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Critical thinking in teaching reading in university
English programs in South America: a narrative review
Pensamiento crítico en la enseñanza de la lectura en
programas universitarios de inglés en Sudamérica: una
revisión narrativa
Pensamento crítico no ensino da leitura em cursos de inglês
universitários na América do Sul: uma revisão narrativa
AUTHORS:
Martha Aracelly Viveros
Center for Foreign Languages and Native Languages. Universidad Politécnica
Estatal del Carchi, Ecuador.
martha.viveros@upec.edu.ec
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2441-6954
Sarai Carolina Briceño de Domínguez
Center for Foreign Languages and Native Languages. Universidad Politécnica
Estatal del Carchi, Ecuador.
sarai.bricenio@upec.edu.ec
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0582-2483
Date received: 2025-12-17
Date of acceptance: 2026-02-26
Publication date: 2026-04-06
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33936/cognosis.v11i2.8108
ABSTRACT
This narrative review summarizes recent studies (2020-2025) that analyze how university
foreign language teachers in South America promote the teaching of reading and critical
thinking (CT) in university students, based on critical pedagogy and sociocultural theory,
2026-02-26
2026-02-26
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examining three areas: teaching experiences with reading teaching, its conceptualization
and implementation of CT, and institutional factors that influence pedagogical decisions.
The results indicate a strong teaching commitment to train analytical and critical readers;
however, the implementation varies between contexts. Many teachers use sociocultural
methods such as collaborative reading to promote critical-pedagogical practices based on
management and autonomous learning. Limitations such as curricula based on
standardized assessment, uneven teacher preparation, class sizes, and disparities in
resources in public and private institutions make it difficult to consolidate critical reading
in the long term. Many studies focus on student outcomes rather than teachers'
experiences, professional identities, and negotiations in the situation, which is a major
limitation in literature. This review offers a mixed view of reading and pedagogy, suggesting
the need for teacher-centred studies, better teacher training and policy changes to align
assessment systems with critical literacy objectives. Improving structural and pedagogical
support is crucial to developing critical and meaningful thinking with academic texts
among readers of English as a foreign language.
KEYWORDS: reading-teaching in English; critical thinking; critical pedagogy; sociocultural
theory.
RESUMEN
Esta revisión narrativa resume estudios recientes (2020-2025) que analizan cómo los
profesores universitarios de lenguas extranjeras en Sudamérica promueven la lectura y el
pensamiento crítico (PC) entre estudiantes universitarios, con base en la pedagogía crítica
y la teoría sociocultural. La revisión examina tres áreas: experiencias docentes con
instrucción lectora, la conceptualización e implementación del PC, y los factores
institucionales que influyen en las decisiones pedagógicas. Los resultados indican un
fuerte compromiso de los docentes con el desarrollo de lectores analíticos y críticos; sin
embargo, la implementación varía según el contexto. Muchos docentes utilizan métodos
socioculturales, como la lectura colaborativa, para promover prácticas crítico-pedagógicas
basadas en la gestión y el aprendizaje autónomo. Limitaciones como los currículos basados
en evaluaciones estandarizadas, la formación docente desigual, el tamaño de las clases y
las disparidades de recursos en instituciones públicas y privadas dificultan la
consolidación de la lectura crítica a largo plazo. Muchos estudios se centran en los
resultados de los estudiantes en lugar de las experiencias de los docentes, las identidades
profesionales y las negociaciones situacionales, lo que representa una limitación
significativa en la literatura. Esta revisión ofrece una visión híbrida de la lectura y la
pedagogía, sugiriendo la necesidad de estudios centrados en el docente, la mejora de la
formación docente y cambios en las políticas para alinear los sistemas de evaluación con
los objetivos del pensamiento crítico, con mayor apoyo estructural y pedagógico crucial
para el desarrollo del pensamiento crítico y significativo en textos académicos entre los
lectores de inglés como lengua extranjera.
PALABRAS CLAVE: enseñanza de la lectura en inglés; pensamiento crítico; pedagogía
crítica; teoría sociocultural.
