Developing Engineering Students’ Critical Thinking Skills through Reading Short Stories

Main Article Content

Thanis Bunsom
Sompatu Vungthong
Wareesiri Singhasiri

Abstract

As stated in section 28 of the National Education Act of B.E. 2551 (2008), the
substance of the curricula, both academic and professional, places an emphasis on human development with critical thinking. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how critical thinking can be developed through close and analytical readings of short stories. A book club was established to facilitate the conduct of the research in which eleven participants comprising KMUTT students from different departments were assigned to read nine English short stories and discuss their opinion and understanding of each text in groups. Further data were collected through the participants’ personal written journals. They were used as evidence to demonstrate the subjects’ individual interaction with the texts which according to the ‘reception theory’ (Fish 1980; Holland 1975) have independent meanings and are open to interpretation. The implementation of the research was based on Bloom’s taxonomy (1956) which classifies cognitive behaviours into six categories, ranging from the fairly simple to more complex. The results reveal that some of the subjects were able to read and understand the texts in a more critical manner and their perceptiveness broadened. Also, it is hoped to shed light on the application of literature in developing critical thinking skills.

Key words: reading, short stories; Bloom’s taxonomy; critical thinking skills

Article Details

How to Cite
Bunsom, T., Vungthong, S., & Singhasiri, W. (2014). Developing Engineering Students’ Critical Thinking Skills through Reading Short Stories. Journal of Studies in the English Language, 6. Retrieved from https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jsel/article/view/21851
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Articles
Author Biographies

Thanis Bunsom

Thanis Bunsom, a lecturer of English at the School of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut’s University of Technology
Thonburi, completed his BA and MA in English at the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University. He is interested in
Asian Englishes, literature in classroom and postcolonial literature in English, French and Portuguese. His previous
works include modern Brazilian novels, neo-realistic approaches to modern Portuguese novels and Chinese identity in
contemporary Australian novels.

Sompatu Vungthong

Sompatu Vungthong is currently a lecture of English at the School of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut’s University of
Technology Thonburi. She was a recipient of a Chulalongkorn University Graduate Scholarship to Commemorate the
72nd Birthday Anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej and received her MA in English from the Faculty
of Arts, Chulalongkorn University in 2010. Her research interests include post-modern literary theories, semiotics and
critical discourse analysis. She is now conducting a research on semiotics and travel advertisements.

Wareesiri Singhasiri

Wareesiri Singhasiri is an assistant professor in the Department of Language Studies, King Mongkut’s University of
Technology Thonburi. She was awarded a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Essex, UK. Her research
interests include research methodology and learning strategies and styles