Unveiling Critical Thinking: Instructional Strategies to Enhance Argumentation

Abstract

Argumentative writing serves as a stage where students showcase their critical thinking, a skill they already possess and have cultivated throughout their lives. However, it is argued that learners need instances within the classroom to activate this thinking, enriching it under the guidance of their teachers. It is the teacher who shapes and adapts the pedagogical environment, enabling students to respond naturally and spontaneously to meet class objectives. In the upcoming chapter, the implementation of a didactic sequence designed to enhance the argumentation skills of Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) students. This approach provided opportunities for students to, through reading and writing, interpret situations, analyze messages, evaluate options, infer conclusions, take positions, and explain them, actively monitoring their argumentation and writing process. This strategy embodies active learning in an environment facilitated by the teacher, where students forge their critical thinking.

1. Introduction

A foreign language learner, considered a social agent, develops comprehension and expression skills that enable effective communication and assertive action in social interactions. The communicative tasks they fulfill are not solely related to language usage but are connected to goal-oriented actions that require critical thinking to respond, as they are associated with reflection and, above all, action in the face of social issues. This implies the need to adopt an alternative and humanistic attitude toward language education, as the critical dimension aligns with humanistic rather than technical approaches. These social acts lead the learner to make decisions that necessitate critical thinking and action.

Critical thinking comes into play in all language learner interactions due to the immediate information processing they are exposed to. Therefore, the descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) [1] envision a recognition of proficiency in the use of linguistic repertoire and knowledge appropriate to social situations. Learners enhance their language proficiency in an integrated manner, based on the development of their reactive and mediating capacity, as determined by foreign language curricula and teachers. The teacher guides students to apply their learning in real-life situations, ensuring that learning is activity-based. In the context of learning a foreign language in a classroom, the teacher facilitates the empowerment of students’ thinking and skills, preparing them to independently address situations beyond the classroom.

This implies that critical thinking should not be understood as something individuals can acquire through the practice of specific materials, nor is it something teachers provide to their students for use. The idea of capitalizing on the critical thinking learners already possess also implies that as it is put into practice to address social issues, this thinking will find alternatives for development and qualification. This chapter describes the scope of research conducted to obtain the Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics of Spanish as a Foreign Language at the Pontifical Javeriana University in Bogotá, Colombia. The objective was to observe and interpret how, through the implementation of a didactic sequence centered around the analysis of editorial cartoons, students of Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) create their own argumentative texts [2].

This didactic proposal, called ArguméntELE, illustrates how students actively engaged in their learning process to write an argumentative text in a foreign language, considering the teacher’s role in promoting activities that developed critical thinking skills in students through a didactic sequence. Students actively participated in constructing arguments, collaborating with peers, and applying language skills in practical, real-world contexts. Regarding the activities and exercises in the didactic sequence, it is interpreted that they constantly encourage the use of the different critical thinking skills described by Facione [3]. These skills are activated by designing and implementing activities that include the characteristics of each cognitive skill and emphasize a situation that allows its use. Therefore, it is expected that the activities in the didactic sequence will serve as supporting material for language teachers to include and adapt them in their classes to strengthen the student’s critical dimension as a social, intercultural, and autonomous actor.

2. Theoretical contextualization: critical thinking in communicative tasks

Understanding the context within which communication takes place requires the activation and use of critical thinking. In a social interaction, explicit aspects, such as language and its structure, and implicit aspects, such as the speakers’ intentions or hidden cultural traits, are reflected. Foreign language learners are expected to participate appropriately and effectively based on their performance within the framework of their proficiency level. According to Facione [3], critical thinking is vital for society. It is essential for individuals facing situations where they must act to contribute assertively to improvement or transformation within immediate social and intercultural contexts. As social actors, individuals are involved in economic, political, and cultural processes, and each action impacts society. Therefore, the ability to interpret, analyze, evaluate, infer, explain, and self-reflect results in reasoned actions as ways for a critical thinker to effectively intervene in each situation.