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RESUMO
Esta revisão narrativa sintetiza estudos recentes (2020–2025) que analisam como
professores universitários de línguas estrangeiras na América do Sul promovem a leitura
e o pensamento crítico (PC) entre estudantes universitários, com base na pedagogia crítica
e na teoria sociocultural. A revisão examina três áreas: experiências do corpo docente com
o ensino, a conceitualização e implementação do PC e os fatores institucionais que
influenciam as decisões pedagógicas. Os resultados indicam um forte comprometimento
do corpo docente com o desenvolvimento de leitores analíticos e críticos; no entanto, a
implementação varia de acordo com o contexto. Muitos professores utilizam métodos
socioculturais, como a leitura colaborativa, para promover práticas crítico-pedagógicas
baseadas na gestão e na aprendizagem autônoma. Limitações como currículos baseados
em avaliações padronizadas, formação desigual de professores, tamanho das turmas e
disparidades de recursos entre instituições públicas e privadas dificultam a consolidação
generalizada da leitura crítica. Muitos estudos se concentram nos resultados dos alunos
em vez das experiências dos professores, identidades profissionais e negociações
situacionais, o que representa uma limitação significativa na literatura. Esta revisão
oferece uma visão híbrida do ensino e da pedagogia, sugerindo a necessidade de estudos
centrados no professor, aprimoramento da formação docente e mudanças nas políticas
para alinhar os sistemas de avaliação aos objetivos do pensamento crítico. Um maior
suporte estrutural e pedagógico é crucial para o desenvolvimento do pensamento crítico e
significativo em textos acadêmicos para leitores de inglês como língua estrangeira.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: ensino da leitura em inglês; pensamento crítico; pedagogia crítica;
teoria sociocultural.
1. INTRODUCTION
The use of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is necessary for students at
universities in South America as they need to acquire high proficiency in reading
and critical thinking to succeed in academic performance. The ability to think
critically is also related to creativity and civic activity (Guzmán-Valenzuela et al.,
2023). A good reading comprehension helps to understand complex texts and to
develop knowledge in the discipline. Despite EFL's curricular goals, obstacles such
as the grammar-focused curriculum, large class sizes, and poor pedagogical
preparation contribute to superficial learning rather than essential inquiry
(Fandino Parra et al., 2021; Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2023). Although tertiary
education in English is supposed to produce competent readers, most programs
have been found to fail. Emphasizing standardized assessment inhibits deeper
reading habits, resulting in students who are able to repeat linguistic patterns, but
who do not analyze (Fandino Parra et al., 2021). As a result, students struggle with
complicated texts in critical writing, and lack preparation to analyze evidence or
construct arguments (Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2023).
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The adoption of intensive reading disposition in literary techniques has shown
promise in cognitive comprehension (Espinosa-Cevallos, Cortes-Mtz, & Soto, 2022).
Action research activities, such as critical thinking tests and project-oriented tasks,
have boosted student engagement (Chica Ramírez et al., 2023; Espinosa-Cevallos
et al., 2022). However, Latin American literature shows a scarce study of the
pedagogical mentality and situational adaptations of teachers with priority on
student achievement (Ma'rufa & Mustofa, 2021; Lengeling & Mora Pablo, 2016).
The lack of focus on the teacher's voice is important, as the adoption of a classroom
depends on the beliefs, constraints, and decisions of the teachers. Lacking an
understanding of how teachers theorize the concepts of reading and critical
thinking and how institutional conditions influence practice, policy reforms are
likely to be out of step with local practice.
The most direct are gaps in reading competence and the transfer of critical skills;
indirect factors impact graduates' willingness to conduct research and critical
reasoning (Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2023; Fandino Parra et al., 2021). Although
current interventions capture the strategies, the teaching perspective is not well
reflected in the literature on reading and critical thinking in English in South
America.
There is no evidence or contextual representations of how EFL university professors
view reading instruction, how higher-order thinking is promoted, or how they
overcome institutional pressure. Teachers' stories show how political and
pedagogical principles can be translated into real decisions (Ma'rufa & Mustofa,
2021).
In this sense, Latin American authors warn that, without taking into account socio-
political aspects, ideas from critical thinking from the Global North must be
imported (Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2023). This study is an amalgam of critical
pedagogy and sociocultural approaches. Critical pedagogy analyzes the
autonomous possibilities and power of education in classroom interaction, while
sociocultural theory analyzes the social and situational character of learning.
These lenses allow for narrative research in which teachers are seen as reflective
actors whose decisions are constructed based on institutional conditions and
culture (Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2023; Ma'rufa & Mustofa, 2021).
Although the scope of study of South American research is broad, empirical studies
focus on Ecuador, Chile and Colombia. Figure 1 shows how critical and
sociocultural pedagogy delineates teacher narratives and therefore student
outcomes.
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Figure 1. Conceptual framework integrating critical pedagogy and sociocultural theory.
Note: This diagram shows how critical pedagogy (questions of power and ideology) and sociocultural
pedagogy (scaffolding, peer mediation, collaborative reading) intersect to shape teacher narratives
and student outcomes.
The objectives of this research are focused on exploring how these teachers
conceptualize and promote critical thinking in reading teaching and on identifying
contextual challenges and supports such as institutional policies, assessment
regimes, materials, and teacher training that influence instructional decisions.
Since this research follows a narrative review methodology, the emphasis is
exploratory: the study seeks to bring to light patterns and tensions in the stories
lived by teachers rather than testing a specific quantitative hypothesis (Ma'rufa &
Mustofa, 2021).
