Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics ISSN: 2707-756X DOI: 10.32996/jeltal Journal Homepage: www.al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/jeltal JELTAL AL-KINDI CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Copyright: © 2022 the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Published by Al-Kindi Centre for Research and Development, London, United Kingdom. Page | 27 | RESEARCH ARTICLE Promoting Critical Thinking Ability for High School Students through Debating Activities Tran Thi Yen 1 ✉ and Tran Thi Minh Hang 2 12 Thai Nguyen University of Educatio, Vietnam Corresponding Author: Tran Thi Yen, E-mail: yentt@tnue.edu.vn | ABSTRACT Nowadays, critical thinking ability is one of the most important skills in the 21st century; however, not many high school students have a good critical thinking ability in English. Therefore, the aim of the research is to improve the critical thinking ability of high school students by organizing activities for students to debate in English. The specific objectives are to investigate the current situation of critical thinking ability among high school students as well as organize activities for students to debate and then evaluate the impacts of debating activities on their critical thinking ability. To conduct the study, a mixed-method research design, which combines qualitative methods and quantitative methods, was used along with the survey. There was 16 grade 10 students from CTN Debate Club at Thai Nguyen Specialized High School, Vietnam, who volunteered to take part in the research. All of these students were required to take part in speaking pre-test and post-test as well as pre and post-questionnaire about their opinions of using debating activities. The results show that using debating activities played a significant role in improving and enhancing the critical thinking ability of high school students. Students’ feedback concerning the use of debating activi ties are, in general, also quite optimistic. Besides, the research proposes some suggestions for minimizing the drawbacks of using debating activities to enhance the potentiality of this method and make it more interesting, meaningful and effective. | KEYWORDS Critical Thinking, Debating activities, Elements of debating, Debating formats, Assessment rubric for critical thinking | ARTICLE DOI: 10.32996/jeltal.2022.4.2.3 1. Introduction Nowadays, critical thinking ability is one of the most important skills in the 21st century. According to Warnick, B., and Inch, E., critical thinking is defined as the ability to analyze problems or circumstances, integrate all available information, provide solutions or assumptions, and confirm your position (1994). Critical thinking, according to Johnson, Elaine B. (2010), is an ordered and clear process that is employed in mental activities like problem-solving, decision making, examining assumptions, and scientific discovery. In short, the ability to think critically is a necessary skill for effective communication, further education, and success in a competitive environment. The researcher believes that critical thinking is superior to thinking based on logical reason when students can open their minds, evaluate situations, and find the background to reach a judgment or conclusion through active control, which is rational, reflective, responsible and competent. However, not everyone has a good critical thinking ability, especially among high school students, because it requires the learners to convince others people or decide whether the information is good or bad, true or false. It is a fact that many students still think low and are lazy to seek out information to expand their knowledge. Therefore, 99% of teachers agree that strengthening critical thinking abilities is a very important or indispensable goal for education, according to Arum, R., and Roska, J. (2011). In fact, CTN Debate Club is the first as well as the only club in Thai Nguyen City, Vietnam, that organizes and trains the local high school students, especially students at Thai Nguyen Specialized High School, in debate skills through debate meetings in Vietnamese; However, having worked with some students from CTN Debate Club at Thai Nguyen Specialized High School, the researchers found that their critical thinking ability in Vietnamese is pretty great, but they do not have many opportunities to enhance their critical thinking skills in the English class as well as their club meetings. Although the learners sometimes take part