The Predictive Utility of Critical Thinking Skills On Language Proficiency in Adult English As A Second Language Learners

The Predictive Utility of Critical Thinking Skills on Language Proficiency in Adult
English as a Second Language Learners
Submitted by
Ayad Lateef Abduljabbar
A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctorate of Education
Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, Arizona
November 14, 2019

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GRAND CANYON U NIVERS
ITY
English as a Second Languagc Learners
by
Ayad Abduljabbar
Approved
Noveinbcr 14, 2019
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE:
Evelyn Everctt Knowles, Ph.D., Dissertation Chair
Kathleen McC ulloch, Ph. D., Committee Member
Dorethea Walter, Ph.D., Committee Member
ACCEPTED AND SIG NED:
Michael R. Berger,d.D.
Dean, College of Doctoral Studies
Date:
I verify that my dissertation represents original research, is not falsified or plagiarized,
and that I accurately reported, cited, and referenced all sources within this manuscript in
strict compliance with APA and Grand Canyon University (GCU) guidelines. I also
verify my dissertation complies with the approval(s) granted for this research
investigation by GCU Institutional Review Board (IRB).
November 14, 2019

Ayad Abduljabbar Date
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative predictive correlational study was to investigate if, and to
what extent, adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their language proficiency,
consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension, in a community
college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. Based on Krashen’s theory
of language acquisition and Facione’s taxonomy of critical thinking, the researcher used
California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and Comprehensive Adult Student
Assessment System (CASAS) to measure the skills of critical thinking and language
proficiency of 84 adult ESL students in a community college in the east coast
metropolitan area. The two research questions asked to what extent critical thinking skills
predicted each of the skills of reading comprehension and listening comprehension.
Simple linear regression analysis was used to answer both research questions. The results
of the data showed that critical thinking skills significantly predicted reading
comprehension, (B = 0.23, p = .002), as well as listening comprehension (B = 0.31, p < .
001). In addition, the results showed that a one-unit increase of critical thinking skills
increased the value of reading comprehension scores by 0.23 and a one-unit increase of
critical thinking skills increased the value of listening comprehension by 0.3. To
summarize, the findings showed that critical thinking was a strong predictor of both
reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills.
Keywords: Critical thinking skills; reading comprehension; listening
comprehension; regression analysis; California critical thinking skills test; comprehensive
adult students assessment system; ESL.

vi
Dedication
This work is dedicated to my father, Lateef Abduljabbar, who has been inspiring
and encouraging me to be successful. Despite his long sufferings of cancer, and despite
the very long distances separating us, my father kept encouraging me to accomplish this
dissertation. In addition, this work is dedicated to my mom, who has never forgotten me
in her prayers every single day since I started my GCU journey. It is with sincere
gratitude that I thank my wife, Muntaha, too, for her continuous support of my work on
this journey.
Acknowledgments
My chair, Dr. Evelyn Knowles, my methodologist, Dr. Kathleen McCulloch, and
my content expert, Dr. Dorethea Walter have the most influential role in completing this
piece of work. They have always been there for my endless questions to answer. They
have never made me feel I was alone. Their guidance and support were beyond their
business hours. I remember when I was about to give up, Dr. Walter promised to be there
with me and reminded me of the big picture that I have. For their support and help, I am
most grateful.
Completion of this dissertation could not have happened without the
encouragement and support I received from my family. My kids, Muhammed, Mustafa,
Sama and Hana, were always next to me when I was writing. They were always asking if
they could do anything which could have helped me stay focused. They were also telling
me that I had to succeed in this journey for them to succeed in the future because I was a
model father for them. I cannot forget the hard work my wife, Muntaha, was doing to
keep me focused. She was doing her best to provide me with the study environment that I
needed to finish writing this dissertation. For her and my kids, I am truly thankful.
I cannot forget to thank my AQR reviewer at Grand Canyon University, Dr. June
Maul, who read my proposal thoroughly and guided me to make the required changes to
get it approved. She was the kind of person who made me feel I was almost done. I must
express my sincere gratitude to my first student advisor at Grand Canyon University, too,
Ms. Anne Wilburn, who was the person who kept following up with me to make sure I
was doing what I needed to do in order to complete my coursework. She was following
up with me almost every course, even after I was assigned another advisor. I would like
to express my deep gratitude for her generous support. In addition, I cannot forget to
extend my deep gratitude to my former university professor and friend, Dr. Ala Oda,
from the University of Basra, for his very generous support and encouragement
throughout this doctoral journey. Finally, I would like to thank my friend, Hussein Jacob,
a university professor at the University of Basra, Iraq, for his linguistic guidance and
support throughout my dissertation journey. Hussein directly contributed to this work
through sharing his thoughts and ideas regarding the literature review section.
Table of Contents
List of Tables....................................................................................................................xiii
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study....................................................................................1
Introduction....................................................................................................................1
Background of the Study...............................................................................................3
Problem Statement.........................................................................................................7
Purpose of the Study......................................................................................................9
Research Questions and Hypotheses.............................................................................9
Advancing Scientific Knowledge and Significance of the Study................................11
Rationale for Methodology..........................................................................................15
Nature of the Research Design for the Study...............................................................17
Definition of Terms.....................................................................................................20
Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations....................................................................22
Assumptions........................................................................................................22
Limitations..........................................................................................................23
Delimitations.......................................................................................................24
Summary and Organization of the Remainder of the Study........................................24
Chapter 2: Literature Review.............................................................................................28
Introduction to the Chapter..........................................................................................28
Background to the problem..........................................................................................30
Identification of the Gap..............................................................................................32
Theoretical Foundation................................................................................................36
Review of the Literature..............................................................................................42
Critical thinking definitions................................................................................42

Socratic method..................................................................................................46
Critical thinking and language learning..............................................................49
Autonomy, creative problem solving, and critical thinking...............................50
Metacognitive skills and critical thinking...........................................................51
The difficulty of teaching critical thinking.........................................................52
Teachers’ attitudes towards teaching critical thinking.......................................54
Critical thinking and listening comprehension skills..........................................57
Critical thinking and reading comprehension skills...........................................59
Developing critical thinking skills......................................................................62
ESL learning and motivation..............................................................................68
Methodologies....................................................................................................72
Instrumentation...................................................................................................74
Summary......................................................................................................................77
Chapter 3: Methodology....................................................................................................81
Introduction..................................................................................................................81
Statement of the Problem.............................................................................................82
Research Questions and/or Hypotheses.......................................................................83
Research Methodology................................................................................................86
Research Design...........................................................................................................87
Population and Sample Selection.................................................................................90
General population and target population...........................................................90
Sample................................................................................................................90
Sampling.............................................................................................................91
Instrumentation............................................................................................................93
California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST).............................................93

Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) Test.................96
Validity........................................................................................................................97
California critical thinking skills test..................................................................98
Comprehensive adult student assessment system...............................................99
Reliability.....................................................................................................................99
Data Collection and Management..............................................................................101
Data Analysis Procedures..........................................................................................105
Data cleaning....................................................................................................107
Assumptions test...............................................................................................109
Ethical Considerations...............................................................................................114
Limitations and Delimitations....................................................................................117
Summary....................................................................................................................118
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results..............................................................................121
Introduction................................................................................................................121
Descriptive Findings..................................................................................................122
Data Analysis Procedures..........................................................................................124
Data cleaning....................................................................................................125
Test of assumptions..........................................................................................125
Results........................................................................................................................132
RQ1: Null and alternative hypothesis, and results............................................133
RQ2: Null and alternative hypothesis, and results............................................134
Summary....................................................................................................................135
Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations............................................137
Introduction................................................................................................................137
Summary of Study.....................................................................................................137
Summary of Findings and Conclusion......................................................................141
Hypothesis 1.....................................................................................................141
Hypothesis 2.....................................................................................................142
Advancing scientific knowledge................................................................................143
Implications................................................................................................................144
Theoretical implications...................................................................................144
Practical implications........................................................................................145
Future implications...........................................................................................145
Strengths and weaknesses of the study......................................................................146
Strengths...........................................................................................................146
Weaknesses.......................................................................................................147
Recommendations......................................................................................................148
Recommendations for future research..............................................................148
Recommendations for future practice...............................................................149
References........................................................................................................................151
Appendix A. Site Authorization Letter............................................................................171
Appendix B. IRB Approval Letter...................................................................................172
Appendix C. Informed Consent.......................................................................................174
Appendix D. Permissions Letter to Use CCTST.............................................................177
Appendix E. Power Analysis for Sample Size Calculation.............................................178
Appendix F. Information Regarding California Critical Thinking Skills Test................179
Appendix G. California Critical Thinking Skills Test Sample Questions.......................180
Appendix H. CASAS Listening Sample Test..................................................................186
Appendix I. CASAS Reading Sample Test.....................................................................192

List of Tables
Table 1. Variables Conceptual, Operational and Measurement Definitions....................84
Table 2. Frequency Table for Gender and Native Language..........................................123
Table 3. Summary Statistics Table for Age and Years at College.................................124
Table 4. Summary Statistics Table for Continuous Variables of Interest......................124
Table 5. Model summary for CCTST Scores and Reading Comprehension Scores......127
Table 6. Model summary for CCTST Scores and Listening Comprehension Scores....127
Table 7. Results for Linear Regression with CCTST Score predicting Reading
Comprehension Scores.....................................................................................133
Table 8. Results for Linear Regression with CCTST Score predicting Listening
Comprehension Scores.....................................................................................134
List of Figures
Figure 1. Scatter plot to evaluate the linearity assumption for the simple linear regression
model used to test Hypothesis 1.......................................................................128
model used to test Hypothesis 2.......................................................................128
Figure 3. Box plot to evaluate the absence of significant outliers for the criterion
variables...........................................................................................................129
Figure 4. Histogram of reading scores residuals overplayed with normal distribution

curve.................................................................................................................130
Figure 5. Histogram of listening scores residuals overplayed with normal distribution

curve.................................................................................................................130
Figure 6. Scatter plot of CCTST scores and reading comprehension scores..................131
Figure 7. Scatter plot of CCTST scores and listening comprehension scores................132

1
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study
Introduction
Critical thinking is one of the most important topics in today’s education.
Students in all fields should be taught how to think critically since different constituent
community groups admit that critical thinking is essential and very important (Haynes,
Lisic, Goltz, Stein, & Harris, 2016). In addition, research has shown that critical thinking
is necessary for every student and a must for higher education students (Yousefi &
Mohammadi, 2016). English Language Learning (ELL) is no exception. In the field of
ELL, scholars have dealt with two types of learning: English as a Second Language
(ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). ESL refers to teaching English in a
multilingual classroom in an English-speaking community; whereas EFL refers to
teaching English in a monolingual classroom in a community where English is not
spoken widely (Neff, Brooks, & Romney, 2017).
Recent research has shown why teaching critical thinking skills to language
learners is important. ESL learners need to gain the necessary skills to think critically in
order to be able to express their ideas, attitudes and feelings in the language they learn
(Ordem, 2017). Furthermore, critical thinking is an important factor that has a direct
relationship with language learning as well as with all other fields of education in the
twenty-first century (Golpour, 2014). Afshar, Rahimi and Rahimi (2014) found that EFL
students’ success in their academic studies was attributed to their critical thinking skills,
and that critical thinking was a strong predictor of university achievement in EFL Iranian
learners. A study by Tous, Tahriri and Haghighi (2015) concluded that giving critical
thinking instructions to EFL students improved their reading comprehension skills. In

addition, Boroushaki and Ng (2016) asserted that critical thinking should be incorporated
into language learning textbooks because critical thinkers are equipped with the ability to
make better decisions when they read and find the meaning of unknown vocabulary
relying on the context. Furthermore, Kagmar and Jadidi (2016) conducted a quantitative
study in Shiraz University in Iran and found that critical thinking skills of Iranian EFL
students were correlated with their reading comprehension skills. Prior studies correlating
critical thinking skills and one or all language domains have been done in Iran, Malaysia,
India, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia (Afshar, Movassagh, & Arbabi, 2017; Afshar et al.,
2014; Ahour & Golpour, 2016; Bagheri, 2015; Tous et al., 2015; Yousefi & Mohammadi,
2016). Until this study was conducted, there was little research that has investigated the
relationship between critical thinking skills and language proficiency skills, such as
reading comprehension and listening comprehension in a United States setting.
Therefore, this study sought to establish such a relationship in an east coast metropolitan
area in the United States.
Chapter 1 presents the topic of this research study and provides background
information on the topic of critical thinking skills and teaching English as a second
language. Within the theoretical concept of Krashen’s theory of second language
acquisition and learning, and Facione’s taxonomy of critical thinking, this researcher
investigated if, and to what extent, adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their
language proficiency, consisting of reading and listening comprehension, in an east coast
metropolitan area. This chapter presents the problem statement, purpose of the study and
the methodology used to investigate the research problem. In addition, Chapter 1 presents
the research questions and hypotheses that guided the study. It discusses the rationale for
choosing the methodology and research design. This chapter concludes with definitions
of important terms used in the research, and lists the assumptions, limitations, and
delimitations of the study.
Background of the Study
The issue of critical thinking skills is a concern in the field of ESL and EFL
teaching and learning. ESL teaching can be traced back to the middle of the 19th century
and the beginning of the 20th century. Since immigrants coming to the United States
have to assimilate into the American society, many universities in the United States have
been implementing ESL centers in an attempt to address the academic, linguistic,
sociocultural and emotional needs of those students (Kanakari, 2017). Currently, research
exists from many countries showing a relationship between critical thinking skills and
language proficiency of adults learning English as a second language. However, prior to
conducting this study, it was not known if their findings would hold true for adult ESL
learners in the United States.
Critical thinking skills and language domains have been investigated in previous
research. Afshar et al. (2017) found that EFL students’ success in their academic studies
was attributed to their critical thinking skills and that critical thinking was a strong
predictor of university achievement in the EFL Iranian learners. In addition, Tous et al.
(2015) concluded that critical thinking instructions to EFL students improve their reading
comprehension skills. However, few studies investigated the relationship between critical
thinking skills and other language skills such as reading or listening comprehension in a
United States setting.

Critical thinking skills have been important in the adult ESL classrooms because
they help prepare students for college courses, as well as job advancement. The role of
critical thinking in the field of English Language Learning (ELL) has been of importance
to scholars because the number of international students studying in the United States, as
well as in other English-speaking countries, has been increasing (Wu, Garza, & Guzman,
2015). According to the national science teachers’ association, the number of ESL
students in the United States has been increasing dramatically over the past decade.
Although international students need a high level of language proficiency in order to
accustom to the life in these countries, they also need to adjust their discourse style to
suite their new situations and cultural contexts (Wu et al., 2015). In other words,
international students need to use the skills to think critically in addition to their linguistic
skills.
Recent research has shown how critical thinking skills benefit students in general
and ESL/EFL students specifically. Dehghayedi and Bagheri (2018) asserted that critical
thinking is student-driven, student friendly, and can make a difference in the lives of
students, their families and their communities. Therefore, ESL learners would benefit
from being trained on how to think critically. Moreover, teaching critical thinking skills
to students can equip them with competency in social affairs in this rapidly-changing
world (Bagheri, 2015). Also, Carranza (2018) asserted that ESL students do not have the
necessary critical thinking skills they need to succeed in transfer-level English courses.
Carranza (2018) asserted that ESL and English instructors in many community colleges
in the United States have different expectations for their ESL students. ESL instructors do
not focus on the necessary critical thinking skills that ESL students need to succeed in
transfer-level English courses. Therefore, Carranza (2018) developed a handbook for
ESL faculty that includes recommendations for including critical thinking activities in
lessons to help ESL students succeed in their transfer-level English, as well as any other
higher education course.
Some recent researchers in the field of critical thinking and ESL/EFL language
learning identified several limitations which can justify the need for this study. Eftekhari,
Sotoudehnama, and Marandi (2016) stated future research was needed to investigate
critical thinking development in EFL/ESL settings outside of their study, which was
conducted in a university in Iran. In addition, Yoke, Hasan, Jangga and Kamal (2015)
stated future studies on the topic of higher order thinking skills and EFL teaching should
focus on how and why teachers should apply these skills in their classrooms. In other
words, if a relationship existed between these skills and language proficiency, it would
answer the question as to why these skills should be promoted in the foreign language
classroom.
Subsequently, the results of several recent studies on the topic of critical thinking
skills and language skills encouraged researchers to dig deeper into the topic. Yousefi
and Mohammadi (2016) concluded that there was a significant relationship between
critical thinking and EFL postgraduate students’ reading comprehension skills. In a
similar context, Ahour and Golpour (2016) concluded that critical thinking skills of EFL
students affect their writing ability. Although all participants were found homogeneous as
far as language proficiency was concerned, students who scored higher in the California
Critical Thinking Skills Test outperformed those who scored lower. Similarly, Elekaei,
Faramarzi and Tabrizi (2016) concluded that critical thinking was a strong predictor of
EFL students’ academic achievement and autonomy. Dong and Yue (2015) also asserted
that college students’ critical thinking skills correlated positively with their English
writing skills. Moreover, Pei, Zheng, Zhang, and Liu (2017) conducted a study that
investigated the association between college EFL students' critical thinking skills and
their argumentative writing, which is one of the language skills. The researchers’ findings
showed that although there was no significant correlation between the participants’
critical thinking skills and argumentative writing scores, “textual analysis of typical
essays indicated that strong-CTS learners outperformed weak-CTS learners in relevance,
clarity, logicality, profundity and flexibility of EFL argumentative writing” (Pei et al.,
2017, p. 40).
Despite the above-mentioned studies on the topic of critical thinking skills and
ELT, minimal research had been conducted on the relationship between critical thinking
skills and ESL students’ language proficiency in a United States setting. Since the
number of international students entering the United Sates is increasing, it was important
to investigate such a relationship, so that the curriculum designers and educators would
include critical thinking skills into the syllabi.
Several articles recommended replicating research studies with different
populations. One way of understanding whether the results of certain research articles
hold true across populations is by replicating the studies with different populations
(Laerd, 2019). The current research investigated the predictive relationship of critical
thinking of adult ESL learners and their language proficiency in a United States setting.
In addition, Laerd (2019) stated that one route of replication is generalization, which can
be chosen if the researcher aims at replicating previous studies but with different
populations. Although recent research has investigated such a relationship, most of the
studies were conducted in countries other than the United States and used adult ESL/EFL
learners who rarely use English outside of classroom setting (Afshar et al., 2017; Afshar
et al., 2014; Ahour & Golpour, 2016; Bagheri, 2015; Tous et al., 2015; Yousefi &
Mohammadi, 2016). Laerd (2019) stated that one purpose of replication is to make the
results of previous studies generalizable. Investigating whether critical thinking skills
could predict language proficiency of adult ESL learners in the United States was
necessary since the general population was different from the populations that have been
utilized in previous studies. Therefore, this researcher aimed at making generalizable
results that would hold true for the population of adult ESL learners in the United States.
Problem Statement
It was not known if, and to what extent, adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills
predict their language proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension and listening
comprehension. Since the number of ESL students is increasing in the United States, and
since ESL learners should be active contributors in the community, there is a need to
teach those students to be better problem solvers and decision makers. Previous research
has shown that critical thinking skills were significantly related to ESL learners’ reading
comprehension (Azadi, Zare, & Khorram, 2015; Boroushaki & Ng, 2016;
Pourghasemian & Hosseini, 2017; Tous et al., 2015; Yousefi & Mohammadi, 2016) and
listening comprehension (Elekaei et al., 2016; Mohammadi & Zare, 2015). However,
prior to conducting this study, little research investigated the relationship between critical
thinking skills of adult ESL learner’s and their language proficiency in a United States
setting.
Addressing the problem of whether adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills
predict their language proficiency is important in the field of ESL learning and teaching.
Thakur and Al-Mahrooqi (2015) stated that critical thinking plays an important role in
developing information-based societies, and ESL/EFL learners need to be oriented
towards critical thinking skills as well as language skills. In addition, Nejmaoui (2019)
asserted that education has shifted to teaching students how to process and think critically
about the information they receive, since information in the 21st century became easily
accessible. Therefore, if critical thinking skills of adult ESL learners are found to predict
their language skills, instructors, educators, and curriculum designers should find it
essential to include their lesson plans and curriculum with activities that can promote
students’ critical thinking skills. Furthermore, if the results of the current study showed
that critical thinking skills predicts students’ language skills, then critical thinking skills
instruction would benefit adult ESL learners and critical thinkers would acquire language
skills faster than others who are less critical thinkers.
The general population affected by this study was all English language learners in
the United States. According to Crothers (2017), ESL learners in the United States
receive their ESL courses in English, and these courses either concentrated on the
language skills separately from other mainstream content, or they concentrated on both
language and content skills together. The target population of this study was adult ESL
learners in an east coast metropolitan area community college.
One important issue to consider when designing any research is the unit of
analysis. Pell Institute (2018) defined the unit of analysis as the who or what that
researchers are analyzing in their study. In addition, DeCarlo (2018) stated that the unit of
analysis is the entity that the researcher would speak of at the end of the study. It is the
focus of the study. The unit of analysis for this study was the individual adult ESL
students since they were the focus of the current study, and for whom the results of the
study are applied.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this quantitative predictive correlational study was to investigate
if, and to what extent, adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their language
proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension, in a
community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. In order to
collect the necessary data for the study, it was important to define the variables of the
study, the relationship between them, and how the data were gathered. The predictor
variable in this study was adult ESL learners’ critical thinking, which was measured
using California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). The criterion variables of the
current study were the participants’ language proficiency scores, consisting of their
reading comprehension scores and listening comprehension scores measured by
Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS) test. The archival data of
the students’ CASAS scores were obtained from the college where the study was
conducted.
Research Questions and Hypotheses
The topic of critical thinking and its relationship to ESL learners’ language
proficiency was researched based on the emphasis of critical thinking in all fields of
education, and particularly in the field of foreign language learning. However, prior to
conducting this study, little research was conducted to investigate if critical thinking and
language proficiency are related for adult ESL learners in the United States. Therefore,
the purpose of this quantitative predictive correlational study was to investigate if, and to
consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension, in a community
college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States.
Identifying the theoretical foundation in any quantitative research study is
important because it helps to evaluate the research problem and research questions. The
theoretical foundation for this study was Krashen’s theory of second language
acquisition, and Facione’s (1990) taxonomy of critical thinking. Krashen (1982) asserted
that for language learners to be successful in language learning, they need to understand
the intended message. Hartshorn, Hart, and McMurry (2019) asserted that the receptive
skills of reading comprehension and listening comprehension were relatively more
important as acquired for ESL learners than other language skills. In other words,
understanding the message depends on the language user’s receptive skills of reading
comprehension and listening comprehension. Since communication is the main function
of language, communication would be better maintained if language learners used critical
thinking skills when reading or listening.
The problem statement for the current study was that it was not known if, and to
consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension. The predictor variable
is the participants’ critical thinking skills. The criterion variables are the components of
language proficiency, represented by the participants’ reading comprehension and
listening comprehension. Since the overarching question for this study was: To what
extent did adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their language proficiency,
the following research questions guided this quantitative predictive correlational study:
RQ1: To what extent did adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their
reading comprehension?
H01: There is no statistically significant prediction of adult ESL learners’ reading
comprehension by their critical thinking skills.
H1a: There is a statistically significant prediction of adult ESL learners’
reading comprehension by their critical thinking skills.
listening comprehension?
H02: There is no statistically significant prediction of adult ESL learners’ listening
H2a: There is a statistically significant prediction of adult ESL learners’ listening
Advancing Scientific Knowledge and Significance of the Study
Many empirical studies have been conducted in the relationship between critical
thinking of ESL/EFL learners and language learning. Most of these studies investigated
the relationship between critical thinking and one or two of the language skills. For
instance, Ahour and Golpour (2016) conducted a study in Iran that investigated the
relationship between Iranian EFL learner’s critical thinking skills and their writing skills.
The researchers found that there was a positive correlation between EFL learners’ critical
thinking and their writing performance. Previously, Golpour (2014) concluded that EFL
learner’s critical thinking skills affected their writing quality, positively.

