The Effect of Teaching Critical Thinking on EFL Speaking Competence: A Meta-analysis

Among many existing teaching methods considered to improve speaking competence for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, one emerging and novel instructional approach is integrating critical thinking (CT) instruction into a speaking course. However, this teaching strategy is still unclear since synthesis studies in this research realm remain scarce. To address the gap, this study explored the effectiveness of teaching CT on EFL speaking competence. The current study adopted a three-level random-effects meta-analytic model, aiming to explore whether and how teaching CT influences EFL speaking competence based on 19 effect sizes from 11 primary studies involving 962 students. The findings showed a significant positive effect of teaching CT on EFL speaking competence with a large effect size (d = .630, p < .0001). Length of Instructional Time and Teaching Instruction were found as important moderators in the moderator analysis, which altered the effect of teaching CT on EFL speaking competence. However, no significant moderating effect was identified for Gender Differences and Education Level. Although incorporating CT instruction into a speaking class remains an innovative teaching pedagogy, teachers as practitioners are encouraged to implement it since students’ EFL speaking competence improves as long as teachers explicitly teach CT.