In a consensus on critical thinking [3], experts agreed that several cognitive skills share characteristics with the core skills of critical thinking, such as interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation. Consequently, a learner proficient in these skills is considered an expert in critical thinking. It is crucial to foster critical thinking in teaching and learning processes through activities that include real situations (social, cultural, political, and educational) from the immersion context and its specific realities. This consideration arises first from the understanding that a student, when not a critical thinker, may be easily persuaded in their immediate context. Second, it ensures that SFL students need to be critical thinkers to function as social agents within a community, seeking improvement in any social or intercultural situation. As suggested by Pascale et al. [4] as a social agent, the learner must be able, according to their needs in the public, personal, professional, and/or educational sphere, to engage in transactions requiring immediate participation. This response implies that the learner must consider and interpret the entire situation, necessitating critical thinking skills such as interpretation, analysis, and inference to explain their ideas, evaluate, and reflect on results and their implications.

While these skills are innate, they need to be strengthened in a foreign language learning context. Thus, if a learner can successfully complete specific communicative tasks according to their proficiency level, they should also be able to demonstrate their cognitive abilities. This involves awareness of natural processing in their first language and reflection on how to express and understand information. Strengthening critical thinking is not only important in general education, as stated in Refs. [5, 6], but also in teaching a foreign language. Through the voices of these authors, it is emphasized that students need to use critical thinking skills to evaluate not only simple and everyday situations critically but also to wisely address situations that arise in other cultures. Learning a foreign language distinguishes language as a resource that allows the development of critical thinking by serving as both a means of communication and an instrument for constructing thought. As a result, active learning serves as a foundational framework by integrating engaging communicative tasks, enhancing cognitive skills, and emphasizing critical thinking, thus enriching the learning experience in foreign language education.

The student is considered a critical thinker in the context in which they operate and in their own learning processes. Consequently, it is advisable for the SFL teacher to recognize the importance of conducting activities that promote critical thinking skills as a complement to their classes. Teachers could also use the activities proposed in this research as a model to activate, strengthen, and improve critical thinking for students to achieve a high level of argumentation.

In a guided learning context where teachers propose activities with a learner-centered approach, it is recognized that active learning enhances critical thinking through activities developed by learners. Bonwell and Eison [7] state that students’ involvement can be increased by using strategies such as leading discussions and questioning techniques skillfully to engage students in a personal exploration of the subject matter. Students can engage in short writing activities in class, share what they have written in small groups, and participate in presentations, debates, and role-playing activities.

Materials for Spanish as a second language courses and even other languages must challenge claims, myths, and prejudices embedded in everyday discourse to counter-argue, disarm, review, and analyze one’s own perspectives and conceptions [8]. For learners of SFL, the target language of the conducted research, this skill is crucial during communication. Language communication involves a discourse where information is constantly given and received, influenced by language recognition, speaker gestures, tone of voice, intention, implicit messages, among other communicative aspects. Thus, it is essential to employ critical thinking skills to recognize the strengths or weaknesses of certain ideas. It is not just about expressing ideas but also about persuading others and drawing their conclusions based on the information received. According to Centro Virtual Cervantes [9], argumentation refers to the reasoned expression of a point of view through a word, a statement, or a text. Fostering argumentation becomes relevant within the teaching and learning processes of SFL, as it seeks to influence the opinions and persuasion of recipients.

By using interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation skills within activities in the class, a significant improvement in the level of argumentation when writing an argumentative text can be achieved, thereby enhancing critical thinking. Similarly, when arguing about a situation or problem, the use of these skills is necessary to ensure that the presented premises are strong, relevant, and well-founded. If an instructor’s goals include not only imparting information but also developing cognitive skills and changing attitudes, alternative teaching strategies should be interwoven with the lecture method during classroom presentations [7]. This recognizes the need to activate deeper cognitive skills for understanding and analyzing information to interact or act in response to it. From a linguistic perspective, pragmatics reveals the enrichment of language comprehension beyond literal expressions, facilitating the understanding of implicit meanings and activating deep cognitive skills by considering context, inferring implicit meanings, and understanding cultural and social nuances of language. Teachers can incorporate these aspects into their class activities. With active learning, for a successful discussion to take place, instructors must set specific objectives for the class period, structure questions appropriate for the material under consideration, and demonstrate techniques to extend students while maintaining a supportive environment [7].

