SITI FATHONAH WIJAYANTI (THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE )

PROMOTING CRITICAL THINKING IN INDONESIAN EFL CLASSROOMS THROUGH A COLLABORATIVE ETHICAL DILEMMA CARD GAME : METHODOLOGIES AND TEACHING APPROACHES

Critical Thinking has become increasingly vital in education, particularly with the emphasis on 21st-century skills essential for navigating a globalised world. Within foreign language education, the relationship between language and thought underscores the significance of critical thinking in language learning and cognitive development, with research highlighting the role of critical thinking in enhancing language performance, fostering a positive classroom climate, and promoting academic engagement and self-esteem. While various strategies for incorporating critical thinking have been widely documented in a number of empirical studies, ethical dilemma emerges as a promising yet underexplored tool, particularly in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. Drawing on three hypotheses underpinned by research on neuroscience, psychology, and education, this paper seeks to explore the affordances of a collaborative ethical dilemma card game to cultivate critical thinking skills among Indonesian EFL secondary learners. Donoghue and Horvath’s (2016) Abstracted Framework for Learning Sciences was further employed to validate the translation of neuroscience research to educational settings, highlighting the feasibility of the proposed pedagogical tool. By taking into account the specific needs of EFL learners, as well as leveraging elements of ethical dilemma, game-based learning, and collaborative approach, this paper aims to provide insights into innovative approaches for fostering critical thinking in EFL settings.

Siti Fathonah Wijayanti is a Master of TESOL student at the Faculty of Education, the University of Melbourne, with over 7 years of teaching experience in diverse EFL settings. Her research interests include language-informed literacy practices, critical thinking, critical genre pedagogy, language teaching methodology, and language policy and curriculum.