Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to teach Critical Thinking in the EFL

classroom
F l o r e n c i a Ve l a s c o
CONTENT Critical Thinking and Education

S
Defining Critical Thinking

Bloom’s Taxonomy as a tool to teach Critical Thinking

Contents Relevance of critical thinking in teaching

Suggested activities to foster Critical Thinking in the

EFL classroom
Critical Thinking and
Education
The importance of teaching thinking can be said to
date back to the days when Socrates began
implementing his method of questioning 2,500 years
ago. Dewey criticized educational institutions of the
beginning of the twentieth century for giving too
much attention to “the accumulation and acquisition
of information for purposes of reproduction in
recitation and examination” (Dewey, 1916, p. 158)
and treating such knowledge as an end in itself. He
contended that this “static, cold-storage ideal of
knowledge is inimical to educative development.”
 INTERPRETATION

Defining Critical ANALYSIS

Thinking
Peter Faccione
INFERENCE

“We understand critical thinking to be purposeful,

self-regulatory judgment which results in
EVALUATION
interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and
inference, as well as explanation of the evidential,
conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or
contextual considerations upon which that
EXPLANATION
judgment is based. CT is essential as a tool of
inquiry. As such, CT is a liberating force in
education and a powerful resource in one's personal
and civic life.” Facione (1990) SELF REGULATION
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
Benjamin Bloom et al 156
GOAL: state learning objectives &
evaluate student learning

• 1956: Bloom et al: knowledge,

understanding, application, analysis,
synthesis, evaluation.
• 2001, Krathwohl, et al: remember,
understand, apply, analyze, evaluate
and create
• 2008 ,Andrew Churches ,Digital
Taxonomy

Relevance of critical
thinking in teaching
A l o n g t i m e d i ff e r e n t
researchers have mentioned
the importance of teaching
critical thinking.
It teaches learners how to
think about the content taught
(Schafersman, 1991; Gueldenzoph,
Snyder, 2020)
It helps them become autonomous
learners and take control and
ownership of their own learning
(Murawski, 2014; Karakoç, 2016; Goering
and Morris, 2016; and Letseka and Zireva,
2013),
a key element to suceed not only
in academic and work
environments, but also in life.
(Goering and Morris, 2016; Zapalska,
Nowduri, Imbriale, Wroblewski and
Glinski, 2018; Karbalaei, 2012; and
Nold, 2017)
Suggested activities to foster
Critical Thinking in the EFL
classroom
 This can be done to explain a concept (conditional sentences) or

Creating a organize new vocabulary in categories. An interesting option is to

make it collaborative: having to negotiate meaning with others

mind map makes for deeper knowledge and using a collaborative tool helps
keep a register of work, ensuring that all the members of the team
participate

Tools: Lucidchart, Miro,

Mindmeister or Google Jamboard
Bloom’s Taxonomy Category:
Understanding
(explaining/defining ideas or
concepts)
Analyzing (breaking information
into parts/components to explore/
develop/construct understandings
and relationships)
 Click icon to add picture
Creating an infographic

Tools: Power Point, Picktochart or Canva

Bloom’s Taxonomy Category:
Understanding (explaining/defining ideas or
concepts)
Analyzing (breaking information into
parts/components to explore/ develop/
construct understandings and relationships)

Students can create an infographic at the

beginning of a course to talk about their goals for
the subject during an academic year.
This can help them reflect on the reasons why
they are learning English and make the learning
process more memorable through the year. At the
end of each quarter or the academic year, they can
go back to their infographic and check if they
have made progress in relation to their goals.
They can also modify or replace their goals with
new ones.
This helps metacognition, which enables
students to become more aware of their leaning
process and helps them take control of it.
 The initial part of the project can consist of an activity to familiarize

Creating a the student with the structures, phrases and organization of a text
used to give instructions.

tutorial video Then, they produce a written text of their own where they explain
the use of this tool using images and text.
Finally, produce a tutorial video.

Tools: Screencastify, Loom and

Zoom
Bloom’s Taxonomy Category:
Analyzing (breaking information
into parts/components to explore/
develop/construct understandings
and relationships)
Creating (generating/creating new
ideas, products, or ways of viewing
things)
Creating a test
Tools: Kahoot, Quizziz or Socrative
Bloom’s Taxonomy Category:
Analyzing (breaking information into
parts/components to explore/ develop/
construct understandings and relationships)
Evaluating (justifying a decision, solution,
answer or course of action)

This can be used at the end of a unit or a term.

Instead of the teacher preparing a test or even as a
preparation for a formal test, students are asked to
prepare tests in groups. Each group will focus on
different segments of the unit (vocabulary,
grammar, etc.) The whole class will use the tools
to revise for the final exam, and teams that
produce successful evaluating activities will
receive extra points to be added up to their final
exam score.
THANKYOU