Critical thinking-embedded EFL translation instruction and its impact on EFL translation learners

• The critical thinking-embedded translation instruction could positively contribute to the improvement of the EFL translation learners’ critical thinking. • The critical thinking-embedded translation instruction was favorable for the improvement of the EFL translation learners’ translation performance. • The EFL translation learners generally held positive attitudes towards this critical thinking-embedded translation instruction. In today's increasingly interconnected world, translation has become an important tool for facilitating cross-cultural communication, economic growth, educational collaboration, and social engagement. To produce high-quality translations, translators have to possess not only language proficiencies but also cognitive skills with critical thinking being a core one since translation involves problem-solving and decision-making activities. Critical thinking, a high-order thinking, has been regarded as essential for translators to thoroughly understand and analyze source texts involving linguistic and cultural differences and produce translation outputs with appropriate expressions by way of effectively and critically dealing with information. It plays a vital role in developing translators’ or translation learners’ translation competence, a crucial skill for language learners. Thus, due attention should be paid to critical thinking development in language education. Despite its recognized importance, however, critical thinking cultivation has not been properly incorporated into EFL translation teaching for non-English major undergraduates that mainly focuses on imparting or training language knowledge or techniques in EFL contexts. Little is known about whether integrating critical thinking cultivation into translation instruction can bring benefits to EFL translation learners. And there is a dearth of research in this regard. Thus, this study seeks to explore the impact of the critical thinking-embedded translation instruction on EFL translation learners. 52 Chinese non-English major undergraduate EFL learners were selected as the participants and divided into the control and treatment groups. The two groups were taught under different instructional patterns over a period of 16 weeks. The results revealed the necessity of the critical thinking-embedded translation instruction and its positive impacts on EFL translation learners, contributing to the improvement of their critical thinking and translation performance. Then, suggestions for future research and EFL translation instruction were put forward.