A Practical Study on Developing Students’ Critical Thinking Ability in English Teaching in Higher Education Institutions

In a globalized and fully digitized society, English has evolved beyond a mere communicative instrument to become a pivotal medium for critical thinking and scholarly articulation. When tertiary English instruction remains confined to linguistic forms, grammatical structures, and test-oriented paradigms, it falls short of nurturing the high-caliber talents demanded by the new era. Cultivating students’ critical thinking competence, an indispensable pathway to deepening the cognitive dimension of English education and elevating academic literacy, has therefore drawn increasing attention from university educators. Adopting a practice-based perspective, this paper systematically reviews and evaluates the most effective strategies currently employed in Chinese tertiary EFL classrooms to foster critical thinking, with the aim of advancing English pedagogy from knowledge transmission to the co-construction of disciplinary knowledge and higher order capabilities.