Critical thinking has recently been recognised as an important component of language education. Kabilan [28] observes that a learner’s proficiency in a language is reflected in his/her competence not only in using the language and knowing its meaning but also using creative and critical thinking through that language. In the context of Modern Languages teaching in the UK, Brumfit et al. [18] stress the benefits of teaching students to think. According to these authors, critical thinking can help students to communicate in the new language, to produce various types of spoken and written language, and to demonstrate creativity in using the foreign language. Similarly, Daud and Hustin [21] consider critical thinking-focused tasks in language classes as good platforms to promote, motivate, stimulate language acquisition, and increase students’ language competence. The role of critical thinking in English language education is further confirmed when English is seen as ‘no longer merely a language but a cultural tool that sets certain norms or helps learners adjust themselves according to the world’s needs and changes, depending on how they use it’ [41, p. 35]. In this sense, in today’s education, English is charged with being a critical tool for expanding democracy and world citizenship [1, 41]. Accordingly, Sung [41] has called for a critical EFL pedagogy, whose function is to engage in the critical dialogues and actions related to diverse political, sociocultural, economic, and environmental issues and events. 2.2. Literature and criticality development in EFL students Developing critical thinking abilities and critical disposition in undergraduate students has always been set as a primary goal in tertiary education. Along with other subjects, literature is considered as an effective tool for engaging students in critical thinking, which has been proved in most recent studies. Definitely, literature, in its most comprehensive meaning, is an art form deploying distinctive features of the language, including syntactic and structural complexity, as well as metaphorical meaning beyond the surface meaning. We agree with Allan [3], who explains the reason for effective literature teaching to promote students’ critical thinking skills. According to Allan [3, p. 8], when studying literature, students are expected to have the ability to make judgment and analysis of the metaphorical or symbolism meaning beyond the surface meaning of a literary text itself. Thus, the delivery of students’ judgment is associated with their logical reasoning, reflection, inference, and synthesising information. This observation is supported by 93 Thi Thanh Binh Nguyen et al. Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020 Mandondo [33], who states that literature is a particularly good source for developing students’ ability to infer meaning and to make interpretations. This is because literary texts are often rich in multiple levels of meaning and demand that students are actively involved in exploring the unstated implications and assumptions of the text. Obviously, by encouraging students to grapple with the multiple ambiguities of the literary text, we are helping to develop their overall capacity to draw inferences and form hypotheses. This practice helps students to develop the ability to think critically. Another convincing reason for possible effective enhancement of students’ critical thinking in literature classroom is the fact that most literary works are closely related to readers’ life, therefore studying literature in EFL classrooms can “foster students’ critical abilities through their evaluation of the social, cultural, and historical events which forms the background to a particular short story, a novel or a poem” [30, p. 86]. As literature reflects its society and culture, it provides a way of contextualising how people of a particular society might behave or react in a specific situation. When students interpret and analyse poems, short stories, or play scripts that consist of daily matters, this activity sharpens their ability to criticise various aspects of their lives, either positive or negative. This idea receives the agreement of Oster [35, p. 85], who argues that literature enlarges students’ vision and fosters their critical thinking by dramatising the various ways a situation can be. Oster [35] further states that in EFL classes, this characteristic of literature is especially significant as those students are often unfamiliar with the practice of critical thinking in reading, questioning, and analysing literary texts. The result is, as Carter and Long [20, p. 24] claim, “the analysis of literary texts may directly affect students’ lifestyle, their decision-making, and their perspective. It will be easier for students to build the concept of critical thinking in facing a specific case either in fictional situations or in their daily life”. Hill [24] agrees with this idea by stating that through literary texts, learners can get a deeper knowledge about a range of cultures and other useful insights that can broaden their worldview and foster critical ideas. In response to the cultural aspects of literature, students are able to not only accept, but also question, evaluate, and if necessary, subvert the underlying cultural and ideological assumptions in literary texts. In conclusion, enhancing students’ critical thinking in the EFL classroom context by teaching literature will be effective as students have more opportunities to critically respond to various literary elements through some critical thinking practices. This conclusion is echoed by Lazere [30, p. 87), who confirms that literature can be considered one of the academic disciplines that can come closest to embracing the full range of qualities engaged with critical thinking. 