A Study On The Trend Of Critical Thinking Disposition Of Chinese TESOL Postgraduates In The UK

In recent years,the significance and necessity of critical thinking ability training has been widely recognized as one of the essential aims of higher education in China,especially in English majors.However,the researcher in this study has found that the majority of the participants in the current studies were English majors in China,while few are Chinese TESOL students abroad.Generally speaking,TESOL courses are intended for students from non-English speaking countries who are engaged in English teaching.The main purpose of the course is to improve the English teaching levels.With the increasing demand for high-level English teachers in China,more and more Chinese students choose to go abroad for TESOL studying.The researcher had recently studied in a graduate school in the UK,and learned that in recent years,every year the school has more than 100 TESOL master's students,among which Chinese students account for more than half of the total number.After graduation,most of TESOL students would be involved in English teaching in primary schools,middle schools and universities and teachers are significant influencing factors for the development of students' critical thinking ability.Therefore,the improvement of critical thinking ability of students of TESOL major is not only essential for individual development,but also undoubtedly crucial for their future teaching work.Based on the above reasons and the individual interests of the researcher,this study focuses on Chinese TESOL postgraduates critical thinking learning experience in the UK.54 Chinese TESOL postgraduates at H University are the participants.Firstly,this study applied the Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory(CTDI)revised by Wen et al.(2011)as a research tool to conduct the first survey of the participants before the study of the UK TESOL courses began.Then,after twelve months of TESOL courses,a second survey was conducted with this questionnaire again.Then SPSS 20 was adopted to analyze data from the questionnaires above.Finally,according to the data results,eight students were selected for semi-structured interview,and qualitative research analysis was conducted to supplement the quantitative research results.Through research,this study attempts to answer three research questions:(1)Is there a change in the critical thinking disposition of Chinese TESOL postgraduates after twelve month(two terms)of studying in the UK as compared with previous undergraduate studies in China? If so,what are the characteristics of the changes?(2)What factors influence the trend of critical thinking disposition of Chinese TESOLpostgraduates?(3)What are some relevant suggestions for Chinese TESOL postgraduates to cultivate the critical thinking ability while studying TESOL in the UK?Through mixed-methods,some valuable results were collected from the quantitative and qualitative analysis.After comparing the pro-test results with the previous data,the researcher found that the overall critical thinking disposition was more positive and six of them in eight dimensions: analiticity,inquisitiveness,systematicity,self-confidence,truth-seeking and cognitive maturity have significant changes.With regard to the second question,through interviews,the results showed that three mediation tools in Sociocultural Theory have effects on the critical thinking disposition of Chinese TESOL postgraduates.They are British postgraduate teaching environment,others and Chinese TESOL postgraduates themselves.With regard to the third question,through the second questionnaire and interviews,the results of the study showed that the Chinese TESOL postgraduates,first of all,should deepen the understanding of some basic concept about critical thinking and pay more attention to the application of basic critical thinking skills,At the same time,they should pay attention to the influence of the three mediators on their critical thinking disposition,and the most crucial thing is that they should consciously and actively improve their own critical thinking ability.In the end,from the perspective of students' personal development,the international students and Chinese postgraduates majoring in TESOL,the research has explored some implication to Chinese TESOL postgraduates in the UK and English major education at home.