The Relationship Between Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Critical Pedagogy and Critical Thinking Levels

Abstract

This study explores the critical thinking levels of pre-service EFL teachers and their perceptions of critical pedagogy. A quantitative research design was employed. Data were collected through the Critical Thinking Questionnaire with 25 items and the Critical Language Pedagogy Questionnaire with 17 items. The two questionnaires were administered to 80 pre-service English language teachers at a state university in Turkey. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS, including independent t-tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, and Spearman’s correlation analysis. The findings showed that while pre-service EFL teachers had high levels of critical thinking across all six cognitive domains (analysing, evaluating, creating, remembering, understanding, and applying). Moreover, a moderate positive correlation was found between awareness of critical pedagogy and critical thinking. There were no differences between participants’ genders and both variables. Additionally, the findings revealed a moderate positive correlation between critical thinking and critical pedagogy awareness, suggesting that higher engagement with critical pedagogy increases critical thinking ability. Based on the findings, researchers suggest that integrating critical pedagogy into teacher education programs may enhance critical thinking.