Assessing Critical Thinking Ability via the Writing Process: Developing and implementing a Rating Scale (Research Paper)

The present exploratory mixed methods study aimedto develop a scale for assessing critical thinking (CT) ability of Iranian EFL learners. The study wasconducted in three phases. In phase one, the features of CT components were examined in the writingsof ۱۲۰ participants. A holistic and an analytic scale were developed based on their performance in exploiting the components of CT and the features of CT components.In the second phase, the language learners' new writing samples (N=۱۱۰) were analyzed to examine to what extent they could employ the CT components.Also, the reliability and validity of the newly developed scale was calculated. Factor analysis revealed that the scale measured the four constructs of clarity, fairness-breadth, depth- significance-logicalness, and accuracy-precision-relevance.In the final phase, the researchers implemented the newly developed scale on a new group of learners (N=۳۳)to observe the degree the scale couldassess the CT ability of language learners.

کلیدواژه ها:

Critical Thinking Ability ، Components of Thinking ، Rating Scale ، Writing Process