Active learning is guided by specific objectives established according to cognitive skills, as Kosslyn [10] estimates that it is not just about learning by doing, but activities need to be designed with a specific objective and keep students engaged. Kosslyn [10] also asserts that the key is to design activities appropriate to a set of knowledge and skills that students are aware of to achieve learning outcomes. This notion reinforces the activities proposed in the didactic sequence of this research, where each task aims to activate a critical thinking skill to develop communicative tasks.

2.1 Pragmatics and communicative competence

Pragmatics is defined as the discipline that studies language use, considering the relationship between the statement, the interlocutors, and the context in which the communication process unfolds. Therefore, its level of analysis focuses on how speakers interpret and produce messages in specific contexts [11]. For this reason, the research considered that the interpretation of editorial cartoons, as material in the classroom, should be based on the critical reading of extralinguistic elements, such as the author’s communicative intention or the social and cultural context it represents.

From the dimensions of written comprehension and expression, it is relevant to consider aspects of foreign language learning and teaching, such as the competencies that learners must develop. In a general framework, communicative competence is related, defined by Instituto Cervantes [11] as the ability of a person to behave effectively and appropriately in a specific speech community. This competence involves complying with a series of rules from a linguistic level, considering grammar, vocabulary, and semantics, etc., and from the level of language use, considering the sociocultural contexts where the communicative process unfolds. In other words, communicative competence is the ability to express linguistically correct messages without creating misunderstandings in specific intercultural contexts.

From communicative competence, several components emerge, such as linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic competences. According to Instituto Cervantes [1], linguistic competence refers to the formal knowledge of the language as a system and involves syntactic, lexical, and phonological skills independent of sociocultural contexts. Sociolinguistic competence involves sociocultural values or social conventions related to language use (courtesy norms, etc.). Finally, pragmatic competence refers to the speaker’s ability to make communicative use of language, considering not only the relationships between linguistic signs but also those between the communication context and the interlocutors.

From all the above, it can be suggested that effective understanding and analysis of hidden realities implied in editorial cartoons, for example, require the learner to develop the ability to identify these described extralinguistic elements. In many cases, these elements do not reflect the learner’s sociocultural context of origin. Therefore, with the design of the didactic sequence, activities were planned for the learner to have opportunities in the classroom to develop pragmatic competence together with linguistic and sociolinguistic competencies. In this way, their level of argumentation could improve, as they were able to generate linguistically correct messages, which are relevant and well-justified arguments avoiding possible misunderstandings.

In the chosen population of the conducted research and based on the authors’ teaching experience primarily, it was found that in SFL courses in a school in Bogotá, Colombia, students demonstrated a low level of argumentation for their proficiency level, according to the descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages [1]. This issue was evident with The Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test [12], which assesses critical thinking skills in a written argumentative text, although critical thinking in this test is reduced to an instrumental dimension, as it demands predetermined argumentative writing skills proposed by the CEFR descriptors [1].

This type of research provides fundamental theoretical foundations to enrich the practices of the researching teachers in the school under study and, in turn, benefit the learning processes of SFL students. Critical thinking skills must be put into practice in an SFL class because they are present in all students. However, the aim is for both the teacher and the student to be aware of their mental processes to increase their level of argumentation. This way, aspects that need improvement during class activities can be discovered to address the identified phenomenon. It is not about recognizing that the pedagogical practices applied are wrong but rather analyzing different ways and strategies to encourage the use of critical thinking skills in students.

3. Proposal and research methodology

This proposal and the research results were analyzed from a qualitative approach with an observation of students’ participation in the creation of their own texts within the environment created in the didactic sequence around cartoons, which was carried out during the application of the didactic material. For the implementation of the didactic sequence, there was an evaluation by a materials expert to confirm the methodology, and finally, an evaluation of the argumentative text they wrote to assess the use of arguments. This analysis allowed recognizing that students’ argumentation about controversial topics, such as the work environment exposed through cartoons, is mediated by their practice, and writing process, as revealed during the development of the didactic sequence. This sequence creates an active learning environment and is recognized as an engaging environment, which according to Narváez Pérez [13], is one where critical thinking is promoted through learning experiences that include exercises to ask and answer questions, synthesize, evaluate, compare, reflect, contextualize, make inferences, summarize, and solve problems. As advocated by the outlined didactic sequence.

