A Study On College Freshmen’s Critical Thinking Disposition In Terms Of English Proficiency, Gender And Discipline Background

Since critical thinking teaching received much attention in America and otherwestern countries in1980s, critical thinking cultivation has become one of the core tasksof college education. College freshmen who newly enter the college have just experienceda new turn in the course of their life, so correct and effective guidance should be offered inthe process of their thinking development. Investigating the status quo of freshmen’scritical thinking disposition and making precise description and analysis of itscharacteristics can help them gain an overall picture of their critical thinking ability.Furthermore, making clear of the possible causes of freshmen’s current situation of criticalthinking enables researchers to make targeted recommendations for the development andenhancement of their critical thinking ability.This study takes263freshmen in Huazhong University of Science and Technology(HUST) as research subjects, with130A-level students (whose English proficiency is atan advanced level) and133G-level students (whose English proficiency is at a generallevel),127male students and136female students,133science students and130liberalarts students. In this research, both quantitative method and qualitative method areemployed. The quantitative method is involving questionnaire answering, aimed atmeasuring the overall situation of college freshmen’s critical thinking disposition and thedifferences of their critical thinking disposition in terms of English proficiency, gender anddiscipline background. The questionnaire adopted is based on the Chinese Version ofCalifornia Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI-CV) revised by Peng Meici etal. from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and its high reliability and validity has beenverified by previous studies. The qualitative method is involving interviews designed toexplore the possible causes of college freshmen’s overall situation of college freshmen’scritical thinking disposition and the differences between their critical thinking dispositionin terms of English proficiency, gender and discipline background.5A-level students and5G-level students take part in the interview concerning English proficiency;5malestudents and5female students take part in the interview concerning gender;5sciencestudents and5liberal arts students take part in the interview concerning discipline background; and all the30students take part in the interview concerning the overallsituation of college freshmen’s critical thinking disposition.Major findings of this research can be concluded as follows:(1) college freshmendemonstrate general positive disposition towards critical thinking;(2) freshmen withhigher English proficiency demonstrate stronger disposition towards the subscale ofself-confidence than those with lower English proficiency, male freshmen demonstratestronger critical thinking disposition towards the subscale of maturity than femalefreshmen, and science freshmen demonstrate stronger overall critical thinking dispositionand stronger disposition towards the subscales of truth-seeking, open-mindedness,analyticity and maturity than liberal arts students;(3) influence of the new college life aswell as the former middle school life leads to the present situation of college freshmen’scritical thinking disposition, good English performance and English culture influencecontribute to the stronger disposition towards self-confidence of freshmen with higherEnglish proficiency, different personalities between male and female result in malefreshmen’s stronger disposition towards maturity, and different characters of disciplines(science and liberal arts) cause science freshmen’s stronger overall critical thinkingdisposition and disposition towards truth-seeking, open-mindedness, analyticity andmaturity.In light of the research findings, the study proposes some pedagogical implicationsdirecting at college students, college teachers, college curriculum designers as well aseducational experts, so as to help promote college students’critical thinking.