The Language Teacher

Shared Inquiry: A Refreshing Approach to Critical Thinking for EFL

Carol Browning
Hokkai Gakuen University
& Jerald Halvorsen
Kokugakuin Junior College

The Shared Inquiry Method is a pedagogical approach to teaching reading, listening, speaking, writing and critical thinking. It can be used with pre-readers in kindergarten as well as with sophisticated philosophers in adult reading groups. The purpose of the Featured Speakers Workshop is to expose JALT participants to the Shared Inquiry Method.

Reading serious literature is a collaboration, a meeting of the minds, between the author and the reader. The author provides the reader with a literary text but does not tell the reader what to think about it: the reader must try to understand and interpret what the author is saying (Great Books Foundation, 1991). The Shared Inquiry Method is a group process in which participants explore together the meaning of a literary work. During Shared Inquiry Discussions students help each other explore an author's intent or the meaning of a text. Trained leaders pose interpretive questions and readers share their interpretations and opinions with a group or a class. The leaders or facilitators guide readers in carrying their thinking to logical conclusions based upon the literary text. Leaders do not steer students towards a predetermined answer or even a group consensus -- rather they help each participant to develop an individual point of view supported by the text. Each student brings his/her personal perspectives, values, and experiences to the literary work. Like a mirror, the text reflects to the reader his or her own feelings and thinking; however, all responses to interpretive questions must be supported by the text. Individual opinions and independent critical thinking often stimulate other members of the group to rethink their own positions -- sometimes deepening their understanding of the text, sometimes altering their original opinions. (For a more detailed explanation of the Shared Inquiry Method see Browning & Halvorsen, 1995, pp. 22-24; Browning, Halvorsen, & Ahlquist, 1996.)

Shared Inquiry Training and the Monbusho Guidelines for Teaching English

The Shared Inquiry Method is an alternative or supplementary pedagogical approach to teaching English language and literature. The Japanese Ministry of Education National Guidelines for Teaching English, implemented over the past three years, establish broad-based curriculum objectives in informal speaking (Oral Communication A), listening (Oral Communication B), and formal speaking (Oral Communication C). (For a detailed discussion of the Ministry of Education Guidelines see Carter, Goold, & Madeley 1993; Goold, Madeley & Carter, 1993; Goold, Carter, & Madeley, 1994.) The Shared Inquiry Method directly addresses all three of these Ministry objectives. It is a very effective and fresh pedagogical approach to implementing these new curriculum guidelines. (For a more complete discussion of these points see Browning & Halvorsen, 1995; Browning, Halvorsen, & Ahlquist, in press.)

The Shared Inquiry Curriculum Objectives

The Shared Inquiry Method not only addresses the Japanese Ministry of Education Guidelines, but has other EFL curriculum objectives as well. These program curriculum objectives are based on the idea that all students put forth their best intellectual efforts when they are presented with genuine, meaningful problems.

Reading--Reading skills are experienced at every stage of the Shared Inquiry Process. Participants practice oral reading, expand their vocabularies, and develop reading comprehension through Shared Inquiry Discussion and preparation activities.

Listening--In discussions, participants listen and respond to the leader's questions, as well as to the statements of fellow participants. The leader monitors listening skills by paying close attention to participants' comments, taking brief notes on a seating chart, and posing questions that directly relate to these comments.

Speaking--Shared Inquiry Discussions require students to articulate their opinions, to explain their reasons for an inference or a conclusion, to recite facts, to recount others' opinions, to use persuasion, and of course, to read aloud. By showing respect for students' opinions, by not insisting on a "right" or "wrong" response, by demonstrating genuine interest in other participants' rationales, the leader helps bring out differing opinions in an atmosphere of harmony.

Writing--After participating in a Shared Inquiry Discussion, students are in an excellent position to assess and express their ideas in writing. They have something meaningful to write about. When a genuine problem of meaning has been resolved by a student, he or she is more likely to write a coherent, well-reasoned composition. The interpretive and evaluative discussions serve as a springboard to teach the mechanics of writing.

Critical Thinking--Reflective, critical thinking is at the core of the Shared Inquiry Discussions as students learn to explain their opinions and provide supporting evidence, to comment on others' statements, to use supporting evidence introduced by others, and sometimes to modify their own positions because of others' thinking.

The Shared Inquiry Methodology

There are two main challenges for leaders using the Shared Inquiry Method: to select appropriate literature and then to prepare students for classroom discussions on three levels -- factual, interpretive, and evaluative.

Select Appropriate Literature--In selecting a literary text, the most important criterion is that the work supports extended interpretive discussion. Because students participate in a collaborative search for the meaning of a text, selections must invite and support a number of interpretations. Only selections that are sufficiently rich in ideas and in which an author's meaning is not explicit raise the interpretive questions necessary for a Shared Inquiry Discussion. Only well-crafted selections, works that are thematically complex and cohesive, can suggest a variety of interpretations with supporting evidence from the text, rather than merely encouraging personal opinions.

Second, a selection must raise questions of genuine interest for adults as well as students. Ideally, in preparing for a Shared Inquiry Discussion, trained leaders do not rely on a teacher's manual, or look to an answer key. Instead they experience the same kind of intensive engagement with the literary work as their students: they read the text at least twice, note whatever they find puzzling and thought-provoking, and write interpretive questions that express their own search for meaning. Because these questions reflect the leaders' own genuine interest and curiosity about the meaning of a selection, students experience their teacher in a new role -- as an active and involved partner searching for solutions, not a teacher who knows all the correct answers. The intellectual respect leaders show for their students' ideas also engenders in students the expectation that they can find answers within themselves, thereby taking responsibility for their own learning.

