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Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Background
Nowadays, knowledge and talents play an increasingly important role in thecontext of fierce international competition. However, the cultivation of talents lies inEducation. Higher Education Law of the People's Republic of China, promulgated in1998, clearly stated that one of the tasks of higher education is to cultivate innovativetalents. And in 2010, Ministry of Education published National Program for Medium-and Long-Term Educational Reform and Development, which advocates constructingan innovation-oriented country and developing innovative talents who are equippedwith creative spirit and ability to solve problems. The new program puts muchemphasis on the combination of learning and thinking in the education of innovativetalents. It can be viewed that the cultivation of innovative talents and creative thinkingis the first priority of our education. Although some achievements have been made infostering talents in recent years, lack of innovative talents is still a salient issue in thefield of higher education in our country. In the background of this large context,educational reform is widely accepted and deserves our exploration.In 2012, the School of Education at Tsinghua University conducted a researchproject which demonstrated that more than 20% of the college students in China arenever engaged in raising questions or discussions in class and only 10% of thestudents are active in class. To make a comparison, 63% of American college studentsfrequently raise questions in class and only 3% of them are rarely engaged. This studyonce again showed that Chinese students lack the ability of independent and criticalthinking.
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1.2 Significance of the Present Study
Although many studies have been carried out on developing students’ criticalthinking ability at various levels, not too much research has been conducted on therelationship between critical thinking and curriculum setting. This study is intended toinvestigate the impact of curriculum on critical thinking of students in English majorin the context of a domestic comprehensive university. The present study will have some academic values. First of all, this study can reveal the current situation ofEnglish students’ critical thinking. Secondly, the factor of curriculum is taken as acontributing component for the education of critical thinking skills. Therefore, thecurrent curriculum setting of related courses is investigated in this study. Finally,relationship between English curriculum and critical thinking of English students isfigured out. It may provide some implications for the current reform of teachingmethods and curriculum in contemporary comprehensive universities or colleges.
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Chapter 2 Literature Review

2.1 Development of Critical Thinking
Critical thinking (CT) ability is considered a vitally important ability in variousfields. Cultivation on this ability has been highly valued in education in manycountries in recent thirty years. Some western countries even view it as one offundamental goals of higher education. Generally speaking, critical thinking developsfrom the field of philosophy and psychology to the field of medical science, andgradually to the field of education.The origin of critical thinking can be traced back to Greek philosophy over 2500years. Socrates came to realize that when it was with deliberate scrutiny for verif