This study theoretically contributes by expanding the literature on English reading
and critical thinking through teaching experience and regional conceptions of
criticism (Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2023). In practice, it helps trainers and
administrators better tailor professional development and materials to support
students' reading habits. Teachers' narratives help to bridge the gap between
aspirational competencies and realities in the classroom (Fandiño Parra et al.,
2021).
The combination of reading competence and critical thinking (CT) is at the core of
university teaching of English as a foreign language: the former is the key to
knowledge, and the latter allows for criticism and synthesis. The combination is
vital as English influences better academic and career opportunities. Current local
research analyzes the perception and application of reading and CT in the local
institutional environment. This review considers peer-reviewed studies on the topic
in the South American region (2020-2025), in terms of teachers' reading teaching
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strategies, conceptualization of CT in reading, and contextual influences on
instructional decision-making.
Despite this evidence, little empirical research has been conducted on the lived
experience of teachers with the teaching of reading in South American universities.
According to Castaño-Roldán and Correa (2021), a qualitative intervention with
English learners of Colombian origin focused on critical reading activities
demonstrates improvements in posture awareness and authorial comprehension.
The study uses the advantages of classroom-based approaches that show positive
results, but does not record systematic records of reflective interviews with
teachers or institutional constraints that define task options. For their part,
Espinosa-Cevallos, Cortés-Martínez, and Soto (2022) conducted action research
based on literary circles at a state university in Ecuador. Their results indicate an
increase in student engagement and vocabulary development in the context of
resource scarcity. Nonetheless, teachers' reports of curriculum negotiation and
workload remain implicit, as research focuses on the impact on students rather
than the teachers' experience.
These investigations show that there are feasible reading practices in South
American universities and also show a lack in the systematic description of how
teachers experience the administration of reading teaching, as well as the problem
of institutional expectations in relation to pedagogical objectives.
On the other hand, it should be noted that studies on the conceptualization and
development of CT by teachers in the teaching of reading indicate that there is
strong support but a varied interpretation. A study by Veliz (2021) on Chilean
teachers states that they value CT as a life skill and as a means of sociopolitical
awareness, whereby critical reading is associated with students' abilities to analyze
textual ideologies. The article offers an in-depth look at teachers' opinions, but it
is limited by its limited sample and intentions rather than by classroom practice.
Likewise, Castano-Roldán and Correa (2021) establish pedagogical processes that
lead to analytical reading through structured tasks. Although teachers use the CT
during reading lessons, institutional factors such as assessment pressure and
class size influence its use. According to the literature, the development of CT is
valued as a teaching resource in the area of English and the development of basic
EFL skills by South American teachers.
Despite the successful prospects for the use of CT in university classrooms in some
South American universities, there are contextual and institutional facilitation
aspects that shape the practice between reading and the development of CT. Barre-
Parrales and Villafuerto-Holguin (2021) found that in Ecuador there were public-
private differences in CLIL policy: private school training and materials were better,
and the education system with public schools had fewer educational opportunities
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and priorities. His paper is a combination of surveys and comparative analyses,
but the pre-college approach limits its applicability to universities.
Their findings on resource inequality could also be useful for university English
teachers, when working with several students with different reading levels, which
explains the disparity in the consolidation of these skills. In turn, according to
Guzmán-Valenzuela et al. (2023), there is an epistemic disjunction in Latin
American higher education, in which imported cognitive models have taken control
of regional critical pedagogical traditions.
Their review indicates that interventions focus on cognitive skills and not on the
sociopolitical context, which is consistent with other studies that indicate that
curricula favor measurable outcomes (Barre-Parrales & Villafuerte-Holguin, 2021;
Veliz, 2021). The review reveals the incompatibility of the CT as an abstract and
practical autonomous skill.
Although there is a consensus among these authors that they use good strategies
to develop CT such as literary circles, structured critical readings, the context of
their development is also important, that is, evaluation systems, inequalities and
teacher training influence what they can do and measure teachers.
Moreover, there are inconsistencies: action research reports the benefits for
students of reading/CT interventions (Espinosa-Cevallos et al., 2022), but more
general reviews (Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2023) reveal that research activity
favors the use of cognitive tests, rather than the effect of contextual pedagogy.
Most importantly, however, the empirical corpus indicates that South American
researchers are aware of the relevance of reading and CT, and have outlined
potentially effective strategies in the classroom, but without a long-term focus on
the implementation of these methods by higher education professors at their
respective universities.
A narrative review that designs the experiences of professors in South American
universities will record teaching practices, expose the negotiation strategies of
professors under the influence of policies, and contextualize the CT in its local
sociocultural environment.
These objectives are directly addressed in the study through the accountability of
teacher narratives on reading teaching, the conceptualization of CT, and the
institutional mapping of institutional supports that influence decision-making.