Subsequently, prior research investigated the relationship between critical
thinking skills of adult ESL/EFL learners and their different language domains. Elekaei
et al. (2016) concluded that ESL learners with high critical thinking skills obtained higher
listening comprehension scores. Similarly, Aghaei and Rad (2018) found a significant
positive relationship between critical thinking skills and EFL students’ listening
comprehension, and that students who are better critical thinkers show higher listening
skills than those with lower critical thinking skills. In addition, Tous and Haghighi (2016)
conducted a study and concluded that EFL students’ reading comprehension skills were
enhanced using the debate technique, which is a critical thinking activity, in the
classroom. In addition, Kagmar and Jadidi (2016) conducted a study and found a
significant positive relationship between critical thinking skills and reading
comprehension skills. Finally, critical thinking skills have been found to affect ESL/EFL
students’ ability to speak (Ramezani, Larsari, & Kiasi, 2016).
In Chapter 2, the theoretical foundation for understanding how a second or a
foreign language is learned is described in more detail. Krashen’s theory of natural
approach to language learning constitutes the theoretical foundation of this study because
it explains how the message should be understood by language learners for their success
(Krashen, 1982). Krashen stressed the need of learners to understand how language is
used in its natural way, and therefore, language learners do not have to learn the language
grammatical rules because the main function of language is communication.
Communication is better maintained when the learner applies his/her critical thinking
skills, such as evaluation, analysis and problem solving in order to understand the
intended message. Therefore, the results of this study would contribute to the literature
and the connection between Krashen’s theory of natural approach and other theories of
critical thinking. In addition, the results are beneficial to adult ESL learners’ teachers and
educators who may have recognized the importance of incorporating critical thinking
activities in their classrooms.
This study contributed to the literature because it addressed some of the
recommended studies of recent researchers. Genc (2017) conducted a study in Turkey
and investigated the relationship between reading habits and critical thinking
dispositions, among other factors. Furthermore, Genc (2017) recommended conducting a
similar study with a broader population, such as a different university or college, in order
to understand the relationship between these factors better. In addition, Marin, and Pava
(2017) conducted a study and investigated how EFL teachers in Colombia perceived the
notion of critical thinking and how critical thinking skills were used in their classrooms.
The researchers further concluded that the participants were not familiar with what
critical thinking in the EFL classroom implied, and they recommended conducting more
research in this area. Investigating the relationship between critical thinking skills and
language proficiency, therefore, will help teachers, educators, and curriculum designers
pay more attention to this area.
In a society such as the United States, college and university students are diverse.
Enrollment of international students in colleges and universities in the United States
continues to climb (Kanakari, 2017). The goal of teaching adult ESL learners is to help
them be successful community members by equipping them with the language skills they
need. In addition, recent literature on the topic of second language teaching and learning
found that there was a relationship between students’ ESL/EFL critical thinking skills and
their language proficiency. However, most of the studies in this field were done outside
the United States. Since the number of ESL students in the Unites States is increasing, it
was vital to conduct a study on the relationship between ESL students’ language
proficiency and their critical thinking skills.
The need for teaching students to think critically has been investigated in several
studies. Haynes et al. (2016) asserted that students in all fields of should be taught how to
think critically since different constituent community groups admit that critical thinking
is essential and very important to students’ academic achievement. Prior research found
that critical thinking and EFL learners’ language skills are positively correlated (Petek,
2018). Likewise, Afshar et al. (2017) concluded that EFL students’ success in their
academic studies was attributed to their critical thinking skills, and that critical thinking
was a strong predictor for EFL learners’ university achievement. Furthermore, Tous et al.
(2015) asserted that when EFL students were instructed how to think critically, their
reading comprehension skills improved as well.
The current study investigated if, and to what extent, adult ESL learners’ critical
thinking skills predict their language proficiency, consisting of reading and listening
comprehension, in a community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United
States. Most of the recent studies investigated the relationship between critical thinking
skills and separate language skills societies where English was rarely used outside of the
formal classroom settings (Aghaei & Rad, 2018; Ahour & Golpour, 2016; Elekaei et al.,
2016; Kagmar & Jadidi, 2016; Ramezani et al., 2016; Tous & Haghighi, 2016). The
current study investigated if critical thinking skills predict language skills of reading
comprehension and listening comprehension since they are the receptive skills that enable
language users to understand the intended message (Hartshorn et al., 2019). In addition,
most of the recent studies in this field were conducted in schools and universities outside
of the United States (Afshar et al., 2017; Afshar et al., 2014; Ahour & Golpour, 2016;
Bagheri, 2015; Tous et al., 2015; Yousefi & Mohammadi, 2016). The current study was
conducted in a United States setting, where the participants study English out of necessity
in their daily life, whether in their workplace, neighborhood, or in their daily
communications. Therefore, the study filled the gap found in the literature of adult ESL
learners’ critical thinking and their language proficiency in the United States.
Rationale for Methodology
The methodology for this study was quantitative. The purpose of this quantitative
predictive correlational study was to investigate if, and to what extent, adult ESL
learners’ critical thinking skills predict their language proficiency, consisting of reading
comprehension and listening comprehension, in a community college in an east coast
metropolitan area in the United States. Prior studies used quantitative methodology to
link critical thinking skills to language proficiency (Afshar et al., 2017; Afshar et al.,
2014; Ahour & Golpour, 2016; Bagheri, 2015; Eftekhari et al., 2016; Pei et al., 2017;
Tous et al., 2015; Yousefi & Mohammadi, 2016). All studies used quantitative
methodology to investigate the relationship between critical thinking skills and one or
more of the language skills of reading comprehension, listening comprehension,
speaking and writing. Quantitative research uses numerical data for testing objective
theories and investigates the relationship among a group of variables. Quantitative
research is formal, value-free and unbiased (Smith & Chudleigh, 2015). Validated
instruments that were

used in prior quantitative research were available to assess critical thinking skills and
language skills.
The best methodology for the current study was quantitative. A quantitative
methodology was selected for this study to examine if, and to what extent, adult ESL
and listening comprehension in a community college in an east coast metropolitan area in
the United States. Quantitative methodology involves the use of numbers to aggregate,
compare, and summarize data (Babbie, 2013). In this proposed study, quantitative
methodology enabled the researcher to use quantitative analysis to test the hypotheses on
the predictive relationship between critical thinking skills and language skills of reading
comprehension and listening comprehension. Furthermore, quantitative methodology
incorporates procedures for scientific investigation, which produces objective results and
statistical accuracy that support the researcher’s hypothesis (Babbie, 2013). In addition,
Franekel, Wallen and Hyun (1993) asserted that quantitative methodology is used to
investigate existing relationships between two or more variables to make better
predictions. Also, in quantitative methodology, a researcher uses objective instruments
such as standardized tests to obtain quantitative data. The researcher of the current study
tried to make generalizable observations for the population based on the relationship
between the predictor variable of critical thinking skills and the criterion variables of
reading comprehension and listening comprehension. Therefore, quantitative
methodology was used to address this problem. For these reasons, quantitative
methodology was used to investigate the predictive relationship between adult ESL
learners’ critical thinking skills and their language proficiency, consisting of reading
comprehension and listening comprehension.
There were three variables in this study. The predictor variable of this study was
critical thinking skills, which was assessed using California Critical Thinking Skills Test
(CCTST). The criterion variables were the participants’ reading comprehension and
listening comprehension skills, assessed using the archival data of the participants’
Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) test scores.
Nature of the Research Design for the Study
This quantitative study utilized a predictive correlational design. The researcher
aimed to investigate if, and to what extent, adult ESL students’ critical thinking skills
predict their language proficiency, consisting of reading and listening comprehension, in
a community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. A
correlational design was the best selection to determine whether a relationship existed
because the variables because this study did not seek to extend analysis to establish cause
and effect. It was also used to determine how the predictor variable explains the variation
of the criterion variables over and above the mean model (Laerd, 2019). The selected
predictive correlational design was most appropriate for this study since it explained how
much of the variation in the criterion variables of reading comprehension and listening
comprehension was explained by the values of the predictor variable of critical thinking.
Moreover, this design predicted values of the criterion variables of reading
comprehension and listening comprehension based on the values of the predictor variable
of critical thinking (Laerd, 2019).

The analysis of the predictive relationship between these variables was based on
the data that were collected from CCTST and CASAS tests. A simple linear regression
analysis was used to assess the linear relationship between critical thinking skills of the
adult ESL learners’ and their reading comprehension scores and listening comprehension
scores. However, the results obtained did not demonstrate causality because correlational
quantitative designs do not necessarily indicate causality (Marshall & Rossman, 2016).
The target population of the proposed study was adult ESL learners in a
community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. Adult learners
were required to be at least 18 years old at the time of registration in the community
college. Based on G*Power software (3.1.92), the sample for the study was a minimum
of 82 adult ESL students (See Appendix E). From the target population of adult ESL
learners, volunteers willing to participate in the study were given a consent form, which
explained the purpose and nature of the study. The participants had to agree to have their
English proficiency scores be pulled from the college in order to be included in the data
analysis process. The participants who were willing to participate in the study had to
meet certain criteria. First, the participants were required to be 18 years or old. Second,
all participants were required to be residents in the east coast metropolitan area. In
addition, participants were required to be current ESL learners. ESL learners who had
exited the ESL program at the college at the time of the study for any reason were not
eligible to participate in the study.
The instruments used in the study were the CCTST and CASAS tests. The
participants took CCTST to measure their critical thinking skills. In addition, the
participants’ language proficiency scores consisting of their reading comprehension and

listening comprehension scores were obtained through the archival data stored in the
college where the research was conducted. ESL learners in this college were initially
tested using CASAS test to decide the level of language proficiency into which they
would be placed. In addition, the ESL department at the college provided this researcher
with the dates when the participants had taken CASAS test.
In order to answer the research questions, data collection procedures began
obtaining an IRB approval and site authorization from the community college where the
study was conducted (See Appendix A.). After an IRB approval and a site authorization
from the community college were obtained, this researcher obtained an IRB approval
from Grand Canyon University (See Appendix B.). Then, the target population was
contacted and given the informed consent. After the participants agreed to participate in
the study, they were asked to take CCTST that determined their critical thinking skills
scores. CCTST was taken online using the college’s computers and Chromebooks. The
participants were tested in the college’s classrooms. The data collected for the variable of
critical thinking skills were interval. In addition, the students’ scores on the CASAS test
(administered by the community college) were obtained from the administration of the
ESL department at the college. Data from the CSAS test were also interval.
In the current study, the unit of observation was individual adult ESL students in a
community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. Defining the
unit of observation can help clarify reasonable conclusions that can be drawn from the
information collected. A unit of observation is the object or entity about which
information is collected. Since the data collected described both the critical thinking
skills and language proficiency skills of the adult ESL students in an east coast
metropolitan area, the unit of observation was the individual adult ESL students.
Definition of Terms
The following terms helped reading and understanding this dissertation. These
terms were identified through this study. This section helps the readers to understand the
author’s findings.
California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). A test that consists of 34
multiple answer questions, used to assess the participants’ critical thinking skills
(Eftekhari et al., 2016). It is intended to measure the participants’ skills and sub skills of
critical thinking.
Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS). A standardized
test used to measure adults’ English language skills including reading, writing, speaking,
and listening comprehension skills, among others. CASAS is used by federal and state
government agencies, business and industry, community colleges, education and training
providers, correctional facilities, and technical programs (CASAS, 2019).
Cognitive skills. Cognition refers to the activities of discerning, comprehending,
gathering knowledge, and recalling information (Cognition, 2018).
Critical thinking. The ability to use the skills of analysis, inference,
interpretation, and the explanation of evidential, contextual, conceptual, or
methodological consideration to make purposeful judgement (Brudvig, Dirkes, Dutta, &
Rane, 2013).
Critical thinking skills. The skills of reasoning, comprehension, application,
analysis, synthesis, interpretation, judgment, and evaluation (Yousefi & Mohammadi,

2016). These skills were assessed using different assessment tools and tests. In this study,
the predictor variable was the participants’ critical thinking skills, which were measured
using CCTST. The CCTST measured the different components of critical thinking of
interpretation, analysis, inference, explanation, evaluation, inductive reasoning, deductive
reasoning, and numeracy, (which accounted for the overall critical thinking score). The
overall scores were interval.
English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Teaching English in a monolingual
classroom in a community where English is not spoken widely (Jamil & Mehmood Khan,
2013). Students who study English in a country where English is not the language of
communication in everyday life are called EFL learners.
English as a Second Language (ESL). Teaching English in a multilingual
classroom in an English-speaking community (Jamil & Mehmood Khan, 2013). ESL
students usually study English because they need to use in their daily communication.
Language learning skills. The four language skills included listening,
speaking, reading and writing. In foreign language teaching, teachers should utilize
activities that integrate all four skills since each one reinforces the other (Sadiku,
2015).
Language proficiency. A term used interchangeably with language competence
or language ability (Montanari, Mayr, & Subrahmanyam (2018). It includes all skills that
one has to use the language proficiently.
Listening comprehension. One’s ability to listen and comprehend spoken
language of multiple utterances and oral texts (Kim & Pilcher, 2016). One way listening
comprehension is measured is using CASAS test, and the participant listens to different
situations and dialogues and then answers a variety of questions. Data obtained using
CASAS test for listening comprehension were interval. Listening comprehension was one
criterion variable in the current study.
Reading comprehension. The process of simultaneously extracting and
constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language (Rand
Reading Study Group, 2002). Reading comprehension is measured by giving the
participants a written text to read, then, by asking them explicit, detailed questions about
the content of the text. Reading comprehension skills are obtained using different
measurement tools and instruments. In the current study, they were obtained utilizing
CASAS test, which assessed each of the language skills separately. Data obtained from
CASAS were interval and constituted the other criterion variable in this study.
Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations
The following section provides a list of the assumptions, limitations, and
delimitations associated with the current research.
Assumptions. Assumptions are the facts that are assumed to be true but are not
verified (Creswell, 2014). The following assumptions will be present at the current study:
1. It was assumed that the sample was representative of the adult ESL learners in
the east coast metropolitan area. This assumption was made because all of the
participants were enrolled at a community college in an east coast metropolitan
area at the time of the study.
2. It was assumed that the participants answered the questions in CCTST without
any external factor that may have affected their answers. This assumption was
made because the students were told that the test was confidential, and their
answers would not affect their academics at the college. In addition, the
participants were informed that the answers would be used for the sole purpose of
the study.
3. It was assumed that the archival data of the students’ language proficiency
consisting of their reading comprehension and listening comprehension
scores obtained from CASAS test, were a representation of the students’ level
of comprehension. This assumption was made because CASAS was the main
placement test the college was using. In addition, this assumption was made
because the participants had taken CASAS test one day prior to conducting this
study.
4. It was assumed that the CCTST administrator followed the specified tests
instructions and directions. The CCTST could provide reliable results when it is
conducted in classroom conditions that were comparable in 45 minutes
(Facione, Facione & Giancarlo, 2000). This assumption was made because the
researcher has read and accepted the test vendor’s policy prior to purchasing the
test.
Limitations. Limitations are the weaknesses associated with the study. Although
there were some limitations regarding data collection methods, the current researcher
overcame the potential limitations. The following limitations were present in the current
study:
1. Although the sample size was calculated using G*Power software, the sample
chosen could limit the generalizability of the research findings. The sample size
was restricted to adult ESL learners in a community college in an east coast
metropolitan area. This limitation was made since it was difficult to have all
adult ESL learners in the metropolitan area participate in the study. However,
this researcher considered enough power analysis to increase the results’
generalizability.
2. The results obtained from CCTST and CASAS tests represented the
participants’ achievement based on these two specific tests. However, the
researcher was not sure whether the results would be different if another test was
used. This limitation was made since CCCTS and CASAS were the only
assessment tools used in the study.
3. There were some variables that could not be controlled by the researcher and
could have affected the participants’ performance on the tests. Among these
factors were students’ age, their psychological state at the day and times of the
test, or their attitude to the research itself. This limitation was made because the
participants might not have answered the test questions seriously, especially after
they were informed by the researcher that the results of the tests would not be
used for their academic evaluation.
4. Another limitation to the study was the researcher’s limited experience. As a

doctoral student, the researcher did not have the required experience and
academic competence to accurately conduct the research. However, the
researcher followed the committee’s guidance to ensure the best study possible.
This limitation was made because this is the first time for the researcher to
conduct a dissertation.
5. Another limitation to the study was that it utilized a predictive correlational
design. The study did not aim to investigate any causal relationship among
the variables.
Delimitations. Delimitations help to set the parameters or bounds of the research,
which can affect the resulting scope of the study (Creswell, 2014). The following
delimitations were present in this study:
1. One of the delimitations of this research study was that the inferential statistics
did not address any demographic variable. Although students were asked to
report their age, gender, years at college, and native language, these
demographics were only used for the sake of descriptive statistics. This
delimitation was made because it prohibited the collection of information that
might broaden the scope and increase the depth of the study.
2. This study was further delimited to the targeted population of adult ESL learners
in one community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States.
This delimitation was made since the study did not aim to include adult ESL
learners in areas other than the east coast metropolitan area.
3. The study was delimited in that this researcher used CCTST and CASAS tests to
assess the participants’ critical thinking and language proficiency, consisting of
their reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills. There were
other instruments that could have been used to assess these variables. However,
the researcher’s choice of these two tests was due to their strong validity and
reliability.
4. This study was further delimited to a predictive correlational design. This

delimitation was made because the researcher aimed at investigating the
predictive correlation of critical thinking skills over the participants’
reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills.
5. This study was also delimited to simple linear regression analysis. This
delimitation was made because there is one predictor variable in the study (critical
thinking skills), measured using interval data, as well as two criterion variables
(reading comprehension and listening comprehension), which were measured
using interval data as well.
Summary and Organization of the Remainder of the Study
The aim of the current study was to investigate if, and to what extent, adult ESL
students’ critical thinking skills predict their language proficiency, consisting of reading
and listening comprehension, in a community college in an east coast metropolitan area
in the United States. Background information presented information concerning the
increasing number of ESL students in the United States, as well as the importance of
students to be critical thinkers when they finish their academic study to become effective
members in the community in which they live (Haynes et al., 2016). Previous research in
countries where English was not the main spoken language, has shown that critical
thinking skills were found to be strong predictors of EFL students’ reading
comprehension success (Tous et al., 2015). In addition, critical thinking skills have been
found to correlate with adult ESL learners’ listening comprehension skills (Azadi et al.,
2015; Elekaei et al., 2016; Mohammadi & Zare, 2015). Although there were many
studies that investigated such a relationship, the proposed study was conducted in a
United States setting.
There were several similar studies that have been conducted on the topic of
critical thinking and language proficiency. Yousefi and Mohammadi (2016), for instance,
conducted a quantitative study to examine the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’
critical thinking skills and reading comprehension. Yousefi and Mohammadi (2016)
concluded that there was a significant relationship between critical thinking and EFL
postgraduate students’ reading comprehension skills.
Chapter 1 also presented the research questions and hypotheses, as well as how
these questions would be answered. In addition, the chapter discussed why quantitative
methodology and predictive correlational research design were best to answer the
research questions, citing recent studies that have used the same methodology and design.
Moreover, Chapter 1 presented the importance of critical thinking in today’s education in

general, and in the field of second language learning specifically. Since most of today’s
companies and employers are looking for employees who can think critically when
dealing with the different issues they may face, this is a current topic. A number of recent
studies have been conducted to examine if there was a relationship between critical
thinking skills and language skills. Most of the research conducted has either examined
such a relationship in relation to one language skill at a time or conducted in countries
other than the United States. Therefore, Chapter 1 exposed the importance of filling this
gap; i.e. few studies that examined the relationship between critical thinking skills and
reading comprehension and listening comprehension. This study was conducted in the
United States, which has received an increasing number of immigrants.
The remaining parts of this research study include Chapter 2, Chapter 3, chapter
four and Chapter 5. Chapter 2 includes a review of the literature regarding the concept of
critical thinking and its relation to English as a Second Language teaching and learning.
Moreover, Chapter 2 offers a discussion of the theoretical framework of the study, which
is Krashen’s theory of second language learning and Facione’s taxonomy of critical
thinking. Chapter 3 includes an explanation of the research methodology, design,
research instrument, data collection procedures, data analysis procedures, information
about the sample, validity, and reliability of the study. Chapter four presents the data
collected and Chapter 5 analyzes the data and presents conclusions, implications, and
recommendations for future investigations. Key to completing this proposed study was
approved by Academic Quality Reviewer in May 2019 and Institutional Review Board
Approval in May 2019, with data collection starting in June 2019. Subsequently, analysis
of data, finding the results and writing of the rest of the study were completed in October
2019.
Chapter 2 begins with an introduction to the notion of critical thinking and its
importance in the field of education in general, and in the field of foreign language
teaching and learning in particular. It also presents a review of the previous literature that
was conducted in this concern. Moreover, Chapter 2 discusses how critical thinking was
defined by different scholars and researchers.

Chapter 2: Literature Review
Introduction to the Chapter
community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. Critical
thinking is one of the most important topics in today’s education. Literature suggests that
students in all fields of study need to be taught how to think critically since different
constituent community groups admit that critical thinking is essential and important to
quality education (Haynes et al., 2016). English Language Learning (ELL) is one of the
fields in which critical thinking is important.
The main purpose of foreign language teaching is for learners to be able to use
language for communication rather than being passive receivers of information offered
by the teachers (Krashen, 1981). Furthermore, Krashen (1981) stressed the importance of
the Natural Order Hypothesis, which states that children learn the foreign language
grammatical structure in a pre-determined, natural order. In the field of ELL, scholars
have defined two types of learning: English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as
a Foreign Language (EFL). ESL learning refers to learning English in a multilingual
classroom in an English-speaking community, whereas EFL refers to teaching English in
a monolingual classroom in a community where English is not spoken widely (Neff et al.,
2017). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (Fast Facts, 2018), the
number of ESL learners in the United States has been increasing dramatically. However,
despite extensive research on ESL in recent years, there was little research done on the
relationship between critical thinking and ESL language proficiency in a United States
setting prior to conducting this study.
This chapter provided a discussion and synthesis of the relevant literature for this
study, including a brief history of critical thinking, its definition, and the importance of
critical thinking to language learning. Furthermore, the chapter includes a section
dedicated to a description of the background of the problem, which discusses how the
literature related to the problem being studied evolved. The chapter also presents the set
of arguments that justify the need for the study. In addition, the chapter includes the
theoretical framework used to guide data collection and develop the research questions
and variables. To introduce the topic of ESL and its relationship to critical thinking, some
of the recent studies that have investigated such a relationship are reviewed in this
chapter. Moreover, the chapter includes a synthesis of the literature that discussed the
relationship between critical thinking skills and other language receptive skills, such as
listening comprehension and reading comprehension. Finally, the chapter discusses the
relationship between critical thinking skills and ESL students’ debate skills, since these
skills are related to the students’ critical thinking abilities.
A comprehensive online literature search was conducted for the study using key
search terms. The following terms were used to search for material for the literature
review: English language learning, ESL, EFL, critical thinking, metacognition, listening
comprehension, reading comprehension and English language skills, following a
thorough search of EBSCO and ERIC databases accessed through Grand Canyon
University’s online library portal. Articles were then identified that focused on the
relationship between the variables of critical thinking, adult ESL learners’ reading
comprehension, and listening comprehension skills. In addition, the researcher used the
list of references in research articles and dissertations to identify other relevant articles.
In the past, foreign language teaching was largely teacher-centered. However,
with developments in technology and recent approaches to teaching, the idea of effective
teaching has come to be seen as more than transferring the knowledge teachers have to
students. It has become important to see students not merely as passive receivers of
knowledge only but as co-creators of knowledge (Freire, 2000). Therefore, researchers
have been working hard to discover how learners can be co-creators of knowledge and
what teachers can do to facilitate students being active learners.
Background to the problem
The origins of critical thinking date back to the age of Socrates, about 2,500 years
ago. According to Socrates, learners should be given questions, not answers (Paul &
Elder, 2007). Furthermore, Socrates asserted that people should ask deep questions
designed to probe profoundly into issues before accepting ideas as worthy of belief. In
today’s terms, teachers should focus on preparing students to reason about the topic being
studied rather than expecting answers and information provided by the teachers.
According to the tenets of critical thinking, students should not be passive receivers of
information. Ennis (1996) mentioned that critical thinkers can make good decisions based
on the options they have when they face difficult problems. When students are critical
thinkers, they judge the information they receive, evaluate the texts they read, and present
valid points of views according to logic.
Critical thinking has also been important in teaching and learning foreign
languages. Recently, considerable research focused on the role of critical thinking in

foreign language classrooms. Jie, Yuhong, and Yuan (2015) asserted that in the field of
EFL, teachers and educators should put more emphasis on arousing students’ critical
thinking skills, and EFL students are not only required to understand the reading material
but also be inspired to think critically. In addition, Jie et al. (2015) also stressed the
importance of identifying how the ability to think critically varies by gender, to find the
best practices that can narrow such differences. Malatji (2016) stated that cooperative
classrooms could enhance students’ critical thinking skills because students had more
opportunities to actively participate in their learning and question one another. Similarly,
Djamaa (2016) concluded that affective dimensions of critical thinking could be
successfully cultivated if students received sound instruction and intensive practice in
nurturing their mental habits. In other words, critical thinking skills can be developed
through sound instructions in which students are encouraged to question the information
they receive and be active participants in the classroom. Moreover, Yousefi, and
Mohammadi (2016) asserted that critical thinking is important for all students, and it is a
must for higher education students.
Although the recently-researched literature answered many of the important
questions pertaining to the topic of critical thinking and language learning, it has left
some questions unanswered. Dong and Yue (2015) asserted that critical thinking skills
and college students’ writing skills were positively correlated. Therefore, they strongly
stressed the importance of strengthening college students’ critical thinking skills because
of such correlation. Jensen (2015), on the other hand, concluded that teaching ELL
students critical thinking through the Socratic Method could enhance their critical
thinking, which could thereby enhance their language learning in general. Furthermore,
the relationship between critical thinking and EFL students’ language learning strategies
has also been investigated by Bagheri (2015), who asserted that students with critical
thinking skills could learn English more effectively than students without, as far as
speaking and listening skills were concerned. In other words, one reason behind ELL
students’ failure in language learning was their weak critical thinking skills, which was a
result of the students’ being passive receivers of information in the classroom (Flores,
Matkin, Burbach, Quinn, & Harding, 2012).
Despite considerable research that was conducted on the relationship between
critical thinking skills and language learning, little research on the relationship between
ESL/EFL students’ critical thinking and their language learning in a United States setting
has been investigated prior to conducting the current study. In addition, among all the
research on language learning and critical thinking, there was little research on the
relationship between adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills and their language
proficiency, consisting of their reading comprehension and listening comprehension
skills. The current study was designed to examine the predictive relationship of adult ESL
learners’ critical thinking skills on their language proficiency, consisting of their reading
comprehension and listening comprehension skills.
Identification of the Gap
Critical thinking is one of the most important topics in today’s education,
especially in the field of second/foreign language teaching and learning. Yousefi and
Mohammadi (2016) asserted that higher education students must be taught how to think
critically in order to be able to synthesize and evaluate the texts they read. In addition,
Afshar et al. (2017) stated that one of the reasons for EFL students’ success in academic
studies was their ability to think critically. Most of the studies that have been recently
conducted either investigated the relationship between critical thinking skills and one of
the four language domains of ESL/EFL learners or were conducted in a community
outside of the United States. Therefore, it was important to investigate such a relationship
in a United States setting due to the increasing number of ESL students in United States
colleges and universities (Fast Facts, 2018). Furthermore, Haynes et al. (2016) asserted
that students in all fields of education should be taught how to think critically since most
scholars have admitted that critical thinking is essential and important in education.
Previous research focused on the areas of speaking competence, reasoning,
writing skills, and reading comprehension. Afshar et al. (2014) conducted a study in Iran
and concluded that there was a strong positive relationship between the critical thinking
skills of EFL learners and their academic achievement. Afshar et al. (2014) further
recommended that foreign language material designers and educators need to include
activities that promote the learner’s thinking processes. Tous et al. (2015) conducted a
study in Iran and concluded that critical thinking instructions of EFL students led to
improvement in their reading comprehension skills. In a similar context, Ordem (2017)
conducted a study in Turkey and stated that when ESL students were taught how to think
critically, they became able to express their ideas, attitudes, and feelings in the language
they were learning. Bagheri (2015) asserted that teaching critical thinking skills to
students equips them with competency for reasoning in social affairs in a rapidly
changing world. Similarly, Dong and Yue (2015) conducted a study in China and stated
that college students’ critical thinking skills correlated positively with their English
writing skills. Moreover, Ahour and Golpour (2016) concluded that there was a positive
correlation between critical thinking skills of EFL students and their writing ability. In a
similar context, Tous et al. (2015) concluded that through teaching students the critical
technique, (a specific type of critical thinking skills), EFL students’ reading
comprehension skills could be enhanced.
The research focus on the relationship of critical thinking, reading comprehension
and listening comprehension has changed during the last five years. Saleh (2019) stated,
“Importance has been given to teaching critical thinking in EFL classrooms because the
21st century is the century of digital literacies, technological advances, multicultural
societies, human mobility, global communication, social networking, innovations and
creativity and inclusiveness” (p. 1). Ferrer and Staley (2016) asserted “National, regional,
and local educational systems throughout the world struggle to implement reading
programs that will both develop students’ literacy skills and engage students in complex
critical thought” (p. 79). In previous research conducted, Tang (2016) aimed to design
reading activities that could help ESL students enrolled in universities to improve their
problem-solving abilities because English classrooms were designed for students to learn
how to memorize, imitate, and recite. Tous et al. (2015) also conducted a study and found
that critical thinking skills were positively correlated with Iranian EFL students’
academic achievement. In a different study, Tosuncuoglu (2018) focused on
investigating EFL students’ awareness of the notion of critical thinking. He found that
students’ perception of critical thinking was not on the desirable level. Furthermore,
Dehghayedi and Bagheri (2018) conducted a study and concluded that critical thinking
pedagogy was effective in EFL classrooms because it created learning and thinking
opportunities.
Despite all the above-mentioned studies on the topic of critical thinking skills and
English language teaching and learning, minimal research was conducted on the
predictive relationship of adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills on their language
proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension in a
United States setting. Since the number of international students entering the United
States is increasing, it was important to investigate such a relationship, so that curriculum
designers and educators realize the importance of including critical thinking activities
into the syllabi. Furthermore, this researcher planned to investigate the predictive
relationship of critical thinking skills on both listening comprehension and reading
comprehension skills in the same study. Therefore, the results would benefit ESL
teachers, educators, and curriculum designers in the United States.
Another need for conducting this study was the possibility of generalizing the
results that were obtained in previous literature. Laerd (2019) stated that one route to
replicating studies is generalization. Generalization is a main goal of quantitative research
because it aims at investigating whether results obtained from previous research hold true
when utilizing a different population. Prior studies correlating critical thinking skills and
one or all language domains were done in Iran, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, and Saudi
Arabia (Afshar et al., 2017; Afshar et al., 2014; Ahour & Golpour, 2016; Bagheri, 2015;
Tous et al., 2015; Yousefi & Mohammadi, 2016). Laerd (2019) stressed that a replicated
study can be justified if the original works utilized a sample because it can be easily
accessed. Previous studies that were conducted utilized participants from these countries
and their findings can be generalized to the populations of ESL/EFL learners in these
countries. The researcher of the current study aimed at investigating the predictive
correlation of critical thinking skills over language skills of a different population
surrounding adult ESL learners in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States.
Theoretical Foundation
Krashen’s (1981) natural approach theory and Facione’s taxonomy of critical
thinking served as the theoretical foundation for the current study. Krashen stressed the
role of natural communication when learning a foreign or a second language. In other
words, Krashen (1981) noted that to learn a second language, it was more important for
learners to communicate naturally rather than use the grammatical rules of that language
consciously. The main tenet of Krashen’s theory is communication. On the other hand,
Facione’s (1990) asserted that critical thinking is a combination of human reasoning and
judgment that inform individuals’ decisions in regard to what to think, and what to do
(Facione & Facione, 2008).
Krashen introduced the natural approach theory in the late 1970’s and early
1980’s to help understand and explain how individuals learned and acquired a second
language. For second language learning to be effective, Krashen (1982) argued that
learners should understand the intended message, which requires mastering the receptive
skills of reading and listening comprehension. Krashen (1982) also identified five
hypotheses in his theory: The acquisition-learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the
natural order hypothesis, the input hypothesis, and the affective filter hypothesis.
Learning a language is different from acquiring a language. Language learning
differs from language acquisition in that language acquisition is similar, if not identical,
to how young children naturally developed their first language abilities (Krashen, 1982).
When people acquire language, they are unaware of the fact that they are acquiring
language. In other words, language acquisition is a subconscious process, and the result
of acquisition is also subconscious. So, when people make mistakes, they may feel that
they made a mistake, although unaware of why some utterances sound wrong, while
others sound right. Grammar is not as important as understanding and communicating the
intended message in language acquisition. Language learning, on the other hand, is
achieved in formal settings. Learners may be aware that they are learning language and
its rules. Unlike language acquisition, language learning is more formal, and language
learners focus on learning the language rules (Krashen, 1981). Another difference is that
language acquirers are young children, whereas language learners are adults. However,
Krashen’s acquisition-learning hypothesis presupposed that adults could acquire a
second language in the same way young children do, and “acquisition is a very powerful
process in the adult” (Krashen, 1982, p. 10).
Language learning and acquisition have been accounted for in the monitor
hypothesis. According to the monitor hypothesis, acquired knowledge was responsible
for fluency, whereas learned knowledge only functioned as a monitor or an editor that
checked the output of the acquired language (Krashen, 1982). In other words, language
learning was used to edit the language that has been acquired (Krashen, 1982).
According to the natural order hypothesis, language rules and structures are acquired, not
learned, in a predictable order. Certain rules are acquired before others, and teachers
should not follow any pattern at all when teaching grammar. Although Krashen’s (1982)
natural order hypothesis held that certain grammatical rules are acquired before others,
Krashen did not recommend that teachers should follow this order when teaching
grammar. The
goal of second language teachers should always be for language as the sole means of
communication, and grammar should be taught in connection with other topics.
The input hypothesis holds that language acquirers focus on the meaning of the
intended message rather than the form and designed to foster an understanding of how
language acquirers moved from one stage of language acquisition to another. People
move from one stage to another when they understand input or meaning, although they
may not have learned about associated structures or forms yet. Krashen (1982) asserted
that people can acquire language without understanding new forms and structures,
because acquirers use extra-linguistic information to help them understand the messages.
Individuals also use non-linguistic factors to aid understanding, such as the context and
their knowledge of the world. Therefore, the input hypothesis seems opposite to the
previous assumptions that people usually acquire language structures and then practice
these structures in communication. The input hypothesis holds that individuals
understand meaning before language structures and forms (Krashen, 1982).
The last hypothesis involves stress interfering with language learning. The last
hypothesis in natural approach theory is the affective filter hypothesis, which holds that
language learning may be impeded if stress on the individual is too high (Krashen, 1985).
According to the affective factor hypothesis, language acquisition is inevitable when the
filter is low and when appropriate comprehensible input is presented (Krashen, 1985).
Factors that facilitate second language acquisition are low anxiety, high motivation, and
self-confidence (Krashen, 1985). However, negative factors, such as high anxiety and
high stress, can act as barriers to language acquisition.

