USING A CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING MODEL FOR DEVELOPING SOME CRITICAL READING AND ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING SKILLS AMONG ALAZHAR SECONDARY STAGE STUDENTS

The ultimate aim of teaching English as foreign language(TEFL) in the secondary stage is to enable learners to use it for authentic communication. Engaging in any form of communication entails mastery of mechanisms by which the person can express emotions and opinions, convey concepts and intentions and respond properly to any situation. Recently, the growing development of information and communication technology has made critical reading and argumentative writing more essential. Logging on to the varied digital resources and keeping into contact with others via e-mail and other social communication sites have increasingly become indispensable activity of everyday life. Hence, more emphasis should be given to teaching those skills to enable learners to become more competent and critical when interacting with any media.
Language learning does not only involve internalizing sets of rules, structures and forms; each learner brings her/his own experience and world knowledge to put up with the target language or task at hand. Apparently, constructivism supports autonomy that relates to learners’ behavior, attitudes, motivation and self-concept. As a result, constructivism approaches encourage and promote self-directed learning as a necessary condition for learner autonomy.