94 Jos.hueuni.edu.vn Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020 2.3. Criticality development through reflective journal writing Writing is a process of metacognition, which can promote effective thinking, especially critical thinking [36]. As Paul and Elder [37] explain, on the one hand, the process of L2 language writing, which is signified as substantial writing in the EFL class, is related to the evaluation of the ideas expressed and giving explanations that will demonstrate to the reader why the subject is worth writing about. This process thus demands critical thinking. On the other hand, this process reflects the metacognitive nature of substantial writing and, thus, helps students to develop effective thinking. During this process, students need not only to think about what to write, but also to evaluate their thinking by assessing “clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, significance, and fairness” [37, p. 34]. This argument receives the support of Lin [31, p. 19], who claimed that writing, which focuses on decision making, problem-solving, the expression of arguments, and explanation of opinions, may involve a process of critical and creative thinking that helps the writer to compare choices, seek possible solutions, provide support, and clarify ideas. The use of reflective journal writing in literature classrooms with its effective functions enables EFL learners to practise and develop their critical thinking. As this sort of cognitive writing requires their self-reflection, students will find it necessary to learn how to use evidence from the literary text to support their opinions, how to evaluate their thinking process, and how to apply their prior knowledge and experience to give judgments, make comparisons, and create hypotheses [15]. This writing practice corresponds to Barnett’s [8] notion of “critical being”, including thinking, self-reflection, and action. According to Barnett [8, p. 1], “critical persons are just more than critical thinkers. They are able critically to engage with the world and with themselves as well as with knowledge”. Here, Barnette makes emphasis on the link among the three different domains, i.e., the formal knowledge, the self, and the world. This idea is supported by Boud and Walker [16], who claim that from merging themselves with the stories and then relate what they have learned with their response by writing journals, students can practise their knowledge, reason, reflect, and then perform an action in their real life critically. Rubenfeld and Scheffer [39] also accept the merit of using reflective writing in the literature class by stating that the process of self-evaluation through reflective writing facilitates critical thinking, which is a core component enabling students to become self-motivated and autonomous learners. In a word, the practice of reflective journal writing supports autonomous and critical thinking in the analytical and creative response of the students to the literary texts. All these skills will be beneficial to students for their future lives both outside and inside the academic study. 95 Thi Thanh Binh Nguyen et al. Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020 2.4. Critical thinking framework Critical thinking is a broad term that has thousands of definitions. The conceptual frameworks of critical thinking used in this study are Barnett’s [8] framework of criticality and Anderson and Krathwoth’s [4] taxonomy or Bloom’s [12] revised taxonomy of cognitive domains (Figure 1). The categories in the left-hand-side column in Figure 1 indicate the cognitive levels wherein EFL students may operate, while the remaining three columns show the domains or aspects over which EFL students exercise their cognition. Anderson and Krathwohl’s [4] cognitive levels, when combined with Barnett’s [8] three domains of criticality, map Barnett’s [8] levels of criticality that one engages. The use of Anderson and Krathwohl’s [4] cognitive levels reflects the complexity of critical thinking operation across the three domains. When creating–the highest level in Anderson and Krathwohl’s [4] taxonomy–is exercised across the three domains, some ‘actions’ have been taken. This resonates with Barnett’s [8] levels ranging from critical reasoning to transformative critique. The highest level of criticality illustrated from this combination of frameworks is the Creating-World pairing, which typifies possible action to take in or towards the world. Barnett’s [8, 9] notion of criticality has been used in several studies in the field of language education [18, 25, 27]. These studies have investigated the practice of criticality in modern language classes. The contexts of these studies are quite diverse and include British universities [18, 44] and some Asian tertiary institutions [25, 42]. The common conclusion emerging from these studies is the confirmation of the potential use of this framework to Cognitive levels investigate critical thinking practices in second/foreign language contexts. Creating Evaluating Analysing Applying Understanding Knowing Knowledge Self World Criticality domains Figure 1. Critical thinking framework 96 Jos.hueuni.edu.vn Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020 Figure 2. Critical thinking skills required to work with literary texts [13] The definition and framework of critical thinking used in this study are arguably suitable for the context of EFL Literature classes. According to Langer [29, p. 607], literature helps students question and explore their lives and enable changes in their attitudes towards the world. Bobkina and Stefanova’s [13, p. 685] research identifies critical thinking skills that can be used to analyse literary works in EFL contexts, including “the interpretation of the world, selfreflection, critical awareness, intercultural awareness, reasoning and problem solving, and language use” (Figure 2). The authors suggest using this framework of critical thinking to teach literary works via reader-response approach. It can be seen from Bobkina and Stefanova’s [13] framework that the critical thinking skills required in a Literature class correspond to the higher-order thinking levels in Anderson and Krathwohl’s [4] framework and the three domains of criticality in Barnett’s [8] model. Therefore, Bobkina and Stefanova’s [13] research helps confirm the scientific relevance of the use of Anderson and Krathwohl’s [4] cognitive levels and Barnett’s [9] domains of criticality in this study. 2.5. Assessment of critical thinking To assess critical thinking, standardised critical thinking tests such as the California Critical Thinking Skills Tests, California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory Test, or Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal have been used widely in the world. These tests were designed by Western critical thinking experts, and the contexts of the questions are in 97 Thi Thanh Binh Nguyen et al. Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020 Western countries; hence, the use of these standardised tests in non-Western contexts is warned to be inappropriate [43]. Some researchers [43, 25] suggest employing other methods, one of which is a qualitative one to assess critical thinking. The diversity in critical thinking definitions affects the assessment of this competence [17]. In qualitative studies, Bloom’s [12] taxonomy of the cognitive domain and its revised framework by Anderson and Krathwohl [4] have been used widely [22, 40]. Recently, Barnett’s [8, 9] framework of criticality has been employed to assess students’ critical thinking [18, 42]. Binh [11] combined these two theories to create a framework of critical thinking and use it to analyse critical thinking practices in some tertiary EFL classes in Vietnam. 