This presentation reports on findings of a case study about how critical thinking skills were taught in an EAP class in China, through the blended learning and the project-based learning. And it offers cross-cultural explanations of Chinese EAP students’ critical thinking skills and a lack thereof from Chinese instructors’ perspectives.
Cultivating students’ critical thinking abilities is considered to be one of the most important objectives of an EAP program. However, instructors often find it challenging to teach critical thinking skills to EAP students with multi-cultural backgrounds (e.g., Bhowmik & Kim, 2018; Douglas & Kim, 2014). In particular, Chinese international students studying abroad are often reported to lack critical thinking skills necessary for academic success. A variety of explanations are offered as to why Chinese students lack these skills, including Chinese culture, low English language proficiency of students, lack of relevant knowledge, problems associated with the assessment of critical thinking skills and the educational backgrounds students come from. Taking a qualitative case study approach, an empirical study was undertaken to explore how critical thinking skills are taught in China. This presentation reports on findings of the study and offers cross-cultural explanations of Chinese EAP students’ critical thinking skills and a lack thereof. Findings suggest that Chinese students’ critical thinking skills may not often be recognized because they are represented differently from Western perspectives. Two primary teaching approaches were used in this case to develop critical thinking—macro-lecture blended teaching, project-based learning. Challenges of applying these teaching approaches were presented from instructors' perspectives, including exam-oriented educational experience, instructors’ expertise, students’ sense of pragmatism for learning these skills and an over-use of technology both inside and outside of the classroom. Various implications for teaching and learning in EAP contexts are discussed as well.
