ABSTRACT
Developing critical thinking via reading is a way through which students can be empowered to transform knowledge. Studies indicate that critical thinking should be at the core of reading because it is vital in evaluating the arguments as well as for the transformation of knowledge (Freire, 1985; Facione, 1992). However, the way critical thinking is understood in Iran, as a collectivist society, varies from the way it is conceptualised in individualistic societies, such as in the West (Atkinson, 1997). In the West, it tends to be based on evidence in support of a point of view, fairness in argument and systematic analytical investigation of a concept open-mindedly conveyed by mature reasoning and judgement (Facione, 2011). In Iran, the focus of reading is on memorisation and the routinised reproduction of texts, and critical thinking is often seen as an unfavourable act of criticising others. This study, through semi-structured interviews, reports on five Iranian university students to explore how they conceptualise critical reading and thinking, and the relation between these and knowledge transformation and knowledge production. The study utilises Van Dijk’s (2011) ideology critique approach as it is relevant to knowledge and power in the light of traditional Persian literary scholars and explores how criticality, albeit differently, has always also been a Persian construct.