3.1 Teaching strategy to promote argumentation

To enhance the argumentative skills of Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) students from a methodological and didactic perspective, a series of activities must be planned within a didactic sequence. The initial step involves the planning of activities, which stems from an analysis of the needs of the participating population. According to Woodward [14], class and course planning requires educators to think about their learners, content, materials, and activities, reflecting constantly on how to provide opportunities for students to enhance their learning. In other words, effective planning requires teachers to be aware of how to create a good class that aims to achieve the proposed cognitive goals. The teacher creates an active learning environment, which, according to Kosslyn [10], “improves how well students understand material, remember it, and know how to apply it across a wide range of situations.” Furthermore, it enhances the learning environment where the learner is the center, as Narváez Pérez [13] states, “creative activities are developed, points of view are explored, conclusions are drawn, deductive reasoning is practiced, hypotheses are questioned and formulated, analysis is carried out, comparisons are performed, new ideas are proposed, analysis is performed, and reflection is carried out.” Student-centered learning in the foreign language learning context enhances critical thinking, where the teacher plays the role of a mediator and facilitator of learning through applied strategies and resource utilization.

Regardless, it can be affirmed that for class planning to be effective, activities must be related to both learning objectives and student interests. These activities can be logically designed within a sequence. The Dictionary of Key Terms in SFL defines didactic sequence as a series of interconnected activities that aim to teach specific linguistic content within specific learning objectives. A set of activities may constitute a task, a complete lesson, or part of it. Depending on the type of activities, their characteristics, and their functions, the phases within the didactic sequence can be diversified. Also, the didactic sequence can incorporate principles of activity-based learning to ensure that these activities are not only interconnected but also designed to actively engage students, fostering a more dynamic and participatory learning experience through active learning.

Regarding these phases, Harmer [15] asserts that students need exposure, motivation, and opportunities to use language appropriately. Similarly, he acknowledges that students may react differently to stimuli, suggesting that most teaching sequences should integrate a series of characteristics or elements (hereinafter referred to as phases) that can last for minutes, hours, lessons, etc. In this regard, Harmer [15] proposes a series of phases that can ensure successful language learning. These phases include Motivation, Practice (controlled or free), and Interactive Explanation.

The didactic sequence of the research followed a communicative approach with a task-based methodology that presents a final task to set students in an active learning lesson where they are involved in higher-order thinking (analysis, synthesis, evaluation) [7], which involves writing an argumentative text about the work environment, as this is the central theme of the designed material. It is considered that certain characteristics of this type of text and the exercises proposed as facilitating tasks work in favor of metacognition when writing. For this reason, the didactic sequence is named ArguméntELE, as it is essential to promote good argumentation. Each of the activities proposed in this material responds to the theoretical contributions considered in the research, the needs of the students and their context, and the linguistic and functional contents of the PCIC (Plan Curricular del Instituto Cervantes) [11].

Furthermore, exercises that activate critical thinking skills relevant to argumentation processes must be proposed, and students are constantly asked for their opinions. With the completion of this research, the intention is to encourage teachers to activate the described critical thinking skills to increase their students’ level of argumentation. During the sequence, students are asked to express their opinions and justify them; but in the end, a comprehensive opinion is expected, considering aspects such as interpreting a problem in a situation, analyzing the factors involved in the situation, evaluating different options or points of view, hypothesizing about the inferred possibilities, explaining whether they agree or disagree, and also asking them to review their writing before submitting the final version.

Likewise, it is expected that students emphasize functional aspects for argumentation, as they are considered to have a great linguistic knowledge of their proficiency level, allowing them to understand instructions, statements, and express themselves to complete activities. According to the PCIC [11], students as social actors at this level have sufficient linguistic ability to present the details of a problem, make claims, and resolve conflicting situations by resorting to their ability to argue and persuasive language.

Thus, a total of 18 facilitating tasks are presented, allowing students to recognize various factors to enhance their level of argumentation, and they are tailored to each of the phases. Additionally, they are provided based on the four language skills for language learning (reading and listening comprehension, oral and written production). The didactic sequence comprises the following contents reflecting active learning:

Communicative Resources: Engage in problem interpretation, analyze factors, evaluate various options, propose hypotheses with inferred consequences, express agreement, or disagreement, and monitor the argumentation process. Active learning is exemplified as students participate actively in higher-order thinking processes like analysis, evaluation, and synthesis during problem-solving and argumentation.

