2.1.1 Definition of Critical Thinking
The word “critical” originated from ancient Greek. Zhou and Wu (2012) pointedout that the word “critical”derives from two Greek roots “kriticos” and “criterion”.The basic meaning was thinking consciously according to the appropriate evaluationcriteria, so as to make a reasonable judgment according to the standards.
In foreign countries, critical thinking was sometimes called speculative ability.The origin of speculative ability can also be traced back to Socrates’ instructiveteaching, that was, to ask questions to learners through induction, so as to carry outteaching activities instead of teachers’ one-way of teaching knowledge. There shouldbe scientific interaction between learners and teachers (Sun, 2011). Throughmidwifery teaching in Socrates, students were guided to think independently, discoverproblems, study problems and solve problems. This process reflected learners’subjectivity. Through this induction, learners’ creativity and critical thinking abilitycan be cultivated. Ennis, a pioneer in the American Critical Thinking Movement, wasan important person in developing critical thinking theories. He began to study theconcept of critical thinking in 1962. He insisted on constantly updating hisunderstanding of critical thinking. He stressed the process of reflective and reasonablethinking (1991). Dewey, the father of modern critical thinking, was the first to definecritical thinking as“reflective thinking”which demands a careful and throughoutconsideration of belief (1993). From a cognitive point of view, Chafi said that critical thinking was essentially a kind of thinking activity to judge and reflect on others. Inthe process, it can improve our analytical ability, so that our cognition was clearer andmore comprehensive (Jone Chafi,1989). In the Delphi report, the American philosophySociety gave an authoritative and comprehensive definition of speculative ability:speculative ability was a purposeful and self-regulating judgment process, resulting ininterpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference and explanation of the evidence, concept,method, standard or context on which this judgment was based (Jenkins D.M, 1991).According to the relevant data, it was found that this was a relatively high degree ofrecognition of a definition.
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2.2 Theoretical Foundations
2.2.1 Theoretical Models of Critical Thinking
According to the definitions and related studies of critical thinking, varioustheoretical models have been developed, which is helpful to understand the developingprocess of critical thinking theory. This part will present three significant theoreticalmodels of critical thinking at home and abroad.
2.2.1.1 Delphi Panel’s Dualistic Model
Facione led a group of experts who were in the higher education and studiedcritical thinking with the Delphi Report from 1987 to 1989. After several years ofanalysis and research, this project team put forward “Delphi Panel’s Dualistic Model”which includes critical thinking skills and critical thinking disposition.
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Chapter III Research Methodology....................30
3.1 Research Questions...............................30
3.2 Research Subjects...........................30
Chapter IV Internal Evaluation of the Coursebook............................34
4.1 The Design of the Reading Materials with Regard to theCultivation of Critical Thinking Ability......................34
4.1.1 An Overview of the Reading Texts with Regard to theCultivation of Critical Thinking Ability.................35
4.1.2 The Design of the Reading Materials with Regard to theCultivation of Critical Thinking Skill........ 37
Chapter V External Evaluation of the Coursebook...............60
5.1 Results and Analysis of the Questionnaire................60
5.1.1 Teachers’ Understanding and Awareness of Critical Thinking...............61
5.1.2 Teachers’ Attitude towards the Cultivation of Students’Critical Thinking Ability in Senior High School EnglishCoursebooks...
