Group Discussion for Cultivating Critical Thinking Skills of Japanese EFL Learners

Abstract

Since critical thinking (CT) has been recognized as essential in the information society, it is necessary to cultivate CT skills through English education even in contexts where English is learned as a foreign language (EFL). This study examined the effects of group discussions on the development of CT skills. In order to foster CT skills, planning and opinion revision were included in the discussions. Sixteen Japanese university students participated in group discussions for approximately three months, and improvements in their CT skills were investigated. In addition, a questionnaire was administered to survey participants’ perceptions of the group discussions. The analytical results showed that group discussions were effective in developing CT skills. The questionnaire results also indicated that planning encouraged students to form logical opinions. However, opinion revision did not significantly improve CT skills. In sum, these results indicated that the group discussions fostered logical thinking skills, but did not effectively encourage reflective thinking skills. These findings provide suggestions for designing more effective group discussions for cultivating CT skills.