The current study was based on natural approach theory because the theory
helped understand language learning in relation to language acquisition. The subjects of
the current study were adult ESL learners, who Krashen (1981) consider both language
acquirers and language learners. In addition, Krashen (1981) highlighted the factors that
contributed to second language learning and acquisition. For Krashen, teachers should
not focus on the form of the language as acquired or learned. Instead, language input or
meaning should first be the initial focus, and learners are taught the grammatical
structures only after they understand the messages. Furthermore, second language
teachers and educators should be aware that certain affective factors can impede or
facilitate language acquisition. Moreover, Krashen (1981) stated that the main function of
language was communication. For language users to better use language, they must
understand the intended message. Understanding the intended message depends on the
language users’ receptive skills; including reading comprehension and listening
comprehension. The researcher in the current study investigated if, and to what extent,
adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predicted their language proficiency,
consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills.
The research questions in the current study were developed based on the
importance that Krashen gave to language input and meaning of the language being
taught. When language learners are better critical thinkers, they will better understand the
intended message behind the language used. In other words, critical thinking skills will
help language users understand the intended message, which may not be explicitly
present. Furthermore, when the research questions of the current study are answered, it
will be clear whether critical thinking skills are among the factors that can facilitate
language acquisition and learning.
Facione’s (1990) taxonomy of critical thinking undergirds the concept of critical
thinking used in the current research. Facione (1990) considered critical thinking a
combination of human reasoning and judgement that inform individuals’ decisions
regarding what to think and what to do ((Facione & Facione, 2008). Facione (1990)
convened several experts in humanities, social science, and education, in an effort to form
a multidisciplinary consensus based on the concept of critical thinking. Insight
Assessment (2019) defined critical thinking as the process of purposeful, reflective
judgment focused on deciding what to believe or what to do. This definition was the
result of the APA Delphi Consensus, then endorsed worldwide by educators, business,
government, and community agencies. Based on the Delphi Consensus, Facione (1990)
developed the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), which was used in the
current study, to measure students’ critical thinking skills as conceptualized by the group.
CCTST has been used to measure college students’ critical thinking skills for more than
25 years, and could provide a holistic measure of critical thinking, as well as individual
scores for each of the core skills in the process of critical thinking (Insight Assessment,
2019).
In order to validate the CCTST, Facione (1990) conducted several research
studies, which included more than 6,000 students from 50 undergraduate and nursing
programs throughout the United States. Facione (1990) estimated a 13 percentile-point
increase between freshman year and sophomore year, a 17 percentile-point increase
between freshman year and junior year, and a 21-percentile point increase between
freshman year and senior year, based on the students’ CCTST scores in each group. In
addition, over subsequent decades, CCTST has been updated to maintain its cultural
relevance and expanded to offer a more robust scoring package. Although Facione (1990)
used students from a nursing program in his original validating studies, CCTST has been
used in a broad number of population groups, ranging across the K-12 continuum, adult
population, college and graduate population and post-graduate high-performance samples
(Insight Assessment, 2019).
The consensus concept of critical thinking and CCTST has been used in several
studies that examined the relationship between critical thinking and ESL or EFL
learners’ skills (Marzban & Barati, 2016; Pei et al., 2017; Tous et al., 2015; Wang &
Zheng, 2016). One example is a quantitative correlational study in which Marzban and
Barati (2016) investigated the relationship between Iranian EFL students’ critical
thinking skills and their reading comprehension. The researchers used CCTST to assess
their participants’ levels of critical thinking. The participants of their study consisted of
79 EFL students, majoring in English translation and English teaching at Azad Tehran
University in Iran. They found that there was a significant positive correlation between
the two variables. In another study, Rahimi (2016) utilized the conceptual definition of
the Delphi Consensus and CCTST in his study in which he concluded that critical
thinking was a strong predictor of the indirect request strategy use of EFL learners in
Iran.
The research questions in the current study were developed based on the
conceptual definition of the Delphi Consensus to critical thinking. By using the CCTST,
the data gathered represented the levels of the participants’ overall critical thinking
levels. Although the CCTST can provide the individual scores of the core skills of critical
thinking, this researcher used the overall scores to represent the participants’ critical
thinking levels because the individual components of critical thinking are highly
correlated (Insight Assessment, 2019). In addition, Krashen’s theory of language
acquisition stressed the importance of the receptive skills, reading comprehension and
listening comprehension, in learning or acquiring a second language. Therefore, reading
comprehension and listening comprehension became the criterion variables of this study.
Review of the Literature
The relationship between critical thinking and language proficiency has been
examined thoroughly during the last few years. In order to understand the relationship
between the two variables of critical thinking and language proficiency, researchers, as
well as psychologists, had to define the term critical thinking. Therefore, the review of
literature begins with various definitions of critical thinking. Literature based on the
importance of critical thinking in the field of education, as well as in the field of language
learning is reviewed. Also, an overview of the literature on teachers’ attitudes toward
teaching critical thinking is presented. In addition, the relationship between critical
thinking skills and each of the receptive language skills of reading comprehension and
listening comprehension is examined. Finally, this researcher discusses justifying the
methodology and instruments utilized in this study based on some empirical studies
related to the topic of critical thinking and language proficiency.
Critical thinking definitions. Although many psychologists and educators have
offered definitions of the term critical thinking, these definitions were similar in that they
all stressed that critical thinking is a mental process that entailed logic and reason. Over
the past few decades, critical thinking has become a desirable human trait, and teaching
critical thinking in schools wherever possible has become the goal of many educators
(McPeck, 1990). In order to understand how critical thinking influences the academic
achievement and language learning of ESL students, it is fundamental to look at how it
has been defined by different educators and scholars. Although there are general
similarities to critical thinking definitions as noted above, there are differences as well.
Several definitions have been provided by various authors. For example, Dewey
(1933) defined critical thinking as the process of cultivating habits or training of the
mind. Facione (2011), on the other hand, defined critical thinking as “purposeful, self-
regulatory judgement which results in interpretation, evaluation, and inference as well as
explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual
considerations upon which judgement is based” (p. 826). Amiri and Ahmadi (2014) cited
Beyer’s definition of critical thinking as “knowing how to define problems and topics,
using resources to solve them and revising one’s work” (p. 490). In addition,
Krishnamurthy and Tripathi (2017) cited Willingham’s definition of critical thinking as
“Seeing both sides of an issue, being open to new evidence that disconfirms your ideas,
reasoning dispassionately, demanding that claims be backed by evidence, deducing and
inferring conclusions from the available facts, solving problems, and so forth” (p. 16).
Since critical thinking is applied mostly in teaching, other definitions of critical
thinking were based in relationship to teaching. For instance, Paul and Elders (as cited in
Mehta & Al-Mahrouqi, 2014) defined critical thinking as “The art of thinking about your
thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better, clearer, more
accurate, more defensible” (p. 2). Similarly, Saglam, Cankaya, Ucer and Cetin (2017)
used a definition by Cuceloglu, who argued that critical thinking was “an active and
organized process aiming to understand ourselves and what is happening around by being
aware of our own thinking process, considering others’ thinking processes and practicing
what we have learned” (p. 31). This definition indicates what is required for students to
think deeply about their own way of thinking, as well as others’ ways of thinking, and be
able to defend their own reasoning.
As critical thinkers, students should have the ability to justify why they think in
specific ways. This definition was supported by Indah (2017), who argued “Students need
to have ‘good thinking skills’ by using reasoning and logic focusing on what to believe or
do based on the mechanisms such as conducting conceptual and argument analyses for
problem solving and decision making” (p. 229). Moreover, critical thinking has been
viewed as a reflective way of thinking and making proper decisions with minimum errors
(Alfaro-LeFevre, 2016). This kind of reflective thinking has also been included in the
definition of Bishop (n.d.), who stated, “students as inquirers frame, analyze and
synthesize information as well as negotiate meaning across language and culture in order
to explore problems and issues from their own and different perspectives” (p. 8). Bishop
(n.d.) has also described critical thinking as a process in which students exercise sound
reasoning, make complex choices and decisions, understand the interconnectedness
among systems, identify and ask significant questions, and frame, analyze and synthesize
information in order to solve problems and answer questions.
Reflection is an important component of critical thinking. Thakur and Al-
Mahrooqi (2015) cited Norris’s and Ennis’s definition of critical thinking as “a
‘reasonable reflective thinking’ focused on deciding what to believe or to do through

cognitive skills of analyzing, inferring, interpreting, and evaluating.” (p. 127). This
definition relies on Bloom’s famous taxonomy of what he called higher-order thinking
skills, which put the skills of comprehension at the bottom of the hierarchy and
evaluation at the top. Therefore, according to Thakur and Al-Mahrooqi (2015), critical
thinkers are those people who can reflect on their own way of thinking, analyze the
various problems they face while learning, and infer and interpret the facts in order to
arrive at supported results.
In summary, critical thinking is a mental process that entails logic and reason.
Due to the importance of critical thinking in the field of education, it was essential to
examine how different educators defined critical thinking. Dewey (1933) considered
critical thinking as the process of training the mind. Facione (2011), on the other hand,
focused on the result of critical thinking when he defined the term. Other educators
defined critical thinking as it is related to education. Saglam et al. (2017), for instance,
argued that a critical thinker needs to consider others’ thinking processes and practice
what one learns from others. Therefore, students need to think deeply about their own
ways of thinking, as well as the others’ ways of thinking. Thakur and Al-Mahrooqi
(2015) stressed the factor of reflection when they defined critical thinking, and they
asserted that critical thinkers should be able to analyze various problems they face while
learning. Subsequently critical thinking, helps students arrive at supported results, based
on facts, when learning. Listening comprehension and reading comprehension are two
language skills that ESL/EFL learners can utilize to help them learn from their peers, as
well as from their instructors. The researcher of the current study used these variables to
investigate how much of their variation can be explained by the change of the predictor
variable of critical thinking skills.
Socratic method. The technique of the Socratic Method is reviewed in this
section because it is closely related to the notion of critical thinking, which is one
variable in this study. Sahamid (2016) stated that the Socratic Method is one of the most
effective methods of promoting critical thinking because it entails a chain of questions
and answers between the teacher and the students. In addition, Zare and Mukundan
(2015) mentioned that, according to the Socratic Method, the instructor’ real job is not to
ask questions in order to assess the students. Instead, the instructor asks continuous
questions and asks the students to gather their opinions and thoughts and construct
original thoughts based on their background knowledge. In other words, the Socratic
Method can help students think critically and evaluate information they receive, whether
through reading or listening, and analyze it accordingly. In foreign language classrooms,
the Socratic Method can be helpful to foreign language learners because it can develop
their critical thinking skills (Jensen, 2015).
The notion of critical thinking dates back 2,500 years ago, to the age of the
ancient Greek philosophers. Socrates introduced his critical thinking method, later to be
known as the Socratic Method, in the fourth century B.C. The nature of the Socratic
Method, or Socratic questioning, is that teachers continue to ask questions and students
are required to elicit reasons and arguments (Gersen, 2017). According to the Socratic
Method, students should be able to perform three processes: systematic questioning,
inductive reasoning, and universal definitions (Overholser, 1993). In addition,
Overholser argued that the Socratic Method is a complex interplay of questions, content,
and process.
Furthermore, Butler (1997) and Freire (1973) both asserted that the Socratic Method is a
key to constructive education because it helps students build their own critical
consciousness. As far as adult learners are concerned, the Socratic Method may be useful
in the classroom because it consists of a series of consecutive systematic questions that
can motivate students to find the answers to questions and become more independent
thinkers and learning. It can also urge students to collaborate with each other through
asking further questions to find the answers.
Recent literature suggested that critical thinking skills could be enhanced using
the Socratic Method in the classroom. Delic and Becirovic (2016) stated that students can
find the answers to questions if they participate in disciplined and thoughtful dialogue.
Furthermore, Delic and Becirovic (2016) stressed the importance of encouraging students
to seek deeper understanding without providing them with necessary information.
Instead, students can analyze and synthesize the texts they read and ask reasonable
questions to arrive at answers to their questions. Facione (2011) stated that critical
thinking involves judgement, reflection, and purposive. Hlinak (2014) asserted that,
through the Socratic Method, students are pushed to realize their own ignorance so that
they may acquire true knowledge. Similarly, Jensen (2015) found that using Socratic
questioning in an ELL classroom can help improve ELL students’ social skills.
An important part of the Socratic Method is questioning. Zare and Mukundan
(2015) argued “The Socratic questioning method follows a chain of orderly and
structured questions which assist learners to become aware of their weakness in thinking,
lack of knowledge, wrong inferences, and false hypotheses” (p. 256). By using the
Socratic Method, the teacher does not follow the traditional approach of teaching where
students are expected to memorize information through lectures and prepare for tests.
Instead, students are motivated and inspired to improve their critical thinking skills by
raising questions. Similarly, Zhang (2013) asserted that teachers should encourage
students to ask questions to each other. Questioning in a classroom can benefit both
advanced as well as beginning students, because advanced students can take on teaching
roles and help clarify confusion for the less advanced students. Advanced students can
benefit from this approach because it can further facilitate their critical thinking skills. By
justifying their reasoning, less advanced students can also improve their critical thinking
skills.
The evolution of Socratic questioning was reviewed within this section of the
literature. Socratic questioning involves teachers encouraging students to think critically
through asking questions for the students to arrive at their own answers. In addition, the
purpose of Socratic questioning is for students to perform the processes of systematic
questioning, inductive reasoning, and the search for definitions. Furthermore, Socratic
questioning is essential in second language learning because it urges students to think
about the language they are using In addition, Socratic questioning can benefit both
advanced and beginner language learners because advanced students may take on
teachers’ roles and help clarify any confusion that lesser advanced students may have.
In summary, recent researchers agreed that the Socratic Method was important to
ESL/EFL learners because it enhanced their critical thinking skills. Utilizing Socratic
Method can benefit students because it makes them aware of the need to evaluate and
synthesize the information they receive, whether orally or in writing. In other words, the
utilization of the Socratic Method can benefit students since it makes them aware of the
need to evaluate and synthesize the information they receive, whether orally or in writing.
The Socratic Method was applied to the current study because it is closely related to
critical thinking. In addition, Socratic Method is related to students’ listening and reading
comprehension skills because recent research emphasized the use of this method when
students receive information, which is in turn done through listening and reading.
Critical thinking and language learning. Critical thinking has always been
considered an important factor in the field of education in general, as well as in the field
of language learning. Critical thinking is one factor that can facilitate the process of
language learning. In addition, language teachers also need to be critical thinkers in order
to be able to promote the necessary critical thinking skills of their students. In other
words, language learners need to be trained to obtain the necessary critical thinking skills
beside the important language skills. This section is related to the current study because
it will discuss why it is important for language learners to be critical thinkers.
In an ESL/EFL classroom, students are required to master a set of linguistic skills
as well as other non-linguistic skills. Researchers examined aspects of the language
learning process to understand the reasons for the successes and failures of language
learning (Boroushaki & Ng, 2016). Although language learners should master all
language skills, including listening comprehension, speaking, reading, writing and
grammar, the communicative approach stresses the importance of the ability to use
language for its main purpose, which is communication. Zare and Othman (2015)
asserted that critical thinking skills play an important role in the growing workforce for
the 21st century, and a necessity for employees equipped with advanced critical thinking
skills, as well as problem solving, decision making, and negotiation skills. In addition,
one of the most important goals of language learning is to transform learners into
effective and successful members in society (Zare & Othman, 2015). Basically, second or
foreign language learners should be trained how to handle different situations they may
face in the workplace, which is unattainable unless they are trained critical thinkers.
Autonomy, creative problem solving, and critical thinking. Important
connections between autonomy, creative problem solving, and critical thinking may also
exist. In order to investigate the relationship between EFL learners’ autonomy, creativity
and critical thinking, Nosratinia and Zaker (2014) conducted a quantitative correlational
study on EFL learners. Based on the review of the literature, Nosratinia and Zaker
hypothesized that critical thinking was related to the metacognitive abilities of autonomy
and creative problem solving in EFL learners. The target population consisted of
undergraduate intermediate and upper-intermediate EFL students who majored in English
translation and literature at the Islamic Azad University in Iran. The 182 students were
randomly selected to participate in the study. Three instruments were adapted by the
researchers, to assess participants’ levels of autonomy, creativity and critical thinking: an
autonomy questionnaire, a creativity questionnaire, and a critical thinking questionnaire.
The research questions were designed to determine whether there was a significant
relationship between the three variables. In addition, a fourth research question was
designed to determine whether there was a significant difference between the
participants’ critical thinking and creativity in predicting autonomy. The results of the
study showed that there was a significant relationship among the three variables. In other
words, students who scored high on critical thinking scored high on the creativity
questionnaire. Furthermore, those students who obtained high scores on the creativity
questionnaire, also scored high on the autonomy questionnaire as well. Finally, the results
showed that critical thinking was a more salient predictor of students’ autonomy than
creativity.
Language learners should be autonomous learners in order to develop their
language skills. Nosratinia and Zaker (2014) concluded that EFL teachers should
explicitly integrate critical thinking and creative problem-solving activities into lessons
plans to help develop autonomous learners. Motivating students to concentrate on the
development of cognitive and metacognitive skills may facilitate their becoming better
independent learners. In addition, Nosratinia and Zaker stressed the need for further
research on the relationship between foreign language learners’ critical thinking skills
and their language skills. Since critical thinking skills were found to be predictors of
EFL students’ autonomy, it is important to examine how critical skills are related to
developing students’ language skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Metacognitive skills and critical thinking. Recent research has been conducted
to investigate the relationship between critical thinking skills and metacognitive skills.
Sadeghi, Hassani and Rahmatkhah (2014) conducted a quantitative correlational study to
examine the relationship between metacognitive skills, critical thinking skills, age,
gender, motivation, and anxiety. The participants of the study included 102 Iranian
student EFL learners, at a language institute in Rasht, Iran. The participants took a
TOEFL test to achieve homogeneity of the sample. The participants were between 15
and 23 years old; and included 52 of them males and 50 females. In order to assess the
participants’ metacognitive skills, Sadeghi et al. used the Metacognitive Strategy and
Questionnaires type (MSQIT). In addition, the researchers used the California Critical
Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) to assess participants’ critical thinking abilities. Sadeghi et
al. (2014) ran a Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to examine the possible
correlation between metacognitive skills and critical thinking skills. In addition, the
authors used an independent t-test to determine whether male participants’ performance
was different than the females’ performance.
Metacognitive skills are closely related to critical thinking skills. Sadeghi et al.
(2014) found a strong positive correlation between Iranian EFL students’ metacognitive
skills and their critical thinking skills. In other words, the more metacognitive strategies
increase in students, the more critical thinking skills they have. The results of Sadeghi et
al.’s (2014) study suggested that educators and curriculum designers should engage
students in critical thinking activities, which might include increased critical thinking
activities included in textbooks. Moreover, Sadeghi et al. recommended that professional
development for EFL teachers include training to include critical thinking in their lesson
plans and how to teach students to think critically.
The difficulty of teaching critical thinking. The possibility of teaching critical
thinking skills to foreign language learners needs to be investigated. Based on the debate
surrounding the possibility of teaching critical thinking in the field of foreign language
teaching, Wang and Zheng (2016) discussed the background of applying critical thinking
in education in general. The researchers observed that although the positive role of
critical thinking in addressing a wide range of social and political problems had been the
focus of research, practitioners found it difficult to turn theory into practice, particularly
in the context of educational reform in China. The purpose of Wang’s and Zheng’s
(2016) theoretical article was to investigate the genuine possibility of teaching critical
thinking in light of opposing views whether critical thinking should be taught in EFL
classrooms.
The level of difficulty of teaching critical thinking skills needed to be addressed.
Wang and Zheng (2016) observed that critical thinking is difficult to teach as a distinct
part of a course because of difficulty training metacognitive skills. Although Wang and
Zheng (2016) argued that EFL students needed to learn how to think deeply as well as
analyze and synthesize contradictory views, they noted that these skills require much
practice to learn, and even more practice to master. Still, Wang and Zheng concluded that
the incorporation of critical thinking activities into EFL classrooms could positively
affect students and teachers, as well as make EFL classroom more effective than
traditional methods of teaching could. In addition, Wang and Zheng stressed the
importance of curricular design in incorporating critical thinking skills in EFL courses to
eventually stimulate the process of EFL educational reform in China.
Recent literature shows the importance of engaging students in different language
learning activities to promote the language skills necessary to learn the English language
as a whole (Afshar et al., 2014; Bagheri, 2015; Flores et al., 2012; Fung & Min, 2016;
Hashemi & Zabihi, 2012; Hong & Ganapathy, 2017; Kamali & Fahim, 2011; Malmir &
Shoorcheh, 2012; Wu et al., 2015). However, few of these studies have investigated how
critical thinking can promote all language skills together. For this reason, it was
important to review these studies, along with the skills that they investigated, and skills
relative to the notion of critical thinking.
The relationship between critical thinking and language learning was reviewed in
this section. Although all people need to think critically, language learners should be
trained how to handle different situations they might face in their community. Learners
should be trained in the necessary critical thinking skills. Recent literature focused on the
importance of critical thinking through examining the relationship between these skills
and some language skills. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the
relationship between critical thinking skills and all language skills together. Furthermore,
very few of these studies were conducted in the United States. In addition, although
recent researchers all agreed that critical thinking was important to ESL/EFL language
learners, they found that it was not easy to apply teaching critical thinking in an EFL/ESL
classroom, because it requires much more time to do so. However, recent researchers
concluded that educators and curriculum designers must include activities that could
promote students’ critical thinking skills in their lesson plans.
Teachers’ attitudes towards teaching critical thinking. The effectiveness of
integrating critical thinking activities in lesson plans depends on the teacher’s opinion
regarding the importance of preparation of students as critical thinkers. The seriousness
of teachers incorporating critical thinking skills into lesson plans cannot take place until
the teachers realize the importance of doing so. Dehghayedi and Bagheri (2018) stated,
“Current research in the field of language education is more concerned with motives
underlying successful practicing teachers’ behaviors rather than techniques and methods
for effective teaching” (p. 223). In addition, if teachers are not competent enough
themselves as critical thinkers, they will not have the ability to incorporate activities that
can promote students’ critical thinking skills. This section was included in the literature
review because it showed the importance for teachers to provide students with activities,
whether written or audio, in training them to think critically.

