196 / 2018-08-15 07:38:15

The exploration of the construct of critical thinking abilities for Chinese EFL learners

critical thinking abilities; construct; EFL learners

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The research concentrates on the underresearched area, the construct identification of critical thinking (CT) abilities for Chinese EFL senior middle school students. Critical thinking is explicitly designated as one of the key competences to be cultivated in secondary English course in China (Lin 2017), but no consensus has been reached on what should be included in the coursed-based construct. The current study, therefore, makes an initial attempt to identify what is CT, by answering the research questions: 1) What is the theoretical framework of critical thinking abilities integrated from literature? 2) What are the main differences & similarities of critical thinking abilities from the perspectives of students, teachers and experts? 3) What is the refined theoretical framework of critical thinking abilities by integrating the understanding of students, teachers and experts?

Firstly, some seminar studies(e.g., Black 2008; Facione 1990; Halpern 2014; Hassan & Madhum 2006; Ku & Ho 2010; Halpern 2010; Moore 2011; Paul & Elder 2006; Wen 2012; Xie 2016) on critical thinking abilities were reviewed, including the thinking skills in National English Curriculum Standard for Senior Middle School Students(MOE 2018). Five main domains, analysis, inference, generalization, argumentation, and evaluation, were identified. Then, about 100 students will be invited to fill in an open-ended questionnaire to get their understanding and usage of CT abilities. The questionnaire data will be analyzed via Nvivo 11, through which the domains and competences will be identified. Based on the domains and competences, a round of semi-structured in-depth interview will be carried out individually with around ten students, five teachers and three experts. The interview data will also be analyzed via Nvivo 11. The differences, similarities and integration will be analyzed to answer Research Questions 2 & 3.