TEACHING CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM – SOLVING SKILLS THROUGH FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

The article examines the relationship between the argumentation and problem-solving tasks, as well as the foreign language instruction with emphasis on the middle school learners and the contemporary practices. It is argued that foreign language learning assists students to develop their personality by exposing them to some critical and creative approaches to problem solving. In particular, some of the teaching methods and their importance in relation to the cognitive skills and the international outlook of the young students are discussed.