On Cultivation Of The Ability To Think In English For EFL Learners

The ability to think in English is often regarded as one of the fundamental qualities in the mastering of English. One of the main reasons for Chinese secondary school students' language incompetence, especially communicative incompetence, lies in the fact that they are hardly able to think in English. The cultivation of students' such ability should be regarded as a main purpose in EFL teaching and learning. Different cultural backgrounds and the negative transference, overgeneralization as well as simplification in the cognitive learning strategy are hindering students from thinking in English. This article is to discuss the strategies for cultivating this ability from six different angles and through an experiment respectively with the slow, average and quick students in certain aspects. From the progress the students on the three levels have made. It is proved positive that the cultivation of the EFL learners' ability to think in English in the classroom teaching should be stressed. However, as to how to assess such ability scientifically and how to cultivate it more effectively, there is still much to be desired.