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Teaching Literature: Enhancing Students Critical Thinking through Literature Critical thinking ability can be used for almost all aspect of life, it is include the use of critical thinking in education where students should be able to make correct judgment on something in learning context and also individuals daily life where they need to make short kind of choice for various aspect in their life. Khatib (2012) emphasize that it is important for teacher to teach students critical thinking in order to make the students able to think critically and correctly. Critically and correctly in this case do not only rely on the ability to answer some short of questions provided by teacher in class but also the ability to make judgment upon the statement brought in a class, and also the ability to make decision (Case, 2002; Taylor & Patterson, 2000 as cited in Khatib,2012). There are two methods of teaching critical thinking to students in general way or not in the English as Foreign Learning (EFL) context. The first method is to modify the lesson to enhance critical thinking such as adding some activity of exercises, laboratories, homework, term papers and exam. The next method is to adapt techniques by expert such as exercises, programs, or material (Schafersman, 1991 as cited in Khatib, 2012). If we apply it in EFL class, it may be useful to enhance students critical thinking, but that kind of methods can be used in other classroom learning context. Thus, it will more likely to make students bored if the activities in all course rely on the same focus. In EFL context, we are familiar with literary text. In this case, literary text can be useful to enhance students critical thinking because the activity that is usually conducted is analyzing some literary text such as poetry, story, novels, or a play script. Literary text like poetry always have metaphorical meaning or meaning beyond the surface of the poem itself. Thus, it require students ability to make judgment on what kind of purpose that the writer tried intended to deliver through the poem itself. The delivery of students judgment itself require logical reasoning which supported by evidence. Thus, it will be very effective to enhance students critical thinking by learning

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through literary work analysis. My argument also supported by (Hall, 2005, Langer, 2000 as cited in Khatib & Janpour, 2012) who stated that literature reading are different with reading other types of text since it is promote critical thinking. Furthermore, reading literature which require the students to look behind and beyond the text with the formulation of hypothesis and also future development can develop students analytical and interpretative thinking. There are two basic reasons why teaching literature are somewhat effective to enhance students critical thinking which will be explained below. The first is the fact that literature itself is always has meaning beyond the surface. Thus, it is believed that by doing analysis of certain literary text, it will exercise the activity which enhance critical thinking as it refer to the definition of critical thinking as an activity which consist of high order thinking activity such as reflection, inference, synthesizing information to make reasonable judgment as it is stated by (Beaumont, 2010 as it cited in Madondo, 2012). It is also supported by (Chi-An & Shu-Yin, 2009) which stated that literature reading involves students ability to recall, retrieve, and reflect their prior knowledge in order to be able to judge the literal or implied meaning, differentiate facts or opinion, understand narrators tone, locate issues, to infer the causal comparative between event and action, to be able to perform with different point of view, to make moral reasoning and fair judgment about what the students read and the other aspect related to students real life. In this case, (Brunt, 2005; Facione, 2007; Halpern, 1998; Lazere, 1987 as cited in ChiAn & Shu-Yin, 2009) stated that those kinds of activities focus and related to the activities which are usually done in critical thinking class. The second reason why it can be effective to enhance students critical thinking is the fact that literary work are closely related to life. The nature of literature is claimed to be directly related with reality. However, one also stated that literature even has more powerful and significant role in life because it may become the tool to criticize life (Madondo, 2012).

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As it stated before, the use of critical thinking are also related to the ability of individuals in making decision about their daily life matters. Thus, by analyzing and studying literary text which consist of matter which directly reflect on daily life matters may give reference to the students in taking up action since they have already stored a schemata about particular matters by analyzing a literary text. For example, in the second semester there is a poem studied where a black African-American feel angry when they are called by Nigger by White American. By analyzing such poem for American students right now may give reference that it is bad and offensive to call Black African-American Nigger. Students may study the causal relationship between events and action by the study of a poem and it will build a new schemata stored in their brain to help them making further judgment or decision on particular actions. As the fact that literature is reflect our daily life, and the result of analysis may be applied directly to students daily life decision making, it will be easier for the students to build the concept of critical thinking in facing a case either in other subject under the educational field and the case that they found in their daily life. My argument is supported by Madondo (2012) who stated that in investigating the literature context in terms of cultural context such as sexism, segregation and so on will expose the social ills and it will make learners attention can be drawn to the social issue happened in certain literary works thus being more cautions in taking up actions and judge the surrounding. In conclusion, enhancing students critical thinking in EFL classroom context will be more interesting and effective by teaching literature as the media to show students how to be critically respond to a case and practicing some critical thinking activities through the reading and analyzing a literary works. It is also believe that it would perform good practice on ctitical thinking concept since the conclusion learned by analyzing literary works will be able to be applied in the students daily life. Thus, since the students have experience on its

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application, it will enhance students critical thinking ability by the understanding of concept through practice and application.

References Khatib, M., (2012). Critical Thinking Skills through Literary and Non-Literary Texts in English Course. International Journal of Linguistics Vol. 4, No. 4 Retrieved from http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/ijl/article/download/2928/pdf Chi-An, T. & Shu-Ying, C., (2009). Developing Critical Thinking through Literature Reading. Feng China Journal of Humanities and Social Science pp. 283-317, No. 19 Retrieved from http://www.fcu.edu.tw/wSite/publicfile/Attachment/f1262069682958.pdf Khatib, M. & Janpour, J., (2012). Literary Text and Critical Thinking. Advance in English Linguistic (AEL) Vol. 1, No. 2 Retrieved from http://worldsciencepublisher.org/journals/index.php/AEL/article/view/798/626 Madondo, N., (2012). Teaching Literature for Critical Thinking in a Secondary School. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Retrieved from http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10413/9566/Madondo_Nko sinathi_E_2012.pdf?sequence=1