Third, selections must be limited in length so that students can read each selection at least twice and work with it closely. Through concentrated work on a single text over a period of several classroom sessions, students learn how to examine details, draw connections, reflect upon a character's motivations -- always with the purpose of working out answers to substantial questions of interpretation.

Fourth, selections must be age appropriate. A primary criterion for selecting a text is the appropriateness of its theme -- its philosophical or problematic ideas -- to the students' intellectual and emotional growth and interests. However, leaders also can guide their students in broadening their tastes and ideas.

Prepare for Classroom Discussion--Students should then read the selection at least twice and take notes before they are ready to discuss it. Sometimes the first reading is done together during class. Oral reading brings a text alive. It also enables students to concentrate on the literary work rather than the mechanics of reading, and gives them confidence in their ability to understand the language and facts of the story when they read it on their own. Active reading and note taking are important techniques used in preparing every selection for discussion.

Shared Questions activities are encouraged throughout the discussion preparation. Questions can be classified into three categories, or placed on three levels that readers experience when reading literature. The first and most fundamental is that of fact: all of the "givens" of a work. In fiction, any information the author provides about the world of the story -- every detail of setting, character, or plot -- is a "fact," whether or not it corresponds to our perception of reality. In nonfiction, the author's statements, lines of argument, and conclusions are "facts." A question of fact has only one correct answer. It asks participants to recall something the author says, and can usually be answered by pointing to a passage in the selection. However, sometimes a question of fact cannot be answered by pointing to any single place in the text -- rather its answer must be inferred from other facts in the selection. Factual discussions are times for students to clear up misreadings, to understand vocabulary, and to set the selection more firmly in their minds. More important, by forming questions based on a student's initial responses, the teacher gives him or her a starting point for interpretive thinking, and lays the foundation for the next level of reading: interpretive.

To interpret a story a student constructs explanations of what the author wants the reader to think about and experience in his or her own words. Unlike factual questions, interpretive questions have more than one reasonable answer that can be supported with evidence from the text. Because good interpretive questions raise substantial problems of meaning that can be interpreted in more than one way based on evidence in the story, they are capable of sustaining a rewarding discussion. The core of the Shared Inquiry Method is exploring answers to interpretive questions.

Particularly in the Japanese classroom, where students are hesitant to express themselves, it is important to prepare for the interpretive question discussion in writing. Students are given an interpretive question as homework and asked to write out their responses to the question and to cite the pages in the text where the evidence to support their interpretation can be found. This step facilitates discussion. After discussions they also write their opinions and explain why they did or did not change their thinking because of the classroom dialogue. (For further suggestions on how to adapt the Shared Inquiry Method to the Japanese classroom see Browning & Halvorsen, 1995; Browning, Halvorsen, & Ahlquist, 1996.)

The third level is evaluative. Evaluative questions ask students to think about a work in light of their own knowledge and values or experiences in life, and to decide to what extent they agree with the author's ideas or point of view. Just as a firm grasp of the facts is essential to thoughtful interpretation, a solid understanding of the author's meaning is the basis for intellectual evaluation. If the evaluative step is introduced into the discussion prematurely before the meaning of a work has been fully explored, students tend to talk about personal opinions and ramble about their own experiences that do not relate to the literary work being discussed. Evaluative questions have no "right" or "wrong" answers; instead they depend upon the student's own interpretation of a work and his or her personal values, experience, and knowledge. The steps described above help prepare readers for stimulating Shared Inquiry Discussions first on the factual level, then on the interpretive level (where most of the discussion time is spent), and finally on the evaluative level. (For a detailed explanation of how to prepare for Shared Inquiry Discussions, see Great Books Foundation, 1991; Great Books Foundation, 1992.)

Conclusion

The writers of this paper recommend that teachers of English language and literature in Japan take the Basic Leader Training Course and use the Shared Inquiry Method in their classrooms for the following reasons. The Shared Inquiry Method is an alternative approach to teaching English which addresses the objectives of the Japanese Ministry of Education National Guidelines for Teaching English. Second, it is a refreshing and intellectually challenging way to teach. To come away from a classroom session stimulated by the students' ideas and discussion is personally rewarding for any caring teacher. Third, students enjoy the Shared Inquiry Method. It seems to nurture in them a love of English, a desire to communicate, a self-confidence in their own reactions and analyses, and well-reasoned answers. Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, the Shared Inquiry Method develops in students the habits of inquiry and intellectual exchange essential to independent, critical thinking, and a lifetime of learning.

References

Browning, C., & Halvorsen, J. (1995). The Shared Inquiry Method for English language and literature classes in Japan. The Language Teacher 19(9), 22-24.

Browning, C., Halvorsen, J., & Ahlquist, D. (in press). Adapting the Shared Inquiry Method to the Japanese classroom. In G. van Troyer & S. Cornwell (Eds.), On JALT 95: Curriculum and Evaluation. Tokyo: Japan Association for Language Teaching.

Carter, N., Goold, R., & Madeley, C. (1993). The new Monbusho guidelines: Part two. The Language Teacher 17(11), 3-7, 39.

Goold, R., Carter, N., & Madeley, C. (1994). The new Monbusho guidelines: Part three. The Language Teacher 18(1), 4-7.

Goold, R., Madeley, C., & Carter, N. (1993). The new Monbusho guidelines: Part one. The Language Teacher 17(6), 3-5.

Great Books Foundation. (1991). An introduction to shared inquiry (2nd ed.). Chicago: Great Books Foundation.

Great Books Foundation. (1992). An introduction to shared inquiry (3rd ed.). Chicago: Great Books Foundation.

Carol Browning and Jerald Halvorsen are certified Junior Great Books discussion leaders. Their workshop is sponsored by The Great Books Foundation.