Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Multilingual Education Yearbook 2019 pp 189–208Cite as

Scrutinising Critical Thinking (CT) in Chinese Higher Education: Perceptions of Chinese Academics

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Multilingual Education Yearbook ((MEYB))

Abstract

Critical thinking (CT) has assumed the status of an obligatory graduate attribute in Western English-medium instruction higher education, with accompanying expectations that such thinking be evident in students’ academic literacy practices. These literacies are presented to students from outside English-dominant settings as higher-order language skills, as evident in, for example, English-for-Academic-Purposes programs, reflecting widely-held assumptions that CT is not a dimension of academic literacy practices of many non-English dominant education systems, particularly those reductively categorized as ‘Asian’. In this chapter, we use interview data from multilingual Chinese academics of diverse ethnolinguistic backgrounds to scrutinise assumptions that CT is not recognised nor encouraged in Chinese HE. Drawing on the responses of these academics, we also contest essentialization of the character of Chinese HE as bounded by inflexible traditional knowledge practices, and point to the experiences of these academics of English-medium education and collaboration as a source of dynamism in Chinese HE. Given the impetus for education institutions outside the EMI sphere to build international reputations and to prepare graduates for international postgraduate study and competition in global employment markets by adopting English-dominant academic literacy practices, we conclude by reflecting on the question of whether these institutions, in the context of rapid change, are gradually embracing a critical approach to the practices of CT.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson, M., & Moore, D. (1998). Classroom globalization: An investigation of teaching methods to address the phenomenon of students from multiple national cultures in business school classrooms. Melbourne: Monash University Faculty of Business and Economics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays (V. W. McGee, Trans.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballard, B. (1981). Language is not enough—Responses to the academic difficulties of overseas students. Paper presented at the Communication at University: Purpose, Process and Product Conference, Latrobe University, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballard, B. (1987). Academic adjustment: The other side of the export dollar. Higher Education Research and Development, 6(2), 109–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ballard, B. (1989). Overseas students and Australian academics: Learning and teaching styles. In B. Williams (Ed.), Overseas students in Australia: Policy and practice (pp. 87–98). Canberra: International Development Program of Australian Universities and Colleges.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, R. (1997). Higher education: A critical business. Buckingham, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biggs, J. B. (1994). Asian learners through Western eyes: An astigmatic paradox. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Vocational Education Research, 2(2), 40–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Botha, W. (2016). English and international students in China today: A sociolinguistic study of English-medium degree programs at a major Chinese university. English Today, 32(1), 41–47. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078415000449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byun, K., & Kim, M. (2011). Shifting patterns of the government’s policies for the internationalization of Korean higher education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 15(5), 467–486. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315310375307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canagarajah, A. S. (2011). Translanguaging in the classroom: Emerging issues for research and pedagogy. Applied Linguistics Review, 2(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110239331.1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canagarajah, A. S. (2013). Introduction. In A. S. Canagarajah (Ed.), Literacy as translingual practice: Between communities and classrooms (pp. 1–10). New York & London: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, D., & Lo, W. (2008). University restructuring in East Asia: Trends, challenges and prospects. Policy Futures in Education, 6(5), 641–652. https://doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.641.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, H. M., & Yan, H. K. (2007). Is there a geography of thought for East-West differences? Why or why not? Educational Philosophy and Theory, 39(4), 383–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, L. (2012). The power of English and the power of Asia: English as lingua franca and in bilingual and multilingual education. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 327–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2012.661432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chirgwin, S. K., & Huijser, H. (2015). Cultural variance, critical thinking, and indigenous knowledges: Exploring a both-ways approach. In M. Davies & R. Barnett (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of critical thinking in higher education (pp. 351–368). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chuah, S.-H. (2010). Teaching East-Asian students: Some observations. Retrieved from https://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/showcase/chuah_international.

