INTEGRATING CRITICAL THINKING IN EFL CLASSES: CURENT PRACTICES AND PROSPECTS

Authors

  • Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh

Keywords:

CEFR, content, critical thinking, EFL, language

Abstract

Critical thinking has recently been recognised as an important component of
language education (Gunawardena & Petraki, 2014; Houghton & Yamada, 2012). This
empirical study aims to investigate the integration of critical thinking in EFL classes at a
university of foreign languages. Document analysis (course syllabi) and semi-structured
interviews (teachers) were used to collect data for this specific question. The study found
that critical thinking was stated as a course objective unevenly between the skill-based and
content-based courses, and that the teachers faced certain constraints (e.g., the introduction
of CEFR) to integrate critical thinking in their teaching. The study findings raise the
question about how much EFL curriculum orientation should be about language skills or
criticality, and the opportunities for critical thinking development in EFL skill-based and
content-based courses.

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Published

2020-08-06