Critical thinking (CT) is an essential higher-order thinking skill for students. Although numerous Taiwanese studies have focused on the teaching of CT and its association with English , few have investigated its representation in English textbooks. In the present study, content analysis of CT representation in Taiwan’s senior high school English textbooks was performed to determine the extent to which secondary school English textbooks support CT teaching. The 593 questions in the reading sections of the L Book series were used for a case study. Drawing on Bloom’s taxonomy and Taiwan’s English curriculum guidelines, the researcher developed a coding scheme comprising four CT categories—analysis, evaluation, synthesis, and creation —and analyzed how CT was presented within and across textbook volumes. The results indicated that one-third of the questions in the L Book series could enhance students’ CT skills, with analysis and evaluation being the most prevalent categories. Furthermore, a progressive shift from analysis and evaluation to creation was observed across volumes, indicating a cumulative hierarchy in CT development. These findings offer pedagogical insights for senior high school English teachers and textbook publishers regarding the cultivation of CT skills in students and the improvement of English textbook design in Taiwan.
【中文摘要】
批判性思考是學生必備的高層次思考能力。臺灣已有許多學者討論如何教學，以及其與英語之相關；但批判性思考在英語教科書是如何呈現卻鮮少被注意。為暸解中等學校英語教材能否引導批判性思考，本研究以Ｌ版本的閱讀為例，針對593個問句進行內容分析，探究批判性思考在臺灣高中英語教材中的樣貌。研究者延伸Bloom等人（1956）的認知分類，並參照臺灣英語文領域課綱設計分析架構，共包含四類能力：分析、評價、綜合、創造，分析批判性思考在單冊與跨冊的呈現。結果顯示，L版本約有三分之一的問句能促進學生的批判性思考，以分析、評價佔比最多。研究亦發現，批判性思考能力在跨冊間有漸進式轉變，由分析、評價到創造，表示其累積且分層的特性。根據上述，研究者提出培養學生批判思考能力、改善臺灣英語教科書之建議，將對高中英語教師、教科書書商有教學上的啟發。
