Development of critical thinking as an important component of the professional competence of higher education students

Abstract

The article deals with the development of critical thinking skills of students of higher education in the process of learning the German language. The essence of the concept “critical thinking” and its influence on educational activity are analyzed and summarized. It is emphasized that critical thinking is the ability to analyze information from the standpoint of logic and a personal-psychological approach, applying the obtained results to both standard and non-standard situations, issues, problems, etc. It is determined what qualities the students should have and how a teacher can form these skills in them for further use in the professional field. Considerable attention is paid to Bloom's taxonomy in its modern version and the division of critical thinking skills into lower (memorization, understanding, application) and higher (analysis, evaluation, creativity) levels. Examples of tasks for each level of the cognitive process from the educational component “Practical course of the German language with speaking practice” are given on the following topics: Geographische Lage Deutschlands, Sprachenlernen, Die bekanntesten deutschen Erfindungen, Politik in Deutschland, Gesundheitssystem in Deutschland, Feste in Deutschland. The proposed tasks direct the students to the development of creative abilities, improve communication skills, and also motivate them to study the German language.

Key words: critical thinking skills; methodological techniques; German language; communicative component; Bloom's taxonomy.