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Translation and Foreign Language Learning

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ArticleTranslation Theories and Skills http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2026.02.005

Integrating Critical Thinking Cultivation into College English Reading Instruction: An AI-Empowered Approach

Yuanfan Li

Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan 430200, Hubei, China.

*Corresponding author: Yuanfan Li

Published: February 28, 2026

Abstract

Critical thinking has been formally recognized as a core competency in China’s English language curriculum standards, yet the phenomenon of “critical thinking absence” persists in college English reading classrooms. This paper examines the conceptual foundations of critical thinking in reading instruction, analyzes the manifestations and underlying causes of critical thinking deficiency among Chinese EFL learners, and proposes a pedagogical framework that integrates explicit critical thinking instruction with AI-empowered tools. Drawing upon recent theoretical developments and empirical studies, the paper argues that large language models and generative AI can serve as diagnostic mirrors, challenging interlocutors, and cognitive scaffolds to externalize and structure students’ thinking pro-cesses. A three-stage cyclical model, Diagnose-Challenge-Reconstruct, is present-ed, demonstrating how human-AI collaboration can transform traditional reading instruction from passive reception to active inquiry. The paper also addresses the reconceptualized roles of teachers as “thinking coaches” and the importance of cultivating critical digital literacy. Practical recommendations are offered for integrating AI tools into reading classrooms while maintaining pedagogical integrity and ethical awareness.

Keyword

Critical thinking; College English reading; AI empowerment; Large language mod-els; Pedagogical innovation

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Copyright

© 2026 by the author(s).
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not modified or adapted.
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How to cite this paper

Integrating Critical Thinking Cultivation into College English Reading Instruction: An AI-Empowered Approach

How to cite this paper: Yuanfan Li. (2026). Integrating Critical Thinking Cultivation into College English Reading Instruction: An AI-Empowered Approach. Translation and Foreign Language Learning2(2), 197-202.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/tfll.2026.02.005