Educators worldwide are increasingly aware of the importance of fostering students' critical thinking from primary schools to universities. Lots of research has been conducted on the elements and testing of critical thinking as well as teaching approaches for its development. Meanwhile, as intercultural communication is becoming a defining feature of the globalizing age, intercultural competence has been widely recognized as a key qualification that students must be equipped with when entering the job market and becoming a citizen of the global community. The study of intercultural competence in terms of its configuration, development and measurement has accordingly mushroomed. What is ignored, however, by academics and practitioners of critical thinking and intercultural competence respectively is the intricate relationship between the two concepts. Based on a comprehensive analysis of existing theoretical paradigms and training models in the two realms, I propose a tri-dimensional framework that explains the relationship between critical thinking and intercultural competence. First, Critical Thinking of Intercultural Competence: critical thinking constitutes an essential element of intercultural competence. Second, Critical Thinking by Intercultural Competence: critical thinking can be effectively sharpened by the development of intercultural competence. Third, Critical Thinking for Intercultural Competence: critical thinking ought to be employed for upgrading intercultural competence. Hence an in-depth understanding of the three dimensions of the relationship between critical thinking and intercultural competence is crucial for education at all levels, which, I argue, should integrate not only intercultural education but also critical thinking education because these two competences depend on each other and reinforce each other. Without intercultural competence, critical thinking degenerates into shrewd ethnocentrism; without critical thinking, intercultural competence deteriorates into diplomatic rapport. Based on this understanding of the overlapping relationship between critical thinking and intercultural competence, I argue for the possibility of cultivating critical thinking and intercultural competence at the same time in foreign language teaching. On the one hand, applying critical thinking skills in culture teaching develops higher-order interculutral competence. On the other hand, teaching critical thinking in an interculutral context contributes to the development of higher-order thinking skills. The idea of developing intercultural critical thinking through foreign language teaching would shed light on EFL materials development.
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