Language Skills and Critical Thinking in High School
High school students face increasing demands on their language and critical thinking skills, both in class and in social situations. Speech therapists play a key role in helping students develop these skills, ensuring success in the classroom and beyond. Speech therapy can target language comprehension, problem-solving, and multi-step reasoning, which are all crucial for critical thinking (ASHA, 2023).
Assessment Tasks for Critical Thinking and Language Skills
To assess a student's language and critical thinking abilities, SLPs may use standardized language assessments, such as the Test of Problem-Solving (TOPS) or the CELF-5 (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals). These tools help measure how well a student understands and processes information, formulates responses, and reasons through problems, pinpointing specific areas of need, such as predicting, inferencing, or using logic to draw conclusions.
Treatment Exercises to Enhance Skills
In speech therapy, exercises that promote critical thinking often involve problem-solving scenarios, debates, and analyzing written or spoken material. SLPs might use strategies and activities like:
- Open-ended questions: Asking students to explain their thinking or predict outcomes helps develop reasoning skills. Given pictures or scenarios, students might be asked to explain what someone is thinking or might do next.
- Debate and discussion: Engaging in structured discussions allows students to practice articulating their thoughts, listening to others, and defending their viewpoints logically. For example, students might be asked to think of reasons for and against holding classes over the summer.
- Story retell and analysis: Breaking down a story or situation into its key elements and discussing character motives and outcomes helps students with both comprehension and critical thinking.
- Mock interviews: Conduct mock interviews where students practice introducing themselves, discussing strengths and weaknesses, and responding to common interview questions. This can help students to articulate their thoughts and develop greater self-awareness and confidence.
- Creating a "How-To" Presentation: Ask students to choose a skill they’re familiar with and create a step-by-step tutorial. This helps with sequencing and explaining concepts clearly.
Because high school speech and language therapy focuses on postsecondary preparation along with other coursework, activities and strategies should all be focused on functional and age-appropriate topics. For students with more complex needs, ASHA emphasizes the importance of referrals to other professionals. Collaboration with teachers, psychologists, and special education teams ensures a comprehensive approach to addressing a student's language and cognitive development (ASHA, 2023).
References:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2023). Adolescent Language Development.