Exploring the Importance of Developing Critical-Thinking Skills for Sudanese Universities Students of EFL Learners through Collaborative Learning Exploring the Importance of Developing Critical-Thinking Skills for Sudanese Universities Students of EFL Learners through Collaborative Learning

Abstract

This study aims to explore the importance of developing critical-thinking skills for Sudanese universities students of EFL learners through collaborative learning. The significance of the study is to encourage teachers of English language at university level to use this form of collaborative learning method in their classrooms. To achieve such a goal the researcher distributed a questionnaire to the respective teachers at faculty of languages, Sudan University of Science and Technology. The study used the descriptive and analytical method, with the use of statistical package of social science (SPSS) for analysis. The study reached the following findings: critical thinking raises learners’ awareness to identify and state issues clearly, logically and accurately, critical thinking raises learners’ ability to develop own position and back arguments; critical thinking has ability to make critiques and integrate other perspectives. In addition, the research recommends that students have to work in-group to enhance their communication skills, teacher should depend on critical thinking assignments to hold student's thinking to intellectual standards, teachers should encourage independence and creativity thinking strategies learning during lessons, and the study is concluded with some suggestions for further studies.