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This dissertation examined Thai EFL university teachers' critical thinking cognitions and pedagogic practices. Their cognitions were examined in terms of their conceptions of critical thinking and their perceptions of critical thinking development in their students. Their conceptions and perceptions were then considered regarding whether and in what way they related to their own pedagogic practices. Maintaining a sociocultural and relativist stance, this ethnographic study used methodological triangulation; the data concerning the participants' cognitions was collected by using reflective writing and semi-structured interviews, and the data concerning their pedagogic practices was collected by using non-participant classroom observations. The findings revealed that the participants conceived of critical thinking in the following three dimensions: its components (i.e., cognitive skills, affective dispositions, goal-orientation, and morality), its importance, and its innateness and teachability. These participants perceived that their students' critical thinking varied and that the students' critical thinking expressions could be affected by Thai culture and Thai Buddhism. The factors they perceived to have influence on their students' critical thinking development were classified into three groups, namely, education, socialisation, and media and technology. In the observed classes, it was found that there was a two-way interaction between teachers' cognitions and their teaching practices. Moreover, other contextual factors could also affect such practices. These findings showed that critical thinking, to some extent, could be culturally related. The participants themselves claimed that Thai culture and Thai Buddhism could both facilitate and impede the development of critical thinking in their students. This study suggests a model of the process of critical thinking, derived from the findings in this study. In addition to this, a methodological contribution, practical implications, pedagogic implications, and research recommendations are also given.

The demand for using the English language as a means of communication has increased substantially around the world because of its status as the language of globalisation, international communication, trade, media, and research (Flowerdew and Peacock 2001). The Saudi Ministry of Education (MoE) has considered this demand and taken significant steps to reform the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). For example, the aims of and documentation for the TEFL curriculum have been modified to focus on the four basic language skills and to promote students’ communicative competence. However, despite all these efforts, there has been little progress in the area of TEFL in KSA. Classroom teaching practices are still devoted to secondary purposes, such as teaching grammar, translating literary texts, memorisation, rote learning, and preparing for summative exams. This reality may indicate an incompatibility between the government’s efforts to develop TEFL and the practices used by English language teachers in their classes. This incompatibility, however, may also suggest that English language teachers have their own reasons for not teaching English for communicative purposes and are incapable of implementing innovative teaching methods, such as the Communicative Language Teaching approach (CLT). This study therefore explores the challenges faced by Saudi English teachers (SETs) in their teaching practice that might prevent them from teaching for communicative purposes and implementing CLT in their classes. In order to meet this objective, data obtained from interviews, questionnaires and documents were analysed and classified into various categories. The key findings revealed that the current methodological practices of SETs are traditional teaching methods that stress the dominant role of teachers, marginalise students’ interactions, focus on discrete skills, and encourage competitive rather than cooperative learning. Furthermore, by using CHAT theory as a framework, the study explored a range of challenges that SETs face when the implementing CLT. These challenges stem from the individual and contextual levels of SETs’ teaching practice. At the individual level, it emerged that SETs had some misconceptions about some of the main features of CLT, and were not sufficiently confident to run communicative classes and adopt CLT in their teaching practice. The data, moreover, suggested that these shortcomings were a result of the SETs’ pedagogical and linguistic preparation in their pre-service programmes. At the contextual level, the study data suggested that there were two main types of constraint that challenge SETs in terms of teaching for communicative purposes and applying CLT in their teaching practice. Firstly, there were institutional and situational factors (for example the quality of the in-service training programme, examination purposes and classroom structure), and, secondly, socio-cultural factors (such as the traditional view of education, and the status of the English language in the Saudi context) that seemed to be incompatible with teaching English for communicative purposes. The study concludes with recommendations that aim to help improve the current situation of TEFL in KSA. For example, ending the isolation between the key parties involved in EFL teaching and learning in the Saudi context is very important, and changes to pre-service and in-service programmes, as well as at the contextual levels, are also essential.