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Challenges to the Inclusion of Critical Thinking in the EFL Classroom
The study identified a few challenges to the application of Critical Thinking strategies in the EFL
classroom. Student's initial reaction to the approach was the first challenge identified from the
beginning of the study. EFL students feel very comfortable when working with linguistic elements
exclusively. They tend to focus more on linguistic aspects because they believe that once they
master them, they will become proficient users of the language. Working on tasks that do not imply
the mechanical application of the rule or retrieving words from memory can be very frustrating to
students, especially to those who feel that their linguistic abilities are not strong enough to develop
Critical Thinking tasks.
Another challenge to the implementation of Critical Thinking approach is the time constraint that
teachers face. Completing the course syllabus with all the contents, activities, assignments, and
tests becomes an issue for teachers. Critical Thinking demands time. Asking students to analyze,
criticize, evaluate, or create will require teachers to circumvent contents or go beyond the textbook.
Some institutions believe that following the syllabus is necessary to achieve the course goals.
Therefore, leaving out contents might cause problems with other teachers and stakeholders.
A final caveat identified along the study was the number of students. Critical Thinking activities
demand more personalized instruction. Often, teachers need to work with students individually to
guide them through their reflections. The study's experience suggesed that because of the nature
of the strategies recommended by Critical Thinking approach to foreign language teaching, small
classrooms with twenty or twenty-five students would be advisable.
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