Teachers are aware that promoting students’ critical thinking skills is essential.
Previous research shows that in the field of ESL/EFL teachers and educators know that
critical thinking should be part of the curriculum (Asgharheidari & Tahriri, 2015).
Asgharheidari and Tahriri (2015) conducted an exploratory study in which they
investigated the attitudes of a group of EFL teachers toward critical thinking instructions.
They found that all teachers indicated that it is a part of their jobs to integrate critical
thinking activities in their lesson plans. In addition, most teachers explained that they
needed to be trained on how to teach critical thinking skills to EFL students
(Asgharheidari & Tahriri, 2015).
Although teaching critical thinking to EFL students is important, little is known
about how teachers perceive and practice integrating critical thinking skills in their EFL
classrooms. Therefore, Li (2016) also investigated teacher’s perceptions of critical
thinking skills in EFL classrooms. Li observed that while researchers argued for the
importance of critical thinking skills in EFL classrooms, little was known about whether
teachers were equipped to teach these skills. Li conducted a case-study and collected data
using surveys, interviews, and classroom observations. The sample of the study included
473 teachers who completed surveys, 18 teachers who were interviewed, and three
teachers who were observed over a month while teaching. Approximately, 84% of the
participants were females. The instruments used to assess teachers’ perceptions,
cognition, and teaching practices included surveys in which teachers were asked to rate
how they perceived the importance of teaching critical thinking in their EFL classrooms.
Furthermore, teachers were asked about their attitudes towards teaching these skills and
how they practiced teaching these skills to their students. Other data were collected
through qualitative methods, including interviews and observations. The results of this
study showed that some participants misunderstood the idea of critical thinking. Some
teachers considered critical thinking to be memorization, which is why they devoted
much class time to enhancing students’ memory (Li, 2016).
Investigating teachers’ perceptions about teaching critical thinking skills in EFL
classrooms is important because teachers may not realize the importance of critical
thinking for students or, if they do, teachers may not understand what critical thinking
entails. If teachers understand the importance of critical thinking, they are likely to
include critical thinking strategies in their lesson plans. The results of Li’s (2016) study
suggested that EFL teachers in China have limited knowledge about critical thinking and
how to teach it. Li recommended that teachers be better trained in understanding what
critical thinking entails and how to teach critical thinking skills to their EFL students.
Moreover, Li recommended further study on the relationship between critical thinking
and sociocultural contexts, which could include investigating whether ideas of critical
thinking are culturally-bound or universal. Better understanding the sociocultural aspects
of critical thinking is important to the field of ESL/EFL because students in these
classrooms often come from different cultural and academic backgrounds.
Language teachers’ attitudes about the importance of critical thinking in the
classroom was reviewed in this section. Some studies revealed that most ESL and EFL
teachers were aware of the importance of including critical thinking activities in their
lessons. Some teachers added that it is an essential part of their job to ask higher order
questions in the classroom to develop the students’ critical thinking skills. In addition,
other teachers suggested that more professional development workshops are necessary to
train teachers on how to include such activities in their lesson plans.
Critical thinking and listening comprehension skills. Listening comprehension
is an important skill that ESL students need to master in order to be successful learners.
Through listening, ESL students attempt to understand the audible sounds that carry
linguistics messages. The critical thinking skills associated with listening comprehension
involve what is referred to in Bloom’s Taxonomy as higher order thinking skills,
including asking questions, critical and systematic thinking, problem solving, analysis,
evaluation, synthesizing new information, and decision making (Dolunay & Savas,
2016). Therefore, it is important to investigate if there is a relationship between critical or
higher order thinking skills and listening comprehension skills in the context of language
learning. This section will review the recent literature that has been conducted on the
relationship between critical thinking skills and listening comprehension. It is included in
the literature review because this researcher will try to examine if critical thinking can
predict listening comprehension of adult ESL learners.
Some recent studies examined what the process of listening comprehension
entails, and whether listening comprehension is related to critical thinking. Hernandez-
Ocampo and Vargas (2013) asserted that teaching listening comprehension involves
going through many mental processes, from distinguishing sounds to knowing a
grammatical rule, and that in order for ESL students to master listening comprehension,
there are three axes to consider; one of these axes is critical thinking. Furthermore,
Hernandez-Ocampo and Vargas (2013) concluded through a qualitative study that it is
important to teach students how to evaluate and analyze the audio materials they use in
order to promote their listening comprehension skills. Analysis and evaluation are key to
critical thinking (Hernandez-Ocampo & Vargas, 2013). In addition, Elekaei et al. (2016)
concluded that students with higher critical thinking ability had higher listening
comprehension scores, which meant that the level of students’ critical thinking
significantly affected their listening comprehension test results. Nosratinia, Abbasi, and
Zaker (2015) also found that there was a significant positive relationship between critical
thinking skills and EFL students’ listening comprehension, and that students who were
better critical thinkers demonstrated higher listening skills than those with lower critical
thinking skills.
Critical thinking and autonomy are two variables related to listening
comprehension. Hashemi and Zabihi (2012) conducted a quantitative study on the
relationship between EFL students’ critical thinking skills and their proficiency in
receptive skills, which include reading comprehension and listening comprehension.
Hashemi and Zabihi (2012) found a positive correlation between critical thinking skills
and both reading and listening comprehension. Similarly, Elekaei et al. (2016) confirmed
that the relationship between students’ autonomy and critical thinking skills were
positively correlated with their listening comprehension skills.
Listening comprehension and its relationship to critical thinking was reviewed in
this section. Recent research examined such a relationship, and the results confirmed that
listening comprehension is a mental process requiring students to analyze and evaluate
the audio materials they use in order to promote their listening comprehension skills
(Hernandez-Ocampo & Vargas, 2013). In addition, other researchers found a positive
correlation between listening comprehension skills and critical thinking skills of foreign
language students (Elekaei et al., 2016). Other studies found that listening comprehension
skills were also correlated with students’ autonomy. Therefore, it was important to
conduct a study in which the relationship between ESL students’ listening comprehension
skills and their critical thinking skills is examined.
Critical thinking and reading comprehension skills. In today’s education, there
is no doubt that reading comprehension is the goal for many educators. Educators
recognize that it is through reading that they can provide students with the
comprehensible input, which can facilitate language learning. In addition, using reading
comprehension skills in an appropriate manner is vital to the success of foreign language
learners because these skills will help them understand the intended meaning of the texts
they read (Fahim & Hoominian, 2014). It is through reading that foreign language
learners develop their receptive skills, especially during the current technological era
where there is a lot of written materials available on the internet. However, foreign
language learners should be able to analyze and evaluate the texts they read. This section
will review the literature written on the relationship between critical thinking and reading
comprehension, because these two terms are variables in the study.
Critical thinking consists of several cognitive skills that foreign language learners
need to acquire. In order to understand the skills necessary for successful reading
comprehension, Fahim and Sa’eepour (2011) asserted that these skills were “inference,
synthesis, analysis, and evaluation” (p. 871). In addition, as cited in Yousefi and
Mohammadi (2016), Bowen, Madsen and Hilferty (1985) asserted that reading critically
involves critical thinking skills of understanding meaning, paraphrasing content,
understanding the main thought and details, distinguishing among facts, inferences and
opinions, seeing relationships, predicting outcomes, drawing conclusions, making
generalizations, understanding figurative language, and recognizing propaganda. For this
reason, it has become necessary to research if there is a relationship between critical
thinking and the ability of language learners to comprehend what they read.
Reading critically requires, among other factors, understanding the meaning of
unknown vocabulary based on the context. Boroushaki and Ng (2016) found that critical
thinking should be incorporated into language learning textbooks because critical
thinkers are equipped with the ability to make better decisions when reading, and to
deduce the meaning of the unknown words by relying on the context. These findings
were compatible with the conclusion of Kamali and Fahim (2011), who stated that
“learners’ critical thinking levels have significant effects of their reading comprehension
ability when faced with unknown vocabulary items” (p. 109). Moreover, Pourghasemian
and Hosseini (2017) asserted that critical thinking skills may contribute to better reading
comprehension particularly in terms of the ability to read between the lines. The
researchers added that better reading comprehension required good interaction between
the reader and the text, and that readers should manipulate their linguistic knowledge and
their knowledge of the world to comprehend what they read. Furthermore,
Pourghasemian and Hosseini (2017) concluded that the more students ask questions,
discuss, and share what they read, the better critical thinkers they may become.
There are some other studies that investigated the relationship between critical
thinking and reading comprehension. Another study on the relationship between critical
thinking and reading comprehension was conducted by Barjesteh and Vaseghi (2012).
The researchers revealed that there was a strong positive correlation between these two
variables, and that when teachers teach students the necessary critical thinking skills,
students will become better readers and grasp the main idea of the texts they read. In
addition, Tous et al. (2015) concluded that EFL students’ reading skills could be
improved using the debate technique, which is a technique used to foster students’
critical thinking abilities. They also recommended that teachers and educators teach
critical thinking skills through debate in their reading comprehension lessons. Kagmar
and Jadidi (2016) conducted a quantitative study in Shiraz University in Iran and
developed a reading placement inventory, which was used to determine students’ reading
comprehension skills.
Kagmar and Jadidi (2016) concluded that there was a significant positive
correlation between critical thinking skills of Iranian EFL learners and their reading
comprehension skills. In addition, Kadir, Subki, Jamal and Ismail (2014) also conducted
a study in which they investigated the relationship between critical thinking and reading
comprehension. Kadir et al. (2014) asserted that for language learners to overcome
comprehension failure, teachers and educators need to train students how to read
critically and how to develop students’ metacognitive skills of analysis, evaluation, and
inquiry when reading. Mohammadi, Heidari, and Niry (2012) conducted a quantitative
study to investigate the relationship between the critical thinking skills of EFL students,
their language skills, and their reading strategies. The results of Mohammadi et al.’s
study revealed that students with higher critical thinking scores used more reading
strategies than those with lower critical thinking skills. Furthermore, Fahim and
Sa’eepour (2011) asserted that the incorporation of critical thinking activities in language
classrooms was necessary to improve language teaching and learning.

In this section, the relationship between reading comprehension skills and critical
thinking skills of language learners was reviewed. Promoting language learners’ reading
comprehension skills has been the goal of many educators because it is through reading
that teachers can provide learners with what Krashen (1981) called the comprehensible
input, which can assist students in their language development. Recent literature revealed
that mastering reading comprehension skills requires mastering certain critical thinking
skills such as inference, synthesis, analysis, and evaluation (Yousefi & Mohammadi,
2016). Other researchers found a positive relationship between critical thinking skills and
predicting the meaning of unknown vocabulary words when reading a text (Boroushaki &
Ng, 2016). In addition, critical thinking skills may help students understand the texts they
read and help them read between the lines (Pourghasemian & Hosseini, 2017). However,
prior to conducting this study, most of the recent studies that examined the relationship
between critical thinking and ESL/EFL learners’ reading comprehension skills were
conducted outside of the United States, and there has been a need to investigate such a
relationship in the United States.
Developing critical thinking skills. Currently, the English language is widely
favored in most European and Southeast Asian universities. However, these students
cannot solely rely on their knowledge of vocabulary and language forms when writing in
English (Miller, 2015). Miller (2015) argued that university students in Europe and Asia
must acquire and develop a set of critical thinking skills to become successful learners.
Therefore, Miller (2015) conducted a thematic quantitative study to examine how critical
thinking skills could be promoted in a university sports communication general education
course. The participants included 60 students, from 19-23 years of age, with English
proficiency ranging from high-intermediate to advanced levels. Data were gathered from
students’ 1000-word reflective essays about course content. Miller analyzed students’
essays qualitatively, extracting themes using MAXQDA software. Three main themes
emerged: course content, language use and development, and developing critical thinking
skills.
The results of the study revealed that three conditions were necessary for L2
students to develop their critical thinking skills. First, the content of the course must be
interesting for students to be motivated. Second, students should know the meaning of
critical thinking. Third, teachers should use a progressive pedagogical approach in class.
Miller (2015) noted that the results of the study supported findings in previous literature
that suggested that having course content which students could relate to was essential to
success. In addition, Miller (2015) recommended that teachers consider both content and
critical thinking skills when designing lesson plans. Moreover, Miller concluded that
critical thinking could not be achieved over the length of one semester. Miller asserted
that critical thinking involves life-long learning. However, critical thinking can be
accelerated and enhanced by lessons designed to relate to and intrinsically motivate
students (Miller, 2015). If students are intrinsically motivated, they might subconsciously
learn language to express their viewpoints and attitudes towards the content in the L2
language.
Critical thinking skills related to writing skills have also been referred to as higher
order thinking (HOT) skills (Ganapathy & Kaur, 2014). Ganapathy and Kaur (2014)
conducted a qualitative study that investigated the impact of higher order thinking skills
on ESL students’ learning of writing. Ganapathy and Kaur also investigated ESL
students’ perceptions of learning writing by the use of higher order thinking skills and
found that the students engaged in active learning and experienced enhanced autonomy.
In addition, when teachers gave writing assignments that required students to compare,
question, discuss, validate, and reflect on their own and other students’ ideas, the students
felt that the assignments nurtured their critical thinking skills. In other words, the
researchers stressed the importance of including critical thinking skills in writing
assignments.
Students in modern societies must be able to critically evaluate the credibility of
texts they encounter, especially with the vast amount of information available from the
Internet. For this reason, Manalo and Sheppard (2016) conducted a quantitative
correlational study in which they used Japanese first-year and second-year students as
participants. Manalo and Sheppard examined whether language structure and language
proficiency were correlated to students’ use of evaluative language, which is one aspect
of critical thinking, while writing. The participants were divided into two groups; the
first group consisted of 110 Japanese second-year university students studying science
and engineering. The students were instructed how to use evaluative language while
writing in Japanese and English. For the purpose of measuring how proficient the
students were using English, the students were administered the Test of English for
International Communication-Institution Program (TOEIC-IP). The Test of English for
International Communication-Institution Program (TOEIC-IP) is a norm-referenced test
of English listening comprehension and reading skills used in Japanese as an assessment
tool for English proficiency (Manalo & Sheppard, 2016).

Manalo and Sheppard (2016) used an ANOVA to compare the students’
production of sentences in English and Japanese. Manalo and Sheppard also used
correlational analyses to examine students’ evaluative language and their Test of English
for International Communication-Institution Program test scores. The results showed that
there was a significant correlation between language proficiency and the use of
evaluative language. In other words, students produced more evaluative sentences when
writing in Japanese than in English. In addition, the results showed that students
produced more sentences in English than in Japanese, but more complex sentences in
Japanese, since they were more proficient in Japanese and could produce more complex
sentences (Manalo & Sheppard, 2016).
In the second study, 43 first-year students were added (Manalo & Sheppard,
2016). The second group of students were also studying science and engineering, as did
the first group of participants. The same tools were used with the first-year students and
data were analyzed in the same manner used in the first study. The ANOVA revealed that
the year of enrollment affected the students’ total number of sentences written, and the
number of evaluative sentences used in the students’ writings. Similarly, the results
showed that the participants of the second study produced more sentences in English than
in Japanese, but less complex sentences in English. In general, the results of Manalo and
Sheppard (2016) showed that language proficiency could influence participants’ use of
evaluative language. In other words, the deficits of students in manifesting critical
thinking while writing in English may be attributed to their level of proficiency in
English. Moreover, the results of the study indicated that critical thinking instructions
could affect the students’ use of critical evaluative language while writing in English
(Manalo & Sheppard, 2016). Explicit classroom instructions on the use of critical
thinking may be essential for foreign language learners to manifest critical thinking and
evaluative language in their writing.
Indah (2017) conducted a quantitative correlational study to investigate the
relationship between critical thinking, writing performance, and topic familiarity. The
target population of the study included pre-advanced students in the English department
of an Indonesian university. The sample of the study consisted of 121 students enrolled
in a critical writing course. Among the 121 students, 48 were males and 73 were females,
with ages ranging from 20-22. Indah (2017) investigated participants’ critical thinking
skills as reflected in their argumentative writing, with no treatment given to the
participants. Indah (2017) hypothesized that student-initiated topics would result in better
argumentative writing than topics initiated by the teacher because student-initiated topics
were chosen according to the students’ interests and knowledge. Furthermore, Indah
(2017) stated that although critical thinking was essential to the learner’s success, in the
case of EFL learners, language competence was as essential. The researcher believed that
without language, students would be unable to communicate or defend their viewpoints.
Critical thinking skills in the study were assessed through the participants’ argumentative
writing, using rubrics designed by the researcher. The results of the study showed that
topic familiarity was positively related to students’ writing performance. In other words,
when students were asked to write about a familiar topic, their writing was better than
had they written on a less familiar topic (Indah, 2017). In addition, Indah found that there
was a significant positive correlation between writing performance and critical thinking.
Although critical thinking is important in the promotion of holistic learning of
language by EFL students, students can better reflect on critical thinking skills through
writing (Indah, 2017). Indah’s (2017) findings suggested the need for investigating
whether critical thinking skills were tied to other skills within the field of language
learning. If students reflected on their cognitive skills through writing, could they reflect
these skills when speaking? Although writing is less spontaneous than speaking, writers
can edit their ideas when writing. Critical thinkers may also reflect on their speaking
skills, especially when speakers seek to convince others of their viewpoints. However,
Indah (2017) argued that the tools used in assessing critical thinking and writing
performance should be enhanced and designed to measure students’ progress in both
critical thinking and writing performance. In addition, Indah (2017) called for teaching
EFL students critical thinking skills that are implicit to how they analyze the texts they
read. Furthermore, students’ writing performance on teacher-initiated topics may not be
an adequate indicator of students’ critical thinking skills, because students have varying
degrees of knowledge of and interest in topics assigned to them (Indah, 2017).
Since writing skills are important to all ESL/EFL learners, the relationship
between writing skills and critical thinking skills was reviewed in this section. Proper
writing is not naturally obtained as is the case with speaking or listening comprehension.
Therefore, it is essential to examine the factors that can affect ESL/EFL students’ writing
and critical thinking. Most of the literature that was reviewed in this section confirmed
that a positive correlation exists between critical thinking skills and writing skills
(Leggette, McKim, Homeyer, & Rutherford, 2015; Suacillo, Um, Velasquez, Villaflores,
& Cequena, 2016). In addition, other studies examined how important it is for college
students to reflect critical thinking skills in their writing. In a similar context, Shaarawy
(2014) conducted a quasi-experimental study in which participants were required to write
a weekly journal, which makes them better critical thinkers. Research showed the
importance of teaching critical thinking skills by administering EFL students writing
assignments about areas discussed in the classroom. Moreover, the section reviewed the
importance of developing EFL students’ writing performance based on assignments
designed to focus on students’ skills in analysis, comparison, validation, and reflection.
The researchers of these studies recommended including critical thinking activities when
designing ESL/EFL lesson plans.
ESL learning and motivation. In every field of education, if students are not
motivated to learn, they are less likely to achieve the goals of the learning process. In the
field of ESL and EFL, it has become necessary to investigate what motivates students to
learn English, and whether the learning process can be enhanced through increasing
students’ motivation. Recently, several studies have been conducted on the correlation
between ESL/EFL learners’ motivation and their academic achievement, as well as
factors that can enhance students’ motivation to learn English.
Motivation can play an important role in improving students’ foreign language
proficiency. In this regard, Yahia (2015) conducted a quantitative correlational study to
investigate factors that contributed to improving ESL students’ motivation to learn
English. Furthermore, using TABE as a tool for assessing students’ English learning
achievement, Yahia (2015) sought to determine whether there was a significant
correlation between students’ motivation and their academic achievement in a Sudanese
college. According to participants’ responses to the survey questions, students’

motivation was a strong predictor of their achievement when learning English as a
foreign language. The researcher recommended investigating such a relationship between
motivation and academic achievement within different cultural groups of students in
order to examine the role of culture in this respect.
In this technological era, it is important to examine the role of technology in the
field of foreign language learning. Lari (2014) conducted a similar study focused on the
role of technology in increasing EFL learners’ motivation. The researcher conducted a
quasi-experimental study using a control group and an experimental group of EFL
students. Both groups were taught using the same textbooks and materials but in different
ways. The control group was taught using the traditional ways of teaching English, such
as the use of chalk boards and lectures, while the experimental group was taught using
smart boards and PowerPoint presentations. Both groups were given a pretest and a
posttest. The results of the posttest were compared in order to investigate the difference
in students’ performance. The results showed that there was a significant positive
correlation between students’ motivation and the use of technology in the classroom.
Furthermore, the results showed that the majority of students exposed to
PowerPoint presentations in the classroom had positive attitudes toward the use of
technology to facilitate learning.
Another factor important for learning a foreign language is motivation. In another
study, Saranaj, Zafar and Khan (2014) concluded that there was a significant positive
correlation between students’ motivation and their performance in learning English.
Saranaj et al. (2014) stated, “Motivation can pave the way to equip the learners’ moving
in the right direction” (p. 464). Furthermore, the researchers observed that there were
many motivational strategies ESL teachers could use. Therefore, teachers should be
aware of each strategy in certain situations depending on a students’ approach to
learning, the teachers’ method of teaching, and ESL classroom environments. After all,
motivating students to learn English plays an important role in improving the outcome of
the learning process. In another study, Noreen, Ahmed and Esmail (2015) also conducted
a study that investigated the role of EFL students’ motivation, attitude, and anxiety in
learning English in Pakistan. The researchers highlighted the notion that motivation be
either intrinsic or extrinsic. Noreen et al. concluded that many participants were
intrinsically motivated to learn English because it was an international language and that
it was important for them to be able to communicate in English. On the other hand, some
students wanted to learn English just for the sake of earning credits. Furthermore, the
study revealed that students’ motivation be increased by teachers and parents. Noreen et
al. concluded that students’ attitudes towards learning English impacted their motivation.
Students who had positive attitudes toward learning English were more motivated to
learn English and outperformed other students with less positive attitudes in the study.
Since motivation is important in foreign language classrooms, it is important to
examine how students can be motivated. In another study, Inage, Lawn and Lawn (2013)
asserted that motivation in ESL classrooms starts with the students’ desire to learn, and
motivation is affected by a number of factors. Some factors include the classroom’s
physical environment, students’ relationship with their peers, the teaching method used
by the teacher, the relationship between the student and the teacher, and content and
tools used for teaching. Inage et al. collected data from the students’ feedback
concerning the use of movies in the classroom and the impact on the students’
motivation. The results

showed that students’ motivation to learn English was increased when movies were used
during class. Furthermore, some students stated they would borrow DVDs for home use
during the holiday to improve their English.
Among other factors that are used to increase ESL students’ motivation is the use
of songs in the classroom. Aguirre, Bustinza, and Garvich (2016) conducted a study that
investigated the influence of songs in primary ESL classrooms on students’ motivation to
learn English in Peru. The study involved mixed methods in which the researchers used
questionnaires completed by the students, and observation of the ESL classrooms while
using songs. The results of the study revealed that students were motivated to become
more active and engaged in the classroom when songs were used during the lesson.
Moreover, the researchers concluded that songs created a favorable environment in the
classroom and encouraged students to be more committed to class activities. Aguirre et
al. recommended that ESL teachers include audiovisual materials when teaching ESL to
keep students focused and motivated.
ESL students can also be motivated by their teachers and parents to use the tools
available to them inside and outside their classrooms. One such tool that almost every
student has is a cell phone. There are numerous applications that students can download
on their phones, and they are applicable for academic purposes. Khan (2016) conducted a
study that investigated whether the WhatsApp application could motivate ESL students in
their reading skills. The researcher designed a questionnaire that included twenty
questions; ten open-ended and ten close-ended. The results of the study revealed that the
ESL students who participated in the study were highly motivated to read English texts
using WhatsApp applications in their phones. Although the participants of the study were
neither encouraged by their teachers nor parents to use WhatsApp, students mentioned
that they sometimes used the application and believed it sometimes enhanced their
reading skills. Teachers could benefit from the results of this study to better understand
how technology available to students can serve as effective educational tools, whether
inside or outside of the classroom.
The literature on the importance of students’ motivation in foreign or second
language classrooms has been reviewed in this section. In addition, the section focused
on literature in which factors that can increase ESL/EFL students’ motivation and
improve their academic achievement was investigated. The review of literature regarding
the use of technology in language classrooms confirmed that learning can be enhanced
when teachers use technology such as PowerPoint presentations, rather than the use of
traditional teaching methods such as lectures (Lari, 2014). Other studies that were
reviewed examined how ESL/EFL teachers could increase students’ motivation through
including certain activities when designing lesson plans (Saranaj et al., 2014). In
addition, other studies asserted that EFL students’ intrinsic motivation is more important
than their extrinsic motivation, and teachers can increase students’ intrinsic motivation by
explaining that English is important to learn if they would like to communicate
internationally (Noreen et al., 2015). In summary, most of the studies that were
conducted involving the role of motivation in language learning found motivation
essential for all language learners, particularly for those who required or desired to learn
a second or a foreign language.
Methodologies. Most of the research conducted regarding the relationship
between critical thinking and language skills of ESL students used quantitative methods.
Indah (2017) employed a quantitative correlational study to investigate the relationship
between the critical thinking skills of Indonesian ESL students and argumentative
writing. Similarly, Nosratinia and Zaker (2014) conducted a quantitative correlational
study to investigate the relationship between critical thinking skills of the study’s
participants and autonomy and creativity. Sadeghi et al. (2014) also conducted a
quantitative correlational study to examine the relationship between metacognitive skills,
critical thinking skills, age, gender, motivation and anxiety of Iranian EFL learners.
Furthermore, to examine the relationship between EFL students’ critical thinking skills
and their reading comprehension, Kagmar and Jadidi (2016) used a quantitative
correlational design. Moreover, Ramezani et al. (2016), as well as Afshar et al. (2017),
also conducted quantitative correlational studies to investigate the relationship between
EFL students’ critical thinking skills and their English-speaking abilities. The purpose of
all the above-mentioned studies was to examine the relationship between two or more
variables, which justified their choice of a quantitative correlational design to answer
their research questions and test their hypotheses.
Other studies in the field of critical thinking skills and language skills involved
qualitative methodologies. Leggette et al. (2015) studied the subjective views of faculty,
students, and administrators on writing in relation to critical thinking and knowledge
creation in the field of ESL and EFL learning. Similarly, Channa, Nordina, Simming, and
Buriro (2017) used qualitative research to investigate strategies EFL first-year
engineering students used to develop reading comprehension skills. Qualitative research
can also be used when the purpose of the study is to examine the participants’ attitudes
toward a specific issue. Asgharheidari and Tahriri (2015) conducted a qualitative study to
examine the attitudes of the EFL instructors in Iran toward teaching critical thinking
skills to EFL students, Li (2016) surveyed 473 teachers and interviewed 18 participants
regarding concepts surrounding the practice of teaching critical thinking skills.
In summary, most of the research conducted concerning the relationship between
critical thinking skills and language skills used quantitative methodology. The
researchers of many of these studies aimed to find out whether a relationship existed
between the numerical variables of critical thinking skills, language skills, as well as
other variables such as age, gender, motivation level, anxiety level or autonomy.
However, other studies which examined the subjective views of faculty, students or
administrators used qualitative methods. Qualitative study is used when the researcher
aims to understand the participants’ attitudes towards a specific issue. A qualitative
method did not serve the purpose of the current study because numerical test scores were
used to determine the correlation. The proposed study utilized a quantitative methodology
because it aimed to examine the predictive utility of critical thinking on language
proficiency.
Instrumentation. In order to assess the variables of critical thinking and language
skills proficiency, researchers used different instruments. The researchers justified the use
of these instruments, and why they were more suitable than others. In the assessment of
critical thinking skills, Rahimi and Soryani (2014) used the CCTST in their study, and
they concluded it was a suitable tool to assess the critical thinking skills at levels above
high school and in adult learners. CCTST was also used by Sadeghi et al. (2014), who
conducted a quantitative correlational study to examine the relationship between
metacognitive skills, critical thinking skills, age, gender and anxiety of 102 Iranian EFL
learners. The researchers used CCTST to assess their participants’ critical thinking skills.
Afshar et al. (2017) used CCTST when they conducted a study to assess participants’
critical thinking skills. Moreover, Eftekhari et al. (2016) also used CCTST to assess their
participants’ critical thinking skills and claimed that CCTST was chosen because its
reliability and validity had previously been measured. In addition, Eftekhari et al. (2016)
asserted that CCTST is suitable for distinguishing among different levels of critical
thinking. Rahimi Nosratinia and Zaker (2014), on the other hand, used Honey’s Critical
Thinking questionnaire, which intended to explore what students might or might not do
when thinking critically about a subject. Honey’s Critical Thinking questionnaire was
used to evaluate the three main skills of comprehension, analysis and evaluation. Since
the participants of the current study are adult ESL learners supposedly on different levels
of critical thinking, CCTST is the most suitable tool used to assess participants’ critical
thinking skills.
CCTST was used in this study to assess the predictor variable of critical thinking
scores. Facione and Facione (2008) stated that the 34-item five-scale version of the
CCTST supplied objective measures of an individual’s skills in seven areas: 1) analysis,
2) interpretation 3) inference, 4) explanation, 5) evaluation, 6) induction, and 7)
deduction. The 2019 version of CCTST, used in the current study, consists of 34 items
assessing the seven critical thinking skills, in addition to another cognitive skill;
numeracy. According to the publisher of CCTST, Insight Assessment (2019), the score
report package for CCTST included the overall score for critical thinking skills of each
participant, as well as individual scores of each for the seven scales of critical thinking.
Although this researcher was able to obtain the scores of each of the participants’ critical
thinking components, data were collected for critical thinking overall scores only. In
other words, this researcher investigated if the overall scores of critical thinking skills
predict the participants’ language proficiency, because the individual skills of critical
thinking are not independent factors (Insight Assessment, 2019). The scale scores were
useful in identifying in which areas the participants were strongest and weakest, so that
these areas could be addressed in the future. In addition, the fact that these individual
skills of critical thinking are not independent reflects their “theoretical relationship to the
holistic conceptualization of critical thinking as the process of reasoned and reflective
judgment, rather than the exercise of discrete cognitive skills” (Insight Assessment, 2019,
p. 32).
Different instruments were used in recent literature to assess each of the language
skills. Shaw (2014) grouped participants according to the language proficiency levels in
which they belonged, depending on the results of CASAS test. Shaw (2014) asserted that
CASAS was used based on its strong content and criterion validity. Huang and Nisbet
(2014) also used CASAS to measure the English language proficiency of their study
participants, who were 121 ESL students at an adult learning center in Northern Virginia.
In addition, Gonzalves (2017) used CASAS in his study, which aimed at investigating
English assessment in California’s adult schools, because CASAS had been used widely
in California adult education for decades, and also that the California Department of
Education exclusively contracted with CASAS to collect and report data since 1999.
Furthermore, the CASAS test was originally created and developed by a consortium of
agencies in the field of English as a Second Language teaching, including ESL instructors
and administrators in California (Gonzalves, 2017). The CASAS test is the tool used in
the current study because it was a suitable tool to assess ESL learners’ language receptive
skills of reading comprehension and listening comprehension. In addition, the college
where the study was conducted has been using this tool to place its ESL learners in their
language proficiency levels.
Summary
Chapter 2 of this study began with an introduction and background of the problem
being investigated. The relationship between critical thinking of ESL/EFL learners and
their language proficiency has been investigated thoroughly in many of the countries
where English is either a second or a foreign language. Recent research suggested that
critical thinking is essential to students in all fields of study (Haynes et al., 2016). Since
the number of ESL students in the United States has been increasing dramatically in
recent years (Fast Facts, 2018), it has been important for those students to think critically
in order to become effective members of the society. Despite the extensive research on
ESL learning over recent years and before this study was conducted, there has been little
research done on the relationship between critical thinking skills and ESL students’
language proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension
in a United States setting.
In the past, foreign language classrooms were teacher-centered, and that is why
language teachers did not struggle when trying to transfer the intended messages to their
students. With the recent development of technology and ideologies and philosophies of
language teaching, students need not be passive receivers of their teachers’ messages;
they need to be co-creators of knowledge along with their teachers (Freire, 2000). As co-
creators of knowledge, students need to think outside of the box, or to read what is
between the lines. In addition, students in all fields of study need to be creative future
workers to serve effectively and productively in the workplace. In the field of ESL,
teachers and educators should enhance the students’ ability to think critically (Jie et al.,
2015).
Although recent research has answered many questions pertaining to the
relationship between critical thinking and language proficiency, there were still
questions that needed answers. Dong and Yue (2015) asserted that critical thinking skills
and writing skills were positively correlated. In addition, Bagheri (2015) stated that there
was a significant positive relationship between critical thinking skills on one hand and
speaking and listening skills on the other hand. Most of the research conducted recently
focused on the relationship between critical thinking skills and some of the language
skills separately. Moreover, among all recent studies conducted, little research was done
in a United States setting, where English is the main language used. Therefore, the
current study was designed to investigate if critical thinking skills of adult ESL learners
comprehension skills in a community college in an east coast metropolitan area.
The theories that guided this study were reviewed in the theoretical foundation
section. There was a review of Krashen’s theory (1981), which stressed the role of
communication when learning a foreign or a second language, and Facione’s taxonomy
of critical thinking. Krashen stated that, for language learners to be effective learners,
they should understand the intended message. Understanding the intended message
depends on mastering the receptive skills of reading comprehension and listening
comprehension for the most part. The five hypotheses of Krashen’s theory were
discussed in the theoretical foundation section. Although most theorists consider adults as
language learners, Krashen’s (1982) acquisition-learning hypothesis holds that adults can
acquire a second language in the same way young children do and “acquisition is a very
powerful process in the adults” (p. 10). Krashen (1981) also stated that the goal of second
language educators should always be using language as the sole means of
communication, and teaching grammar should be done in connection with teaching other
topics. Additionally, language learning can be facilitated when learners are exposed to
low anxiety, high motivation and self-confidence (Krashen, 1985). In other words, if the
curriculum has activities that promote low anxiety, high motivation and self-confidence,
language learners will more likely be successful.
Lastly, this chapter provided a synthesis of current research conducted on the
proposed topic. The gap in the literature was identified and discussed, along with a
review of the existing literature, methodology, and the instrumentations used. There was
also a review of the themes and subthemes, critical thinking definitions, Socratic
questioning, critical thinking and language learning, teachers’ attitudes towards critical
thinking, critical thinking and its relation to each of the language skills, as well as the
role of motivation in second language learning.
Researchers have examined the subjective views of faculty, students, or
administrators through qualitative methods to understand attitudes towards specific
issues. Researchers have also conducted research using quantitative methodology, but
these studies have aimed at finding if a relationship exists between the numerical
variables of critical thinking skills and variables such as age, motivation level, anxiety
level, and autonomy. The literature review led to the choice to use a quantitative
correlational design, as well as the use of the CCTST and the CASAS instruments for
data collection, to address the problem of not knowing if, and to what extent, adult ESL
comprehension and listening comprehension. In addition, the literature reviewed
informed the alignment of the two research questions and the variables to be measured.
The results of this study may contribute to the existing knowledge in the field of ESL
learning in the United States.
Chapter 3 begins with an introduction section, which provides an overview of the
content of the chapter, the statement of the problem, research questions, and hypotheses.
It also provides a thorough review of the quantitative methodology design, population
sample, instrumentation, validity and reliability, along with data analysis and data
collection procedures. Finally, the chapter concludes with a review of the ethical
considerations, limitations, and delimitations of the proposed study.