Linguistic Resources: In accordance with PCIC [11], encompass expressions for opinions, assessments, agreement, disagreement, discourse organization, possibilities, and argumentation at the students’ language level. Active learning is apparent as students actively express opinions, assess information, and organize discourse, promoting language acquisition through practical application and interaction.

Lexical Resources: Utilize vocabulary for discussing work activities, unemployment, job search, and worker characteristics. Active learning is showcased through students’ exploration of pertinent vocabulary in real-world contexts, enhancing comprehension and retention through active engagement in discussions and exercises.

This sequence is characterized by starting with motivational activities related to the topic to be addressed within the proposed learning objectives. As explained earlier, these activities should be aligned with the learner’s interests and preferences to encourage their participation in the rest of the phases and activities. For the material designed to enhance the argumentation level of students, the exercises in the motivation phase provided an initial approach to reading and interpreting Quino’s cartoons. Then, with the free practice phase, the teacher could identify the students’ weaknesses to address them in the next phase. The free practice activities include exercises where students must give their initial perception of what they can interpret and analyze from the cartoons used. Regarding this phase, the designed material will integrate exercises of both oral and written productions without any restrictions regarding the interpretation of opinion cartoons. From their production, the aspects that need to be addressed in the Interactive Explanation phase can be defined.

Now, the material guiding the learning environment of the research is divided into the different moments of the boomerang didactic sequence proposed by Harmer [15], which was designed listing the following phases:

¡Involúcrate! (Get involved): In this phase, a motivation activity is presented that allows an analysis of the context of the situation proposed in the exercises. It involves sensitizing the student to approach the central themes of the material, which consist of different situations in the work environment.

The first activity involves reading a cartoon by Quino. As seen in Figure 1, the sign behind the characters says “El valor del trabajo” in Spanish, which means the value of work, and the questions: what do you see in this picture, what do you get when you do a job? Students must justify their answers. To do this, first, the student must read, recognizing each aspect of the image, such as the location of the characters, the possible relationship between them; second, a reading of the text accompanying the cartoon, which is a statement by one of the characters. It is expected that the student begins to relate to the topic of the work environment and the aspects found in a cartoon, such as the relationship between characters, the characteristics that describe that relationship, the theme, the author’s implicit message, the hidden reality reflected, and that the student identifies with the situation or can identify if that reality is present in their country or context.

Figure 1.

Cartoon to contextualize in the motivation activity.

¡Actívate! (Activate Yourself): In this phase, the student is allowed to engage in free practice to demonstrate their knowledge and seek, from their linguistic repertoire, to respond to the proposed language situation. Students are asked to take on the role of the person in charge of selecting a candidate for a job. This is illustrated in Figure 2, where the material replicates the webpage of a job portal to immerse the student in this real-life situation.

Figure 2.

Image to provide a role for the students in the practice activity.

The free practice phase aims for the student to identify how to argue by exploring and exploiting their prior knowledge. In the first step, students must identify aspects related to a job offer within an announcement based on candidate requirements. Then, with this information and two cover letters, they will decide which candidate is more suitable for the position and express it through an email justifying their opinion. In each activity of this phase, the student is free to respond from their linguistic repertoire, and aspects to be worked on in the next phase will be identified from their writing.

¡Aprende más! (Learn More): This is the central section of grammar presented with an interactive explanation. Discourse organizers (additive, consecutive, justificatory, information structuring, and counter-argumentative connectors) are exposed along with expressions useful when giving opinions, assessing, arguing, or counter-arguing an opinion. Figure 3 demonstrates how, in the material, the characters’ images are displayed, and linguistic resources that students can use to express themselves are highlighted in bold.

Figure 3.

Activity with linguistic resources as a reference in the interactive explanation.

With all the contextualization from the previous exercises, students are presented with the phase that allows them to focus on useful strategies to increase their level of argumentation, linguistic resources, and the specific activation of each of the critical thinking skills presented in the objectives. For this reason, the phase consists of a topic divided into six situations and exercises, one to emphasize the use of each skill. Also, each includes a red box explicitly describing each linguistic resource with examples.

The first point activates the interpretation skill. In this, the student must comprehend a text about the relationship between money and happiness in a specific context. Then, the student must identify the main idea of this article and each of its paragraphs to choose the appropriate discourse connector according to its function until completing it.

