Integrating Critical Thinking and Communicative Competence in English Public Speaking: A Qualitative Case Study of EFL Undergraduates

Abstract

This qualitative case study investigates how integrating critical thinking (CT) into an English Public Speaking (EPS) course supports Chinese EFL undergraduates’ communicative competence. Six second-year English majors at a private university in Shaanxi participated in semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations, and analysis of their speech drafts and final scripts. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings show that CT-integrated tasks helped students organize arguments more coherently, use evidence more strategically, and adopt a more audience-responsive, persuasive delivery. At the same time, CT application was constrained by rote learning habits, public speaking anxiety, heavy workloads, and the cognitive load of thinking critically while speaking in English. Differences between early and later starters of English revealed distinct needs: early starters required scaffolding to deepen analysis, whereas later starters needed linguistic support to free cognitive resources for reasoning. The study suggests that differentiated scaffolding, interactive CT-focused activities, and explicit teacher feedback on reasoning are crucial for aligning CT development with communicative competence in EPS courses. It offers analytic generalization for CT-integrated EFL instruction in exam-driven, large-class contexts.