Chapter 3: Methodology
Introduction
if, and to what extent, adult English as a Second Language (ESL) learners’ critical
thinking skills predict their language proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension
and listening comprehension, in a community college in an east coast metropolitan area
in the United States. Previous research conducted on such a relationship has looked at
the relationship between critical thinking skills and language skills separately. Yousefi
and Mohammadi (2016) found a significant positive correlation between reading skills
and critical thinking skills. Ahour and Golpour (2016) found a significant positive
correlation between writing skills and critical thinking skills, and Dong and Yue (2015)
found a significant positive correlation between critical thinking skills and listening
comprehension. Despite the recent research on the relationship between critical thinking
skills and ESL/EFL language proficiency, limited research was conducted in a United
States setting, where English is the most spoken language.
Within this chapter, there is a review of the problem statement, research questions
and hypotheses, research methodology, research design, population and sample selection,
instruments, validity, and reliability. In addition, data collection management, data
analysis procedures, ethical considerations, limitations and delimitations are presented.
This research study contributes to the field of ESL teaching and learning by providing
empirical statistical information on the dichotomy of critical thinking and language
proficiency used for research, education, and intervention purposes.

Statement of the Problem
It was not known if, and to what extent, adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills
comprehension. Eyring (2014) stated that according to the 2000 United States census,
about 35 million people are nonnative English speakers in the United States, and 9
million people do not speak English well. Among this number, some are enrolled in state-
administered or federally-funded ESL programs. Previous research showed that critical
thinking skills were significantly related to adult ESL/EFL students’ reading
comprehension (Boroushaki & Ng, 2016; Pourghasemian & Hosseini, 2017; Tous et al.,
2015; Yousefi & Mohammadi, 2016) and listening comprehension (Azadi et al., 2015;
Elekaei et al., 2016; Mohammadi & Zare, 2015). However, limited research was
conducted to investigate the relationship between critical thinking skills and adult ESL
learners’ language proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension and listening
comprehension in one study, in the United States prior to conducting this study.
Previous research was conducted mainly in countries where English was not the
first language. Furthermore, most of the recent research has investigated the relationship
between critical thinking skills and one language skill at a time. The current study,
therefore, tried to investigate if adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their
receptive language skills of reading comprehension and listening comprehension in an
east coast metropolitan area. Since little research in this concern was conducted in the
United States, this study tried to investigate such a relationship in a US setting, where
English is the most spoken language.

Research Questions and/or Hypotheses
There are two research questions for this quantitative predictive correlational
study that investigated if, and to what extent, adult ESL students’ critical thinking skills
predict their language proficiency, consisting of reading and listening comprehension, in
an east coast metropolitan area. The predictor variable of critical thinking and criterion
variables of reading comprehension and listening comprehension scores were used.
Interval data for the predictor variable, critical thinking, and criterion variables, reading
comprehension and listening comprehension scores were collected.
The instrument to measure the participants’ critical thinking skills was CCTST,
and data for the participants’ language proficiency were obtained from the CASAS test
which was previously taken by students upon initial placement in the community
college. CCTST is a test used to measure the participants’ critical thinking skills. It
consists of 34 multiple-choice questions that assess the sub-skills of critical thinking,
analysis, evaluation, inference, deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning, to form an
overall assessment of critical thinking (Eftekhari et al., 2016). The test was graded
electronically and produced critical thinking skills scores which were the total of all sub-
skills scores combined. CASAS, on the other hand, is a language proficiency test used in
many agencies as a placement test in many fields, among which was ESL. It is used by
federal and state government agencies, business and industry, community colleges,
education and training providers, correctional facilities, and technical programs. The
participants in the current study had previously taken the CASAS test upon enrollment
into the college for placement in corresponding ESL classes. This researcher had an
official permission
from the ESL department of the college to be provided with the archival data of the
students’ CASAS scores after the study was approved by GCU IRB.
The predictor variable in this study was critical thinking skills, and the criterion
variables were reading comprehension and listening comprehension. Table 1 below offers
definitions of the three variables at the conceptual, operational and measurement levels.
Table 1.
Variables Conceptual, Operational and Measurement Definitions

Variables Conceptual Operational Measurement Definitions
Definitions Definitions
Critical Thinking The skills of The skills of The data collected were interval
Skills purposeful, self- interpretation, numerical data. The test has 34
regulatory judgement analysis, inference, multiple-choice questions. The
which results in explanation, overall raw scores range from 0-
interpretation, evaluation, 34.
evaluation, and inductive
inference as well as reasoning,
explanation of the deductive
evidential, reasoning and
conceptual, numeracy.
methodological, (Yousefi &
criteriological, or Mohammadi,
contextual 2016).
considerations upon These skills were
which judgement is measured using
based (Facione, CCTST.
2011)
Reading The process of CASAS test was Interval percentile data was
Comprehension simultaneously used to assess this collected. CASAS test provides a
extracting and variable. percentile score representing the
constructing meaning participants’ reading
through interaction comprehension.
and involvement with
written language
(Rand Reading Study
Group, 2002).
Listening One’s ability to listen CASAS test was Interval percentile data was
Comprehension and comprehend used to assess this collected. CASAS test provides a
spoken language of variable. percentile score representing the
multiple utterances participants’ reading
and oral texts (Kim & comprehension.
Pilcher, 2016)
In order to maintain participant confidentiality, each student was given a number
corresponding to his/her name in order to match the language proficiency scores with the
CCTSTS scores. Since the variables of this study are critical thinking and language
proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension, and since
the overarching question for this study was to what extent adult ESL learners’ critical
thinking skills predict their language proficiency, the following research questions guided
this quantitative predictive correlational study:
H1a: There is a statistically significant prediction of adult ESL learners’ reading
listening comprehension by their critical thinking skills.
The two research questions and consequent hypotheses were specified to solve the
research problem. The problem statement reflected, it was not known if, and to what
extent, adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their language proficiency,
consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension. The current

quantitative predictive correlational study answered the research questions by testing the
hypotheses with statistical data analysis. The findings of the study addressed the
research gap as described in the background of the study.
Research Methodology
The methodology for this study was quantitative. Quantitative methodology was
chosen because it was used to establish statistically significant relationships between
variables, determine attitudes, describe trends, and analyze numerical data to explain and
predict or control a phenomenon (Smith & Chudleigh, 2015). In addition, quantitative
research uses numerical data for testing objective theories and investigates the
relationship among a group of variables, and it is formal, value-free and unbiased (Smith
& Chudleigh, 2015). The justification for selecting a quantitative approach over
qualitative or mixed methods was based on the nature of the variables. The purpose of
this quantitative predictive correlational study was to investigate if, and to what extent,
adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their language proficiency, consisting
of reading comprehension and listening comprehension, in a community college in an
east coast metropolitan area in the United States. The ESL learners’ critical thinking
skills were assessed utilizing the CCTST test. The test assessed the different skills of the
participants’ critical thinking ability. Each skill was scored separately, then totaled to
form an overall critical thinking score for each participant. Similarly, the participants’
language proficiency data, which were their reading comprehension and listening
comprehension scores, were obtained from the CASAS test the participants had
previously taken upon placement in the community college.

A quantitative methodology was chosen because it allowed the researcher to
investigate the predictive relationship between the variables of critical thinking and
reading comprehension skills on one hand, and critical thinking and listening
comprehension skills on the other hand. In addition, a quantitative approach allows the
researcher to obtain a broad and generalizable set of findings and present them concisely
and parsimoniously (Yilmaz, 2013). Bagheri (2015) employed quantitative methodology
to investigate the relationship between critical thinking skills and EFL learners’ language
learning strategies. The current study was trying to make generalizable observations for
the population based on the predictive relationship between the variables of critical
thinking skills, reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills.
Qualitative research aims to understand social phenomena through the personal
experiences of the sample of the study (Isaacs, 2014). It answers the how and why
research questions. In qualitative methodology, data are collected through interpretation
of comprehensive narrative and visual interpretation to gain insight and meaning into a
specific phenomenon (Yoshikawa, Weisner, Kalil, & Way, 2013). A qualitative approach
was not the appropriate approach to use when the aim of the researcher was to investigate
a statistical relationship between variables (Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Therefore,
quantitative methodology was used in the proposed study because it aimed at revealing
measurable predictive correlations between the variables.
Research Design
The researcher utilized a predictive correlational research design utilizing simple
linear regression analysis. Simple linear regression analyses were conducted to
investigate the strength of the relationship between adult ESL learners’ critical thinking
skills and their language proficiency, consisting of their reading comprehension and
listening comprehension. This non-experimental correlational research design was chosen
by many researchers who examined the relationship between two or more interval
variables. Nosratinia et al. (2015) used a linear regression analysis to examine the
relationship between EFL students’ critical thinking skills and their autonomy. In
addition, Oguz and Saricam (2016) utilized a linear regression analysis to investigate the
relationship between critical thinking disposition and locus of control of pre-service
teachers. This researcher utilized a non-experimental predictive correlational design to
explore the predictive relationship between adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills and
their language proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension and listening
comprehension skills in an east coast metropolitan area.
This researcher did not utilize a non-experimental design to answer the research
questions due to the nature of the research. A quantitative study is experimental when the
researcher aims at finding out the cause-and-effect relationships among variables
(Haegele & Hodge, 2015). In experimental studies, the researcher manipulates the
independent variable to judge its effect on the dependent variable. Random assignment to
groups is also another aspect of experimental approaches which ensures that each
participant has equal probability of being assigned to any given group. Another design of
quantitative research is causative comparative, which is used when the researcher tries to
investigate the cause or reason behind differences in the status of groups or individuals
(Depaoli, Agtarap, Choi, Coburn, & Yu, 2018). Such experimental designs were not
appropriate for the current study since no variables were manipulated, there were no
groups, and therefore no random assignment to groups, or differences between groups to
explore.
For the researcher to answer the research questions for this study, it was
appropriate to use a predictive correlational design. A correlational research design is
used to measure the extent to which two variables are related, but it does not measure
cause-effect amongst variables (Gay, Mills, & Airasian, 2014). Mertens (2014) asserted
that correlational research design is used in educational research to examine correlations
between two or more continuous variables.
A simple linear regression analysis was used for this study. A simple linear
regression analysis was used to decide if, and to what extent, adult ESL learners’ critical
thinking skills can significantly predict their language proficiency, consisting of their
reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills. However, the results obtained
did not demonstrate causality because correlational quantitative designs do not indicate
causality (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010).
In any research, it is important to define the unit of observation. Lavrakas (2008)
stated that a unit of observation is the object or entity about which information is
collected. The unit of observation in this study was the individual adult ESL students in a
community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. G*Power
analysis indicated that the required sample of the study was 82 adult ESL learners (See
Appendix E). In addition, Pell Institute (2018) defined the unit of analysis as the who or
what that researchers are analyzing in their study. The unit of analysis was the individual
adult ESL learners in the United States since they were the focus of the current study, and
for whom the results of the study would be applied.

Population and Sample Selection
General population and target population. The general population of interest in
this study was all adult ESL learners in the United States. According to the Office of
Career, Technical and Adult Education in the Department of Education, adult English
language learners nationally make up 40 percent of the adult education population served
(Get the facts, 2019). Those ESL learners vary in their highest level of education, social
background as well as gender. The target population of the current study was adult ESL
learners in a community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States.
G*Power indicated that the minimum sample size required was 82. Therefore, the
minimum sample size for this study is 84 adult ESL learners.
Sample. To determine an adequate sample size, this researcher conducted a
G*Power Analysis. The G*Power 3.1.9.2 software was used to predict a statistically
significant sample size for the predictive correlational data analysis. The statistical
significance for error of probability was set as α=0.05 to achieve the significant power of
β=0.80 for this research study. The researcher set a medium size effect as p= 0.30 for
correlation in this study. The power analysis determined that 82 sample participants were
necessary to perform a correlational t-test analysis (See Appendix E).
Recent studies conducted on the relationship between critical thinking skills and
language proficiency showed various sample sizes used. Golpour (2014) used 64 EFL
participants to examine the relationship between critical thinking skills and writing skills
of EFL student at a language institute in Iran. Jie et al. (2015), on the other hand, used a
randomly-selected sample size of 224 EFL students at a university in China to investigate
the relationship between their critical thinking skills and reading performance.
Researchers Ramezani et al. (2016) selected 100 EFL students at Payame Noor
University in Iran to investigate the relationship between critical thinking skills and
speaking skills. Moreover, Afshar et al., (2014) used a sample of 100 EFL learners in Iran
to investigate the relationship between critical thinking skills and academic achievement.
This researcher utilized 84 adult ESL learners in the current study because the G*Power
analysis determines that the minimum sample size for this study is 82 participants.
Sampling. Gay et al. (2014) asserted that a good sample for participants in a
quantitative research is one that is representative of the selected population. Since the
proposed participants were adult ESL learners in an east coast metropolitan area
community college, all of the adult ESL learners there, were given the chance to
participate. This researcher utilized a convenience sampling approach because of he had
access to the adult ESL learners in that specific college. Etikan, Musa and Alkassim
(2016) stated that a convenience sampling is a type of nonprobability or nonrandom
sampling where members of the target population meet certain practical criteria, such as
easy accessibility, geographical proximity, availability at a given time, or the willingness
to participate.
The sampling process began through filling out an IRB and site authorization
application with the college where the study was conducted. After this application was
approved, the researcher was required to have GCU IRB approval. After this approval
was obtained, the researcher then contacted the community college to arrange a day and a
time to meet with the target population at the college. The researcher visited the target
population at their classrooms, accompanied by a representative from the ESL
department, and introduced himself to them. All adult ESL learners in the community
college were given the opportunity to participate in the study. However, only 84 agreed to
participate. Then, this researcher first explained the purpose and nature of the study to the
participants. As ESL learners, the target population may have had trouble in
understanding technical terms of the study. Therefore, the researcher used lay language
so that the participants could understand the nature of the study as clearly as possible.
Afterwards a consent form was given to the participants. The consent form included a
statement explaining that their participation was entirely voluntary, that they had the right
to terminate their participation at any time, or request that their data not be used in the
study. The consent form explained the nature of the research and its potential benefits to
the field of ESL teaching. Furthermore, the participants were assured that their refusal to
participate in the research would have no impact on their academics at college. Lastly, the
consent form stated that the participants’ confidentiality would be guarded, and that no
identifying information would be associated with their data.
The adult ESL learners were given the consent form and requested to read it and
return it to the researcher. They were informed that if they were willing to participate in
the study, they would need to sign the consent form and return it to the researcher.
However, if they were unwilling to participate, they could return it unsigned. After
signing the consent form, participants were given numbers corresponding to their names.
In case of attrition, this researcher would meet again with the adult ESL learners in their
classrooms, after contacting the ESL department. The same process for recruiting
participants would be repeated until the minimum sample size was obtained. In addition,
to encourage students to participate, students who agreed to participate would be entered
a raffle, where two students would win a $50 Amazon gift card each.
This researcher used the appropriate process to obtain the approval from the
community college in the east coast metropolitan area to conduct the study. The ESL
department in the community college was contacted, and this researcher explained the
purpose of the study to them. A site authorization approval was obtained from the
community college. In addition, this researcher obtained a letter from the community
college to approve the use of the archival data of the participants’ CASAS test. After
obtaining an AQR approval from GCU, this researcher filled out a GCU IRB application.
After an IRB approval was obtained from GCU, this researcher communicated with the
ESL department at the community college and started the data collection process.
Instrumentation
This researcher used CCTST and CASAS tests to measure the predictor variable,
critical thinking skills, and the criterion variables, reading comprehension and listening
comprehension. The CASAS test was administered by the college to assess the students’
level of English proficiency, consisting of their reading comprehension and listening
comprehension scores, to place them accordingly into language proficiency courses.
California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). The California Critical
Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) was used to assess the predictor variable of adult ESL
students’ critical thinking skills. This tool was developed based on the Delphi panel’s
definition of critical thinking along with the skills inherent in the process of critical
thinking. Facione first used the CCTST in 1990. However, it has since undergone several
forms. The most recent form on CCTST is Form 2000. Facione (1990) designed the
CCTST and emphasized that “CCTST succeeds in detecting the growth in CT skills
which is hypothesized to occur during college level instruction specifically designed for
the purpose of critical thinking development” (p. 17). The test was used to measure the
seven sub-scales of analysis, interpretation, inference, explanation, evaluation, deductive
reasoning, and inductive reasoning (Afshar et al., 2014). Furthermore, the CCTST is a
well-established instrument to measure critical thinking skills and has been used to assess
college level students’ critical thinking skills in a variety of contexts (Agerfalk, Sjostrom,
& Tuunanen, 2017). The CCTST has also been used in the United States, and in
authorized translations worldwide with graduate and undergraduate students in all fields
of study (Insight Assessment, 2019). The purpose of using the CCTST was to assess how
students used reasoning in solving problems and making decisions.
The original CCTST consists of 34 multiple-choice questions and allows students
45 minutes to complete the test (Rahimi, 2016). The 34 items in CCTST assess the
participants’ ability of analysis, evaluation, inference, deductive reasoning, and inductive
reasoning (Rahimi & Soryani, 2014). The newest form of the CCTST, which was used in
the current study, consisted of 34 items and provided the full scoring package of the eight
components of critical thinking. The response frame for CCTST was a multiple-choice
format and used everyday scenarios to assess the participants’ critical thinking skills. All
the information necessary to answer questions were provided in the test.
Although CCTST used in this study provided the individual scores of the
subscales of critical thinking, as well as the overall scores of critical thinking, this
researcher used the overall scores of critical thinking. These components of critical
thinking skills were not independent factors and were theoretically related to the holistic
conceptualization of critical thinking as the process of reasoned and reflective judgment
(Insight Assessment, 2019). Therefore, the researcher did not investigate if each of these
components predicted the language proficiency of adult ESL learners. Instead, the
researcher investigated if the participants’ critical thinking, as a process of reasoned and
reflective judgement, predicted their language proficiency.
Several recent studies used and validated CCTST. Rahimi and Soryani (2014)
used CCTST to investigate the relationship between EFL teachers’ critical thinking skills
and vocabulary learning strategy instructions across gender in a high school in Tehran,
Iran. The researchers calculated the reliability of CCTST in their study and found it to be
0.69. Furthermore, Pitt, Powis, Levett-Jones and Hunter (2015) used CCTST to measure
participants’ critical thinking skills because the test has a content, construct and
criterion validity extensive independent research and internal consistency of 0.81.
Facione (1990) stated that CCTST was piloted by California State University
during the 1989-1990 academic year. Using Kuder Richardson-20 (KR-20) statistics,
CCTST reliability ranged from 0.65 to 0.75 (Facione, 1990). Facione (1990) also
determined that CCTST was valid and reliable based on the test and retest methods. Also,
Yimwilai (2015) used CCTST to assess the critical thinking skills of his study. He
affirmed that the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the reliability of CCTST was 0.86. In
addition, CCSTS alpha coefficients ranged from .70 to .75 with the newest version
resulting in alphas that ranged from .78 to approximately .84 (Facione, Facione, Blohm,
& Giancarlo, 2007).
Permission for use of the CCTST was obtained from the publisher, Insight
Assessment (See Appendix D). In accordance with proprietary laws, a copy of CCTST
cannot be displayed in the appendices of this research study. The scoring of CCTST
questions was done electronically. The scores obtained from CCTST comprise eight
different scales: analysis, interpretation, explanation, evaluation, inference, deduction,
induction, numeracy and a score for the overall reasoning skills. In addition, the online
test the participants took was graded by the publisher of the test, Insight Assessment. The
results were emailed to this researcher via his private email address upon completion of
the test. Furthermore, an excel spreadsheet report of the participants’ individual skills
scores, as well as the overall scores were emailed to the researcher’s private email
address. The overall scores for each participant on CCTST constitute the predictor
variable in this study.
Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) Test: CASAS
test was used as an indicator of the participants’ language proficiency, that consisted of
their reading comprehension and listening comprehension scores. It had been recently
approved by the Department of Education in the Federal National Reporting System at all
levels of adult basic education and adult secondary education. It had also been awarded a
seven-year approval, that began February 5, 2018, because the test had undergone
extensive field-testing and statistical analysis procedures to ensure reliable and valid test
results (CASAS, 2019). By using CASAS to assess participants’ reading comprehension
skills, Huang and Nisbet (2014) emphasized that CASAS test has undergone rigorous test
development and validation procedures. CASAS (2019) asserted that evidence from
multiple sources and studies were available to support the reliability and validity of
CASAS. Another evidence for the validity of CASAS was the link between CASAS
levels and National Reporting System (NRS) for Adult Education (CASAS, 2019). In
other words, CASAS score that students obtained increased as NRS level of the
corresponding students increased.

