The purposes of this research were to: 1) study whether the use of literature activities improved EFL students' reading skills and critical thinking skills according to CEFR at C1 level; 2) investigate students' critical thinking skills in studying a literature course; and 3) examine students' attitudes towards the use of literature activities in…

The course Introduction to Linguistics aims at fostering students' rational understanding of human languages, fortifying students' linguistic and cultural awareness and critical thinking ability, and developing students' language research awareness and interest. The article analyzes the status quo of Introduction to Linguistics teaching in some…

English speaking proficiency requires more than knowing its grammatical and semantic rules. It also includes the knowledge of how native speakers of one language use the language in the context of structures of interpersonal exchange, within which many factors interact. Critical thinking is the deliberate determination of whether we should accept,…

This paper explores whether the open-end questions, which are constructed to develop critical thinking (CT) in China's English textbook, are effective. All the 405 questions are examined and categorized into non-CT group and CT group, which includes lower-stage CT and higher-stage CT. Findings reveal that most of them fall into non-CT group,…

EFL teaching plays a special and important role in development of a country shouldering the responsibility of development of intercultural competence. EFL teaching in China to some extent cannot fully realize the teaching aims due to its narrowed focus on linguistic objectives more than cultivation of interculturality. Integration of intercultural…

The past few decades have seen a great amount of second language acquisition research on language learning strategies. Most of the research on strategy instruction had more practical goals than mere theoretical understanding. These practical goals are different ways of equipping learners with self-learning strategies. The latest developments in…

This article presents a reflection on the educational scenario that permeates the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) in its political, methodological, didactic, curricular and investigative dimensions. A description of the current English reading comprehension level in the national context is presented. On the other hand, from a…

As stakeholders of educational systems, teachers are urged to participate in social change through the implementation of critical thinking skills into the educational setting. English language teaching has primarily focused on critical thinking, particularly in the recent years. Therefore, teachers are required to examine their teaching materials…

The development of intercultural communicative competence in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) education in many countries is still a difficult goal to achieve. EFL teachers and learners require more tangible and concrete methodological approaches to foster this important competence in the classroom. Therefore, this reflection article aims at…

Through literature study of researches on critical thinking, this paper gives an analysis of the present situation and existing problems of critical thinking cultivation in Chinese college English classes, probes into the rationale for critical thinking cultivation and discusses how to cultivate students' critical thinking in Chinese college…

Critical thinking is one of the core objectives of talent training in higher education. Meanwhile, the cultivation of critical thinking skills in foreign language teaching has become more and more urgent, and it has also been written into the national standards for the training of foreign language talents. A good critical thinking includes both a…

Problem-based learning is a teaching method in which students' learn through the complex and open ended problems. These problems are real world problems and are used to encourage students' learning through principles and concept. PBL is both a teaching method and approach to the curriculum. It can develop critical thinking skill, problem solving…

Absence of critical thinking skills is perceived to be a growing problem among many university students. The production-oriented approach, an initiative to college English instruction reform in mainland China, may offer a better solution to this problem. To cultivate critical thinking skills under this approach, reforms have to be implemented in…

This paper aims to review literature on the impact of using web-based technology such as blogs and social networks to facilitate and promote peer feedback in ESL writing classrooms. It also investigates how giving and receiving comments from peer students can improve students' performance in writing as well as their critical thinking skills. A…

The CDIO teaching mode is one kind of the engineering education concept, and now it is gradually adopted in English language teaching. Integrated English is one of the basic courses for English major students, and adopting the CDIO teaching mode in this course can improve different abilities of English major students, such as the professional…