Case Study On Development Of Middle English Learners’ Critical Thinking Skills Based On CIC

Under the promulgation of the National Senior High School English Curriculum Standards（2020）,the close connection between English teaching and core competencies has been a realistic demand,and the quality of thinking as one of the four core competencies is an important guarantee to realize the education of the subject.The classroom is an important stage for cultivating students’ thinking skills,and teacher-student interaction is an important way to enhance students’ thinking and communication in English.In recent years,Walsh（2006）proposed the concept of "Classroom Interactional Competence" based on "sociocultural theory" and "classroom practice".Walsh defines CIC as "Teachers and learners’ ability to use interaction as a tool for mediating and assisting learning".Through a case analysis,this study selects the teacher and students in an eighth-grade English classroom in a junior high school in Hefei as the research subject,and uses Wen Qiufang’s hierarchical model of critical thinking skills as a research tool to focus on how teacher-student interactions in secondary English classroom teaching practices in the Chinese context can promote the development of secondary English learners’ critical thinking skills based on CIC theoretical framework.The main research questions are:1)What is the general state of T-S interaction in helping the development of English learners’ thinking skills in junior high school?2)To what extent can teacher and students’ CIC be related to learners’ critical thinking skills?3)In which way can classroom interaction strategies be facilitative to learners’ CIC?The study found that（1）in the process of T-S interaction,the type of teacher questions showed a significant correlation with students’ thinking development,and the tendency of question types influenced students’ thinking habits.However,most of the T-S interaction was basically a linear development of the turn-taking,and this interaction pattern was difficult to inspire students’ critical thinking skills.（2）The CIC theoretical framework internalizes "interaction" as a kind of competence,and students’ critical thinking skills can be improved quickly when teachers and students interact in the classroom under the premise of mastering this competence.（3）Based on the CIC framework This case study found that teachers can improve classroom interactions by asking more questions at high cognitive levels.Teachers should be careful to provide students with "learning space" during classroom interactions,such as increasing waiting time or providing scaffolding.In addition,teachers should use inquiry and comment to extend the turn when giving feedback in order to facilitate students’ development of critical thinking skills.This study is an in-depth analysis of T-S classroom interactions to construct a general model of basic strategies for teacher-student interactions and the development of learners’ thinking skills and to provide some pedagogical insights for practical teaching.