Effects of Rhetorical Analysis and Self-Regulation Strategies on Iranian EFL Learners’ Critical Thinking and Critical Reading of Argumentative Texts

Since 1980s, a lot of attention has been devoted to critical thinking and critical reading as one of the main goals of pedagogy. This study examined the comparative effects of rhetorical analysis strategy instruction and self-regulated strategy development on EFL learners’ critical thinking and reading comprehension of argumentative texts. To this end, three intact classes (one control and two experimental groups), each consisting of 20 high intermediate female EFL learners, aged from 20 to 25, were selected from an English language institute in Dehaghan, a town in Isfahan. To collect data, three instruments were used: Oxford Placement Test (OPT), California Critical Thinking Skills Test−Form 2000 (CCTST−2000), and reading summaries. OPT was used to ensure the homogeneity of the participants and CCTST and two reading summaries were used as the pretests and posttests to assess their critical thinking and reading comprehension skills, respectively. Two rhetorical analysis strategies (argument mapping and Socratic questioning) were instructed in one of the experimental groups, and self-regulated strategy development was used in another experimental group. However, the control group received none of these instructional strategies. Results from ANCOVA and MANCOVA indicated the positive effect of rhetorical analysis and self-regulated strategies on the participants’ critical thinking and reading comprehension skills. Moreover, both strategies were equally effective. Findings provide pedagogical implications not only for L2 instructors and researchers, seeking to reform the educational curriculum, but also for L2 learners, seeking to improve their critical thinking and critical reading skills.