English-Mediated Critical Thinking in Sino-Foreign University EMI Programs: Student and Teacher Perspectives

This research surveys students and professors on the perceived capabilities of Chinese students communicating English-mediated critical thinking skills while taking English medium of instruction (EMI) university courses. English-mediated critical thinking (ECT) is defined in this study as the ability to articulate, justify, evaluate, and refine one’s reasoning through English while engaging in EMI academic tasks. This research examines student and teacher perceptions regarding the relationship between English-mediated critical thinking (ECT) and performance in EMI classes, noting positive influences that can originate from learning to communicate critical thinking in a foreign language. The resulting data indicate that both students and professors consider a higher ECT ability to be connected to higher in-class performance, and students specifically consider ECT to be a vital skill for pursuing English-taught degrees, whether overseas or domestically. In addition, the professors report a predominantly low student confidence rate and overall general expertise in ECT, leading to reduced foreign teacher-student communication and increased simplified expression in class assignments. However, many students supported the use of in-class activities such as debates, group discussions, etc., to encourage ECT practice and increased confidence. According to the students and professors surveyed, participants perceived ECT as being associated with stronger reasoning, information-processing, and research-related capabilities. These results suggest that students and faculty perceive that promoting critical thinking practice in ESL/EFL classes could support student development later on in their EMI classes.