Using critical thinking activities as tools to integrate language skills

Every day communication is an event in which there is an interactional relationship between interlocutors. This interaction needs whole language in which language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing; associated knowledge of vocabulary, meaning, syntax, etc.; and also, thinking skills are interwoven. This means that language should be kept whole and ＂if language isn＇t kept whole, it isn＇t language anymore＂ （Rigg, 1991, p. 522, cited in Richards ＆ Rodgers, 2001, p. 109）. In English as a Second Language/English Foreign Language （ESL/EFL） learning settings, improvement in one skill can affect the development of other skills. A particular course may highlight certain skills, but if the teacher is creative or specific tasks and problems are used in language learning settings, learners are provided with the opportunity to improve multiple, integrated skills. This paper aims at elaborating on critical thinking approach to language learning and introducing practical ideas for helping teachers to integrate language and thinking skills. It introduces 3 critical thinking activities （Dialogue journals, reading logs and literacy portfolios）, and also discusses how implementing them can serves as a way to integrate language skills. It also maintains that engaging learners in these activities helps them use authentic materials and solve problems of their own interest that in turn has a positive effect on student＇s motivation.

Using dynamic dewpoint isotherms to determine the optimal storage conditions of inert dust-treated hard red winter wheat

Water-solid interactions play a key role in determining the efficacy of inert dusts. The critical water activity(Awc) for phase transition in amorphous materials is an important characteristic of amorphous inert dusts used as grain protectants. As water activity(Aw) rises above Awc, amorphous dusts undergo a transition from glassy or vitreous state to rubbery state. Such a transition induces dramatic changes in material properties, texture and structure, and hence impact their performance as grain protectants. Full Dynamic Dewpoint Isotherms(DDI) of a synthetic amorphous zeolite intended for grain protection were generated using the Vapor Sorption Analyzer(VSA) to determine Awcby investigating the relationship between moisture content and Awat constant temperatures. Sorption experimental data was fitted using three sorption isotherm models: Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer(GAB), Double Log Polynomial(DLP),and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller(BET). DLP model was the best model to estimate zeolite and wheat sorption isotherms. Full sorption isotherms of zeolite and wheat obtained at 25, 35, and 45 °C clearly showed the hysteresis phenomenon. The hysteresis loops were of type H3 for wheat, and of type H4 for zeolite powder. The intensity of hysteresis remained unchanged for wheat. However, the intensity of hysteresis decreased with increasing temperatures during water adsorption by porous zeolite powder. Monolayer moisture content values for each sorption direction were provided only by GAB and BET models and indicated a decrease in monolayer moisture content with an increase in temperature. The net isosteric heats of sorption and the differential enthalpy of zeolite estimated by the Clausius–Clapeyron equation and determined graphically decreased with increasing moisture content. Conversely, differential entropy of zeolite decreased with increasing zeolite moisture content. The optimal moisture content of inert dust for grain treatment was dependent on wheat moisture content and wheat storage temperature. This is the first time that a synthetic amorphous dust is being investigated for grain protection.Our results recommend the application of inert dusts at the optimal moisture content to mitigate moisture migration within the system "wheat-dust", thus ensuring dust maximal efficacy.