Ward Farnsworth (2021),

Boston: Godine. ISBN: 978-1-56792-685-9. 264 pages. $27.95.

Critical thinking in the ESL classroom can be motivating for both teachers and students because it sparks deeper and richer engagement on almost every topic. This improved engagement comes through more nuanced, detailed, and descriptive ideas development. Better ideas development is particularly effective for argumentative essays or spoken presentations, but can also be applied to reading and listening. It enables learners to better understand complex paragraphs and concepts in their L2 skills. In The Socratic Method: A Practitioner’s Handbook, Ward Farnsworth, law professor at the University of Texas, provides a practical guide in one aspect of critical thinking, the Socratic method. The book will appeal beyond the English classroom to anyone interested in developing more disciplined thinking for themselves and their learners, from students to lawyers to entrepreneurs.

The titles of the many short chapters are indicative of the topics covered. These include Analogies, The Elenchus, Socratic Rules for Dialogue, Ignorance, Socratic Ethics, Finding Principles, and Testing Principles. In the elenchus, the Socratic questioning process, Socrates relentlessly points out his speaking partner’s inconsistencies, without rudeness or personal attacks, as Farnsworth shows. Socratic courtesy and respect stem from the spirit of helping others see the weaknesses in their arguments from their own perspective. The Socratic spirit is not about winning arguments or making others feel inadequate, but about clarifying definitions, premises, and conclusions, and about resolving inconsistencies and gaps in logic.

The author carefully and repeatedly shows this method through definitions and examples. This makes the concepts practical and easily-grasped. Farnsworth outlines the basic scenario: “you make a claim. Socrates solicits your agreement to a second claim. Then he shows that the second claim is inconsistent with your first one... He’s talked you into contradicting yourself” (197).

Farnsworth highlights a crucial part of the elenchus, the Socratic search for the truth, through testing and refuting ideas: “The front part of the elenchus – the claim that will be tested – has to be established first, and this process involves questioning, too” (197). Just imagine how useful such a process could be in a writing or speaking class, in which the teacher prompts students for further clarification. Many essays written by our students are bland, repetitive, and formulaic. We teachers struggle to find ways to encourage idea development. This development needs to start with conceptual clarity, and the first step in the elenchus maps out how to do this.

Idea development is not the only thing about the Socratic method. Farnsworth points out that the Socratic process requires humility. This creates a spirit of friendship and cooperation. This spirit makes Socratic dialogue ideal for the second language classroom. It can add substance and student interest to speaking or writing tasks. This is because one aspect of the humbler side of the Socratic method is its “show rather than tell” disposition (26) that favors open-ended questioning. Farnsworth notes that the procedure “isn’t a lecture and isn’t quite an argument either. In the elenchus, Socrates gets his partners to consent to every step he takes” (26). Much of Farnsworth’s discussion revolves around how Socrates accomplishes this. “Plato and Socrates like questions and the state of mind they produce” (43). This state of mind includes generosity towards the good will of others in the search for the truth, the acknowledgement that I don’t know everything, and comfort with living with doubt.

The Socratic ethic calls for higher standards. Those who practice this ethic “press skeptically against easy answers, go many questions deep, and are mindful of your ignorance. These aren’t modest aims; they change the way one responds to everything” (33). It is not an exaggeration to say that teachers who apply the method in their classes will refresh their careers and classes. Yet the method doesn’t require hours of preparation or instruction. The show, don’t tell approach means that teachers can introduce the method little by little through the types of questions they ask and their modeling of how to answer or interact with others. The Socratic dialogue offers ESL students, and all of us, more disciplined thinking.

The Socratic process is motivating and refreshing because it goes beyond logic by sharpening critical self-awareness. One of the key hoped-for outcomes in the Socratic process is that the questions “can reveal latent beliefs that are surprising to their holders. They can enlarge understanding far beyond the point where it started” (44). In other words, the method leads to greater self-awareness.

Farnsworth, an educator himself, points out the pedagogical value of the method: “When you think and talk in declarations, you aren’t learning anything. When you think and talk in questions, you might be” (45). He advises us that when someone makes a strong statement, asking why is the best approach, as it opens the discussion further. A second pedagogical reason is that asking questions helps us see the degree of complexity in each issue. The third reason is the encouragement of pedagogical neutrality in the classroom, which strengthens social skills such as openness to other ideas. 

The Socratic method, as Farnworth shows us through the many examples in the book, cannot be taught in the way that the present perfect or environment-related collocations can be. It is more about style, attitude, and purpose, and therefore needs to be implemented consistently. Teacher modeling is perhaps the best way.

Being a law professor, Farnsworth is no fool. He acknowledges that, particularly in the current political climate, practicing the Socratic method could become very dicey very fast. Ultimately, he calls us to practice the method on the one person we have the hardest time with: ourselves. He warns that since we cannot see all of our blind spots, this is an exceptionally demanding task.

While The Socratic Method was not written specifically for ESL teachers or students, it can introduce a profitable and interesting dimension into the English classroom for a range of skills and tasks. Its focus on precision can demand more precise language from learners while making the class more enjoyable.