Global Education Center, Chukyo University, Japan
The Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIO) movement has shown that teaching historical content can effectively facilitate language acquisition. In North American social studies education, “historical thinking” refers to a set of critical thinking skills that aid students in reading and comprehending historical narratives. The realm of social studies education provides examples of how historical thinking can be integrated into CLIO instruction, making lessons more participatory and engaging for language learners. During this workshop, participants explored the “Five Cs” of historical thinking: Change, Context, Causality, Contingency, and Complexity. These five themes lie at the core of historians’ methods for questioning and investigating the past. They also serve as valuable guidelines for learners aiming to become more autonomous in evaluating historical texts and developing deeper understandings of foreign cultures and languages. One aspect of historical thinking skills involves using evidence to interpret, reconstruct, and deconstruct narratives from the past. Participants in this demonstration will engage in two interactive group activities and utilize materials that illustrate how to teach historical thinking skills in English language courses. These activities will not only demonstrate how learners can conduct critical readings of historical texts while connecting them to broader historical contexts but also offer additional ideas for teachers seeking to create and integrate critical thinking exercises in their own content-based classes.
Keywords: History, Historical Thinking, Critical Thinking
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The 10th International Conference on Languages, Linguistics, Translation and Literature (WWW.TLLL.IR), 1-2 February 2025, Ahwaz.
