Methodology for developing critical thinking during text interpretation classes in the process of summarizing articles (based on materials of the printed edition "The Economist")

Abstract

The progressive transformation of modern education, coupled with the pervasive impact of digitalization across all social spheres and the broader digital development of a society, underscores the urgency of establishing effective methodologies for fostering students’ critical thinking during practical classes focused on text interpretation. Summarizing the information is one of the main components of the professional training for future specialists with a wide range of perception and analysis of surrounding realities. Generalization of information, presented in the texts of the printed edition of "The Economist", is of a particular importance in the training of specialists who will connect their professional activities with the social and humanitarian direction, translation, mentoring, methodology, etc. Modern universities should apply a holistic approach to the formation of critical and analytical thinking of the students, especially due to the continuous flow of information and the need to check its reliability and significance. The purpose of scientific research is to analyze the methodology for implementing and developing critical thinking in text interpretation classes in the process of summarizing articles (based on the material of the modern English-language edition “The Economist”).

The research methods align with the established goals and objectives, drawing upon principles of analysis and the deliberate selection of strategies for integrating critical thinking into the educational process, supported by theoretical justification and methodological grounding. In the course of conducting the given research, the empirical scientific method -  content analysis is further refined. The  findings indicate that modern institutions of higher education should adopt a comprehensive approach to the developing students' critical thinking skills. This is particularly important in the context of a continuous flow of information and the growing need for its objective evaluation. In this regard, the integration of practical classes focused on text interpretation proves to be especially valuable.

Therefore, a structure for successful summarizing of the English articles is defined, which includes the following components: to determine the main idea or topic of the article; to translate from English into Ukrainian; to reflect on / make notes or underline key thoughts, important arguments; to emphasize the main sentence, statement of each paragraph, but it is necessary to avoid details that serve as an additional source of explanations, verbal decorations and descriptions in the original text; to make a written summary. The text should be concise and logical; think it over, correct errors, remove burdensome details that do not carry a semantic load; the summary should follow the same line of argumentation and analysis as the author and the volume should not exceed one third of the original text.