In the recent decades, many foreign language educators and researchers have argued that  mastering a foreign language not only requires learners’ linguistic competence, communication competence but also higher-order thinking skills (e.g., Chamot, 1995; Tarvin & Al-Arishi, 1991; Kabilan 2000; Miraman & Tishman, 1988; Suhor, 1984; Liaw, 2007; Shirkhani& Fahim 2011). Since critical thinking skills are essential for higher level of language proficiency and academic success, it is one of the important tasks for teachers to aslo help students develop thinking skills in L2 classrooms.  

Many different definitions have been proposed for critical thinking (e.g., Lipman 1991; Elder & Paul, 1994, Ennis & Norris, 1990; Facione, 1994&2010; Halpern, 1996 & 2007). As Elder and Paul (1994) state, critical thinking refers to the ability of individuals to take charge of their own thinking and develop appropriate criteria and standards for analyzing their own thinking. Moreover, as Maiorana (1992) maintains, critical thinking aims at achieving understanding, and evaluating different perspectives, and solving problems. Critical thinking is an ongoing process in which all language learners must engage, regardless of their language proficiency levels. Critical thinking involves the use of information, experience, and world knowledge in ways which allow language learners to seek alternatives, make inferences, pose questions, and solve problems, thereby signaling understanding in a variety of complex ways (Liaw, 2007).

In spite that there is an increasing body of literature addressing the interrelatedness of the development of language proficiency and thinking skills, language learning and thinking skills are often treated as independent processes (Miraman & Tishman, 1988; Suhor, 1984). Therefore, the present study sets out to examine whether explicit instruction of cognitive thinking skills can promote learners’critical thinking and English proficiency, with a focus on oral expression. The research questions are as follows:

1. How does explicit instruction of cognitive thinking strategies affect students’ critical thinking?

2. Can the instruction of cognitive thinking skills enhance students’ oral proficiency in the target language?

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