The Contribution of Critical Discourse Analysis and Critical Thinking in an EFL Context: A Case Study of Economic Texts

Abstract

Teachers wish their learners not to take all provided information for granted; rather, they expect to enable their learners to develop higher order thinking skills and to be reflective. When applied to academic contexts, critical discourse analysis seems to play an undeniable role in the development of reflective thoughts by students. The current study investigated the effect of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learner's critical thinking (CT) ability in economic translation texts classes. To this end, 60 undergraduate English translation students at the intermediate level of proficiency were selected and assigned into two groups of experimental and control. The experimental group received instruction in order to make critical analysis both on articles handed out by teacher as well as follow-up CDA based presentations. The control group learners, on the other hand, received neither instruction nor any practice with respect to critical discourse analysis of texts. The data obtained from the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal were subject to independent samples t-test. The findings revealed that CDA had a positive and significant impact on EFL learners' critical thinking ability with the ‘Interpretation' and ‘Recognizing Unstated Assumption' sub-tests of critical thinking being most influenced. The significance of this finding in light of critical discourse analysis and implications for educationalists are discussed in detail.