An Investigation of the Impact of Teaching Critical Thinking on the Iranian EFL Learners’ Speaking Skill

Abstract

This study has attempted to determine the effect of critical thinking on Iranian EFL learners’ speaking ability. There were two equal-sized groups of 20 learners: a control group and an experimental one. The subjects were advanced EFL learners at Shokouh Language Institute in Hamedan, Iran. There were 10 male and 10 female learners in each group. In both groups, similar topics were proposed for group discussion such as air pollution, global warming, friendship, drug addiction, happiness, etc. In the experimental group, in addition to having discussion on the given issues, the teacher devoted some time for teaching critical thinking techniques during the class time. In the very first session, the teacher explicitly elaborated on what critical thinking processes are. Then, during the following sessions the teacher taught critical thinking techniques for about 20 minutes and gave learners time to practice these skills. The findings of the current study revealed that those students who received instruction on critical thinking strategies did better on the oral interview post-test. In addition, it was observed that within the experimental group there was not any significant difference between the performances of male vs. female Iranian EFL learners’ speaking ability after giving the treatment.