Critical thinking in the cultural components of EFL textbooks: CCR model and its application

Abstract

Most thinking dispositions are a logical outgrowth of the culture and reflect what a culture has transmitted to its members. Accordingly, critical thinking and intercultural competence are overlapping concepts that affect EFL learners’ communications. The present study attempts to propose a method to investigate the manifestation of critical thinking in cultural content of the textbooks by generating a critical thinking framework which is called the CCR (Critical Cultural Reflection) model. Based on the elements of the CCR model, the extent to which critical thinking represents itself in the cultural content of the Iranian high school English textbooks (Prospect Series) is also investigated. The study revealed that although the analyzed textbooks superficially provide some opportunities to reflect on cultural issues, the cultural contents of the examined materials do not promote students’ purposeful reflection on alternative interpretations independently.