Four Skills for Teaching:The Use of Targeted Higher-Level Thinking Instruction in a Pre-Service Teacher Training Course

Pre-service English teachers in Japan are required to graduate with a CEFR B2 level of language proficiency and to be adept communicators who are able to impart 21st-century skills to their future students. In this article, three university EFL educators describe a new program for pre-service teachers aimed at supplementing their English teaching methodology courses by bringing theory into practice. A key objective of the teacher-trainer support center at the university was to implement a course for third-year students in which the students could practice critical and reflective thinking as well as become more familiar with cooperative, collaborative, digital, project-based, and performance-based teaching pedagogies. In order to meet this objective, the authors used an integrated task-based course design in combination with a sociological framework of higher-level thinking skills （Geertsen, 2003）. An overview of this program is discussed, including two integrated language task examples, followed by research findings from post-task reflections from the students. It was found that a strategic and targeted approach to critical and reflective thinking through integrated language tasks gives students opportunities to develop and practice 21st century skills in preparation for the EFL classroom. ; departmental bulletin paper