The Relationship between Critical Thinking and Language Proficiency of Malaysian Undergraduates

Abstract

In the present information era, university students are expected to be able to think critically so that they will be able to keep up with the changes brought about by new technological innovations and have better chances of employability. Since language is an important tool for acquiring knowledge at the tertiary level, it is therefore important to gain insight into the nature of the critical thinking ability of undergraduates and its possible link to their language proficiency. This study examined the critical thinking ability of Malaysian undergraduates and its relationship to language proficiency.The Bahasa Malaysia version of the Cornell Critical Thinking Test (CCTT) Level X was administered to 280 undergraduates. Results indicated that the critical thinking ability of the undergraduates was much lower than that of their American counterparts. Nevertheless, significant correlations were found between their critical thinking ability and English language proficiency as measured by two nationallevel tests. Implications for teaching and future research are discussed in this paper.

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