  • Cook, V. J. (1992). Evidence for multicompetence. Language Learning, 42, 557–591. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1992.tb01044.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, M. (2015). A model of critical thinking in higher education. In M. B. Paulsen (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 30, pp. 41–92). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, J., & Conti-Bekkers, G. (2002). Supporting international students’ transition to university. In A. Bunker & G. Swan (Eds.), Proceedings of the Focussing on the Student: 11th Annual Teaching and Learning Forum for Western Australian Universities, Edith Cowan University, 5–6 February, 2002 (pp. 87–94). Retrieved Feburary 6, 2006 from http://www.ecu.edu.au/conferences/tlf/2002/pub/docs/Dawson.pdf.

  • Díaz, A. (2018). Challenging dominant epistemologies in higher education: The role of language in the geopolitics of knowledge (re)production. In I. Liyanage (Ed.), Multilingual education yearbook 2018: Internationalization, stakeholders & multilingual education contexts (pp. 21–36). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Doherty, C., & Singh, P. (2005). How the west is done: Simulating western pedagogy in a curriculum for Asian international students. In P. Ninnes & M. Hellsten (Eds.), Internationalising higher education: Critical explorations of pedagogy and policy (pp. 53–74). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty, C., & Singh, P. (2007). Mobile students, flexible identities and liquid modernity: Disrupting Western teachers’ assumptions of ‘The Asian Learner”. In D. Palfreyman & D. McBride (Eds.), Learning and teaching across cultures in higher education (pp. 114–132). London, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dong, Y. (2015). Critical thinking education with Chinese characteristics. In M. Davies & R. Barnett (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of critical thinking in higher education (pp. 351–368). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Duff, P. A. (2007). Problematising academic discourse socialisation. In H. Marriot, T. Moore, & R. Spence-Brown (Eds.), Learning discourses and the discourse of learning (pp. 01.01–01.18). Clayton, VIC: Monash University ePress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Durkin, K. (2008). The adaptation of East Asian masters students to Western norms of critical thinking and argumentation in the UK. Intercultural Education, 19(1), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675980701852228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellwood, C., & Nakane, I. (2009). Privileging of speech in EAP and mainstream university classrooms: A critical evaluation of participation. TESOL Quarterly, 43(2), 203–230. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00165.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ennew, C. T., & Fujia, Y. (2009). Foreign Universities in China: A case study. European Journal of Education, 44(1), 21–36. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-3435.2008.01368.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Floyd, C. B. (2011). Critical thinking in a second language. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(3), 289–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2010.501076.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freedman, S. W., & Ball, A. F. (2004). Ideological becoming: Bakhtinian concepts to guide the study of language, literacy, and learning. In A. F. Ball, S. W. Freedman, R. Pea, J. S. Brown, & C. Heath (Eds.), Bakhtinian perspectives on language, literacy, and learning (pp. 3–33). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gao, G. (1998a). “Don’t take my word for it.”—Understanding Chinese speaking practices. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 22(2), 163–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0147-1767(98)00003-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao, G. (1998b). An initial analysis of the effects of face and concern for “other” in Chinese interpersonal communication. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 22(4), 467–482. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(98)00019-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. K., Cheng, A., & Carlson, M. T. (2006). Reconceptualizing multicompetence as a theory of language knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 27(2), 220–240. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/aml013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hellstén, M., & Prescott, A. (2004). Learning at university: The international student experience. International Education Journal, 5(3), 344–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann, C. (2000). The spread of English and the growth of mulitlingualism with English in Europe. In J. Cenoz & U. Jessner (Eds.), English in Europe: The acquisition of a third language (pp. 1–21). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hou, A. Y. C., Morse, R., Chiang, C. L., & Chen, H. J. (2013). Challenges to quality of English medium instruction degree programs in Taiwanese universities and the role of local accreditors: A perspective of non-English-speaking Asian country. Asia Pacific Education Review, 14(3), 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-013-9267-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, F. (2003). Policy and practice of the internationalization of higher education in China. Journal of Studies in International Education, 7(3), 225–240. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315303254430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R. (2008). Internationalisation of higher education and language policy. Higher Education Management and Policy, 20(1), 111–128. https://doi.org/10.1787/17269822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kettle, M. A. (2007). Agency, discourse and academic practice: Reconceptualising international students in an Australian university (Ph.D. thesis). University of Queensland, Brisbane.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, D., Song, Q., Liu, J., Liu, Q., & Grimm, A. (2018). Building world class universities in China: Exploring faculty’s perceptions, interpretations of and struggles with global forces in higher education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48(1), 92–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017.1292846.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, H.-K. (2003). Critical thinking, learning and Confucius: A positive assessment. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 37(1), 71–87. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.3701005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, H. S., & Markus, H. R. (2002). Freedom of speech and freedom of silence: An analysis of talking as a cultural practice. In R. Schweder, M. Minow, & H. R. Markus (Eds.), Engaging cultural differences: The multicultural challenge in liberal democracies (pp. 432–452). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick, A. (2011). Internationalization or Englishization: Medium of instruction in today’s universities. Retrieved from repository.lib.ied.edu.hk.

