Critical Thinking and Chinese International Students: An East-West Dialogue

Abstract

In the West, the teaching of critical thinking, albeit

Debating the Capabilities of “Chinese Students” for Thinking Critically in Anglophone Universities

“…O'Sullivan and Guo trace the problem these students have with critical thinking as being due to its absence from "Chinese education discourse at both secondary and postsecondary level" [63] (p. 54). In the words of one student interviewee, "critical thinking was never formally introduced during Chinese classes" [63] (p. 54). Her monolingual English-speaking professor's comments on her assignments "frequently made reference to lack of criticality" [63] (p. 54).…”

“…In the words of one student interviewee, "critical thinking was never formally introduced during Chinese classes" [63] (p. 54). Her monolingual English-speaking professor's comments on her assignments "frequently made reference to lack of criticality" [63] (p. 54). Chan, Ho and Ku argue that there is "clear evidence" that students from China tend to "devaluate or ignore counterarguments" [64] (p. 67), due to their lack of exposure to open-minded education which values critical thinking.…”

“…O'Sullivan and Guo argue there is an assumption by Anglophone academics that "the concept and practice of critical thinking has been mastered by their students, including international students" [63] (p. 54). Therefore, students from China should develop "good critical thinking skills" assessable in terms of their expected professional demands [63] (p. 54).…”

“…Therefore, students from China should develop "good critical thinking skills" assessable in terms of their expected professional demands [63] (p. 54). However, Shohamy claims that although international students from China acquire vast amounts of academic knowledge, it is not always possible to adequately assess that knowledge through tests conducted in a different socio-cultural context through a different language [73] (p. 419).…”

Fossil protection legislation: Chinese issues, global problems

“…It is worth noting that there are still occurrences of fossil material leaving China illegally, and ending up published in high‐ranking journals such as Nature (Liston, ). Even if such material might eventually come back to China afterwards, and has not entered private hands and so been lost to science, it still denies opportunities for the Chinese people to participate in the exploration of their natural heritage, in a country that desperately needs to encourage more natural scientists, and in particular to learn the skills of critical assessment in which their education system so sadly fails (Huang, ; O'Sullivan & Guo, ). It also fails to recognise that the arrogant disregard for a country's laws, pursued by those too entranced by the material on which they desire to work, is little more than academic imperialism – people would not accept it in the West, so why should we expect people in China to accept it?…”