Abstract:
Regarded as one of the influential 21st century skills, alongside creativity,
communication and collaboration and having roots in critical philosophy, critical
thinking has long been a fundamental component in Western educational context.
Consequently, enhancing the critical thinking abilities of learners has gained
prominence in educational research worldwide. The current study attempted to
address this issue and aimed at investigating how EFL learners perceive the benefits
of training in critical thinking strategies in the EFL classroom. In addition to this,
another aspect of the study is to analyze whether training in critical thinking
strategies results in a change in EFL learners’ perceived critical thinking
dispositions. In order to conduct the study, 16 B1-level participants, who were
enrolled in a foundation university English preparatory program, underwent a seven week study. Throughout the course of seven-week experimental study, the
participants received strategy training supported by critical thinking activities for five
hours each week. The instruction involved employing nineteen critical thinking
strategies in order to address the research questions raised. Data were collected
through both qualitative and quantitative instruments. Critical Thinking Disposition
Scale (CTHD) was administered at the beginning and at the end of the study for the
quantitative data collection. Qualitative data were collected through student
interviews and the researcher’s diary on a weekly basis. Findings gathered from the
quantitative data revealed that there has been a statistically significant improvement
with respect to two critical thinking disposition levels of the participants, namely
metacognition and open-mindedness. Findings of the qualitative data suggest that
training in critical thinking strategies had markedly positive effects on the views of
the participants in relation to benefits of the new instructional approach.
