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1.1 Significance and Purpose of the Present Study
The ability to analyze and solve problems, and think critically has been thefoundation for the career success and progress of college graduates. In an era of complextechnology and rich information, China needs talents who are able to analyze the source,content, and quality of information critically and utilize the information effectively.Therefore, Chinese universities and colleges have a major responsibility to provide thetools and learning opportunities that enable students to develop critical thinking skills.However, researches have revealed that there are critical thinking deficiencies amongChinese college students (Huang 1998 & 2010; He et al., 1999; Peng, 2000; Wen & Liu,2006; Qin, et al., 2010).The present research is to arouse and enhance the awareness of the authority thatgreater accountability regarding critical thinking instruction is expected. This research alsoaims at sending a message to students early in their post-secondary study that there aregreater expectations for them to improve their critical thinking skills.According to Dewey (1933), the father of the modern critical thinking tradition(Fisher, 2001), the central purpose of education is learning to think. The definition thatresulted from the input of 46 experts on the Delphi Panel defines critical thinking as“purposeful, self-regulatory judgment that results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation,and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological,criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based” (Facione,1990a).The Delphi Report revealed six cognitive skills of critical thinking, i.e.,interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation, which areconsidered the core elements of critical thinking (Facione, 1990a). Dispositionalcomponents, such as probing inquisitiveness, keenness of mind, zealous dedication toreason, and hunger or eagerness for reliable information, can be correlated with one’scognitive disposition to think critically (Facione, 1990a).The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether there are any differencesin critical thinking skills between College English Students of liberal arts and those ofscience and engineering, to explore whether explicit instruction in critical thinking is aneffective intervention to improve critical thinking skills and English learning achievementof college students, and to study whether there are significant differences in thedevelopment of critical thinking skills and English learning achievement between CollegeEnglish Students of liberal arts and those of science and engineering following the explicitinstruction in critical thinking.https://www.51lunwen.org/languagethesis/org201211021056266555.htmlThe present study expanded on prior researches conducted by Peng (2000), Zheng(2002), Wen & Liu (2006), Yang & Zhao (2011), Li (2011), and Wen et al. (2009, 2010a,2010b, 2010c) to assess the critical thinking skills of College English Students and toexplore the methods to effectively improve the students’ critical thinking skills and Englishlearning achievement. The critical thinking skills’ intervention, The Thinker’s Guides, aswell as two Assessment measures, the Cambridge Thinking Skills Assessment (TSACambridge) and the English Achievement Test (EAT) were us本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。