Critical thinking across the ELT curriculum: A mixed methods approach to analyzing L2 teachers’ attitudes towards critical thinking instruction

Abstract

The underlying assumption of recent ideas of applied ELT, life syllabus and educational language teaching is that ELT professionals should center their attention on the enhancement of learners' life skills, say, critical thinking prior to language-related skills. Despite the high premium placed on enhancing the critical thinking abilities in educational policies, and granted that English language classes have unique potentials for promoting learners' life skills such as critical thinking, it seems that ELT teachers are lacking in a true understanding of what critical thinking really means and whether or not it should be incorporated into the ELT curriculum. In the present study, EFL teachers in Iran were surveyed and interviewed regarding such a necessity. The first phase involved the collection of quantitative data via the administration of a short scale comprising Likert-style questions to Iranian EFL teachers (N = 106). Analysis of the questionnaire results revealed that EFL teachers tended to express strong support for the incorporation of critical thinking into the ELT curriculum. Follow-up face-to-face interviews were carried out with a subsample (N = 5) selected from Phase 1 participants. The interview results added more plausibility to the survey results. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

Conceptions of Critical Thinking from University EFL Teachers

“…Even though ten university EFL teachers are only a microcosm of the EFL community, it is impressive to recognize that studies in some Asian (Ketabi et al, 2012;Mok, 2010) and Latin American countries (Pineda Baez, 2004;Pineda Báez, C., Pardo, A. N., & Téllez, M. F. 2010;Murcia, 2012) agree with this study on the need and challenge to educate and train teachers to develop CT in EFL, to open academic spaces to discuss and intervene educational processes to reformulate the curriculum and learning outcomes, in order to approach CT promotion in EFL with academic rigor as well as with social and educational responsibility.…”

“…In fact, EFL teachers and scholars acknowledge the importance and impact that critical thinking can have over language proficiency because "CT tends to expand students' learning experience and makes language learning deeper and more meaningful" (Zhao, Pandian, & Singh, 2016, p. 14). Nonetheless, it seems that English language teachers and language learners are not familiar with the promotion of critical thinking in EFL (Mok, 2010;Alana, 2010;Murcia, 2012;Ketabi, Zabihi, & Ghadiri, 2012). Therefore, further research on teachers' understanding of, and attitudes towards, critical thinking instruction in different EFL contexts is required to consolidate a solid comprehension of what critical thinking in language classes implies.…”

Critical Thinking and Speaking Proficiency: A Mixed-method Study

“…Despite the fact that the enhancement of life skills has for many years been advocated in the context of education, it seems that, at least in the case of critical thinking, both English language teachers and language learners are lagging behind in Iran (Ketabi, Zabihi, & Ghadiri, 2012). Iranian students are mostly obliged to memorize and rewrite prethought information at schools as opposed to thinking out their own ideas and assessing facts and not taking those taught by their teachers for granted.…”

Relationship between 21st Century Skills, Speaking and Writing Skills: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

“…Mahyuddin et al (2004)'s research study revealed that language learners with critical thinking abilities are capable of thinking critically and creatively in order to achieve the goals of the curriculum; capable of making decisions and solving problems; capable of using their thinking skills, and understanding language or its content; capable of treating thinking skills as lifelong learning; and finally, intellectually, physically, emotionally and spiritually well-balanced. Ketabi, Zabihi, Ghadiri (2012) investigated ELT teachers' understanding of critical thinking really means and whether it should be incorporated into the ELT curriculum. The results of their study revealed that EFL teachers tended to express strong support for the incorporation of critical thinking into the ELT curriculum.…”