Critical thinking and Chinese university students: a review of the evidence

Abstract

Despite extensive discussion on critical thinking (CT) by Chinese students, there are still debates over the question of why Chinese higher education students, when studying abroad, lack (or rather do not demonstrate) CT skills. The main objective of this paper is to explore how far it can be established from the published research literature whether the key factor affecting Chinese university students' CT with respect to academic study in English is cultural background or previous training. The conclusion is that culture cannot be the sole explanation for Chinese students' CT performance at universities abroad. The evidence strongly suggests that, while CT elements can indeed be found in ancient Chinese culture, many other factors, especially students' previous learning experiences, are of more immediate relevance and likely to affect performance. As a result, a holistic approach is suggested. The review also suggests that there is at times a lack of clear definitions and/or explanations of the scope of the key concept – culture – in the current literature.

Keywords:

• critical thinking
• academic writing
• Chinese students
• culture
• training

Notes

Jin and Cortazzi (2006, p. 15) reported that CT had become an official requirement for university College English courses in China by 2001; interestingly, however, the 2004 or 2007 Ministry of Education documents contain no reference to CT (Ministry of Education, 2004, 2007).

Mok, Kennedy, Moore, Shan, and Leung (2008, p. 208), who studied 25,563 secondary children in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao, similarly found that reticence in class was not primarily due to ‘large’ cultural factors such as face-saving, but due to the more immediate pragmatic desire not to waste valuable class time.