International Journal of English Linguistics; Vol. 9, No. 5; 2019 ISSN 1923-869X E-ISSN 1923-8703 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 351 Evaluating University Students’ Inference Making Ability: A Study at Bachelor Level in Pakistan Muhammad Din 1 & Mamuna Ghani 2 1 Dept. of English, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan 2 Chairperson Dept. of English, Dean Faculty of Arts & Islamic Learning, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan Correspondence: Muhammad Din, PhD Scholar, Dept. of English, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. E-mail: mduaau@gmail.com Received: June 30, 2019 Accepted: July 23, 2019 Online Published: September 6, 2019 doi:10.5539/ijel.v9n5p351 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v9n5p351 Abstract Inference means the process of deriving a conclusion from a set of premises, including a conclusion that is probably in relation to the premises. This study has aimed to evaluate university students’ inference making ability. To explore this aim, the present study has set five research objectives which include to understand university students’ attitude towards critical thinking subset of making inferences, find out the relationship between university students’ attitude towards making inferences and their ability in making inferences, know whether critical thinking is a positive predictor for the overall score of critical thinking test (CTT), evaluate university students’ performance in exhibiting their attitude towards critical thinking and in critical thinking test (CTT) taken by them and understand the variance based on university students’ gender, location and medium of instruction in their attitude towards critical thinking inference and their ability of making inferences. To achieve these objectives, the researcher has used quantitative research methodology. The participants of this study consist of 550 male and female university students of different state-run colleges of Punjab (Pakistan). Critical thinking inventory (CTI) and Watson-Glaser’s Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) (2002) have been used to collect data from the subjects of the study. The researcher used SPSS (XX) to analyze the collected data. The findings of this study reveal that the university EFL leaners have highly positive attitude towards making inferences but their inference making ability does not correspond with their attitude toward inference making skill. Keywords: inference making, critical thinking, set of premises, university students 1. Introduction Inference means the process of deriving a conclusion from a set of premises, including a conclusion that is probably in relation to the premises (McArthur, 1992, p. 515). Oakhill et al. (1999) style inference to establish link between ideas and fill in the detail that has not been explicitly mentioned. Inference plays an important role in the process of constructing text representations that are coherent and integrated. Paul and Elder (2011) define inference that “an inference is a step of the mind, an intellectual act by which one concludes that something is true in the light of something else’s being true or seeming to be true”. Inference means a network that connects individual events and facts into meaningful relations. Thus, reader resorts to text-connecting inferences and knowledge-based inferences in the process of reading comprehension (Hall & Barnes, 2016). Kispal (2008) has defined inference as “the ability to use two or more pieces of information from a text in order to arrive at a third piece of information that is implicit”. 1.1 Critical Thinking and Inference Making Critical thinking has gained paramount importance in foreign language teaching. So, the enhancing and honing the foreign language learners’ critical thinking is considered one of the most important requisites in the teaching and learning of a foreign language. Halpern (2003) styles critical thinking a “vital necessity” of the 21st century particularly in the wake of information explosion. It is a prime requisite that the citizens of this century must equip themselves with the ability of “knowing how to learn” and “knowing how to think clearly” about the fast-increasing information. Critical thinking means the ability of collecting, evaluating and using information