that ESL students are inherently less capable than English native speakers
Some researchers suggest that ESL students are inherently less capable than English native speakers (Atkinson, 1997). The suggestion to develop CT as it challenges student’s social practices differs in value by some non-native cultures. Atkinson (1997) argued that CT is culturally challenging to students of Asian background. For example, CT tasks require Japanese and Chinese students to perform against their societal norm of self-expression in contrast to mainstream US culture. (p.79). The situation appears to suggest that Asian students in my classroom are deficient in some skills that the university value highly. Alternatively, I saw the value in my students’ cultural background that they bring to the class, which helps in group collaboration, knowledge sharing, and diversity of ideas. Furthermore, we cannot say that all or most native speakers of English have critical thinking skills. Arum and Roksa (2011) argue that many university undergraduates lack CT skills, especially in distinguishing facts from opinions, analyzing conflicting reviews, and composing argumentative writings. My colleagues and I sometimes attend the critical thinking workshop, and we realize that we all need to develop this skill, especially if we consider implementing in our teaching. Despite the belief that westerners are superior in CT as it is believed to be originated from the western culture, it obliges more reasons to help ELLs at the earliest stage of language learning.
However, critical thinking skills do not develop spontaneously. According to research on Japanese students (Kusumoto, 2018), he found no significant improvement in CT skills after a semester of training. From this result and many more, I argue that CT is not a skill that can be adapted and applied immediately. The notion is especially true for those whose cultural tradition does not emphasize vocal critique against others. ELL students are commonly from non-western or non-English speaking backgrounds. Many researcher’s beliefs suggested that my students are less likely to perform critical thinking well due to the non-westernized social practices (e.g., Atkinson, 1997). It appears that CT is a skill that can be cultivated through adequate time. It could be the language incompetence that hinders CT performance in their second language. For example, Floyd (2011) has found that Chinese students’ critical thinking skills were rated high when they learn the science knowledge, memorize, understand, and remember in their first language (L1). Critical thinking requires a higher thinking order that needs to be practiced when the experience is obtained by the L1 and scored lower with the English. Furthermore, it suggests that despite its challenges on ELLs non-western background, it is a skill that can be learned. The language competency may play a role in this thinking process. Yet, throughout a prolonged exposure to the CT development and through practices, CT skills can undoubtedly be learned among the ELLs whose English may not be at an advanced level yet. It sure is a task for ESL instructors to have a full understanding of critical thinking and to foster ELLs to practice critical thinking from the very essential English learning.