A Study On The Correlation Between Senior High School Students’ Critical Thinking Disposition And Their English Achievement

The National English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School(2020 revised version)emphasizes that critical thinking is essential to English learning.Critical thinking consists of critical thinking disposition and critical thinking skills.Critical thinking disposition can reflect students’ attitude towards critical thinking and their potential to use critical thinking skills,which affects the formation and development of students’ critical thinking.Therefore,this study analyses the overall status of critical thinking disposition,explores the correlation between students’ critical thinking disposition and their English achievement in senior high school,then finds problems in it.This study focuses on the following questions:(1)What is the overall status of critical thinking disposition for senior high school students?(2)Is there a correlation between students’ critical thinking disposition and English achievement in senior high school? If so,what’s relevant?(3)How does critical thinking disposition predict English achievement of senior high school students?This study conducts a questionnaire survey using the Chinese Version of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory on 324 students from two senior high schools in H City,Anhui Province,collects students’ English test results,and randomly selects teachers and students to conduct semi-structured interviews.The data collected is analyzed using SPSS25.0.It finds that:(1)Senior high school students have a positive and proactive critical thinking disposition,with significant differences under the group of high and low English achievement.In terms of gender,significant differences are only observed in the dimensions of self-confidence and cognitive maturity.(2)There is a moderate positive correlation between students’ critical thinking disposition and English achievement and each dimension has a positive correlation with their English achievement to varying degrees.(3)The critical thinking disposition of senior high school students has a positive predictive effect on their English achievement.Based on these findings,this study proposes recommendations for enhancing students’ critical thinking disposition and improving English teaching from the perspectives of three main stakeholders: schools,teachers and students.