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The Application of Pragmatic Presupposition in Developing Critical Thinking of Writing

  • Yan Song

    Yan Song is Professor of English (applied linguistics) at Shandong University of Science and Technology. Her research efforts have focused on English pronunciation and English teaching methodology.

         and Shuaiqi Wang

    Shuaiqi Wang is an English teacher at Chifeng Jingpeng Senior High School. Her research efforts have focused on English teaching methodology.
Published/Copyright: November 25, 2022
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Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics
From the journal Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics Volume 45 Issue 4

Abstract

This study aims to explore whether developing critical thinking ability from the perspective of pragmatic presupposition can help non-English majors improve their writing achievements. This empirical study employs tests as the instruments. 126 non-English majors from a key university of Shandong Province participate in the study. The results of the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test indicate that most subjects (95%) have inadequate or limited critical thinking ability, which leads to digression, repetitive and lengthy description, and unconvincing arguments, as well as illogical or incoherent structures in writing. After a ten-week teaching instruction from the perspective of pragmatic presupposition, students in experimental group improve their writing achievements, indicating that the instruction of critical thinking ability from the perspective of pragmatic presupposition may have certain effects on their writing performance. The study will promote the application of pragmatic presupposition to writing teaching and offer some implications for the teaching of English writing.

Keywords: critical thinking ability; pragmatic presupposition; writing; instruction

About the authors

Professor Yan Song

Yan Song is Professor of English (applied linguistics) at Shandong University of Science and Technology. Her research efforts have focused on English pronunciation and English teaching methodology.

Shuaiqi Wang

Shuaiqi Wang is an English teacher at Chifeng Jingpeng Senior High School. Her research efforts have focused on English teaching methodology.

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Published Online: 2022-11-25
Published in Print: 2022-11-25

© 2022 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

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  12. The Application of Pragmatic Presupposition in Developing Critical Thinking of Writing
  13. Source Work in China-Based and Western SSCI Journal Articles: Preferences of Reporting Structures of English Academic Articles Published in China and in English-Speaking Countries
  14. Abstracts
  15. Chinese Abstracts
https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2022-0406
Keywords for this article
critical thinking ability; pragmatic presupposition; writing; instruction

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Testing and Assessment
  3. Changes in Argumentation Performance: Effects of Teacher-Student Collaborative Assessment
  4. Dynamic Assessment of College EFL Learners’ Speaking Proficiency: A Case Study
  5. Teacher Development
  6. Who Are We, What Can We Do, and What Do We Think? Review on EAP Teacher Development
  7. Second Language Acquisition
  8. A Development Study on the Ordering Distribution of Temporal Adverbial Clauses by Chinese EFL Learners Based on Dependency Treebank
  9. Second Language Teaching
  10. Narrating the Past in Different Contexts: C-BI Approach to the Present Perfect and Past Simple
  11. Second Language Writing
  12. The Application of Pragmatic Presupposition in Developing Critical Thinking of Writing
  13. Source Work in China-Based and Western SSCI Journal Articles: Preferences of Reporting Structures of English Academic Articles Published in China and in English-Speaking Countries
  14. Abstracts
  15. Chinese Abstracts
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