Although the ESOL students may already have good reading comprehension skills, they need to learn how to use effective strategies to approach the text critically. For example, the title itself may already give relevant hints about the text and the writer's opinion. The students need to analyze the text closely by examining the author's purpose and intent and other technical and stylistic devices, such as the use of irony, to get to the text's core and principal meaning.
For critical reading skills to develop, it is also important to have an idea about the students' interests. This information is useful for finding relevant texts for their reading. When the texts are out of the realm of the ESOL student's experience or when they feel ambivalent toward the topic, the students will have more difficulty relating to the text and are less likely to have critical opinions on the matter.
Debates stimulate critical thought. By having to express and defend their own points of view, ESOL students practice forming arguments. These skills are also useful when they are reading texts, as it is a type of interaction between the reader and the text. In addition, they will learn to see through faulty reasoning or logical flaws within the author's arguments.
Critical reading skills also involve problem-solving skills and a degree of creativity. When facing a difficult or controversial text, ESOL students need to come up with possible solutions and counter-arguments, which require the ability to analyze the material with a careful eye and to use one's creativity to find the best possible solution.