  • Koehne, N. (2005). (Re)construction: Ways international students talk about their identity. Australian Journal of Education, 49(1), 104–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lassegard, J. P. (2016). Educational diversification strategies: Japanese universities’ efforts to attract international students. In C.-h. C. Ng, R. Fox, & M. Nakano (Eds.), Reforming learning and teaching in Asia-Pacific universities: Influences of globalised processes in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia (pp. 47–75). Singapore: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, L., & Wegerif, R. (2014). What does it mean to teach thinking in China? Challenging and developing notions of ‘Confucian education’. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 11, 22–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2013.09.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, M., & Exley, B. (2019). Benefits of translanguaging and transculturation exchanges between international higher degree research students and English medium research supervisors. In I. Liyanage & T. Walker (Eds.), Multilingual education yearbook 2019: Media of instruction & multilingual settings (pp. 121–135). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, X., & Roberts, J. (2012). A stages approach to the internationalization of higher education? The entry of UK universities into China. The Service Industries Journal, 32(7), 1011–1038. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2012.662495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liyanage, I. (2018). Internationalization of higher education, mobility, and multilingualism. In I. Liyanage (Ed.), Multilingual education yearbook 2018: Internationalization, stakeholders & multilingual education contexts (pp. 1–20). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lun, V. M.-C., Fischer, R., & Ward, C. (2010). Exploring cultural differences in critical thinking: Is it about my thinking style or the language I speak? Learning and Individual Differences, 20(6), 604–616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2010.07.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manalo, E., Kusumi, T., Koyasu, M., Michita, Y., & Tanaka, Y. (2015). Do students from different cultures think differently about critical and other thinking skills? In M. Davies & R. Barnett (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of critical thinking in higher education (pp. 299–316). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Manalo, E., Watanabe, K., & Sheppard, C. (2013). Do language structure or language proficiency affect critical evaluation? Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 35. https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt4956v4906d/qt4956v4906d.pdf.

