a systematic review of critical thinking disposition studies in the iranian efl context

As one of the renowned learning and innovation skills of 21st century, critical thinking has been studied within different educational and professional settings. the degree to which it is operationally defined, taught and assessed, however, is not well documented. this complicates efforts to develop critical thinking in disposition studies in the iranian efl context and assessment tools. in today’s efl contexts, it is a common belief that having critical thinking dispositions among learners and synthesizing it with action learning approaches, provide them opportunities for better understanding and enhancing their new knowledge especially in argumentative writing. therefore, most educational programs put an effort to develop such potentiality among efl learners. this paper aimed to have a systematic review of critical thinking disposition studies in the iranian efl context. firstly, a number of definitions, along with the dimensions of the concept from various scholars' viewpoints are put forward. secondly, the typical features of critical thinkers and what resources they need are introduced. and finally, the issue from both theoretical and pedagogical standpoints was reviewed to understand the use of critical thinking in the education field in the iranian efl context.