Inna Samoylyukevych

Critical Thinking as a Conditio Sine Qua Non for University-Level Foreign Lan-guage Teachers' Professional Development

Critical Thinking as a Conditio Sine Qua Non for University-Level Foreign Language Teachers' Professional Development

Inna Samoylyukevych

Vilnius University / Institute of Foreign Languages Lithuania

The rapid development of the information society causes new challenges to higher educa-tion, continuously encouraging faculty development. In this respect, it is crucial to draw attention to cultivating university-level teachers' critical thinking as a necessary condition for enabling them to effectively sift through today's information overload, find new and different ways of solving
educational problems, as well as to play an exemplary role in students' use of critical thinking skills [1]. Issues of incorporating critical thinking skills in language education have recently been tack-led in the field of research development on teachers' critical thinking [2], foreign language teaching in HEI and the labour market [3], as a component of the CPD framework for teacher educators [4], etc. 
The present study reports on the analysis of the role of critical thinking in foreign language teachers' professional development within the project on the implementation of the CEFR Companion Volume [4] into the teaching/learning process at Vilnius University (Lithuania) in 2019-2022 [5]. A qualitative case study research was chosen as the number of participants was limited. Convenience sampling was used, the participants being selected among English language teachers delivering courses at different faculties and study programmes who volunteered to participate in the survey. 
The qualitative analysis of anonymous teachers' responses to a questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions resulted in identifying the ways teachers' critical thinking can contribute to
professional development concerning the curriculum, teaching and students. The findings showed that critical engagement in received knowledge in the process and as a result of professional de-velopment ensures university-level foreign language teachers' active participation in the culture of teaching and learning, reflection on their own proficiency in critical thinking skills as part of their professional competence and ability to foster students' critical thinking.

Keywords: critical thinking skills, professional development, foreign language teachers, higher education, curriculum

References 
1 Borg, S. (Ed.). (2015). Professional development for English language teachers: Perspectives from higher education in Turkey. Ankara: British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teaching/files/pub_British%20Council%20CPD.PDF
2 Wang, D., Jia, Q. (2023). Twenty years of research development on teachers' critical thinking: Current status and future implications – A bibliometric analysis of research articles collected in WOS. Thinking Skills and Creativity. 2023, 48,101252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101252 
3 Postič, S.; Kriaučiūnienė, R.; Ivancu, O. (2023). Viewpoints on the Development of Critical Thinking Skills in the Process of Foreign Language Teaching in Higher Education and the Labor Market. Educ.Sci.2023,13,152. https:// doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020152
4 British Council (2015). Teaching for success: Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Framework for teacher educators. British Council Publishing, London. 
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/CPD_framework_for_teachers_WEB.PDF
5 Council of Europe (2020), Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment – Companion volume, Council of Europe Publishing, Stras-bourg, available at www.coe.int/lang-cefr.

Biography
Inna Samoylyukevych is an Associate Professor at the Department of Research of Languages for Specific Purposes, Institute of  Foreign Languages, Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University
Born in Ukraine, graduated from Zhytomyr Ivan Franko Pedagogical Institute, Ukraine (teacher of English and German). She obtained her PhD degree (Kyiv State Linguistic University, Ukraine). She worked at Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University, Ukraine (Professor, Head of the Depart-ment of the English Language and Primary ELT Methodology). Fulbright scholar ( University of Missouri-Saint Louis, USA). National English language curriculum and course book writer. Her research interests include ELT methodology and foreign language teachers' professional development, and comparative studies in language teacher education.