A Study of Comparison of Cultural Factors and Critical Thinking Ability between Western and Korean EFL Students

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study aims to determine whether there is a difference in critical thinking ability between Western and Korean L2 students and, based on this, to investigate whether cultural factors are related to L2 students’ critical thinking ability. The participants were 45 Korean EFL students from Gyeonggi-do, Korea, and 42 Western L2 students who came to London, England, for language training during vacation. They were surveyed with questionnaires to evaluate their critical thinking ability and their concept of cultural factors: power distance index (PDI), individualism versus collectivism for interaction mode (IDV), masculinity versus femininity for gender (MAS), uncertainty avoidance index (UAI), long-term orientation versus short-term normative orientation for time orientation (LTO), and indulgence versus restraint for self-control mode (VR). Western L2 students scored higher than Korean L2 students in the Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). The WGCTA was positively correlated with English reading scores and cultural factors, with a moderate positive association of similar reading scores between the two groups. PDI and UAI were found to be correlated to critical thinking ability. The results of Korean samples, which adequately fit the data, suggest that PDI and UAI may influence critical thinking skills. These findings imply that cultural factors (power distance and uncertainty avoidance) influence critical thinking skills. However, the indirect effects of the two factors are not identical.

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