The second point encourages the use of analysis skills. This is developed by asking the student to identify the relationships between two important factors within a specific work environment: depression and the type of work. This information is presented in a graph showing that most workers with unpaid jobs show more symptoms of depression. Then, students must describe if this situation also occurs in their home countries.

The third point stimulates the use of the evaluation skill, as when making assessments about the opinions of the interlocutors, in this case, the characters of the Mafalda series, students must express opinions considering different options or points of view. The exercise aims for students to recognize and use the linguistic elements that allow them to give opinions and make evaluations, which are presented in a table with their respective examples.

Now, with the fourth point, the use of the inference skill is activated by establishing possible consequences of an action in any situation and its implications. Through linguistic resources, such as ways to express possibilities, students can infer and express consequences or implications of hiring employees with depressive tendencies or symptoms.

With the fifth point, the use of the explanation skill is encouraged, where the student must have recognized the other skills to indicate whether they agree or disagree with some opinions presented through audios about one of the Mafalda cartoons. Similarly, some expressions are presented in a box, which students can use to respond to this activity.

Finally, in the last point of this phase, the self-regulation skill is activated by inviting the student to perform a conscious self-evaluation, to remember the linguistic resources they have learned throughout the development of the material and classify them according to their communicative function. These resources will be very useful to achieve the communicative objective proposed for the didactic sequence. During the development of the didactic sequence, students should be informed that these points present strategies that should be considered to strengthen an argument.

¡Practica! (Practice): With controlled practice exercises, students can follow rules and structures that allow them to approach the correct use of language to fulfill the proposed learning objectives. In Figure 4, the character descriptions provide insight into their worldview, and students are required to complete the texts with expressions to articulate a point of view. However, critical thinking is engaged by intentionally using these messages with implicit cultural information, as the cartoon’s author critiques the social classes of Latin America, with each character embodying a particular perspective.

Figure 4.

Practice activity to analyze the characters.

This phase is the controlled practice phase, which seeks for students to consider aspects of different cartoons, such as the personalities of the characters that also represent many of the thoughts of Latin Americans, and the message that the author conveys through them by using linguistic resources to give opinions that they recognized in the previous phase.

¡Escribe! (Write): In this phase, students are presented with exercises for free practice. Through this practice, students engage in written production exercises to integrate the knowledge acquired through the previous phases. In the final phase of free practice, the ultimate task is introduced, in which students are required to express their opinions on one of the themes covering the work environment in their country. For instance, salary, unemployment, job search, characteristics of a worker, the relationship between money and happiness, and paid and unpaid work. In this task, they must incorporate the aspects they learned in the “Learn More!” phase and consider the argumentation factors addressed in each point of the sequence.

4. Reflections

4.1 Reflections on the natural and spontaneous use of critical thinking within a pedagogical environment mediated using cartoons

Based on the observation of the implementation of the designed material, it was considered that the cartoons by Joaquín Salvador Lavado (Quino) encouraged students to use critical thinking skills such as analysis, interpretation, and inference when reading them. This was analyzed because many of the cartoons used contain implicit criticisms of the Latin American reality related to the work environment. Students recognized that these situations were not only specific to Latin America but also present in their home countries. Each participating student, from the first exercise, indicated that some of the situations presented in the exercises and depicted in the cartoons also occur in their countries, depending on their profession and working conditions.

This allows us to confirm that, as mentioned earlier, cartoons include implicit conventions that allow the creator to express a denial using symbols, juxtaposing incongruent images or images and incongruent words, or blatantly violating or reversing visual conventions [16]. The understanding of this implicit information is achieved through the stimulation of critical thinking skills. This is the case with the first exercise of the ArguméntELE didactic sequence, in which the teacher presented the initial exercise as a discussion activity between two students who had to discuss the meaning of that cartoon (Figure 1). To understand this cartoon, students had to analyze and infer the meaning of both the graphic and linguistic elements, so the observer interprets that this cartoon served to encourage the use of analytical, interpretive, and inferential skills, leading students to describe and express an opinion and evaluation about it. This information confirms what Vásquez [17] states that learning can be developed involving thinking skills, seeking for the student to access the reality shown in the cartoon through the identification of the context, the characters that compose it, etc., culminating in an interpretation of the facts or ideas expressed by its author (p. 2). In this way, the student recognized the reality represented by the cartoon because, even though it may be different in their context, they interpreted and presented it from their experience throughout the sequence.

