The Application Of Critical Thinking In Efl Classrooms: A Case Of First-year Efl Master Students

Abstract

The acquisition of the capacity to think logically and analytically is crucial for the enhancement of learning outcomes in a variety of global educational contexts. Incorporating critical thinking into classroom environments has been a critical component of the discourse regarding the importance of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). However, critical thinking research has primarily been conducted in fields that are not related to EFL. Consequently, the objective of this quantitative study, which involves seventy-five first-year Master EFL students in the English department of M’sila University, is to investigate the strategies that students use to incorporate critical thinking skills into their EFL courses, and the challenges they face while applying these skills in the classroom. The results suggested that the students who were involved in the study implemented specific strategies to foster critical thinking in their learning process. The results also suggested that the utilisation of critical thinking in the learning process was restricted by a variety of pedagogical and administrative obstacles that the participants encountered. Nevertheless, the results of the study indicate that cultivating this type of cognition in 21st-century EFL learners is imperative, not optional.