Following the prevailing trend of integrating critical thinking (CT) into English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms in tertiary education, learning materials play an increasingly important role in promoting students' CT. Previous research on the cultivation of students' CT in EFL educational settings has mainly focused on different instructional approaches. However, little is known about the trajectory of students' CT development through the use of course materials developed by the instructor. Against this backdrop, the present qualitative study seeks to present innovative ways of using academic papers as learning materials to promote students' CT in an academic reading and writing course for graduate students. The materials used are 12 academic papers related to applied linguistics published in SSCI journals in 2021, which were selected by the instructor and aimed to encourage students to think critically. One-semester classroom observations, artifacts, and semi-structured interviews are analyzed to understand the participants' changes in CT in this class. The findings indicate that the academic papers are important affordances to facilitate students' CT, and the innovative ways of the negotiation between students and the materials play an important role in this process. This study highlights how the innovative use of academic papers enable learners to improve their CT. The findings have direct implications for the use of academic papers as materials in CT teaching.
Bibliography
Abrami P, Bernard R, Borokhovski E et al. (2015) Strategies for teaching students to think critically: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research 85(2): 275–314.
Bellaera L, Weinstein-Jones Y, Ilie S et al. (2021) Critical thinking in practice: The priorities and practices of instructors teaching in higher education. Thinking Skills and Creativity 41: 1-16.
Defianty, M. & Wilson, K. (2020). Fostering critical thinking through questioning in EFL: An Indonesian study. In Li, L. (Ed.) Thinking Skills and Creativity in Second Language Education: Case Studies from International Perspectives (pp. 74-94). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Paul R and Elder L (2020) The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools (8th ed.). London: Rowman & Littlefield.
Wilson K (2016) Critical reading, critical thinking: Delicate scaffolding in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Thinking Skills and Creativity 22: 256–265.
Zhang H, Yuan R and He XY (2020) Investigating university EFL teachers' perceptions of critical
thinking and its teaching: Voices from China. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher 29(5):
483–493.
