Towards Assessing Critical Thinking Cognitive Ability in Varied University Majors: Evidence for EFL Students’ Dominance

The study presents findings from a comparative case study carried out to assess critical thinking levels and ability in some 350 Iranian university students from a range of majors. To this end, Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal was applied to measure their critical thinking ability. The analyses of results revealed that the participants enjoyed an average level of critical thinking ability underpinning Iranian university students‟ rather average appreciation of the world and the subsequent decisions they make and of their ignorance of the intellectual traits of mind to be developed to their advantage. Furthermore, males turned out to outperform females as far as this ability was involved. Meanwhile, the undergraduates as well as EFL learners manifested a significant supremacy over Associate‟s degree and non-EFL students especially of empirical sciences as far as critical thinking tests were concerned. Moreover, as to the most frequent reason cited regarding why the students refrained from partaking in class discussions, regarded as the central method of helping students master critical thinking and communication skills (Wolcott, 2000), “fear of speaking in public” was rated the highest. The results of the study can have good pedagogical implications for all including EFL teachers, teacher trainers, syllabus designers as well as materials and curriculum developers.