Critical Thinking, Creativity, and L۲ Reading for the PersianUndergraduates

The ۲۱st century as the beginning of a new era in human lives wasaccompanied by the educational revolution in encouraging Critical Thinking(CT) and Creativity (CR). This study aims to examine the possiblerelationship between CT, CR, and Second Language (L۲) readingcomprehension. Unfortunately, there seem some misunderstandings about CTdefinitions in Iran. Based on the definitions posed by Halpen, CT is a way forobtaining a sound decision. CT in L۲ education can facilitate the learningprocess since it can support learners in uncertainties confronted in the L۲journey. Thus, this study attempted to re-challenge CT in an Iranian L۲ class.To this end, ۶۷ freshmen students from humanities fields of study at theUniversity of Isfahan attended voluntarily this research. The convenientsample of this study took a general English course in the second semester of۲۰۲۱. The analysis of the results showed that CR and L۲ reading could notpredict CT levels for the Persian undergraduates significantly. The mainimplication of the findings can be related to planning more effective onlinecourses at the tertiary level for developing CT, CR, and L۲ reading skills for the Persian academic context. Since such studies have not been carried out in Iran, this study provided some suggestions for future studies

Keywords:

Creativity , Critical Thinking , EFL , Online General English , Persian undergraduates , Virtual Class.