Abstract
Many teaching strategies have been used to promote the development of critical thinking skills, among which the most frequently used are group discussion, concept mapping, and analytical questioning. The study aims to explore learners’ voice and learning experience in the pedagogical contributions of these strategies to the development of critical thinking skills in Chinese EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners. One full university class was chosen as the sample in the instruction of critical thinking skills and to take part in a learner voice survey, among which 15 participants were chosen by purposeful sampling for semistructured interviews. The instruction of critical thinking was embedded in an English reading class by using the three teaching strategies, during which four interviews were conducted for each critical thinking skill. After the instruction of critical thinking skills was completed, all participants were surveyed with the learner voice questionnaire. The results show that participants thought the three teaching strategies could improve critical thinking skills. Each teaching strategy made unique and specific contributions to the development of critical thinking skills. These findings have pedagogical implications for using these teaching strategies in the instruction of critical thinking skills in Chinese EFL learners.
Highlights
The instruction of critical thinking has been an endeavor to develop people into individuals who are independent enough to think critically
For different learners with different learning styles in different educational contexts, empirical studies have reported the positive effects of group discussion (Hayes & Devitt, 2008; Hudgins & Edelman, 1986; Schindler & Burkholder, 2014), concept mapping (Khodadady & Ghanizadeh, 2011; Lee et al, 2012; Wang & Liao, 2014), and analytical questioning (Alexander, Commander, Greenberg, & Ward, 2010; Barnett & Francis, 2011) on the development of critical thinking skills
The results showed that group discussion in small classes could significantly improve participants’ critical thinking skills more than in large classes
Summary
The instruction of critical thinking has been an endeavor to develop people into individuals who are independent enough to think critically. For different learners with different learning styles in different educational contexts, empirical studies have reported the positive effects of group discussion (Hayes & Devitt, 2008; Hudgins & Edelman, 1986; Schindler & Burkholder, 2014), concept mapping (Khodadady & Ghanizadeh, 2011; Lee et al, 2012; Wang & Liao, 2014), and analytical questioning (Alexander, Commander, Greenberg, & Ward, 2010; Barnett & Francis, 2011) on the development of critical thinking skills. This study, with a focus on the learners’ voice, addresses how the three teaching strategies enhance critical thinking skills in a Chinese EFL (English as a Foreign Language, the phenomenon that English teaching and learning takes place only in the classroom as a subject in educational settings) context and aims to explore their effectiveness and unique contributions in the improvement of critical thinking skills
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