English for Academic and Professional Purposes

I. Objectives:
1. State the nature and purpose of critiques and reaction papers;
2. Articulate the value of critical thinking, reading, writing;
3. Analyze and give examples of personal experiences that required the use of
critical thinking.

II. Subject Matter

Topic: Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing
Reference: Enhanced English Engagements: English for Academic and
Professional Purposes, Unit II, Lesson 1, on pp 35-29
Values: Critical thinking as a God-given ability and its exercise as an intellectual
and moral responsibility

III. Procedures
A. Preparatory Activity
- Prayer
- Checking of attendance

B. Motivation
Imagine this scenario: It’s presidential campaign season. In few days, you,
along with many other registered voters, are going to elect a new president. Two
candidates, Candidate A and Candidate B, are vying for the position. As a
responsible voter, you’ve decided to do some reading before you reach a
decision. So you take a look at the two candidate’s campaign materials. Below
are the brochures of Candidate A and B.

Vote for Candidate A!

He comes from a long line of public servants!

His mother was the former Representative of the Third District of Province Iloilo;
his father, a former Senator. Public service runs in his blood!

His heart is with the masses!

Candidate A’s grandparents were but poor fisher folk. But through sheer hard work
and faith in God, they were able to send their children to school.

Vote for Candidate B!

Even before running for office, Candidate B was already a trusted public servant!
She was president of the Youth for Tomorrow Foundation, which has received
international recognition for its work in empowering the youth.

Her promise for tomorrow:

Candidate B will continue to work in empowering the youth through livelihood and
educational programs.

Now, who do you think is the better candidate? What makes you say so?
C. Presentation
-Unit
-Lesson
-Objectives

D. Discussion

Before writing critiques and reaction papers, it is important to first know the
kind of thinking that produces these forms of writing: critical thinking. As
you’ll find out, critical thinking is an important skill. It’s something that we
apply not just in the writing of papers; it’s something we need to use in
different life situations.

Critical Thinking- is evaluative thinking. To evaluate means to carefully weigh

any idea, action, decision, or piece of work (like painting or a research paper) to
consider its merits or demerits. Thus, to criticize and to evaluate both mean to
judge; judgments-contrary to popular belief-can be both positive and negative.

Critical Reading-to read critically means to apply critical thinking skills upon
the things that we read-which includes many types of materials since much of
what we need for daily activities we get through reading: from the mundane
like the cafeteria menu, to the critically life-saving, like the correct dosage for
medicine.

-Critical reading skill is important not just in your academics; it is actually a

life skill-one that has great value especially in the internet age, where the
problem is no longer the lack of information, but the overabundance of all sorts
of information, from every source imaginable. Thus the important questions
are: which information should I believe in? Should I just believe everything I
read?

Critical Writing-is a product of critical thinking and reading. It is our judgment

(of an idea, action, decision, or piece of work) presented in a written form. In
the academic world, common forms of critical writing are reaction papers and
critiques, such as review of a performance or a piece of work, whether technical
or artistic.

Critiques-are papers that assess or evaluate the merits of a piece of work.

‘’Critique” according to Swales and Feak (2012) is French for “critical
assessment” which can mean a positive or negative judgment on the work, or a
combination of both. Thus, critique judges an assigned subject objectively,
using criteria.

Reaction Papers-are papers that present a writer’s evaluation of the work, as

well as his or her experiences and feelings in relation to the work being
evaluated. Thus, the reaction paper is like the critique but is more subjective,
as it allows the student to talk about how a particular work affected him or
her.

E. Application
1. What is critical thinking
2. What is the difference between a critique and a reaction paper? In what
ways they are the same?

F. Generalization
Many times we tend to believe that we are people who weigh things carefully
before making a decision. However, that may not be always the case.

Consider for instance, people’s voting behavior. While we hear the admonition
“vote wisely” all the time, you might be surprised that very few people actually
ensure that they make wise choices by diligently researching the candidates’
 background and performance record. Many people simply rely on recall-which
is affected by how frequently a candidates’ campaign teams. These become the
basis for their all-important decisions.

How about you? When voted in the last election, what served as your basis for
choosing? Did you use critical thinking in reaching your decision?

G. Evaluation

1. Identify a situation in which you used critical thinking. What was your goal?
What were the standards you used?
2. Give examples of critiques and reaction papers that you read recently. What
was your purpose in reading these text?
3. Do you think critical thinking is important? What would happen if people
don’t think critically?