CASAS was used widely in adult education ESL to assess the participants’
listening and reading comprehension skills (CASAS, 2012). The listening CASAS test
consists of two parallel forms each with 38 items varying across six item types. The test
could be administered on paper or via computer. The test was developed to assess adult
ESL students’ progress across the National Reporting System Levels, ranging from Level
1, Beginning ESL Literacy to Level 6+, Exit from Advanced ESL. Each of the 38 test
items focused on varying real-life situations the participants can encounter. The test could
be done either online or on paper. At the end of the test, the test coordinator at the
institution graded the test according to the CASAS manual. The reading CASAS test, on
the other hand, focused on measuring reading skills based on everyday life and
employment (CASAS, 2010). The test is a part of series of CASAS tests that included
math, citizenship, writing, speaking and critical thinking. In addition, the test can be
taken online or via paper. Test participants were given a score that indicated which level
they should be placed in. The scores obtained from both reading and listening CASAS
tests comprised the criterion variables for this study.
Validity
For the study results to be valid and reliable, the tools used to collect data must be
valid and reliable. Gay et al. (2014) asserted that the instruments used by researchers to
collect data must be valid and reliable. An instrument is valid when it measures what it
claims to measure (Gay et al., 2014). In the current study, CCTST and CASAS tests were
used to collect the necessary data required to investigate if, and to what extent, adult ESL
learners’ critical thinking skills predict their language proficiency, consisting of their
reading comprehension and listening comprehension.

California critical thinking skills test. The CCTST had been used in previous
studies that examined critical thinking skills of adult ESL students. It has been tested for
the approval of its internal consistency, reliability and test-retest. Tous et al. (2015)
examined the content validity of CCTST by using exploratory factor analysis, and they
stated that CCTST had a confidence coefficient of 0.62 and a construct validity between
0.60 and 0.65 with highly positive correlation. Furthermore, Terry and Ervin (2012)
examined the determinants of student performance on the CCTST. They found that
students’ scores on the CCTST were positively correlated with their academic ability, as
indicated by their ACT scores, and to academic performance measured by GPA. In
addition, Terry and Ervin (2012) found that students’ gender, among other factors, did
not have an impact on their CCTST performance.
More studies revealed different types of validity of CCTST. Nosratinia and Zaker
(2014), who investigated the association among English language learners’ autonomy,
creativity, critical thinking and vocabulary learning strategies, have also used CCTST.
The Persian version of CCTST used in that study was also validated. In addition, Facione
et al. (2007) indicated that the construct validity of CCTST is supported by the pretest-
posttest score improvement of students who took required critical thinking skills college
courses. The results of the validation showed that a 0.74 score increase was noted across
administrations, which was significant at a .008 level. However, a matched-pairs analysis
demonstrated an average 1.45-point score gain and the average student in the paired
sample moved from the 55th to the 70th percentile as compared to pretest scores. In
addition, the criterion validity of CCTST was assessed by comparing the students’
CCTST scores to their corresponding academic achievement and demographic variables.

As a result, significant correlations ranged from .20 for college grade point average to .72
for Graduate Record Examination total score (Facione et al., 2007).
Comprehensive adult student assessment system. CASAS has been used
throughout the United States to assess adults’ English proficiency. Shaw (2014) used
CASAS to investigate the impact of a word study intervention on adults’ spelling and
reading. Shaw (2014) stated that CASAS “possesses strong content and criterion validity
and psychometric properties.” (p. 247). In addition, Mellard, Woods and McJunkin
(2015) used CASAS to identify the underlying language proficiency skills and ability
differences among subgroups of adults and young adults. CASAS was used to assess
functional life skills needs of adults and youth (CASAS, 2019). It is also used to place
students into appropriate instructional levels, diagnose learners’ needs, monitor progress,
and certify mastery of functional basic skills (CASAS, 2019). In addition, Huang and
Nisbet (2014) used CASAS to assess the English proficiency of their sample, which
consisted of 121 ESL students at and adult learning center in Northern Virginia.
Reliability
The assessment tools used in research must be reliable for the dependency of
results. Gay et al. (2014) stated that a test is reliable when it tests what it states it would
measure. In other words, an instrument is reliable when two different measurements
obtain the same statistical results. In the current study, CCTST was used to measure
critical thinking skills of adult ESL learners in a community college in an east coast
metropolitan area in the United States. In addition, CASAS test was used in a community
college in an east coast metropolitan area to collect data regarding adult ESL students’
English proficiency for the purpose of placing them in appropriate instructional levels.
The archival data of students’ CASAS scores were used in the current study.
CCTST consists of scales and subscales to assess the critical thinking skills of the
test takers. Insight Assessment (2019) stated that all CCTST subscales measured the
single construct, critical thinking, and test scores, generally distinguish test-takers’
different levels of critical thinking skills. Furthermore, Insight Assessment (2019)
asserted that CCTST was a discipline neutral assessment for undergraduate and graduate
level students, and trusted worldwide as a valid, objective and reliable measure of core
reasoning skills. It was designed “to permit test-takers to demonstrate the critical thinking
skills required to succeed in settings where solving problems and making decisions by
forming reasoned judgements are important,” (Insight Assessment, 2019, para.2).
Furthermore, Facione et al. (2000) stated that internal consistency estimates for the
CCTST were derived from the original validation studies and produced Kuder
Richardson-20 values ranging from 0.68 to 0.70 for Form A and 0.71 for Form B. In
addition, Facione et al. (2000) asserted that alternate form reliability between the two
forms of CCTST was 0.78 for students who took both forms. Therefore, CCTST
demonstrated adequate internal consistency and alternate form reliability.
CCTST has been used in recent research to decide its degree of reliability. Tous et
al. (2015) examined the Persian version of CCTST-Form B for assessing the critical
thinking skills of their participants, that included 120 high school male and female
students. The reliability of the Persian version of CCTST was measured via Cronbach’s
alpha, which was found to be 0.81. In addition, the researchers stated that two experts in
the field confirmed CCTST face and content validity, and that they used exploratory
factor analysis to examine the construct validity of the test.
CASAS Life and Work Reading Test has also been used in recent research to
decide its validity and reliability. Huang and Nisbet (2014) used CASAS Life and Work
Reading Test to assess the variables of reading strategy use, and English proficiency
levels of their sample, which consisted of 121 students enrolled at an adult learning
center in northern Virginia. CASAS test items focused on everyday life and workplace
reading skills. CASAS (2019) asserted that CASAS test has undergone rigorous statistical
procedures to ensure reliable and valid results. In addition, CASAS employed item
response theory to ensure test reliability and validity. Shaw (2014) used CASAS test in
research to decide the levels of English proficiency of each student in her sample. Shaw
(2014) stated that CASAS was a standardized assessment used throughout the United
States in adult education programs, and that it possessed strong content and criterion
validity. Furthermore, CASAS (2019) stated that numerous studies conducted to examine
the reliability of CASAS, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient ranged from 0.73 to 0.96.
CASAS (2019) asserted that one of the strengths of CASAS test was that it provided
agencies and adult education programs with an assessment system that identified skills
levels of adults with respect to over 300 life skill and employability competencies.
Therefore, the researcher used the archival data obtained from CASAS to assess students’
English proficiency levels.
Data Collection and Management
This researcher began the data collection procedure after approval was granted by
Grand Canyon University Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the IRB of the
community college where the study was conducted as well. The convenience sample,
recruited for the study, included the target population of adult ESL learners who had
already enrolled in the community college in the east coast metropolitan area. The
minimum sample size required for statistical significance for the current study was 82
participants, as determined by the G*Power analysis.
The participants’ critical thinking levels were collected administering CCTST.
This researcher obtained permission to use CCTST from the instrument vendor, Insight
Assessment (See Appendix D.). Similarly, data from participants’ English language
proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension scores,
were obtained using archival data from the community college. The college had already
administered CASAS test for placement students into appropriate language levels. This
researcher obtained a site authorization from the community college where the study was
conducted to use the CASAS archival data. This researcher obtained the approval from
the Grand Canyon University Institutional Review Board prior to conducting the study
(See Appendix B.). In addition, this researcher adhered to all ethical guidelines required
by Grand Canyon University Institutional Review Board and adhered to American
Psychological Association (APA) standards concerning the data collection procedures, in
addition to adhering to all ethical guidelines required by the community college
Institutional Review Board. Demographic data were also collected to describe the
participants and to be used in future research. The participants were requested to enter
their gender, age, years at college, and their native languages when they took the CCTST.
In order to obtain site authorization necessary for approving this study, this
researcher filled out an IRB application to the community college where the study was
conducted. The IRB application from the community college was approved. Meanwhile,
this researcher emailed the ESL department at the college, and the department officially
approved the use of the CASAS archival data after an IRB approval from the college was
obtained. After the approval was obtained, this researcher obtained a Grand Canyon
University AQR and Institutional Review Board approvals to conduct the study.
After IRB approval was obtained from GCU, this researcher contacted the ESL
department and arranged a time and a classroom to meet with the target population. The
researcher explained the purpose of the study. The participants were given the informed
consent form (See Appendix C), which ensured that any data obtained from the
participants would be used for the sole purpose of the current study. In addition, the
consent form included the participants’ consent that their CASAS archival data would be
used in the study. Furthermore, this researcher informed the participants that their
participation in this study was completely voluntary and refusal to participate would not
affect their situation at the college.
After the participants agreed to participate in the study, this researcher discussed
possible times that the participants could complete the test with both the students and
college administration. Since the CCTST would take approximately 45 minutes,
according to the test manual, the participants were provided a range of times from which
to choose that best fit their schedule. In agreement with the ESL department and the
students, the test could be completed in classrooms inside the community college, to keep
the participants’ information confidential. In addition, test participants’ names were
coded into numbers. This researcher had a list of the participants’ names and their
corresponding numbers, so that their CCTST scores would be matched with their
CASAS
scores. The CCTST was done electronically with the use of the ESL department
computers and chrome books. The scoring of the test was also done electronically by the
scoring tool provided by Insight Assessment. Test scores were emailed to this
researcher’s private email along with an Excel spreadsheet report. The scores included
the participants’ scores on the five scales of the test, as well as the overall score, which
this researcher used as the predictor variable. The students were not able to see their
scores because the scores did not appear on the computer screen once the test finished.
The scores the participants obtained, along with their numbers, were stored in a
password-protected computer that belonged to this researcher.
As for the students’ English language proficiency scores, the participants had
taken a CASAS test one day before CCTST was conducted. According to the CASAS
test scores the participants obtained, they were placed in corresponding English language
levels. This researcher had an official approval from the community college to use this
archival data. After the proposal was approved by the college’s IRB, which included the
approval to use the archival data as well, the ESL department in the college provided this
researcher with the students’ CASAS scores, based on which they were placed in their
ESL classes. The results of the CASAS test consisted of the students’ reading
comprehension and listening comprehension scores. A list of the students’ numbers and
scores was recorded and stored in a password-protected computer that belonged to the
researcher. In addition, all other documents related to the test were scanned and stored
electronically in a password-protected computer to ensure confidentiality.
In order to prepare the data for analysis, the participants’ scores on both the
CCTST and CASAS tests, as well as their assigned numbers, were entered into a table in
SPSS software in order to be organized effectively. For this researcher to check for
accuracy, the data was entered a second time in SPSS software. Then, this researcher
looked for any type of discrepancy, if exists, to be corrected. As mentioned earlier, each
student was given a number without mentioning names. To maintain data security, the
students’ numbers and scores on both tests were kept in a password-protected flash drive
inside a locked safe at the researcher’s house. In addition, the data was saved on a
password-protected computer belonging to the researcher and it was kept for future
research.
Data Analysis Procedures
The problem statement for this research was that it was not known if, and to what
consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension. The following
research questions and corresponding hypotheses guided the study:

listening comprehension by their critical thinking skills.
The data collected needed to be enough to answer each of the research questions.
The overarching questions asks to what extent adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills
predict their language proficiency, consisting of their reading comprehension and
listening comprehension. The first research question asks to what extent adult ESL
learners’ critical thinking skills predict their reading comprehension. Therefore, the data
needed for the predictor variable of critical thinking skills were the participants’ CCTST
scores, which were obtained after they finished taking the test. Each participant received
a total score that indicated their levels of critical thinking. Although the data collected
from CCTST included the individual scores of the eight components of critical thinking,
this researcher used the overall scores of critical thinking skills of the participants
because these components are not independent (Insight Assessment, 2019). On the other
hand, the data needed for the criterion variable of reading comprehension was the
participants’ reading comprehension scores on the CASAS test that they had already
taken when they were enrolled in the college. Similarly, the second research question
asks to what extent adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their listening
comprehension. Therefore, the CASAS test provided the data necessary for the variable
of listening comprehension. Furthermore, the use of an established, commercially
available assessment instrument supported the assumption that data collected for this
study were valid and reliable.
The data collected were prepared for analysis using a Microsoft Excel sheet. First,
each participant was given a number corresponding to his/her name. This procedure was
done for the purpose of confidentiality. Therefore, the first column in the Microsoft Excel
sheet was for participants’ numbers. Participants were reminded to remember their
numbers since names were not mentioned during the data analysis procedure. For the
purpose of accuracy, this researcher had a list of the participants’ names and their
corresponding numbers stored on a password-protected computer. Afterwards, the
CASAS scores obtained from the college were matched with the participants’ numbers.
As a result, a second column in the Excel sheet was for participants’ reading
comprehension scores, whereas the third column was for their listening comprehension
scores. The names on the CASAS test were matched with the participants’ numbers.
Similarly, the participants’ scores of the CCTST were matched with their numbers, so, a
fourth column was for the participants’ critical thinking scores. In addition, the
participants’ demographics of gender, age, years at college, and native language were
entered in the next four columns to be used in the descriptive statistics.
Data cleaning. To clean the data, this researcher began with data screening to
ensure that dataset met principal assumptions necessary for statistical analyses, followed
by data cleaning of any identified problems of accuracy in the data. Through data
screening, this researcher examined the data in regard to the assumptions of linearity,
normality, homoscedasticity, and independence of errors. Data screening helps to identify
any potential violations of the key assumptions to properly address these violations and
reduce the probability of inaccurate statistics. Data screening began with examining the
frequencies of each variable, allowing a researcher to examine the responses to a given
variable as well as determine any irregularities such as missing data, coding of data
outside of the variable range, or abnormal distribution. In addition, descriptive statistics

showed if there were any missing data. Missing data were deleted, and this researcher
added more participants to make up the missing data.
Except for power analysis, which was completed using G*Power software, all
data analyses were completed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS) statistical software. In all analyses, missing data were handled by using list wise
deletion of cases with missing data. In other words, if a participant was missing a score
on any of the variables, this researcher would review the data entry to ensure that all
cases were entered completely. The statistical tests in IBM SPSS (Version 24) that
included Shapiro-Wilk test of Normality, histograms, box and whisker plots, and
correlation tests visually represented the data collected to describe the statistically
significant relationships between the variables of critical thinking skills and language
proficiency, consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension.
A simple linear regression was used to predict new values for the criterion
variable given the predictor variable, and to determine how much of the variation in the
criterion variable was explained by the predictor variable (Laerd, 2019). In addition, a
simple linear regression analysis can be used when there was one predictor variable only.
This study had critical thinking skills overall scores as the predictor variable. According
to CCTST manual, the score report would provide the individual scores of critical
thinking components, in addition to the overall scores of critical thinking skills.
However, the scores of the individual components could not be considered as multiple
predictor variables because they were not independent. Laerd (2019) asserted that, in a
multiple regression analysis, the data must show no multicollinearity. The individual
components of critical thinking, which were assessed by CCTST, are highly correlated
with each
other (Insight Assessment, 2019). This would lead to problems understanding which of
these components contributes to the variance explained in the criterion variables of
reading comprehension and listening comprehension. In addition, predictor variables that
correlated with each other, as was the case with the individual components of critical
thinking, would lead to technical issues in calculating a multiple regression model (Laerd,
2019).
Assumptions test. In order to investigate if there was a predictive relationship
between the predictor variable of critical thinking skills and each of the criterion
variables, a simple linear regression analysis was used. Laerd (2019) asserted that a
linear regression could assess the linear relationship between two continuous variables to
predict the value of a criterion variable based on the value of a predictor variable. In
addition, a linear regression analysis determined if the linear regression between the
variables was significant, how much of the variation in the criterion variable was
explained by the predictor variable, the direction and magnitude of any relationship, and
predicted values of the criterion variable based on different values of the predictor
variable (Laerd, 2019). This study had one predictor variable only. The components of
critical thinking that CCTST assessed could not be considered individual predictor
variables because they were highly correlated (Insight Assessment, 2019). This
researcher tested the basic assumptions to ensure that data collected could be analyzed
using a linear regression analysis. The first two assumptions in a linear regression
analysis required that both predictor and criterion variables measured at the continuous
level (Laerd, 2019). These two assumptions were met because the data obtained from
both CCTST and CASAS tests are interval. In addition, in order for analyzation of data,
five additional assumptions related to the nature of the data collected needed to be met.
These assumptions needed to be met for the study to provide valid results. These
assumptions were: 1) a linear relationship between the predictor and criterion variables,
2) independence of observations, which could be checked by the use of the Durbin-
Watson statistic, 3) no significant outliers, 4) data had to show homoscedasticity, and
5) the residuals of the regression line must be approximately normally distributed
(Laerd, 2019).
The linear relationship between the predictor variable of critical thinking and
each of the criterion variables of reading comprehension and listening comprehension
can be checked visually through inspecting a scatterplot of critical thinking scores plotted
against each of the reading comprehension scores and listening comprehension scores.
The scatter plot was drawn using SPSS software. The relationship between the variables
should follow a straight line to determine whether there was a linear relationship between
them. To check the other assumptions, this researcher ran the linear regression procedure,
because these assumptions relied on the residuals, which could not be calculated unless a
regression line was generated (Laerd, 2019). A linear regression analysis was run using
SPSS Statistics software. A linear regression analysis could be run utilizing SPSS
software following these ten steps:
 From the main menu, click Analyze > Regression > Linear.
 Transfer the criterion variable (Reading Comprehension) into the “Dependent”

box, and the predictor variable (Critical Thinking skills) into the
“Independent” box, ignoring all other boxes.
 Click the “statistics” button.
 There would appear a table, with two areas; Regression Coefficients and
Residuals. Check “Confidence intervals” from the –Regression Coefficients– area
and leave the Level (%): at 95 and check Case wise diagnostics from the –
Residuals– area and leave the option value at 3 standard deviations. Also check
Durbin-Watson from the –Residuals– area.
 Click the “continue” button.
 Click the “plots” button and you would be presented with the “Linear
Regression: Plots” dialogue box.
 Transfer “critical thinking scores" into the Y: box and “Reading

Comprehension Scores" into the X: box, using the arrow buttons.
 Check “Histogram” and “Normal probability plot” from the–

Standardized Residual Plots– area.
 Click the “Continue” button. You would be returned to the “Linear Regression”
dialogue box.
 Click the “OK” button. This would generate the output (Laerd, 2019).
If the scatter plot showed no linear relationship between the predictor and
criterion variables, Laerd (2019) suggested solutions to convert skewed data to
normality. Nonlinearity could be solved by a reflect-and-square root transformation
(Laerd, 2019). After clicking on the prompt Transform and Compute Variable on the
main menu, this researcher would find the largest score in a variable data set and add 1 to
its value. Each score then would be subtracted from this value and then the square root of
the scores taken of that variable. Next, this researcher typed the following into the
Compute Variable box (created a new variable called critical_thinking_sqrt_ref) in order
to not overwrite the original data. The researcher directly typed in SQRT followed by
largest score+1 of the variables not normally distributed, into the numeric expression
box. The researcher then double-clicked "Sqrt", into the Functions and Special Variables
box, which would transfer this function into the Numeric Expression box. Afterwards,
the researcher typed in the value of the largest score in the data set +1 and then double-
clicked on the new data set of the variable, transferred this variable into the SQRT()
function. To compute the new variable, the researcher clicked on the OK button.
After a linear regression was run, this researcher tested the next assumption,
independence of observations (errors). Independence of observations was checked with
the Durbin-Watson test. This test was used to check whether there were any adjacent
observations. The Durbin-Watson test can be generated using SPSS software, and its
value ranges from 0 to 4. A perfect independence of observations is 2, which means there
is no correlation between residuals. After checking the independence of observations
assumption, this researcher moved to the next assumption, which examined outliers. If
this researcher found there were correlated errors, then linear regression would not have
been a suitable method of analysis and would have needed to consider another type of
analysis, such as time-series methods (Laerd, 2019).
The next assumption to be tested was outliers. Significant outliers are
observations that do not follow the usual pattern of points on a scatter plot (Laerd, 2019).
Checking for significant outliers was achieved using Case wise diagnostics, which could
be run through the use of SPSS software. Any standardized residual with a value greater
than +3 standard deviations on the Case wise diagnostics would be considered a
significant outlier. When the diagnostics showed no significant outliers, this researcher
moved to the next assumption, which is checking for homoscedasticity. However, if there
had been significant outliers, this researcher would have found reasons behind these
outliers. Laerd (2019) stated the three reasons behind significant outliers were data entry
errors, measurement errors, or genuinely unusual values. If there had been any data entry
error, this researcher would have replaced the wrong values with the correct values and
re-run all tests of assumptions. Measurement errors can happen if a value is higher than
the highest value for a specific variable. For example, under the reading comprehension
variable, if there was a score that higher than 100, this value was either a result of data
entry or of a measurement error. To fix this issue, Laerd (2019) suggested replacing this
value with the highest value on the scale of the variable; i.e. 100. Lastly, if some residuals
were genuinely unusual values, they could be treated by transforming the criterion
variable, running the linear regression with and without these outliers, or running a
regression with robust standard errors (Laerd, 2019). The last option would be to keep
these outliers because the researcher would otherwise compromise all data because of one
(or a small number) of data points. After the issue of outliers was dealt with, this
researcher continued to test other assumptions.
The assumption of homoscedasticity is an important assumption of linear
regression and indicated that the variance of the errors (residuals) was constant across all
the values of the independent variable (Laerd, 2019). On the scatterplot of the predictor
and criterion variables, if the residuals were equal across the standardized predicted
values, there would be homoscedasticity. Therefore, this researcher would move to check
the last assumption, which would be checking for normality of residuals. If there was no
homoscedasticity, this researcher would follow the same steps of transforming data as
explained above. Transformation of data can remove the heteroscedasticity, and
therefore, this researcher would move to test the last assumption of normality.
SPSS software can generate normal p-P plots which are considered one of the best
methods of assessing normality (Laerd, 2019). If the residuals in the normal p-P plot were
closely aligned along the diagonal line, it would mean that the residuals were normally
distributed. The same steps would be repeated to run a linear regression analysis for the
predictive relationship of the predictor variable of critical thinking and criterion variable
of listening comprehension. If any of the assumptions in the linear regression was not
met, the researcher would confer with the methodologist and chair to determine which
nonparametric statistics to use.
After running the linear regression analysis and testing that all data met all
assumptions, SPSS generated several tables that contained all the information necessary
to report the results. The output tables would answer the two research questions and test
the hypotheses. In addition, this researcher would achieve three objectives based on the
data of the output tables that would be generated: (1) determine the proportion of the
variation in the criterion variables of reading comprehension and listening
comprehension scores explained by the predictor variable of critical thinking skills; (2)
predict reading comprehension and listening comprehension values based on new critical
thinking values; and (3) determine how much the reading comprehension and listening
comprehension scores change for a one unit change in the critical thinking scores (Laerd,
2019).
Ethical Considerations
Effective and meaningful research studies should always adhere to ethical
guidelines. Clark (2019) asserted that research ethics should be based on realistic
assessment of the overall potential for harm and benefit to participants in a study. This
researcher adhered to Grand Canyon University’s ethical guidelines to protect all study
participants. Ethical considerations pertaining to the process of data collection,
anonymity, confidentiality, and privacy of participants were considered during this study.
First, one of the ethical considerations in any research is protecting the
participants from any kind of harm. Clark (2019) stated that researchers must protect
research participants by avoiding harm to them. Participants must be protected from
physical as well as mental harm. This researcher considered some of the risks involved
in the current study. The informed consent explained that, due to the use of the computer
to take the test, which lasted for about 45 minutes, the participants might be exposed to
eye dryness, headache, or eye burns. The participants had the choice to ask for a short
break if they experienced such pain during the test. In addition, the researcher thought of
the emotional distress of the participants if they obtained low grades on CCTST. To
avoid such distress, the researcher set up the test in such a way that the results were not
disclosed to the participants once they finished the test.
Second, an informed consent should be simple to understand and detailed enough
to explain what the study entails. As ESL learners, the participants may have had
difficulty understanding the language of the informed consent of this study. Therefore,
the researcher used lay language to simplify any technical terms that might be difficult
for the participants to understand. In addition, the informed consent explained in detail
what the participants had to do when taking the test. Furthermore, the target population
was ensured that their refusal to participate in the study would neither impact their
academics at the college, nor impact their relationship with GCU in any way.
Maintaining the participants’ privacy and confidentiality is another concern in any
research that involves human subjects. Clark (2019) asserted that researchers must ensure
participants’ identities remain anonymous, and that their privacy and confidentiality are
not compromised, even after a study is complete. The participants’ names in this study
were coded to numbers. In order to ensure that no one would be able to identify the
participants in the study, this researcher asked the ESL department in the college to
provide him with all of the students’ names and CASAS scores. The 84 students’ names
who agreed to participate in the study were matched with numbers from 1 to 84.
Students’ numbers, demographics, CASAS scores and CCTST scores were entered into
an Excel spreadsheet, scanned to a password-protected flash drive and a password-
protected computer that belongs to the researcher. Throughout the study, all test materials
and students’ numbers were kept in a locked safe inside the researcher’s home.
This researcher had formal approval from one of the community colleges in the
east coast metropolitan area in which the study was conducted. This researcher visited the
community college after the proposal was approved by the IRB at GCU. The ESL
department in the college helped the researcher meet with the students at the college.
During the meetings, the students were informed about the study and its nature. In
addition, this researcher explained to the students that their participation was completely
voluntary and that refusal to participate would not have any impact on their relationship
with Grand Canyon University. The participants were given an informed consent (See
Appendix C) prior to participating in the study, and they had the option of opting out if
they did not desire to participate. In addition, the participants were informed that refusal
to participate in the study would have no impact on their academics at the college.
Moreover, the CCTST test was done electronically through using the college’s
computers or chrome books in the college classrooms. No hard copies of the test were
saved or kept. The results would be published through Grand Canyon University on
ProQuest website.
The informed consent form included a synopsis of the research study, the
purpose, the risks involved, its voluntary status, as well as the time necessary to complete
the CCTST. As an incentive, all the participants who agreed to participate in the study
had the chance to enter a raffle. Two of the participants won a $50 Amazon gift card
each.
There was no potential conflict of interest in this study. In addition, all potential
participants were treated with courtesy and respect, according to the Belmont Report and
Grand Canyon University’s guidelines.
Limitations and Delimitations
This research study has certain limitations. Limitations are the weaknesses
associated with the study. Although there are some limitations of all kinds of data
collection methods, the current researcher tried to overcome the potential limitations.
Delimitations help to set the parameters or bounds of the research that can affect the
resulting scope of the study (Creswell, 2014). The following limitations are present in
this study:
1. Although the sample size was calculated using G*Power software, the sample
chosen could limit the generalizability of the research findings. The sample size
was restricted to adult ESL learners in a community college in the east coast
metropolitan area. This limitation was unavoidable because it was not
convenient for the researcher to test all the adult ESL students in the east coast
metropolitan area.
2. All of the participants were adult ESL learners enrolled in a community college in
the east coast metropolitan area. Due to the busy lifestyle of the students, some
students were not able to participate in the study, although the minimum size of
the sample could be reached. The more participants that could participate in the
study, the more reliable and generalizable the results were. This limitation was
unavoidable because this researcher had no control on the participants’ personal
life. Even though the participants agreed to participate in the study, some of them
were not able to do it. For this reason, this researcher tried to recruit more than the
sample size assigned, just in case some would not participate.
3. The results obtained from CCTST and CASAS tests represented the
participants’ achievement based on these two specific tests. The researcher was
not sure
whether the results would be different if another test was used. This limitation
was unavoidable because there were definitely other tests that could measure the
variables of the study. The choice of these two tests was due to their good
reputation and validity.
4. There were some variables that could not be controlled by the researcher and
could have affected the participants’ performance on the tests. Among these
factors were students’ age, their psychological state at the day and time of the
test, or their attitude to the research itself. A student might not have answered the
test questions seriously, especially after the researcher informed them that the
results of the tests would not be used for students’ academic evaluation. This
limitation was unavoidable because demographic factors were not accounted for
in inferential statistics in this study.
5. This researcher was an inexperienced researcher with limited knowledge in

methodology. First-time researchers lack the knowledge and experience
that tenured researchers have when conducting a study. This limitation was
unavoidable because this was the first time for this researcher to conduct a
doctoral research like this.
The following delimitations are present in this study:
1. One of the delimitations of this research study was that the inferential statistics
would not address any demographic variables. Demographics will be used for the
purpose of descriptive statistics only.
2. This study was further delimited to the targeted population of adult ESL students
in the east coast metropolitan area.
3. The study was delimited in that this researcher used CCTST and CASAS tests to
assess the participants’ critical thinking and English language proficiency. There
are other tests that could be used to assess these variables. However, the
researcher’s choice of these two tests was due to their strong validity and
reliability.
Summary
Chapter 3 presented an outline of the procedural approaches used to examine if,
and to what extent, adult ESL students’ critical thinking skills predict their language
proficiency, consisting of reading and listening comprehension, in an east coast
metropolitan area. The introduction section within this chapter discussed the focus of this
research study and its purpose. The Statement of the Problem re-identified the research
problem. In addition, this chapter provided the research questions, research hypotheses,
methodology, design, population, sampling procedures, the instruments, validity,
reliability, data collection procedures, data analysis, ethical considerations with the use of
the chosen methodology, and the limitations and delimitations of the study.
community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. The problem
statement emerged from the literature review that identified the gap in the current
research. Although the recent research examined the relationship between critical
thinking skills and language skills, there was little research that examined the
relationship between adult ESL learners’ and their language proficiency receptive skills
of reading comprehension and listening comprehension in a United States setting prior to
conducting this study.
Chapter 3 also provided a thorough description of the quantitative research
methodology and correlational design to support the alignment with the research purpose,
problem statement and research questions. This researcher chose a quantitative research
design based upon the nature of the problem statement and research questions posed (Gay
et al., 2014). The use of a quantitative approach allowed this researcher to investigate the
predictive utility of adult ESL students’ critical thinking skills on their language
proficiency, consisting of their reading comprehension and listening comprehension
skills, in a college in an east coast metropolitan area. The data for the predictor variable,
critical thinking skills were collected using CCTSTS. In addition, the researcher used the
archival data of the participants’ language proficiency, obtained using CASAS test,
which was initially administered by the community college during enrollment to place
them in their appropriate English proficiency levels. All hypotheses were tested using
simple linear regression analyses and descriptive statistics. IBM SPSS software was used
to run the statistical analysis. The probability level set for this study is 0.05 in the testing
of each hypothesis and all research questions were answered by the results of the
analyzed data.
Chapter four provides a detailed discussion of the findings from the analyzed
data. The discussion in the next chapter will focus on the research questions and
hypotheses concerning the predictive relationship of the critical thinking skills of adult
ESL students at a community college in the east coast metropolitan area in the United
States on their language proficiency, which consists of their reading comprehension and
listening comprehension. In addition, chapter four provides statistical data charts and
tables that further supported the analyzed data.

