20 know enough about the content of the article so that they can understand the
comments without actually having to read the article and to form his or her own impression as to value the article and to present the subjective impression to the
readers clearly and honestly. In the relation to what is a critical review, Arnaudet and Barrett 1984 state
that there is no one correct way of reviewing an article in which they only suggest the basic aspects for reviewing critically. Introduction, summary and critique are
obligatory in reviewing an article whereas conclusion may not be necessary depending on what has been said in the review and how those comments are
organized. Both of them agree that in reviewing an article, the most important part is the critique. Critique as the core of critical review is a bridge to figure out what
principles prop up the idea of critical review itself. There are three principles of critical review. First, critical review aims to
elicit a personal comment on a topic discussed. Second, in order to make the personal comments, one is encouraged to analyze and evaluate the content of the
article. Third, unlike a pure summary, critical review by its very nature is subjective in which one must make judgment and comment on the article being
reviewed.
2.1.2.2 Aspects in Critical Review
Based on the nature of critical review proposed by Arnaudet and Barrett 1984 previously, there are four big aspects in a critical review; introduction,
summary, critique and conclusion. In the reality, the implementation of critical
21 review is not exactly covering the four aspects proposed. There are some points or
ideas from the aspects that are implemented. The elaboration of the idea of each aspect is presented as follows.
Introduction as the first aspect in critical review is a common aspect that can be found in almost all English writings. According to Arnaudet and Barrett
1984, introduction covers the basic information of an article yet it is an essential type of information, such as establishing the context, clarification of the subject as
the further focus, establishing a critical point of view as the thesis, textual coherence through concessive contrast and reporting verbs. In establishing the
context, one needs to mention the title and the author linked to some elegant techniques of shared knowledge, a rhetorical question, background information or
a quotation. In clarification of the subject as the further focus, one needs to directly provide the subject of the article or discussion and also states or figures
out the author’s purpose in writing the article. In establishing a critical point of view as the thesis, one needs to provide overall impression of the article. As it is
an overall impression, one needs to state in brief the impression and the state whether he or she agrees on the ideas or not but without further elaboration on the
reason and analysis of the idea. This part is only for giving some clues that one is expressing either approval or disapproval towards the ideas presented. In
presenting textual coherence through concessive contrast, one will mention both positive and negative points of the ideas presented. This way of contrasting ideas
is called concession. Concession as the contrasting of ideas is trying to contrast two or more differences of the same subject. Next is reporting verbs. Reporting
22 verbs are verbs used to restate someone else’s ideas. Arnaudet and Barrett 1984
propose four categories of reporting verbs, such as neutral verbs of restatements, verbs restatements with a + or—connotation, verbs of opinion and verbs of
uncertainty. Summary is the second aspect in critical review. According to Arnaudet and
Barrett 1984, summary is the place where one needs to summarize the contents of the articles, such as the thesis or controlling idea, all important thoughts,
relationships and examples which seem particularly important to one. It means in summary one is trying to put all the important information he gained from reading
in order to make a precise collection of ideas and elaboration of the topic discussed.
Critique is the third aspect in critical review. According to Arnaudet and Barrett 1984, giving a personal comment is the aim of critical review. This part
focuses on a personal judgment. Critique in critical review has a special function to elaborate and specifically support one’s judgments on the introduction part. In
making the personal judgments, there are several criteria which should be considered; the important of the subject matter, the timelines of the article, the
length of the article, the objectivity of the writer, the interpretation of the data, the thoroughness of treatment of the subject matter, the practicality of the suggestions,
and the personal interest in the subject. They also stated that one should not necessarily pick all the criteria presented. Two or three criteria chosen to be
developed thoroughly are fine.
23 Conclusion is the last aspect in a critical review. This part is an optional
part. It is optional in which if the review presented is already specific, the conclusion is not an important part. However, if the review presented is general to
the topic discussed, the conclusion is needed.
2.1.3 The implementation of integrated-skills approach
