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

The focus of this article is why it is important to cultivate middle school students’ critical thinking and explore its significance, obstacles, and the problems of developing these abilities. It explores different interpretations of critical thinking and charts its development from a cognitive ability to a more comprehensive cognitive and dispositional characteristic. The author focuses on activities which promote critical thinking in teaching foreign languages and highlights how important it is for educators to provide dynamic, interesting exercises that inspire students' critical thinking and inventiveness.