Exploration and Implementation of Project-Based Learning in Cultivating Students' Critical Thinking in Junior High School English Teaching

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jhet.202615224

Author(s)

Wendi Guan

Affiliation(s)

School of Foreign Languages, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong, China

Abstract

This study focuses on junior high school English teaching and explores practical approaches to developing students’ critical thinking through Project-Based Learning (PBL). Grounded in the requirements for thinking quality stipulated in the Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards (2022 Edition), it elaborates on the compatibility between PBL and critical thinking development. Driven by authentic and complex problems and student-centered, PBL allows students to complete project tasks and solve real-world problems through group collaboration. Centered on learning by doing, it highlights the integrated development of knowledge application, higher-order thinking and core competencies. Its implementation consists of three stages: goal clarification and project design, collaborative inquiry and problem-solving, as well as product presentation, evaluation and reflection. Future research can be advanced in three directions: expanding interdisciplinary project themes, establishing a hierarchical project design system, and developing critical thinking assessment tools, so as to better fulfill the essential goal of English education in the core-competency era — equipping students to examine the world critically and express rational viewpoints in English.

Keywords

Project-Based Learning; Critical Thinking; Junior High School English Teaching; Core Competencies

References

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