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results
Introduction
community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. Recently,
Yousefi and Mohammadi (2016) asserted that critical thinking is necessary for all
students, especially higher education students. Ordem (2017) stated that ESL students,
like others, need to be critical thinkers to be able to express their needs, ideas, and
feelings in the language they learn. The increasing population of adult ESL learners in the
United States called for the need to investigate if critical thinking skills predict language
skills. The research questions guiding this study were:
RQ1: To what extent do adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their
RQ2: To what extent do adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict their

The remainder of Chapter four discusses the collected data and how the study was
conducted. Then, the chapter described data analysis and the results. Moreover, the
chapter included tables, histograms, and scatterplots to help visualize data analysis. In
addition, chapter four offers a discussion regarding the null hypotheses and whether they
were rejected or accepted. Finally, the chapter offers tables and discussion of inferential
statistics.
Descriptive Findings
After the data were collected and cleaned as explained in Chapter 3, the sample
used for the data analysis was n = 84. This sample met the minimum size required to run
a simple linear regression analysis. The demographic questionnaire included in CCTST
collected data from the 84 participants who took the test. It provided information about
age, gender, years at college, and native language. The participants did not have to
answer the demographic questions, and they were told to leave the fields blank if they did
not want to disclose any of the demographics. The following tables provide a brief
description regarding the demographics of the participants who took the CCTST.
Table 2 shows that of the 84 participants, 67.85% were female (n = 57), and
32.15% were male (n = 27). In addition, the demographics also revealed that 66.67% of
the participants spoke Spanish as their first language (n = 56); 3.57% spoke Vietnamese
(n = 3), 15.48% spoke French (n = 13), 5.95% spoke Amharic (n = 5), 1.19% spoke
Chinese Mandarin (n = 1), 1.19% spoke Chinese Cantonese (n = 1), 2.38% spoke Korean
(n = 2), and 3.57% spoke other languages (n = 3).

Table 2.
Frequency Table for Gender and Native Language

Variable n % Cumulative %
Gender
Female 57 67.86 67.86
Male 27 32.14 100
Missing 0 0 100
Native Language
Spanish 56 66.67 66.67
Vietnamese 3 3.57 70.24
French 13 15.48 85.71
Amharic 5 5.95 91.67
Chinese Mandarin 1 1.19 92.86
Other 3 3.57 96.43
Chinese Cantonese 1 1.19 97.62
Korean 2 2.38 100
Missing 0 0 100
Note. Due to rounding errors, percentages may not equal 100%.
The observations for the variable of age had an average of 36.33 (SD = 12.37, SEM
= 1.35, Min = 18.00, Max = 73.00, Skewness = 1.00, Kurtosis = 0.52). The observations
for the variable of years at college had an average of 2.10 (SD = 2.00, SEM = 0.22, Min =
0.00, Max = 5.00, Skewness = 0.34, Kurtosis = -1.50). When the skewness is greater than
2 in absolute value, the variable is considered to be asymmetrical about its mean.
Meanwhile, when the kurtosis is greater than or equal to 3, then the variable's distribution
is markedly different than a normal distribution in its tendency to produce outliers
(Westfall & Henning, 2013). The summary statistics can be found in Table 3.
Table 3.
Summary Statistics Table for Age and Years at College

Variable M SD n SEM Min Max Skewness Kurtosis
Age 36.33 12.37 84 1.35 18.00 73.00 1.00 0.52
Years at College 2.10 2.00 84 0.22 0.00 5.00 0.34 -1.50
The data collected from the CCTST and CASAS tests were continuous in nature;
thus, allowing the opportunity for parametric analysis, and requiring that descriptive
statistics take the form of means and standard deviations. Table 4 presents the calculated
means and standard deviations for the predictor variable, critical thinking skills,
participants’ ages, and years at college. Table 4 shows that skew and kurtosis values were
within the acceptable range, which allowed further support for using parametric analyses.
Table 4.
Summary Statistics Table for Continuous Variables of Interest

Variable M SD n SEM Min Max Skewness Kurtosis
Age 36.33 12.37 84 1.35 18.00 73.00 1.00 0.52
CCTST_Score 7.71 4.19 84 0.46 1.00 26.00 1.31 3.34
LC_Score 38.57 19.71 84 2.15 8.00 98.00 0.76 0.19
RC_Score 34.19 20.69 84 2.26 7.00 98.00 1.20 0.88
Years_at_College 2.13 1.97 84 0.22 0.00 5.00 0.34 -1.48
Data Analysis Procedures
Following data collection and analysis of the descriptive statistics, this researcher
started the data analysis procedures to answer the two research questions and test the
corresponding hypotheses. The data analysis procedures involved exploring the
predictive utility of critical thinking skills on the skills of reading comprehension and
listening comprehension.
This study was designed to investigate if and to what extent adult ESL learners’
critical thinking skills predicted their language proficiency, consisting of their reading
comprehension and listening comprehension. In order to decide whether there was a
statistically significant predictive relationship between the participants’ critical thinking
skills and their reading comprehension and listening comprehension, data were submitted
to the tests of assumptions for linear regression.
This researcher first examined the data to ensure accuracy. Data were then
summarized and prepared for analysis. To ensure that entry of data collected was
accurate, this researcher met with the ESL department director and data coordinator at the
college to double-check that no scores were missing. After ensuring that the data entry
was accurate, this researcher began the data cleaning process.
Data cleaning. After this researcher ensured that the entry of the data collected
was accurate, he began the data cleaning process. To do so, this researcher looked at the
Excel sheet to check for any missing or irregular data. In addition, data screening began
with examining the frequencies of each variable, allowing this researcher to examine the
responses to a given variable as well as the determination of any irregularities such as
missing data, coding of data outside of the variable range, or abnormal distribution.
Finally, data collected were found accurate and no cases were deleted.
Test of assumptions. A simple linear regression analysis was used in both
research questions to assess if critical thinking skills of adult learners predicted their
language proficiency, consisted of their reading comprehension and listening
comprehension. According to Laerd (2019), in order to determine if one variable predicts
the other, all of the following six assumptions in the observation must be met:
1. The predictor variable of critical thinking skills and each of the criterion
variables (reading comprehension and listening comprehension) must be
continuous
2. There must be independence of observation
3. There must be a linear relationship between the variables
4. There must be no significant outliers
5. The residuals (errors) of the regression line are approximately normally

distributed
6. There must be homoscedasticity.
The first assumption for running a simple linear regression analysis was met
because the data obtained from each of the predictor and criterion variables were
continuous. CCTST was used to assess the overall scores of the participants’ critical
thinking skills, and these scores range from 0-34. Similarly, CASAS reading
comprehension and listening comprehension tests were used to assess the participants’
reading comprehension and listening comprehension respectively. Each of these tests
provided scores that ranged from 0-100. Therefore, the first assumption for running a
simple linear regression analysis was met. To check for independence of observations,
Tables 5 and 6 below show that the values of Durbin-Watson for the variables reading
comprehension and listening comprehension are 1.785 and 2.222 respectively. Laerd
(2019) stated that in order to have independence of observation, the value of Durbin-
Watson must be close to 2. Therefore, the second assumption was met. Tables 5 and 6
below illustrate the Model Summary obtained from SPSS software.

Table 5.
Model summary for CCTST Scores and Reading Comprehension Scores
Std. Error of
MModel R R Square Adjusted R Square the Estimate Durbin- Watson
11 .326a .106 .095 6.348 1.785
Note. a. Predictors: (Constant), CCTST_Scores
b. Dependent Variable: Reading_Comprehension_Scores
Table 6.
Model summary for CCTST Scores and Listening Comprehension Scores

Adjusted R Std. Error of Durbin-
MModel R R Square
Square the Estimate Watson
11 ..453a .206 .196 5.770 2.222
Note. a. Predictors: (Constant), CCTST_Scores
b. Dependent Variable: Listening_Comprehension_Scores
The third assumption to be met was linearity. For this assumption to be met, a
linear relationship was necessary between the predictor variable, critical thinking skills
and each of the criterion variables, reading comprehension and listening comprehension.
Linearity in behavioral science is important when testing moderating effects (Preacher,
2015). The assumption of normality was checked using scatterplots of each criterion
variable of reading comprehension and listening comprehension plotted against the
predictor variable of critical thinking scores. Figures 1 and 2 display the scatterplots used
to evaluate the linearity assumptions for RQ1 and RQ2 respectively. These scatterplots
showed no evidence that the linearity assumption was violated. Therefore, the third
assumption was met.
model used to test Hypothesis 1.
model used to test Hypothesis 2.
The fourth assumption, no significant outliers, was met since no significant outliers
were observed on the box plots for either of the criterion variables, Reading
Comprehension and Listening Comprehension, Figure 3 below displays the box plot for
each of the criterion variables. No values existed below 1.5 times the interquartile range
(IQR) less than the lower quartile, and no values lie above 1.5 times the IQR greater than
the upper quartile.
Figure 3. Box plot to evaluate the absence of significant outliers for the criterion
variables.
The fifth assumption of normal distribution was checked by the use of histograms,
with a mean of 0 zero. Figures 4 and 5 below, checked data collected for the normal
distribution of each of the criterion variables, reading comprehension, and listening
comprehension, respectively. The histograms showed that the residuals of the regression
line are approximately normally distributed. Therefore, the fifth assumption was met.
Figure 4. Histogram of reading scores residuals overplayed with normal distribution
curve.
Figure 5. Histogram of listening scores residuals overplayed with normal distribution

curve.
The last assumption of homoscedasticity was checked by inspection of a plot of
the unstandardized or standardized residuals against the predicted values or standardized
predicted values (Laerd, 2019). Figure 6 and Figure 7 below display that there is
homoscedasticity, since there is no major difference in the variance along the best fit line;
no coning of the scatter plot can be seen at either end of the best fit line.
Figure 6. Scatter plot of CCTST scores and reading comprehension scores.

Figure 7. Scatter plot of CCTST scores and listening comprehension scores.
After all assumptions were met, this researcher then conducted a linear regression
analysis for both research questions to examine the predictive utility of critical thinking
skills on each of the skills of reading comprehension and listening comprehension. The
results of the simple linear regression analysis were calculated utilizing SPSS software.
In the following section, results, tables are displayed that tested each hypothesis. A
detailed explanation of the tables is given, as well as a conclusion either to accept or
reject the null hypothesis is drawn.
Results
This section presents the predictive utility of the predictor variable, adult ESL
learners’ critical thinking skills, on each of the criterion variables, reading comprehension
and listening comprehension skills. The results are presented in the same order the data
were analyzed. In addition, this order aligns with the order of the research questions and
hypotheses.
RQ1: Null and alternative hypothesis, and results.
H1a: There is a statistically significant prediction of adult ESL learners’ reading
After all the assumptions necessary to run the simple linear regression analysis
were met for RQ1, the next step in RQ1 was to determine to what extent adult ESL
learners’ critical thinking skills predict their reading comprehension. The results of the
linear regression model were significant, F(1,82) = 9.73, p = .002, R2 = 0.11, indicating
that approximately 11% of the variance in reading comprehension scores was explainable
by critical thinking scores. Critical thinking scores significantly predicted reading
comprehension scores, B = 0.23, t (82) = 3.12, p = .002. This indicates that a one-unit
increase of critical thinking scores increased the value of reading comprehension scores
by 0.23 units. Table 7 summarizes the results of the regression model.
Table 7.
Results for Linear Regression with CCTST Score predicting Reading Comprehension
Scores
Variable B SE CI β t p
(Intercept) 18.31 1.32 [15.69, 20.94] 0.00 13.87 < .001
CCTST_Score 0.23 0.07 [0.08, 0.37] 0.33 3.12
RQ2: Null and alternative hypothesis, and results.
After all the assumptions for simple linear regression analysis were satisfied,
Hypothesis 2 was tested using simple linear regression analysis as was originally
planned. The results of the linear regression model were significant, F(1,82) = 21.22, p <
.001, R2 = 0.21, indicating that approximately 21% of the variance in listening
comprehension scores is explainable by critical thinking scores. Critical thinking scores
significantly predicted listening comprehension scores, B = 0.31, t(82) = 4.61, p < .001.
This indicates that on average, a one-unit increase of critical thinking scores increased the
value of listening comprehension scores by 0.31 units. Therefore, the null hypothesis was
rejected. Table 8 summarizes the results of the regression model.
Table 8.
Results for Linear Regression with CCTST Score predicting Listening Comprehension Scores
Variable B SE CI β t p
(Intercept) 16.95 1.20 [14.56, 19.33] 0.00 14.12 < .001
CCTST_Score 0.31 0.07 [0.17, 0.44] 0.45 4.61 < .001
2
Note. CI is at the 95% confidence level. Results: F(1,82) = 21.22, p < .001, R = 0.21
Unstandardized Regression Equation: Listening_Comprehension_Scores = 16.95 +
0.31*CCTST_Score
Summary
community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. The data
analysis followed a logical order for processing and cleaning of the data. The procedures
performed included a descriptive analysis of the participants, tests for normality, and a
simple linear regression analysis.
Chapter four presented the quantitative data and analysis organized by the
research questions and hypotheses. There were two null hypotheses that were tested in
this study. The following null hypotheses guided this study:
Analysis of data rejected the null hypothesis for RQ1. The data analysis
determined that the predictor variable of critical thinking scores predicted the criterion
variable reading comprehension scores of adult ESL learners in an east coast
metropolitan area in the United States. The value of the regression coefficient was
statistically significant, p = .002. Therefore, the first null hypothesis was rejected and on
average, a one-unit increase of critical thinking skills scores increased the value of
reading comprehension scores by 0.23 units. Similarly, analysis of the data rejected the
null hypotheses for RQ2. The data analysis determined that the predictor variable of
critical thinking scores predicted the criterion variable of listening comprehension scores
of adult ESL learners in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. The value of
the regression coefficient was statistically significant, p < .001. Therefore, the second null
hypothesis was rejected and on average, a one-unit increase of critical thinking skills
scores increased the value of listening comprehension scores by 0.31 units.
The instruments used to collect data were the CCTST and CASAS tests. This
researcher used these instruments based on their reliability and validity. However, the
results might have been different had other instruments been used. In addition,
demographics were collected for descriptive statistics only. These demographics were not
considered for the purpose of inferential statistics. The results of the study may have been
affected by other demographic factors, such as the number of years the participants spent
at college or age of the participants. These factors can be utilized in future research.
There were other limitations to this study that were out of the researcher’s control, such
as the psychological state of the participants at the time of the study, and how motivated
they were to answer the questions of the test since this was not a questionnaire but a test
of skills. Chapter 5 presents the significance of the conclusions obtained from this data
and relates it to the literature of critical thinking and ESL teaching and learning. In
addition, Chapter 5 discusses theoretical, practical and future implications drawn from
this study. Moreover, Chapter 5 presents how this study fills a gap in the current literature
of critical thinking and ESL teaching and learning and opens the door for new research
on the predictive relationship of critical thinking skills and other language domains, as
well as other demographics of adult ESL learners.

Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations
Introduction
the predictive utility of critical thinking skills on adult ESL learners’ language
proficiency, consisting of their reading comprehension and listening comprehension in a
community college in an east coast metropolitan area in the United States. The results
obtained from this study allowed for an examination of the predictive relationship of
critical thinking skills on each of the receptive skills of reading comprehension and
listening comprehension. Chapter 5 presents conclusions, implications, and
recommendations derived from the findings of this study.
Summary of Study
Critical thinking has been viewed as an essential skill in all fields of education.
However, it was not clear whether it was taught effectively in higher education
institutions and colleges (Huber & Kuncel, 2016). There have been several studies that
were conducted to investigate if there was a relationship between critical thinking skills
and language proficiency. Most of these studies were conducted in countries where
English was not the main language of everyday communication ((Afshar, et al., 2014;
Ahour & Golpour, 2016; Bagheri, 2015; Tous, et al., 2015; Yousefi & Mohammadi,
2016). With the increasing ESL learners’ population in the United States, it was
necessary to conduct a similar study in a United States setting, investigating the
predictive utility of critical thinking skills on adult ESL learners’ language proficiency.
In order to narrow the scope of the study, this researcher focused on the receptive skills,
that include reading comprehension and listening comprehension, which are important
for
ESL learners to master. By doing so, with what Krashen (1981) referred to as the
comprehensible input, this study aimed at investigating if adult ESL learners’ critical
thinking skills predict their language proficiency, consisting of their reading
comprehension and listening comprehension in a community college in east coast
metropolitan area in the United States. In addition, this research was conducted to
replicate the results found in previous research. Laerd (2019) asserted that a study may be
replicated to generalize the results to a different population. This researcher conducted
this study to examine whether previous results hold true for the population of adult ESL
learners in the United States. In addition, this study was also important because recent
literature identified several limitations and recommended extending their research into
other settings (Eftekhari, et al., 2016; Yoke, et al., 2015).
The instruments used in collecting data necessary for this study were California
Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST)and Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment
System (CASAS) tests. CCTST was used to assess the predictor variable of the
participants’ critical thinking skills, while the CASAS tests were used to assess the
criterion variables of their reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills.
This researcher used the archival data of the participants’ CASAS test scores from the
community college, in which they were enrolled at the time the study was conducted.
There were 350 adult ESL learners at a college in the east coast metropolitan area, 84
agreed to participate in the study, after meeting the researcher and an explanation of the
purpose and nature of the research
Chapter 1 of this study presented a summary of the purpose of the study. It also
provided explanations for the research questions to examine the predictive utility of
critical thinking skills on adult ESL learners’ language proficiency. The chapter also
explained how this study would add to the existing knowledge regarding the relationship
between critical thinking skills and language proficiency. Moreover, Chapter 1 explained
how the results of the study would fill the gap in the literature by addressing the problem
in a United States setting.
The recent literature was reviewed thoroughly in Chapter 2. The review of the
literature section included most important themes discussed in the last five years, and
how researchers approached the problem. It also included previous results on the
relationship between critical thinking skills and language proficiency skills in countries
where English was rarely used outside of classroom settings. The most important themes
reviewed in Chapter 2 are critical thinking definitions, Socratic Method, critical thinking
and language learning, autonomy, creative problem solving and critical thinking,
metacognitive skills and critical thinking, the difficulty of teaching critical thinking,
teachers’ attitudes towards teaching critical thinking, critical thinking and listening
comprehension skills, critical thinking and reading comprehension skills, and ESL
learning and motivation. Additionally, Chapter 2 offered a discussion of the
methodologies, instruments, and research designs used in previous literature.
The methodology and research design used in this study were presented in
Chapter 3. This study employed a quantitative methodology because it was used to
establish statistically significant relationships between variables, determine attitudes,
describe trends, and analyze numerical data to explain and predict or control a
phenomenon (Smith & Chudleigh, 2015). In addition, a predictive correlational design
was found to be the best design to answer the research questions since correlational
research design was used in educational research to examine correlations between two or
more continuous variables (Mertens, 2014). Therefore, to examine the predictive utility
of critical thinking skills on adult ESL learners’ reading comprehension and listening
comprehension skills, this researcher followed a quantitative methodology with a
predictive correlational design.
A simple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the extent to which
the participants’ critical thinking scores predicted their reading comprehension and
listening comprehension skills. The data analysis procedures described in Chapter 3
outlined the testing of the null hypotheses for the study’s two research questions:
The predictor variable of critical thinking skills and each of the criterion variables
of reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills were identified in the
problem statement. The first research question investigated the extent to which the
predictor variable, critical thinking skills predicted the criterion variable, reading
comprehension skills. Similarly, the second research question investigated the extent to
which the predictor variable, critical thinking skills predicted the criterion variable,
listening comprehension skills.
Chapter 4offered a discussion regarding the data collected during this study, the
data analysis procedures this researcher followed, and the results obtained from the
statistical analyses. Additionally, the chapter included a discussion of the descriptive

statistics, as well as the steps followed in the linear regression analysis procedures. The
results obtained from the inferential statistics rejected both null hypotheses and accepted
the alternative hypotheses of the study.
In Chapter 5, the data analysis results from chapter four are examined, and the
findings are summarized. In addition, Chapter 5 will include a description of the
importance of the findings. This researcher will draw conclusions based on these results.
In addition, Chapter 5 will provide an explanation of the objective strengths and
weaknesses of the study. Moreover, the chapter will include theoretical and practical
implications. Finally, this researcher will offer recommendations for future research
based on the limitations and delimitations of the current study.
Summary of Findings and Conclusion
This study sought to examine the extent to which adult ESL learners’ critical
thinking skills predict their language proficiency, consisting of their reading
comprehension and listening comprehension. By identifying the predictive utility of
critical thinking on reading comprehension skills and listening comprehension, this may
assist ESL teachers, educators, administrators and curriculum designers to include critical
thinking activities in their lesson plans. By doing so, this could improve adult ESL
students’ reading comprehension and listening comprehension receptive skills. In
addition, it should be noted that such a relationship is predictive and not causal. However,
the findings of the current study are bound by the methodology and research design this
researcher followed in data collection and analysis.
Hypothesis 1. The null hypothesis (H01: There will be no statistically significant
prediction of adult ESL learners’ reading comprehension by their critical thinking skills)
was rejected because the results of the linear regression model were significant, F(1,82) =
9.73, p = .002, R2 = 0.11, indicating that approximately 11% of the variance in reading
comprehension scores was explainable by critical thinking skills scores. In addition, the
results showed that, a one-unit increase of critical thinking skills scores increased the
value of reading comprehension scores by 0.23 units. In other words, those students who
obtained higher scores on CASAS reading comprehension test, obtained higher scores on
CCTST test than others who scored less on CASAS reading comprehension test. The
findings can help inform ESL teachers, educators, administrators and curriculum
designers to pay extra attention to including critical thinking activities in their ESL
curriculum and lesson plans, since critical thinking is a strong predictor of adult ESL
students’ reading comprehension skills. In addition, these findings align with Tous, et al.
(2015), who found that critical thinking instructions pertained to EFL students led to
improvement in their reading comprehension skills. Similarly, these findings aligned with
the results of Pourghasemian and Hosseini (2017), who asserted that critical thinking
skills may contribute to better reading comprehension, particularly in terms of the ability
to read between the lines. Although the results of Tous, et al. (2015) and Pourghasemian
and Hosseini (2017) were generalized to EFL students in Iran, the findings of the current
study show that these results can hold true for adult ESL learners in the United States.
Hypothesis 2. The null hypothesis (H02: There will be no statistically significant
prediction of adult ESL learners’ listening comprehension by their critical thinking skills)
was rejected because the results of the linear regression model were significant, F(1,82) =
21.22, p < .001, R2 = 0.21, indicating that approximately 21% of the variance in listening
comprehension scores is explainable by critical thinking skills scores. In addition, the

