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

Xuejuan Gong

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15

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

Xuejuan Gong

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

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), 2024. 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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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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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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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Exploration of Application of Confucian Conception of Critical Thinking in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China
AU  - Xuejuan Gong
Y1  - 2020/04/14
PY  - 2020
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
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EP  - 141
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
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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.
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Xuejuan Gong

Wuhan Radio and Television Station, Wuhan, P. R. C; Cook School of Intercultural Studies, Biola University, La Mirada, U.S.A

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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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ACS 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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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}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Exploration of Application of Confucian Conception of Critical Thinking in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China
AU  - Xuejuan Gong
Y1  - 2020/04/14
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 134
EP  - 141
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20200803.15
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.
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
ER  -

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