3. Research methodology 3.1. Research site and participants The research was conducted at a university in Vietnam in the second semester of the 2017–2018 academic year. The students are third-year English majors studying British Literature and/or American literature. 3.2. Data collection procedure During the semester, the teachers asked the students to write two or three reflective journals in English. The teachers assigned the topics/questions in class and collected the journals one week later. Fifteen students were chosen to collect their journals according to the following criteria: students with more than two journals, the journals of different topics, and the students’ consent to contribute their journals to the research. Accidently, just 15 fulfilled the criteria, with 30 journals to be analysed. Specifically, the number of journals for each topic is as follows:  Thinking about death in the two poems “Leaves of Grass” and “The tide rises, the tide falls”: 6 journals  Writing Rip’s future life (Rip Van Winkle): 10 journals  Creating Mrs. Mallard’s soloquil about life of freedom (The story of an hour): 4 journals  Imagining a visit to an imaginary country: 2 journals  Thinking about YOLO and writing about what you would do if today were your last day in life: 4 journals 98 Jos.hueuni.edu.vn Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020  Giving another title for Sonnet 18: 3 journals  Comparing flirting cultures in the two poems “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and “Tát nước đầu đình” (Vietnamese folk lyric of courtship): 1 journal The students were then invited for semi-structured interviews, which lasted about 10 minutes each. Only 7 out of 15 students could arrange their time to participate. The interviews were conducted individually and recorded, and all of the interviews were in Vietnamese. The researchers transcribed and translated only the parts that were used as direct quotations in the report. The names of the participants used in this article were changed to assure their confidentiality. 3.3. Data analysis The students’ critical thinking was analysed according to the critical thinking framework used in this study. The rationale for the use of this framework is explained in the previous section (see Literature review). Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data on the students’ perception of the use of reflective journals and its relation to the students’ development of critical thinking. The interviews focus on the students’ opinions about the use of reflective journals in EFL literature classes and their perceptions of the possible opportunities to develop their critical thinking via this activity. The data were coded according to these three themes. To ensure the reliability of the study’s data analysis, the researchers met several times to analyse the assessed constructs of critical thinking on the basis of the frameworks used in this study. Each researcher analysed the students’ journals separately, then compared the assessment among the three researchers. Using more than one rater or coder in this way can increase internal reliability [19]. 4. Findings 4.1. Students’ critical thinking indicated in their reflective journals The data reveal that the students used Anderson and Krathwohl’s [4] higher cognitive levels across Barnett’s [9] three domains of criticality – knowledge, self and the world. After reading the students’ written texts, the researchers categorised two main aspects/functions of critical thinking in their writing. The first category is the analysis and evaluation of knowledge (critical analysis of the characters and the literary works), self (analysis of self’s conditions/situations and explanation of self’s understanding), and the world (linking the literary works and self to the world outside). The second category is creating knowledge 99 Thi Thanh Binh Nguyen et al. Vol. 129, No. 6B, 2020 (creating some new knowledge), self (wishes to form some actions to change oneself), and the world (wishes to form some actions to change the world). 4.1.1. Analysis and evaluation of knowledge, self, and the world Analysis and evaluation of knowledge (literary works) The students compared the similarities and differences in Longfellow’s and Whitman’s viewpoints about death. Thuy, for example, analysed each author’s perception of death and tried to point out the differences in their viewpoints. There are different viewpoints on death by Longfellow in “The tide rises, the tide falls” and by Walt Whitman in “Leaves of grass”. In “The tide rises, the tide falls”, Longfellow think[s] that when humans die, time will delete all things, humans have a time limit here on earth but nature will always overpower. Man think[s] when he die[s], everyone will gradually forget him by time and he will bring all things which he did when he [was] alive. Death will stop all, it is constant and forever and humans can’t stop death. Contradictory, in “Leaves of grass”, Walt Whitman think[s] death isn’t [doesn’t] stop all. When humans die but the soul of humans always exist, will live in somewhere. He has a viewpoint on death optimistically. “All goes onward and outward · · · and nothing collapses”. He think[s] that everyone should not be sad when die because death is not a bad thing and death will begin a new life (TT – Journal 1). The students need to understand the two poems to interpret the authors’ opinions about death. In this journal, the student used Anderson and Krathwohl’s [4] first three cognitive levels in Barnett’s [8] knowledge domain. As Dieu Linh shared in the interview, she combined different skills such as understanding, analysing the author’s viewpoints reflected in the poems (e.g., death), and evaluating them according to personal experience. Analysis and evaluation of self: self-reflection The second form of critical thinking indicated in the students’ journals is the interpretation of self. They interpreted various aspects of their selves, such as their viewpoints about death, about ways to live a meaningful life today, their utmost dream in life, and their present life (NA, ND, and QT). In the journal about YOLO (You Only Live Once), and what the students regret in life if they die, QT wrote about her utmost dream – having a family of her own and devoting her time and love to take care of it. · · · all I wish to have is a truly happy family of my own. I have read many books for parents to raise children. I have prepared myself a lot for being ready to take care of my future family. I have been waiting for my lover for 4 years. We have a long – distance love, but we promise to build our family together in a very near future. If I happened to die tomorrow, there is only one thing I 100