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Exploration of Application of Confucian Conception of Critical Thinking in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China

Received: 27 February 2020     Accepted: 11 March 2020     Published: 14 April 2020
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Abstract

Over the past years, fostering critical thinking abilities has become one of the priorities in education in China. So far, much research has been conducted to explore how to resort to Western critical thinking methods to cultivate critical thinking abilities among Chinese students. Meanwhile, among much research in incorporating Confucian educational thought into current English teaching in China, little research has been done to explore the possibility of rendering Confucian conception of critical thinking to this endeavor. This paper argues that Confucian conception of critical thinking possesses similar complementary components to those of the Western conception of critical thinking. Through literature review and text analysis, this paper reviews the Confucian conception of critical thinking and the socio-cultural background that impact its development. Reflection on a case study and field observation shows that Confucian “enlightening approach” works effectively in today’s effort in critical thinking cultivation in English teaching; Confucius’ description of five-phase comprehensive learning process could be materialized in English teaching to progress from lower level learning (knowledge, comprehension, application) towards higher level learning (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation); Confucian conception of critical thinking, described as “contextual critique’ by some Western scholar, could complement Western critical thinking in a positive way. The paper suggests in-depth research in constructing the theoretical framework for the Confucian conception of critical thinking, investigation of other approaches to foster critical thinking abilities besides the “enlightening approach,” and thorough studies of current empirical research on critical thinking in TEFL in China so as to see how they can be applied in materializing Confucian conception of critical thinking.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 8, Issue 3)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Humanity and Science: China’s Intercultural Communication with the Outside World in the New Era

DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15
Page(s) 134-141
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Exploration of Application of Confucian Conception of Critical Thinking in Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China

References
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[2] Tan, C. (2017). Confucianism and education. In Noblit, G. (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education (pp. 1-18). New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.226.
[3] House, R. J. m Hanges, P. J. Javidan, M., Dorfman, P, P. W., Gupta, V (2004). Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
[4] Li, J. (2003). U.S. and Chinese cultural beliefts about learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95 (2), 258-258-267. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.95.2.258.
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[6] Wei, Zhiguo (2016). The Implications of Confucius’ Educational Thought for College English Teaching. Retrieved from www.ixueshu.com.
[7] Lei, Chongyan. (2017). A review of critical thinking ability training based on CNKI in recent five years. Yangtze Series· Theoretical Study, 9, 170-171.
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[9] Berthal, K. (2017). Creating harmony from diversity: What Confucianism reveals about the true value of liberal education from the 21st century. The ASIANetwork Exchange: A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts, 24 (2), 6-6-26. https://doi.org./10.16995/ane.177.
[10] Wu, Yin. (2018). Faciliating critical thinking of Chinese students: a Confucian perspctive. In Liu, Xiufeng., & Ma, Wen. (2018). Confucianism reconsidered: Insights for American and Chinese education in the twenty-first century. State Univeristy of New York Press. ISBN: 9781438470016.
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[13] Rajaram, K.(2014). East versus west: the descendants of confucianism vs.evidence-based learning mainland Chinese learners in pursuit of western-based edication in Singapore. Journal of education and human development, 3 (1), 239-281. DOI: 10.1109/CICEM.2013.6820141.
[14] Sjöström. J. (2018). Science teacher identity and eco-transformation of science education: comparing Western modernism with Confucianism and reflexive building. Cultural Study of Science Education, 13: 147-161. https://doi.org./10.1007/s11422-016-9802-0.
[15] Wang. Victor C. X. & Storey. Valerie. A. (2015) Andragogy and Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China, The Reference Librarian, 56: 4, 295-314, DOI: 10.1080/02763877.2015.1057680.
[16] Zhong, Qunyan. (2012). Understanding English Teaching and Learning Context in CHina. Global Education Review, 1 (2). 1-12.
[17] Brookfield, Stephen D. (2012). Teaching for critical thinking. Tools and techniques to help students question their assumptions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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    Xuejuan Gong. (2020). Exploration of Application of Confucian Conception of Critical Thinking in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 8(3), 134-141. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15

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    Xuejuan Gong. Exploration of Application of Confucian Conception of Critical Thinking in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2020, 8(3), 134-141. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15

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    AMA Style

    Xuejuan Gong. Exploration of Application of Confucian Conception of Critical Thinking in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China. Int J Lit Arts. 2020;8(3):134-141. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15,
      author = {Xuejuan Gong},
      title = {Exploration of Application of Confucian Conception of Critical Thinking in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {8},
      number = {3},
      pages = {134-141},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20200803.15},
      abstract = {Over the past years, fostering critical thinking abilities has become one of the priorities in education in China. So far, much research has been conducted to explore how to resort to Western critical thinking methods to cultivate critical thinking abilities among Chinese students. Meanwhile, among much research in incorporating Confucian educational thought into current English teaching in China, little research has been done to explore the possibility of rendering Confucian conception of critical thinking to this endeavor. This paper argues that Confucian conception of critical thinking possesses similar complementary components to those of the Western conception of critical thinking. Through literature review and text analysis, this paper reviews the Confucian conception of critical thinking and the socio-cultural background that impact its development. Reflection on a case study and field observation shows that Confucian “enlightening approach” works effectively in today’s effort in critical thinking cultivation in English teaching; Confucius’ description of five-phase comprehensive learning process could be materialized in English teaching to progress from lower level learning (knowledge, comprehension, application) towards higher level learning (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation); Confucian conception of critical thinking, described as “contextual critique’ by some Western scholar, could complement Western critical thinking in a positive way. The paper suggests in-depth research in constructing the theoretical framework for the Confucian conception of critical thinking, investigation of other approaches to foster critical thinking abilities besides the “enlightening approach,” and thorough studies of current empirical research on critical thinking in TEFL in China so as to see how they can be applied in materializing Confucian conception of critical thinking.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AB  - Over the past years, fostering critical thinking abilities has become one of the priorities in education in China. So far, much research has been conducted to explore how to resort to Western critical thinking methods to cultivate critical thinking abilities among Chinese students. Meanwhile, among much research in incorporating Confucian educational thought into current English teaching in China, little research has been done to explore the possibility of rendering Confucian conception of critical thinking to this endeavor. This paper argues that Confucian conception of critical thinking possesses similar complementary components to those of the Western conception of critical thinking. Through literature review and text analysis, this paper reviews the Confucian conception of critical thinking and the socio-cultural background that impact its development. Reflection on a case study and field observation shows that Confucian “enlightening approach” works effectively in today’s effort in critical thinking cultivation in English teaching; Confucius’ description of five-phase comprehensive learning process could be materialized in English teaching to progress from lower level learning (knowledge, comprehension, application) towards higher level learning (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation); Confucian conception of critical thinking, described as “contextual critique’ by some Western scholar, could complement Western critical thinking in a positive way. The paper suggests in-depth research in constructing the theoretical framework for the Confucian conception of critical thinking, investigation of other approaches to foster critical thinking abilities besides the “enlightening approach,” and thorough studies of current empirical research on critical thinking in TEFL in China so as to see how they can be applied in materializing Confucian conception of critical thinking.
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  • Wuhan Radio and Television Station, Wuhan, P. R. C

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