語言教師教育課堂中培育批判性思維和批判性思維教學：來自教師教育者的啟示

Fostering Critical Thinking and Critical Thinking Instruction in Language Teacher Education Classrooms: Insights from Teacher Educators

語言教師的批判性思維在他們的教學工作中是不可或缺的，但要將批判性思維融入課堂中可能會面臨一些挑戰。尤其是對於處於考試導向的英語作為外語語境的語言教師來說，這一挑戰尤為明顯。因此，在職前教師教育階段，語言教師教育者提供的指導和支持至關重要。本質性個案研究探討了兩位香港的語言教師教育者在此方面的嘗試，關注他們在協助語言教師成為批判性思維者並將批判思融入他們未來的語言課堂中的信念和實踐。研究資料來自一個學期的課堂觀察和半結構化訪談，資料分析採取質性歸納方法。研究結果顯示，兩位語言教師教育者都堅信批判思維在語言學習、教學和教師教育中的至關重要性。通過觸發、體驗、引導和擴展的四種批判思維教學策略，他們將批判思維融入其教師教育課程，以培育語言教師以批判思維為導向的教學法。這些研究結果為關注英語為外語語境中的語言教師教育以及批判思維與語言教學的整合方面帶來了重要啟示。

While language teachers play a crucial role in fostering critical thinking in students as a means of strengthening their capabilities in problem-solving, informed decision-making, and effective communication, integrating critical thinking (CT) into classrooms can be challenging. This challenge is particularly prominent for teachers of English as a foreign-language (EFL), where orientation to exams and traditional teaching methods tend to prevail. Guidance and support from language teacher educators during the pre-service stage is therefore crucial, in order to equip language teachers not only with the solid knowledge and skills required to integrate CT into their pedagogy, but also with the resilience and sensitivity to determine when CT should be introduced to their students. This qualitative case study examines the attempts made by two language teacher educators in a preservice EFL teacher education program in Hong Kong, focusing on their beliefs and practice in preparing language teachers to be critical thinkers who would be capable of effectively teaching CT in their future language classrooms. Data was collected from classroom observation and semi-structured interviews with the two participants over one academic semester. Qualitative and inductive analysis of the data revealed that both teacher educators held a strong belief in the crucial role of CT in language learning, teaching, and teacher education. Through the CT instructional strategies of triggering, exposing, guiding, and extending, they incorporated CT into their teacher education courses, with the goal of fostering a pedagogy oriented toward CT in their student teachers. The study concludes by providing insights for stakeholders interested in adopting CT-integrated language teacher education in EFL contexts.