Available online at www.jlls.org JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTIC STUDIES ISSN: 1305-578X Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 16(4), 1952-1967; 2020 The relationship between critical thinking dispositions of prospective English language teachers and their levels of new media literacy* Aslı Yaren Yüzgeç a , Selim Soner Sütçü b 1 a TED University, Ankara, Turkey b Başkent University, Ankara, Turkey APA Citation: Yüzgeç, A. Y. & Sütçü, S. S. (2020). The relationship between critical thinking dispositions of prospective English language teachers and their levels of new media literacy. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 16(4), 1952-1967. Doi: 10.17263/jlls.851026 Submission Date:12/09/2020 Acceptance Date:25/09/2020 Abstract The teaching profession, by its very nature, requires teachers to develop themselves continuously, to keep up with the innovations emerging over time, to acquire the competencies they require, and hence keep themselves updated. In our time, in which the developments have gained an enormous pace, particularly in technology, this requirement has become vital for teachers whose contributions to shape societies are immense. With the recent advances in technology, it has become of great importance for teachers to learn the emerging new media culture and use them effectively in their lessons. On the other hand, as a result of these rapid developments, the acquisition of critical thinking, which dates back to ancient times as a concept, by teachers as a skill has become more important than ever before. At this point, there are evaluations made regarding the importance of these two skills primarily in teacher training programs. In line with these evaluations, this study examined the relationship between the critical thinking dispositions (CTD) and their new media literacy levels (NML) of pre-service English teachers studying at the education faculties of two foundation universities. Results showed that the candidates participating in the research have high level critical thinking and new media literacy skills, and there is a moderate positive relationship between these two skills. © 2020 JLLS and the Authors - Published by JLLS. Keywords: critical thinking disposition; new media literacy; English language teaching 1. Introduction Teachers have many different roles that require responsibilities in society although each of them has many various features. Some of these roles are teaching knowledge, creating a pleasant learning environment, role modelling and mentoring while others are having excellent communication skills, deep knowledge and passion for their subjects, the ability to build healthy relationships with their students, being friendly and approachable, having preparation and organisation skills and strong work ethic. These roles and features may be shaped in accordance with 21st century skills and they may vary 1 Corresponding author. E-mail address: ssoner@baskent.edu.tr *This article has been produced from the master’s thesis of the first author under the supervision of the second author.