During the observation, it was noted that the cartoons invited them to consider their own context and make comparisons about the reality they presented. This leads to the affirmation that the use of cartoons was favorable for students to understand the main ideas of the author and to understand the complex, concrete, and abstract themes implicit in his works. When discussing and expressing an opinion about a cartoon, the activation of the skills of evaluation and explanation was observed again. This could be observed again since Quino’s cartoons allow students to recognize some of the realities in their own context by identifying what each of his works and characters represents. To understand the cartoons used in the didactic sequence, students used interpretation skills because, with this, meaning could be found in the characters’ comments. After this, they were able to activate the evaluation and explanation skills because, after assessing and considering what each character in the cartoon expressed, they could give an opinion with reasoned examples. As the teacher placed more emphasis on the arguments and presented aspects to consider for doing so, students included them in their oral and written discourse.

Throughout the development of the didactic sequence, it was evident that students considered and used the linguistic and non-linguistic inputs indicated by both the material and the teacher to improve their arguments in each response. This demonstrated the activation of self-regulation skills because students were aware of their own learning process and monitored how they interpreted each cartoon to express opinions about the situations the author wants to reflect. They also showed that these aspects were considered when rereading the points in the “Learn More!” phase when they were writing their final text.

However, it is important to clarify that the teacher should guide the reading of some of the cartoons used because it is not certain that the student can recognize all their graphic and linguistic elements with a first attempt. The teacher’s role is crucial in facilitating active learning, ensuring students navigate the complexities of visual and linguistic nuances within the cartoons for a more comprehensive understanding.

4.2 Reflections on the design of ArguméntELE from a methodological perspective

This research aimed to analyze and reflect on how, through the implementation of a didactic sequence based on the use of opinion cartoons, the argumentative writing of Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) students was strengthened. It is relevant to recognize how the activities developed allow students to argue and promote their learning by activating critical thinking skills. Simultaneously, an evaluation was conducted on how the design and presentation of each topic played a significant role in student motivation and the ease of performing activities. The reflections presented in this section are based on the observation of the material implementation.

In the design of the didactic sequence, the characteristics, and phases of the Boomerang didactic sequence [15], the students’ level, activities to encourage critical thinking skills, and linguistic elements related to expressing opinions, evaluating, expressing agreement and disagreement, suggesting possibilities, organizing a discourse, and arguing, according to the PCIC [11], were considered. Methodologically, the design of communicative and facilitating tasks was considered to reach the final task following the characteristics of the task-based approach. These tasks aimed to stimulate the use of critical thinking skills (interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation) using Quino’s cartoons as a motive for reading.

The Boomerang didactic sequence proposed by Harmer [15] integrates activities that activate the mentioned critical thinking skills and constantly invite students to express opinions and argue. This sequence is suitable for advanced levels and addresses the students’ needs. In each phase of the sequence, activities related to the students’ topic of interest and the use of Quino’s cartoons were integrated to reinforce the students’ level of argumentation through the writing of argumentative texts and the activation of the mentioned skills.

Through the observation of the material implementation, it was concluded that the exercises were relevant to each stage of the Boomerang didactic sequence. Although students indicated that it was extensive, they could recognize that there are many aspects to consider when arguing. Initially, the exercises in the motivation phase (¡Involúcrate!) succeeded in involving and motivating students with the sequence’s theme and the reading of cartoons. This activity opened a discussion within the class about the work reality of the participating students’ places of origin, as each one shared their experiences regarding their jobs. It also helped generate a discussion about how to read a cartoon and interpret the gestures of characters and other graphic elements present.

When students presented an example of the work situation in their places of origin, they indicated what their jobs were like and the forms of remuneration or subsidies they received. This demonstrates their ability to analyze situations that demand an immediate response as social actors. They also expressed that it was interesting to recognize connections between cultures because they recognized who Quino was but were not aware of his impact on the Hispanic world. Regarding the description of the work situation in their home countries, this provided an opportunity to break stereotypes.