results showed that, a one-unit increase of critical thinking skills scores increased the
value of listening comprehension scores by 0.31 units. In other words, those students
who obtained higher scores on CASAS listening comprehension test obtained higher
scores on CCTST than those who obtained lower scores on the CASAS listening
comprehension test. These findings can assist by informing adult ESL teachers,
educators, administrators and curriculum designers to add more critical thinking skills
activities to curriculum and lesson plans since critical thinking is found a strong predictor
of adult ESL students’ listening comprehension skills. These findings align with the
results of Bagheri (2015), who concluded that students who were better critical thinkers
could learn English more effectively than others, as far as listening comprehension skills
are concerned. In addition, these findings align with the results of Elekaei, et al. (2016)
and Nosratinia, et al., (2015), who concluded that students with higher critical thinking
ability had higher listening comprehension scores. Moreover, this researcher was able to
generalize the results of previous literature, which was conducted in countries other than
the United States, and the results of previous literature are applicable to adult ESL
learners in the United States.
Advancing scientific knowledge
The findings of the current study contribute to the existing knowledge in the field
of critical thinking and second language learning and acquisition. As mentioned in
Chapter 1, Krashen (1982) emphasized the role of comprehensible input in learning a
second language. Comprehensible input is obtained through mastering the receptive skills
of reading comprehension and listening comprehension. Therefore, based on the findings
of the current study, critical thinking skills can enhance the process of language learning
because critical thinking was found as a strong predictor of reading comprehension and
listening comprehension skills. Additionally, the instrument of assessing critical thinking
used in this study is based on Facione’s taxonomy of critical thinking (1990). Therefore,
the findings of the current study showed a link between Krashen’s theory of natural
approach and Facione’s critical thinking taxonomy.
Implications
Theoretical implications. Prior to this research, it was not known if, and to what
consisting of reading comprehension and listening comprehension in the United States.
The current study utilized CCTST instrument for measuring adult ESL learners’ critical
thinking skills, and CASAS adult ESL learners’ reading comprehension and listening
comprehension skills. As a result, critical thinking skills, as the predictor variable, were
found to be a strong predictor of the participants’ reading comprehension and listening
comprehension skills. The current research filled the gap that used to exist in the
literature, regarding the predictive utility of critical thinking on adult ESL learners’
language proficiency in the United States.
The findings in this study affirmed the efficacy of the theoretical foundations of
the study. Through the use of the CCTST, which is based on Facione’s taxonomy of
critical thinking, the results showed that critical thinking skills predicted the participants’
receptive skills of reading comprehension and listening comprehension, which were the
most important skills that facilitate providing language learners with what Krashen
(1981) referred to as the comprehensible input. In addition, this study confirmed the
reliability and validity of the two instruments that were used (CCTST and CASAS). By
linking the variable to reading comprehension skills and listening comprehension skills, a
definite predictive relationship was exhibited. Moreover, this study was the first study
that examined the predictive utility of critical thinking skills on reading comprehension
and listening comprehension skills in the United States.
Practical implications. The findings of the current study helped to identify the
predictive utility of critical thinking on the skills of reading comprehension and listening
comprehension in the United States. Prior research showed that such a relationship had
been thoroughly researched in countries other than the United States, and with the use of
population that rarely uses English outside of classroom settings. Since the number of
ESL students in the United States is increasing (Fast Facts, 2018), it was essential to
conduct this study in the United States to examine if critical thinking skills predict the
adult ESL learners’ reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills. The
results of the current study were noteworthy to the field of ESL teaching and learning,
because critical thinking was found to be a strong predictor of adult ESL learners’
reading comprehension and listening comprehension. Based on these findings, adult ESL
teachers, educators, administrators and curriculum designers are advised to include
critical thinking activities in their curriculum and lesson plans.
Future implications. This study added to the existing body of knowledge
because it demonstrated a predictive relationship between the predictor variable of
critical thinking and each of the criterion variables of reading comprehension and
listening comprehension. The results of simple linear regression test in this research
showed that critical thinking skills predicted each of the receptive skills of reading
comprehension and listening comprehension. Further investigation of the predictive

utility of critical thinking skills on adult ESL learners’ productive language skills of
writing and speaking would benefit ESL teachers and educators by incorporating critical
thinking activities into their lesson plans and curriculums. Moreover, the findings of this
research might move the ESL educators to assess ESL students’ achievement based on
their critical thinking skills instead of assessing only their language skills. More
importantly, incorporation of critical thinking activities into the ESL curriculum and
lesson plans will help adult ESL learners become critical thinkers, thus increasing their
future contribution to the community.
Strengths and weaknesses of the study
Strengths. The CCTST instrument was utilized in this study to assess the critical
thinking predictor variable. This instrument cannot be easily accessed by teachers or
students since the vendor (Insight Assessment) requires approval from the chair or the
university to sell it to the researcher. This is considered a point of strength because it
ensured that the participants had not taken this test before, thus the test results would
reflect the participants’ critical thinking skills. In addition, this researcher utilized a
quantitative methodology, which contributed to the credibility of the results since it
allowed the researcher to obtain a broad and generalizable set of findings and present
them concisely and parsimoniously (Walter, 2017). In addition, the participants had
previously taken the CASAS reading and listening comprehension tests one day prior to
taking the CCTST. This one-day time frame lodged between the two tests ensured that
the participants’ scores obtained in the CASAS test were actual representations of their
reading and listening comprehension levels at the time this study was conducted.
Weaknesses. There were several limitations that weakened the current study.
First, although the sample size in this study met an acceptable sample size given a priori
power analysis determined by G*Power analysis (n=84), it could limit the
generalizability of the results. There were 350 adult ESL students studying at the college
at the time of the study. However, this limitation was unavoidable because the CCTST
instrument used to assess the predictor variable of critical thinking was not free, and it
would have been very costly to purchase 350 individual licenses. Second, this research
used the CCTST and CASAS to collect the necessary data. There were a variety of
instruments designed to measure the variables of this study however, this researcher
utilized the CCTST and CASAS tests instruments based on their reliability and validity.
Third, there were other factors that could have impacted the participants’ performance on
CCTST at the time of the test, factors out of the researcher’s control. For instance, the
researcher had no control over the participants’ psychological state during testing, the
participants’ age, or the seriousness involved with answering the test questions. These
factors may have impacted the results of the test.
Additionally, although the researcher collected the participants’ demographics
such as age, gender, native language and years at college, these demographics were only
used for the purpose of descriptive statistics and, and not considered in inferential
statistics. Fourth, it must be noted that the results obtained from this study do not imply
causality. Although critical thinking was found to be a strong predictor of reading
comprehension and listening comprehension, this relationship did not necessarily imply
causality. Finally, another limitation that might have impacted the study results was that
the study was limited to a quantitative predictive research design. This researcher did not
aim to investigate a causal relationship among the variables.
Recommendations
Recommendations for future research. The area of critical thinking and ESL in
the United States is crucial because, as previously mentioned in Chapter 2, critical
thinking positively correlated to language skills. Based on the findings of the current
research, future research should focus on the relationship between critical thinking and
adult ESL learners’ writing and speaking language skills. The scope of this study was
limited to the receptive language skills of reading and listening comprehension, since the
research questions were based on Krashen’s (1981) theory of language acquisition. In his
theory, Krashen stressed the importance of both skills in the process of language learning.
However, adult ESL learners should master all language skills so that they are able to
express their ideas and concerns in English.
In addition, this study utilized a predictive design, and its results did not imply
causality. This researcher of this study examined the predictive utility of critical thinking
skills on reading comprehension and listening comprehension skills. However, the results
did not imply a causal relationship among the variables. Therefore, future experimental
research can investigate if this relationship is causal. Furthermore, a similar study that
considers the demographics of the participants can yield interesting results if any of the
demographic variables were found to predict adult ESL learners’ receptive skills. In
addition, future replication of this study would allow the use of different instruments to
test the variables, to examine whether the results will hold true with the same population.
Another recommendation for future research is to replicate the same study but
with a different population. The target population of this study included adult ESL
learners in a community college in the east coast metropolitan area in the United States.
Future research should include ESL learners in other areas in the United States to
examine whether the results will be different. Moreover, a larger sample size is
recommended for future research on this subject. This researcher used the CCTST
instrument to assess the 84 participants’ critical thinking in the study, at a costly expense
for the researcher. This researcher suggests that for future research (particularly with a
large sample size), the use of a free or less expensive instrument, comparable in terms of
validity and reliability, be used to assist in generalizability of the results.
Recommendations for future practice. The importance of integrating critical
thinking activities in lesson plans depends on the teacher’s opinion of the importance of
preparing ESL students as critical thinkers. Asgharheidari and Tahriri (2015) asserted that
the teacher-participants in their study indicated that part of their jobs was to integrate
critical thinking activities in their lesson plans. The results of the current study showed
that critical thinking is a strong predictor of adult ESL learners’ reading and listening
comprehension. Therefore, ESL teachers are encouraged to incorporate critical thinking
activities into their lesson plans, since these activities will lead to improving the students’
reading and listening comprehension skills. As mentioned in Chapter 2, teachers can
follow the Socratic Method in enhancing their students’ critical thinking skills.
Another recommendation is for ESL curriculum designers to include textbooks
and workbooks with activities that encourage students to utilize their reasoning skills.
Activities should not be based on language skills only. Instead, the ESL curriculum needs
to train students on how to solve problems, evaluate the texts they read, and synthesize
information. These activities will, in turn, improve the students’ critical thinking skills, as
well as their receptive language skills. Additionally, school human resource personnel
can benefit from the findings of this study. Teachers are more likely to train their
students as critical thinkers if they in turn are critical thinkers. Therefore, based on the
importance of critical thinking skills this study, human resources personnel should hire
ESL teachers who think critically. Finally, school administrators, and ESL department
chairs, can benefit from the findings of this study by arranging professional development
sessions that focus on stimulating students’ critical thinking skills.

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Appendix A.
Site Authorization Letter
Site authorization letter on file at GCU.

Appendix B.
IRB Approval Letter

Appendix C.
Informed Consent
INFORMED CONSENT FORM (SOCIAL BEHAVIORAL) MINIMAL RISK SAMPLE
INFORMED CONSENT FORM

INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this form is to provide you with information about this research. If you sign this
form, you agree to be involved and participate in this study. This form will be read to you by
the researcher. If you do not understand any item in this form, please ask the researcher
to repeat or explain it in more details until you fully understand it.
RESEARCH
Ayad Abduljabbar, a doctoral student at Grand Canyon University has invited you to participate
in a research study.
I am completing this research as part of my doctoral degree.
STUDY PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to examine if adult ESL learners’ critical thinking skills predict
their reading comprehension and listening comprehension. The results of the study will
benefit ESL instructors and curriculum designers and help them to focus on including
critical thinking skills in their lesson plans.
ELIGIBILITY
You are eligible to participate in this research if you:
1. are over 18 years old, and
2. are an ESL learner in the east coast metropolitan area
You are not eligible to participate in this research if you:

1. are under 18 years old,
2. you are not an ESL learner,
3. you are an ESL learner but not in the east coast metropolitan area, or
4. you used to be an ESL learner but have exited the ESL program due to
any reason.
DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITY
If you decide to participate, then, as a study participant, you will be asked to:
1. complete an online version of California Critical Thinking Skills, which will
take up to 45 minutes
2. Agree that your scores of CASAS test that you have taken when you
registered to the college be pulled from the college in order to be correlated to your
CCTST score
Approximately (82) of subjects will be participating in this research study.
RISKS
The only identified risk that may result from participation in this study is the negative effects of
working on the computer for 45 minutes. Some side effects might include eye strain, dry eyes,
headache, or a blurred vision. Although the test will not take more than 45 minutes, you can
take a 5-minute break at any time if you feel you have any of these symptoms.
BENEFITS
The main benefit of this research study is to improve the quality of adult ESL learning in the
United States. The results of the study will help ESL instructors focus on the importance of
teaching critical thinking to adult ESL learners if critical thinking is proved to be a predictor of
reading comprehension and listening comprehension.
CONFIDENTIALITY
All information obtained in this study is strictly confidential. Although your CASAS scores will
be pulled from the college, your name will be coded to a number. ONLY the researcher will be
able to identify who is participating in the study. In addition, the researcher ONLY will be able
to see your CCTST and CASAS scores. In order to maintain confidentiality of your responses,
the doctoral learner will maintain the data obtained from the test in two places: 1) on a secured
flash drive inside a locked safe in the researcher’s home for a minimum of five years, and 2) in
the researcher’s secured, and encrypted “cloud” for five years. At the end of the five year
period, the data will be deleted and destroyed by the researcher.
WITHDRAWAL PRIVILEGE
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. It is fine for you not to participate. Even
if you say yes now, you are free to “X” out of the test at any time. Your decision will not affect
your relationship with Grand Canyon University.
COSTS AND PAYMENTS
There is no financial cost to you as a participant in this study. If you choose to participate in this
study, you will have the opportunity to win a $50 Amazon gift card. All students who
agree to participate in the study will enter a raffle, and two students will win a $50
Amazon card each.
COMPENSATION FOR ILLNESS AND INJURY
If you agree to participate in the study, then your consent does not waive any of your legal
rights. However, no funds have been set aside to compensate you in the event of injury.
VOLUNTARY CONSENT
Any questions you have concerning the research study or your participation in the study, before
or after your consent, will be answered by Ayad Abduljabbar, aabduljabb@my.gcu.edu, -
.
If you have questions about your rights as a subject/participant in this research, or if you feel
you have been placed at risk, you can contact the Chair of the Human Subjects Institutional
Review Board, through the College of Doctoral Studies at IRB@gcu.edu, (602) 639-7804.
This form explains the nature, demands, benefits and any risk of the research study. By signing
this form, you agree knowingly to assume any risks involved. Remember, your participation is
voluntary. You may choose not to participate or to withdraw your consent and discontinue
participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefit. In signing this consent form, you are
not waiving any legal claims, rights, or remedies. A copy of this consent form will be given
(offered) to you.
Your signature below indicates that you consent to participate in the above study.
_
Subject's Signature Printed Name Date
_
Other Signature Printed Name Date
(if appropriate)
INVESTIGATOR’S STATEMENT
"I certify that I have explained to the above individual the nature and purpose, the potential
benefits and possible risks associated with participation in this research study, have answered
any questions that have been raised, and have witnessed the above signature. These
elements of Informed Consent conform to the Assurance given by Grand Canyon University to
the Office for Human Research Protections to protect the rights of human subjects. I have
provided (offered) the subject/participant a copy of this signed consent document."
Signature of Investigator: Ayad Abduljabbar Date: May 28, 2019

Appendix D.
Permissions Letter to Use CCTST
2/5/2019
Ayad Abdul Jabbar:
This letter is to confirm that you’ve been approved by Insight Assessment to purchase
and use individual use licenses of the CCTST for use in your dissertation. Please note
that no actual CCTST items can be published in your dissertation in any way. However,
sample items from our website and anything found in the instrument manual can be
included. Please see our website for full privacy and security details and feel free to
contact me directly with any questions.
Best,
Peter Facione
CFO, Organizational Consultant
Insight Assessment
650-697-5628 www.insightassessment.com
Measuring Thinking Worldwide

Appendix E.
Power Analysis for Sample Size Calculation

Appendix F.
Information Regarding California Critical Thinking Skills Test
The California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) is available for use in research.
However, it is not available for inclusion in the Doctoral Dissertation (Insight
Assessment, 2019). Dissertation Committee members and IRB members may review
instruments (the CCTST) online if protection of the instrument is assured by the
dissertation director. Accordingly, the researcher has purchased a viewing for the
Dissertation Committee and/or the IRB. Login information will be provided to the
Dissertation Committee and/or the IRB upon request. No actual assessment questions or
assessment items from the instrument may be included within any research report of
studies that use one or more of the Insight Assessment testing instruments. The inclusion
of any actual assessment items in a publication is both a violation of copyright and a
violation of the contractual agreement for protection of the instrument that is assumed by
the user at purchase. When discussing the instrument in your published paper, you may
include verbatim excerpts from the assessment manual, properly cited (Insight
Assessment, 2019).
Appendix G.
California Critical Thinking Skills Test Sample Questions
For Sample Questions 1, 2 and 3 please consider this information: A
scientific study compared two matched groups of college women. The women in both
groups were presented with information about the benefits of a healthy diet and regular
exercise. The women in one group were paired up with one another and encouraged to
work as two- person teams to help each other stick with the recommended healthy
regimen of smart eating and regular vigorous exercise. The women in the other group
were encouraged to use the same recommended regimen, but they were also advised to
work at it individually, rather than with a partner or teammate. After 50 days the physical
health and the well-being of all the women in both groups were evaluated. On average
the women in the first group (with teammates) showed a 26 point improvement in
measures of cardiopulmonary capacity, body strength, body fat reduction, and sense of
well-being. On average the women in the other group (encouraged to work as
individuals) showed a 17 point improvement on those same measures. Using statistical
analyses the researchers determined that the probability that a difference of this size had
occurred by chance was less than one in 1000.
Sample Thinking Skills Question #1.
If true, these research findings would tend to support which of the following
assertions?
A = A college woman cannot achieve optimal health functioning without a
teammate.
B = Universities should require all students living in campus residence halls to
participate in a health regime of smart eating and regular vigorous exercise.
C = A healthy diet will cause one to have better mental health and physical
strength.
D = This research study was funded by a corporation that makes exercise apparel.
E = A regimen of smart eating and regular exercise is related to better health.
If the information given in the case above were true, which of the following
hypotheses would not need to be ruled out in order to confidently claim that for the
majority of young adults a regimen of smart eating and regular vigorous exercise will
result in significant improvements in one's overall health?
A = This study was about women, the findings cannot be generalized to include
men.
B = Since the study began to solicit willing participants before the Research
Ethics Review Committee of the college gave the research project its formal
approval to gather data, the findings are invalid.
C = Some women in the study over-reported their compliance with the eating and
exercise regimen, which led the researchers to underestimate the full impact of the
regimen.
D = Since many of those studied described themselves as overweight or out of
shape when the study began, a similar regimen will not benefit people who are
healthier to start with.

E = The performance tests used to evaluate the health and well-being of females
may not be appropriate for evaluating the health and well-being of males.
Consider the claim, "Working with a teammate or partners on a health regimen is
better than working individually." Which of the following additional pieces of
information would not weaken that claim?
A = Most of the women in the group that was encouraged to work individually
actually worked with friends and partners who were not part of the study.
B = Most of the pairings and teams created in the first group (with teammates)
fell apart after a few days and the women in that group actually worked
individually.
C = There was something about the women in the first group (with teammates)
that the researchers overlooked, thus invalidating the intended matching of the
two groups.
D = Men are more likely to work alone, so any recommendation that men find a
teammate or partner to support them in sticking with the regimen will be ignored.
E = The study was undertaken when there were no exams or major projects due,
thus the results about working with a teammate do not apply to more stressful
times of the year.
Three graduate school friends, Anna, Barbara, and Carol, graduated successfully.
Being in the same program, the three often worked as a team on group assignments. Anna
earned the special recognition of "pass with distinction" when she graduated. Carol and
Barbara, although receiving their degrees, did not earn this special honor. A fourth
student in the same graduate program, Deirdre, often said that the graduate program was
poorly designed and not difficult at all. Deirdre did not graduate, instead she was advised
by the faculty to withdraw from the program because her work was below acceptable
standards. Given this information only, it follows that
A = Carol and Barbara deserved to receive "pass with distinction" like Anna.
B = Barbara's work in the program was superior to Carol's.
C = Barbara was jealous of the academic success her friend, Anna, enjoyed.
D = Deirdre's work in the program was below the quality of Carol's work.
E = Anna, being successful, will decide to enroll in another advanced graduate
program
"I've heard many reasons why our nation should reduce its reliance on petroleum
vehicle fuels. One is that relying on imported oil makes our economy dependent on the
political whims of foreign rulers. Another is that other energy sources, like the possibility
of hydrogen based fuels, are less harmful to the environment. And a third is that
petroleum is not a renewable resource so when we've used it all up, it will be gone! But I
don't think we're likely to use it all up for at least another fifty years. And by then we'll
have invented new and better fuels and more fuel-efficient vehicles too. So that argument
doesn't worry me. And I don't really believe the stuff about how foreign leaders can force
our nation to change its policies simply by decreasing their oil production. Oil companies
like Exxon have made record profits precisely in those times when the supply of foreign
oil was reduced. I don't see the big oil companies being very interested in policy change
when the money is rolling in. And for another, our nation has demonstrated that it is
willing to wage war rather than to permit foreign leaders to push us around. So, this
whole thing about how we have to reduce our reliance on petroleum based gasoline,
diesel, and jet fuel is bogus." The speaker's reasoning is best evaluated as
A = strong. It shows the arguments for reducing petroleum vehicle fuels are weak.
B = strong. The speaker is very clear about what he believes and why he believes
it.
C = weak. The speaker probably owns stock in Exxon or some other oil company.
D = weak. The speaker ignored the environmental argument entirely.
Using the phone at her desk, Sylvia in Corporate Sales consistently generates a
very steady $1500 per hour in gross revenue for her firm. After all of her firm's costs
have been subtracted, Sylvia's sales amount to $100 in bottom line (net) profits every 15
minutes. At 10:00 a.m. one day the desk phone Sylvia uses to make her sales calls breaks.
Without the phone Sylvia cannot make any sales. Assume that Sylvia's regular schedule
is to begin making sales calls at 8:00 a.m. Assume she works the phone for four hours,
takes a one hour lunch exactly at noon, and then returns promptly to her desk for four
more hours of afternoon sales. Sylvia loves her work and the broken phone is keeping
her from it. If necessary she will try to repair the phone herself. Which of the following
options would be in the best interest of Sylvia's firm to remedy the broken phone
problem?
A = Use Ed's Phone Repair Shop down the street. Ed can replace Sylvia's phone
by 10:30 a.m. Ed will charge the firm $500.

B = Assign Sylvia to a different project until her phone can be replaced with one
from the firm's current inventory. Replacing the phone is handled by the night
shift.
C = Authorize Sylvia to buy a new phone during her lunch hour for $75
knowing she can plug it in and have it working within a few minutes after she
gets back to her desk at 1:00 p.m.
D = Ask Sylvia to try to repair her phone herself. She will probably complete the
repair by 2:00 p.m.; or maybe later.

Appendix H.
CASAS Listening Sample Test
[Track 1]
CASAS Life and Work Listening Level C
Part 1
Do not write the answer to the practice question on your answer sheet, only listen.
Again, do not write the answer to the practice question on your answer sheet.
<BEEP>
[Track 2]
You will practice one time.
First, you will hear a question. Next, listen carefully to what is said. You will hear
the question again. Then choose the correct answer: A, B, or C.
You will hear everything one time.
Listen.
Practice
What’s the problem?
③ Joe, where’s
your hard hat? 🡪 Oh…sorry!
I forgot to wear it.
What’s the problem?

A. Joe can’t find his hard hat.
B. Joe doesn’t want to wear a hard hat.
C. Joe isn’t wearing a hard hat.
Is the answer A, B, or C? C is correct. <BEEP>
[Track 3]
This is the end of the practice. Now find where to mark question number 1 on
your answer sheet. <BEEP>
[Track 4]
Let’s begin.
1. What problem does the woman have?

③ I need to talk to Payroll about my pay statement. 🡪 What’s wrong?
③ They used vacation time for the days I was sick.
What problem does the
woman have? A. She was sick on her
vacation.
B. Payroll used the wrong leave time.

C. She was not paid during her sick leave.
2. What is the man asking about?

③ Hi, I’m interested in your summer soccer camp program for kids. Can you give
me some information? 🡪 Sure! It’s a half day program and…let’s see… it
starts next week…no, sorry…next month. You need to register by this Friday.
It’s really popular. Last year we had to turn a lot of kids away.
What is the man asking about?
A. summer school
B. soccer camp
C. camping trips
This is the end of Part 1. <BEEP>
[Track 5]
Part 2
Remember, do not write the answer to the practice question on your answer sheet,
only listen. <BEEP>
[Track 6]
You will hear the first part of a conversation. To finish the conversation, listen
and choose the correct answer: A, B, or C.
You will hear everything one time.
Listen.
Practice
③ Hi, Sonia! How’s it goin’? 🡪 Great! How about you?

③ Oh, fine. Whaddaya doin’ this week-end?
A. Oh, I’m doin’ just fine, thanks.

B. This weekend? Sure!
C. Not much…just stayin’ home.
Is the answer A, B, or C? C is correct. <BEEP>
[Track 7]

[Track 8]
Let’s continue.
3.
<RING>
③ Sammy’s Pizza.
🡪 Where are you located?
③ We’re on Third Avenue
just west of Imperial. 🡪 Did you say
Third Avenue?
A. That’s right.
B. No, Third Avenue.
C. No, west of Imperial.
4.
③ Andrew, the printer keeps jamming again. Could you get
someone to come and repair it right away? 🡪 Again? We had a guy out here last
week to fix it!
A. Maybe we should use a different repair service.

B. I think he didn’t keep it.
C. Make sure you print me a copy.
This is the end of Part 2. <BEEP>

[Track 9]
Part 3
Remember, do not write the answer to the practice question on your answer sheet,
only listen.
<BEEP>
[Track 10]
Listen to what is said. When you hear the question, Which is correct?, listen and
choose the correct answer: A, B, or C.
You will hear everything only one time.
Listen.
Practice
③ Do we need onions? 🡪 Yeah…get

five or six.
③ Well then…let’s buy a whole bag. It’s
less expensive. 🡪 OK.
Which is correct?
A. They’re going to buy the expensive onions.

B. They’re going to buy a bag of onions.
C. There’s a hole in the bag of onions.
Is the answer A, B, or C? B is correct. <BEEP>
[Track 11]
[Track 12]
Let’s continue.
5.
③ When was the last time you
visited your sister? 🡪 I saw her in June.
Which is correct?
A. The man is visiting his sister.

B. The man visited his sister in June.
C. The man is going to visit his sister in June.
6.
③ Your lab results will be ready in about 3 days. You can call this number to
find out if they’ve come in.
Which is correct?
A. The lab results are late.

B. The lab results were lost.
C. The lab results are not ready.
This is the end. <BEEP>

Appendix I.
CASAS Reading Sample Test
DIRECTIONS
1. Mark your answers on the answer sheet. Please do not write in the test
booklet. Use a number 2 pencil only.
2. Try to answer the question. Choose the one best answer. If you want to
change an answer, be sure to erase the first mark completely. If you
don’t know an answer, you can go to the next question. Follow the
numbers carefully.
Practice 1:
Telehealth Service
Now you can obtain health information 24 hours a day

directly from your home telephone. Call in to our toll-free number
and choose one of over 200 recorded messages that give you
information on everything from common diseases to
immunizations to lowering cholesterol.
What does Telehealth offer?
A. Home health care

B. Information on health
C. A 24-hour appointment line
D. Direct access to medical
staff. Practice 2:
FITNESS TODAY
MEMBERSHIP FEES
DUE UPON JOINING
MEMBERSHIP One
CATEGORY Monthly Time
Joiners
Fee
Adult $36 $100
Family* $51 $150
Single Parent $42 $100
Family**
Senior Adult $30 $100
(60+ yrs.)
Student (18-22 $23
yrs.)***
* Includes 2 adults and all children under
18 within the same household
** Includes 1 adult and all children under 18 within
the same household
*** Full-time student with ID
1. What is the monthly fee for a one adult and two young people?
A. $51.0
B. $42.0
C. $150
D. $100
Practice 3:
City Health Services announces a new project to educate young
people on maintaining good health. CHS will coordinate with local schools
to reach out to teens identified as having potential health issues. Teens
aged 13 to 18 will receive a complete health appraisal. Training topics will
include nutrition, exercise, and healthy weightloss strategies. The focus will
be on self-image, fitness, and food. Participants will identify healthy meals,
develop exercise plans, and examine lifestyle choices.
1. What is the purpose of the new project?

A. to teach young people how to stay healthy
B. to identify schools with unhealthy conditions
C. to provide nutritious meals for young people
D. to interest teenagers in health care careers
Practice 4:
From: Gary Tan
To: Building tenants
Subject: Status of the elevator
As you may know, over the last few months I have received complaints from tenants in many of
the offices in our building that the elevator has been malfunctioning. When the elevator first
stopped working in June, I called the service manager at the elevator company, who sent out a
technician. The technician got the elevator working again, but three weeks later I received
more reports of employees getting stuck in the elevator. I again called in a technician for
repairs.
After another breakdown two weeks ago, I asked for a thorough assessment of the elevator to
see why problems are recurring. The company reported that they would need to replace a set
of relays in the controller and said they had ordered the parts. Repairs are scheduled for next
week.
I am very concerned that your employees, a number of whom are disabled, still cannot use the
elevator. I understand that this situation is frustrating for all, and I apologize for the
inconvenience to your staff. I do hope the next repair will be the last one.
Gary Tan
Property Manager
Q: What is delaying the next repairs on the elevator?
A. The elevator company has not responded.

B. The technicians are not available now.
C. The parts needed are not in stock.
D. The exact problem needs to be identified.

The Predictive Utility of Critical Thinking Skills On Language Proficiency in Adult English As A Second Language Learners

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The Predictive Utility of Critical Thinking Skills on Language Proficiency in Adult

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Ayad Lateef Abduljabbar

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Grand Canyon University

November 14, 2019

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