  • Mok, K. H. (2007). Questing for internationalization of universities in Asia: Critical reflections. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3–4), 433–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315306291945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, T. (2011a). Critical thinking and disciplinary thinking: A continuing debate. Higher Education Research and Development, 30(3), 261–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2010.501328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, T. (2011b). Critical thinking and language: The challenge of generic skills and disciplinary discourse. London: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, T. (2013). Critical thinking: Seven definitions in search of a concept. Studies in Higher Education, 38(4), 506–522. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2011.586995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morson, G. S. (2004). The process of ideological becoming. In A. F. Ball, S. W. Freedman, R. Pea, J. S. Brown, & C. Heath (Eds.), Bakhtinian perspectives on language, literacy, and learning (pp. 317–331). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nakane, I. (2006). Silence and politeness in intercultural communication in university seminars. Journal of Pragmatics, 38(11), 1811–1835.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakane, I. (2007). Silence in intercultural communication. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ng, S. W. (2012). Rethinking the mission of internationalization of higher education in the Asia-Pacific region. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 42(3), 439–459. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2011.652815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Novera, I. A. (2004). Indonesian postgraduate students studying in Australia: An examination of their academic, social and cultural experiences. International Education Journal, 5(4), 475–487.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Sullivan, M. W., & Guo, L. (2011). Critical thinking and Chinese international students: An East-West dialogue. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 5(2), 53–73. https://doi.org/10.20355/C5NK5Z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, J. S.-Y. (2015). Structures of feeling in unequal Englishes. In R. Tupas (Ed.), Unequal Englishes: The politics of English today (pp. 59–73). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Paton, M. (2005). Is critical analysis foreign to Chinese students. In E. Manalo & G. Wong-To (Eds.), Communication skills in university education: The international dimension (pp. 1–11). Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paton, M. (2011). Asian students, critical thinking and English as an academic lingua franca. Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis, 32(1), 27–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preece, S. (2011). Universities in the Anglophone centre: Sites of multilingualism. Applied Linguistics Review, 2, 121–146. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110239331.121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rear, D. (2017). Reframing the debate on Asian students and critical thinking: Implications for Western universities. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 12(2), 18–33. https://doi.org/10.20355/C5P35F.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuelowicz, K. (1987). Learning problems of overseas students: Two sides of a story. Higher Education Research and Development, 6(2), 121–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, M., & Han, J. (2017). Post-monolingual education. In M. Singh & J. Han (Eds.), Pedagogies for internationalising research education (pp. 195–231). Singapore: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. B., & Bond, M. H. (1999). Social psychology across cultures (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tian, J., & Low, G. D. (2011). Critical thinking and Chinese university students: A review of the evidence. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 24(1), 61–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Top Universities. (2018). University branch campuses. Retrieved from https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/choosing-university/university-branch-campuses.

  • Tran, L. T., & Nguyen, H. T. (2018). Internationalisation of higher education in Vietnam through English Medium Instruction (EMI): Practices, tensions and implications for local language policies. In I. Liyanage (Ed.), Multilingual education yearbook 2018: Internationalization, stakeholders & multilingual education contexts (pp. 91–106). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • University of Nottingham. (2018). The University of Nottingham Ningbo China: Study with us. Retrieved from https://www.nottingham.edu.cn/en/study/.

  • Walker, A. W. (2010). Language diversity and classroom dialogue: Negotiation of meaning by students in an internationalised postgraduate classroom. (Doctoral Thesis). Griffith University, Brisbane. Retrieved from https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/367748/WalkerA_2010_02Thesis.pdf?sequence=1.

  • Watkins, D. A., & Biggs, J. B. (Eds.). (2001). Teaching the Chinese learner: Psychological and pedagogical perspectives. Hong Kong: CERC/ACER.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, K. (2016). Critical reading, critical thinking: Delicate scaffolding in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Thinking Skills and Creativity, 22, 256–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wisker, G., & Robinson, G. (2014). Examiner practices and culturally inflected doctoral theses. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 35(2), 190–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2012.745730.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, R., & Welch, A. (2001). Internationalising Chinese universities: A study of Guangzhou. World Studies in Education, 2(1), 21–51. https://doi.org/10.7459/wse/02.1.03.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Z. (2018). English-medium instruction policies in China: Internationalisation of higher education. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 39(6), 542–555. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2017.1404070.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China

    Anhui Wang

  2. School of Education, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

    Indika Liyanage & Tony Walker

Authors
  1. Anhui Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Indika Liyanage
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tony Walker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anhui Wang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia

    Indika Liyanage

  2. School of Education, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia

    Tony Walker

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Wang, A., Liyanage, I., Walker, T. (2019). Scrutinising Critical Thinking (CT) in Chinese Higher Education: Perceptions of Chinese Academics. In: Liyanage, I., Walker, T. (eds) Multilingual Education Yearbook 2019. Multilingual Education Yearbook. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14386-2_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14386-2_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14385-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14386-2

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation