It has been suggested that, as an English for Academic Purposes teacher, I should be quaking in my boots with the advent of ChatGPT. I am not (ChatGPT v S’pore pupils: How chatbot fared in PSLE maths, science and English, Feb 20).

Most English for Academic Purposes programmes include the teaching of research, study and critical thinking skills. Of these, critical thinking is hardest to assimilate, particularly if one’s previous educational achievement had been measured by the ability to regurgitate facts, albeit in some sort of sensible order.

One could try to learn critical thinking skills from a book. However, it is often down to how an instructor or mentor is able to guide and, to a great extent, inspire students to investigate research questions close to their hearts that merely diligent students can be transformed into prospective scholars.

A student who has gone on to win a prestigious international PhD scholarship at a British Russell Group university was able to pinpoint the occasion when his academic imagination took flight: When I helped to dissect and then affirm his attempt at “thinking critically”.

Seeing students’ light-bulb moments such as this is like watching a fledgling fly for the first time. It is so very satisfying. It makes me want to keep teaching.

At Nanyang Junior College, where I was a “pioneer batch” student, I am pleased to see how principals with vision – a different way of seeing both students and staff – have resulted in its improved academic standing (From mid-tier to top JC, Feb 20).

Crucially, this success has emerged organically from a “culture of care” where students can explore their life’s goals, under guidance.

As a social anthropologist, culture colours the way I think, the way I live, the way I teach.

I believe that many Singaporeans would agree that a culture of care is not entirely out of step with a “culture of achievement”. This is especially so for students from homes where a “culture of higher education” or a “culture of critical thinking” does not yet exist.

Those of my students who gained merits and distinctions in their graduate degrees are those who have embraced critical thinking as part of their new learning milieu. Critical thinking is what sets them apart now as employees.

As ChatGPT does not have the wherewithal to inspire critical thinking, I expect to continue teaching English for Academic Purposes for some time yet.

Lee Siew Peng (Dr)