Regarding the first free practice (¡Actívate!), it served to identify the linguistic aspects to be addressed in the Interactive Explanation phase. The ¡Actívate! section contains reading exercises that encourage students to deduce, evaluate, and compare information to reach a justified conclusion to be reported in writing. In the production of the final written texts, it is noticeable that students attempted to meet the criteria of the instruction in their established order; they expressed this while completing the final task. Therefore, it is considered that to carry out a more effective argumentation exercise, students should have more time to do it. With these actions, students unconsciously put into practice critical thinking skills useful for further developing their level of argumentation.

Although the use of critical thinking skills has been encouraged in previous phases, in the ¡Learn more! phase, six exercises are presented that emphasize the six specific critical thinking skills aimed at activating the didactic sequence while linguistic aspects for each skill are considered. Facione [3] indicates that there are activities that demonstrate each thinking skill. For example, the interpretation skill is evident from categorization; analysis from the examination of ideas; evaluation when assessing the quality of arguments; inference by making conjectures about alternatives; explanation through justification; and self-regulation through self-examination. These activities were presented in the didactic sequence, and it was observed that participating students were ready to develop them using these skills and the linguistic contents integrated into the other phases of the sequence.

On the other hand, in the ¡Practice! phase, controlled practice exercises are presented in which students must follow established patterns and then express themselves freely in the second free practice (¡Escribe!), which is the final task. During the controlled practice phase, students indicated that they knew people with traits like Mafalda’s characters. However, in the final task, students could not apply everything they had learned through the didactic sequence. This can be attributed to time, which probably was not sufficient to write the text. Therefore, the development of the didactic sequence should have been done in several class sessions, about three or four, to provide students with the opportunities and time needed to carry out the activities effectively. In their final writings, they used some discourse markers to organize their ideas (To begin with, however, also, etc.), expressions to give opinions and assess (For me, I think, it seems to me, etc.), but expressions to indicate possibilities or express agreement or disagreement were not recognized.

5. Conclusion

When designing material for a class, the logical sequence of learning is considered to organize activities. This sequence should consider, in the case of foreign languages, the students’ performance level, their motivations, and their experience or mastery of the topic to be addressed. Connecting students with the learning objectives of the class would lead them to active learning. According to Bonwell and Eison [7], if active learning is to be promoted, students must be engaged; they should be able to develop their skills, think critically, and explore their own attitudes. Therefore, it is crucial for the teacher to carefully select resources or activities to fulfill their objectives with active learning.

The ArguméntELE didactic sequence highlights active learning as a fundamental framework that propels language education beyond traditional boundaries. Throughout the sequence, active learning is not simply a pedagogical concept but a lived experience for students. Immersion in Quino’s cartoons, along with critical thinking exercises, actively engages students in interpreting, analyzing, and expressing opinions on real-world scenarios, fostering a deeper understanding of language in context. Active learning, as manifested in the sequence, goes beyond mere participation; it becomes a catalyst for cognitive processes such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The motivation phase, involving discussions sparked by cartoons, actively involves students in relating personal experiences, establishing connections, and setting the stage for the journey ahead. The subsequent phases—free practice, interactive explanation, and controlled practice—mirror active learning principles by encouraging students to actively apply linguistic elements and critical thinking skills in progressively challenging and personally relevant tasks.

Furthermore, the ArguméntELE sequence embodies activity-based learning by structuring a series of purposeful activities within a didactic sequence, forming a cohesive and dynamic educational framework. The interconnected activities strategically guide students through a learning trajectory, ensuring that each task contributes to a holistic language learning experience. In this approach, students actively shape their learning path, enhancing their engagement and sense of ownership in the educational process.

Additionally, the ArguméntELE sequence reflects the principles of active learning by prioritizing student involvement in higher-order thinking and exploration of their attitudes and values. The practice and writing phases actively encourage students to express opinions, evaluate, and engage in argumentation, aligning with active learning’s emphasis on fostering skills beyond mechanical memorization. In this way, active learning in the ArguméntELE sequence is not just a methodology—it is a transformative force that empowers students to be active participants, critical thinkers, and effective communicators. The sequence serves as a testament to the potential of active learning as a robust framework, shaping a language learning experience that transcends traditional paradigms and prepares students for the dynamic challenges of a globalized world.