Developing Critical Thinking Skills of Bachelor Students Throughout the EFL Course مقالة

Developing students’ critical thinking skills becomes essential as their employability rises. There are limited studies that examine the parallel development of critical thinking and English language skills despite the abundance of literature on the methodology and curricula for the development of English language skills through the material about different cultures in undergraduate education. This study attempts to bridge this gap by integrating critical thinking instruction and the study of intercultural communication theories into a one-semester English course. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of the implemented culture-based materials and specifically teach critical thinking skills during collaborative, problem-based and role-playing learning activities for developing the critical thinking skills of first-year Bachelor students majoring in “Biology and English Teacher Education” at the Kazan Federal University (Volga region) during the academic year 2021-2022. The use of qualitative research methods - open-ended interviews and observation - revealed the positive dynamics. Post-test findings indicate that the students in the treatment group had a firm grasp of the concept of critical thinking. They reported that the teamwork, role-play simulations, and problem-solving activities improved their critical thinking and argumentation skills, indicating an increased enthusiasm for learning the cultures. The treatment group demonstrated an improvement in language pattern knowledge and vocabulary enrichment in English. The control group did not exhibit the same dynamics. The results of this qualitative study could be applied to a more in-depth study, such as developing and monitoring students’ critical thinking skills development throughout a degree program.