part of that reflection should be on the process itself

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Better and more advanced reading skills: A study undertaken by York University in Canada suggests 
that bilingual children's knowledge of a second language gives them an advantage in learning to read. Their 
ability to apply the insights and experiences of one language to the other as well as their wider experience of 
language gives them a big leg up. As they grow older, this advantage continues and grows. Plus, being able 
to read two languages is pretty impressive all by itself. 
Learning English to prepare for the future: as children go into their growth and development there are 
exposed to various forms of information usually in English language. From multi-media stimulations to 
books and entertainment, English has long been established as a method of expressing ideas in a global scale. 
Many young kids are very much into using the internet for school homework, social interactions and even 
games and having a good understanding of this second language will make their experience even more 
meaningful. Once they pursue higher education wherein English play an integral part in college and universi-
ty environment having the ability to communicate and understand in English will give them a big chance for 
a brighter future. Many lucrative jobs whether in the field of technology, medicine, health, science and busi-
ness require excellent verbal and oral skills in English. 
Greater confidence: children are always discovering new things, but learning a new language is a 
uniquely rewarding experience at any age. For children, the feeling of accomplishment that comes with their 
first steps toward a second language can spur them on to a deeper and broader passion for learning in gen-
eral. And because children are at a special «window of opportunity» in which language learning is intuitive 
and natural, the ease and pleasure of the experience may boost their confidence and their desire for new dis-
coveries. 
Gives brains a boost: in a recent article in The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell quotes James Flynn, a 
renowned scientist, as saying: «The mind is much more like a muscle than we've ever realized. … It needs to 
get cognitive exercise. It's not some piece of clay on which you put an indelible mark». Research into the 
effects of bilingualism on children suggests that exposure to more than one language is an excellent way of 
flexing those brain muscles and building them up, too. Bilingual children in one study reported in Nature
showed a significantly larger density of grey matter in their brains. And those who had been exposed to a 
second language from an early age proved to have the most grey matter of all. Grey matter is responsible for 
processing information, including memory, speech and sensory perception. And if it can be increased by ex-
posure to a second language, then language learning would be just like taking your brain to the gym. 
Natural-sounding, native-like accent: children are always mimicking what they hear and are surprising-
ly good at it! They are uniquely attuned to slight differences in tone and sound. Their sensitive ears help 
them pick up on and duplicate the tricky sounds adults and even adolescents often stumble over. For adults 
just beginning a new language, this difficulty can be discouraging — trying to speak Spanish like Antonio 
Banderas from Evita only to end up sounding like Jack Black in Nacho Libre isn't exactly the best language 
experience. A study conducted by researchers from UCLA and the University of Hong Kong, however, 
shows that even adults with significant exposure to a language in childhood can end up speaking like a na-
tive. By starting early, your children can speak smoothly and confidently from the first. 
Greater opportunities for college and careers: colleges now place an increasingly high value on 
knowledge of more than one language. As the admissions process becomes more competitive across the 
board, knowing a second or a third language adds a new dimension to an applicant's resume. And as the 
economy becomes more and more globalized, English-only becomes less and less of an option. 
Bigger view of the world: Traveling abroad is an experience which can benefit anyone, offering not just 
new sites to see, but new frames of mind and new perspectives. But going abroad and feeling comfortable in 
the language of your destination means you're doing more than just traveling. You are going from your home 
to another place, and then back home. You can feel as if you're a part of the culture and the life of this new 
world, as if you aren't a total stranger just visiting. Like reading a poem in another tongue you know, you 
will hear more than just the language, you will hear the music behind it as well and the life.
Greater grasp of one's first language, including a bigger, richer vocabulary: most of the time we use our 
first language with little thought to grammatical rules or constructions. This is perfectly natural, but the expe-
rience of learning a new language can bring greater understanding and perhaps even better grammar to our 
first language. Knowing the way another language works encourages us to examine our own language's me-
chanics in a positive way. By being able to compare the two, we learn more than we ever would as a mono-
lingual. Or as Nancy Rhodes, director of foreign language education at the Center for Applied Linguistics in 
Washington, D.C., says, «The more children learn about a foreign language, the more they understand about 
their own language». Children use what they learn in one language to reinforce concepts and terms they've 

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learned in the other. They can solidify their gains in their native tongue by matching them to their new ad-
ventures in another language [5]. 
Building and keeping cultural connections: some of us are lucky enough to have a relative who still 
speaks their mother tongue frequently. To be able to communicate with them in that language builds a bridge 
not only to that person, but to the heritage and history they represent. To maintain that connection keeps 
alive so much: memories, stories and traditions, and brings to life new memories, stories and traditions as 
well. 
An all-family activity: modern life is hectic; its demands are frequent and often contradictory. Learning 
a language together as a family provides a unifying activity which doesn't require you to drive your kids an-
ywhere and doesn't make it necessary to be in 10 places at once. Starting this process early with your child or 
children provides your family with an activity and an experience it can return to and grow with over the 
years. 
Some might think it is not possible to teach children how to be thinkers. A common belief is that one is 
either born with intellect or not. Creative and critical thinking are skills, something that can be learned. 
There are, however, developmental issues. Young children are less likely to be analytical than older 
ones. How well youngsters think depends on whether teachers and parents have expected them to think for 
themselves. Schools too often focus on teaching students what to think (read «No Child Left Behind»), not 
how to think. Parents tend to tell youngsters what to think. But even in the interests of telling youngsters how 
to behave in proper ways, the instruction is more likely to be accepted if children are encouraged to think 
through why certain behaviors are preferred over others. 
Teachers know that many students have poor thinking skills. Several reasons help explain why. Chang-
es in culture are a factor, such as mind-numbing music, television, video games, social networking Websites, 
cell-phone texting, and so on. We have no problem telling children what to think, but when their thinking 
becomes flawed, we are reluctant to intervene. Many parents (and even teachers) think it is bad to challenge 
children's thinking when it is flawed. They worry that such challenges can be embarrassing and damages 
self-esteem. The reality is that such students eventually discover they are not as capable as their peers who 
have effective thinking skills, and that gives them real reason to have low self-esteem.
Schools and state mandates also contribute to the problem. Too often, students are trained to look for 
the one «right answer». Then there are state knowledge and skills standards, where students are actively dis-
couraged from thinking «outside the box». 
How does one teach critical thinking? Three ways: 
1. Expect it 
Require learners to defend their ideas and answers to questions. Show them it is not enough to have an 
opinion or the «right» answer. Learners need to defend their opinions and understand how they arrived at the 
answer and why it is «right».
2. Model it
The teacher can show students how to think critically and creatively about instructional material. Even 
in «teaching to the test», show students how to think about alternative answers, not just memorize the right 
answer. Show why some answers are right and some wrong. 
3. Reward it 
When good thinking occurs, teachers should call attention to it and to the students that generated it. 
Learning activities and assignments should have clear expectations for learners to generate critical and crea-
tive thought. A grading premium and other incentives should be provided. Rigorous analysis will only occur 
if it is expected and rewarded. 
One might argue that children don’t need to move beyond the simple comprehension of words and sen-
tences when learning a foreign language. However, critical thinkers are better learners, because they explore 
meaning much more deeply. As English language curriculums continue to use more content to teach English, 
critical thinking strategies give students a chance to analyze and process the information in valuable ways [6]. 
Let’s look at one specific way in which you can begin to bring critical thinking into your lessons. It be-
gins with vocabulary, one of the building blocks of language. 
In all vocabulary development, students must know a word in three ways: by its form, its meaning, and 
its use. Critical thinking takes this concept even further. Students should know a word as it relates to other 
words. For example, let’s say that you are teaching students the following lexical set about forms of transpor-
tation: 

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bicycle
sailboat 
airplane hot air balloon 
rocket 
subway train 
cruise ship bus 
taxi
skateboard 
Once your students have a solid understanding of the above words, one should suggest the following ac-
tivity: divide the class into groups of four learners, ask learner groups to list the above forms of transporta-
tion in order from slowest to fastest. Ask each child group to discuss their list with another group. 
This activity, as simple as it sounds, involves lots of logic and critical thinking. For example, students 
may decide that a skateboard is probably the slowest form of transportation on the list. However, it gets a bit 
more difficult after that [7]. Is a bicycle faster than a sailboat? It depends on the wind speed. Therefore, does 
a sailboat move at the same speed as a hot air balloon, since they both move with the wind? Does a taxi 
move faster than a subway train? Sometimes, but then a taxi has to stop at intersections. How about a cruise 
ship? Perhaps we can find the average speed of one on the Internet. Is a rocket the fastest form of transporta-
tion? Yes, everyone agrees that it is. 
The goal is actually not to arrive at a correct answer, but to get students to think more deeply about 
words, what they represent, how they are each part of bigger systems, how they relate to each other within 
those systems, and so on. 
By doing so, children are required to use all of their language skills in the process. The lesson is no 
longer about memorization and simple meaning. It has transcended this and become an experience. Children 
are much more likely to remember and use these vocabulary words after such an activity. 
Thus, critical thinking is a vital skill in health, human service, and community work. It is the process of 
questioning, examining, and analyzing situations, issues, problems, people (in hiring decisions, for instance) 
and information of all kinds — survey results, theories, personal comments, media stories, history, scientific 
research, political statements, from every possible angle. This will give you a view that's as nearly objective 
as possible, making it more likely that you'll be able to interpret information accurately and resolve problems 
and issues effectively [8]. 
Teaching critical thinking, whether formally or informally, requires a supportive and encouraging pres-
ence, and a willingness to both model and be the subject of critical analysis. It entails teaching the critical 
stance — how to recognize and analyze your own and others' assumptions, question information, and exam-
ine the context of any information, situation, problem, or issue. Finally, it requires helping people to apply 
the critical stance to a problem and learn how to come up with a solution that is effective because it address-
es the real issues involved. Once learners can do that, they're well on their way to successfully addressing the 
concerns of their communities. 
References 
1 [ER]. Access mode: http://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/e-family-news/2014-developing-critical-thinking-
skills-in-children/ 
2 Dombro A.L., Jablon J., Stetson C. Forthcoming. Powerful interactions: How you build relationships to guide learning. 
Washington, DC: NAEYC. Early, D., Barbarin, D. Bryant, M. Burchinal, F. Chang, R. Clifford, G. Crawford, & W. Weaver, 2005. 
— P. 23–26. 
3 Memory Medic How to improve everyday memory by William Klemm, D.V.M., PhD. — [ER]. Access mode: 
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201110/teaching-children-think 
4 Assistant Professor Turgay Dinçay is an instructor at İstanbul Arel University. - Advantages of learning a foreign language at 
an early age — 2011. — November 25. — № 3. — P. 18–24. 
5 Paul R., Elder L. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools, Foundation for Critical Thinking Press, 
2008. — P. 67–70. 
6 Ennis R. Goals for a Critical Thinking/Reasoning Curriculum. Illinois Critical Thinking Project. University of Illinois, 
Champaign, IL, 2005. — P. 100–102. 
7 Paul R., Elder L. The miniature guide to critical thinking: Concepts and tools. Dillon Beach, CA: Foundation for Critical 
Thinking — How to read a paragraph Dillon Beach, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2001, 2008. — P. 100–102. 
8 Brookfield Stephen Becoming a critically reflective teacher. — San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. — P. 129–131. 

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