Figure 2 shows the interrelationship of the areas previously expressed, and how
they complement each other.
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Figure 2. Overlapping thematic areas synthesized in this review.
Note: Figure 2 is used as a map for structuring the Results and Discussion sections in alignment
with the review objectives.
The figure illustrates three interrelated domains: (1) reported reading-instruction
practices, (2) conceptualizations/operationalizations of critical thinking in
reading, and (3) contextual and institutional factors shaping implementation and
teacher decision-making.
2. METHODS: METHODOLOGICAL ROUTE
The study used a narrative review of the literature to identify the experiences of
English teachers in South American universities in terms of reading skills and
critical thinking development among undergraduate students. This method was
selected because the objectives required interpretative synthesis of evidence at the
qualitative and policy levels, and not the reproducibility of the systematic review.
Issues that require conceptual clarification and critical examination of various tests
are best utilized through narrative reviews (Grant & Booth, 2009; Torraco, 2005).
The arrangement of the story allows us to reveal patterns of context, while being
sensitive to experiential nuances (Whittemore & Knafl, 2005).
The researchers studied tertiary education in English in South America, such as
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and
Venezuela. The study was conducted in the field of 2020-2025, including curricular
changes before and after the pandemic and taking into account previous structural
research (Popay et al., 2006; Whittemore & Knafl, 2005).
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The literature search was based on the Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC and Latin
American collections databases, combining terms such as EFL, reading
comprehension, critical thinking, higher education and South American
background. Snowball sampling also helped to provide other sources, as the
principles of narrative revision are followed (Booth, Sutton, & Papaioannou, 2016;
Popay et al., 2006). The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed sources published
between 2020 and 2025 that reported instruction in reading, critical thinking, and
contextual factors in the EFL in South American universities, and the articles that
reported on pedagogical practices or institutional structure were related to
Spanish, Portuguese, and English (Grant & Booth, 2009).
The data were organized in the form of a grid of bibliographic information, research
interests, environmental factors, approaches and conclusions that refer to the
pedagogy of reading and the development of critical thinking.
The analysis took place in three steps, following the instructions on synthesizing
the narrative and synthesizing the theme. First, the authors summarized
descriptive data of every study (country, design, participants/context, instructional
focus, and reported outcomes) and created a table of this information (Table 1).
Second, an inductive thematic coding system was performed on the findings and
discussion content that was extracted on the sources that had been selected. First
open codes were created to describe (a) reading-instruction practices, (b)
operationalizations of critical thinking/critical reading and (c) contextual
circumstances that influenced implementation. Third, codes were narrowed down
after constant comparison and organized into higher-order categories with the help
of analytic memos to record decisions and eliminate overlaps.
Examples of emergent categories were: (1) sociocultural scaffolding practices (e.g.
collaborative reading routines, guided questioning, strategy teaching), (2) critical-
pedagogical goals (e.g. ideology critique, stance-taking, text-context
correspondence), (3) institutional constraints (assessment regimes, class size, time,
materials, training).
The concepts of qualitative value assessment in narrative reviews are different from
those that can be quantified in systematic reviews. This review investigated the
clarity of methodology, justification for sampling, and validity of interpretation. The
limitations of the leading writers were exposed and gaps in evidence between
countries were pointed out as areas requiring research.
This method combined broad inclusivity with discriminatory criticism and formed
a discourse that delimited current events and denoted gaps in the literature
(Whittemore & Knafl, 2005; Grant & Booth, 2009).
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Table 1. Corpus of studies included in this research
Study
Country
Design
Participants /
Context
Focus
Key Findings
Barre-
Parrales &
Villafuerte-
Holguín
(2021)
Ecuador
Mixed-method
70 EFL
teachers; 9
institutions
CLIL in EFL
teaching
Uneven CLIL
implementation;
teachers face
methodological &
institutional
challenges.
Espinosa-
Cevallos et
al. (2022)
Ecuador
Action-
research
214 EFL
university
students; 3
teachers
Literature Circles
Improved
engagement,
vocabulary, reading
comprehension, and
critical dialogue.
Castaño-
Roldán &
Correa
(2021)
Colombia
Qualitative
classroom
study
University EFL
reading course
Critical reading
unit
Students developed
critical awareness
but struggled with
author stance and
evaluation.
Chica
Ramírez et
al. (2023)
Colombia
Action-
research
Ninth-grade
EFL learners
(VLE context)
CT questionnaires
to support reading
CT tasks in VLE
enhanced reading
comprehension;
provides school-level
comparison insights.
Cruz-
Zambrano et
al. (2023)
Ecuador
Quasi-
experimental
60 university
EFL learners
Reading strategies
Experimental group
improved
comprehension,
vocabulary & idea
identification.
Veliz (2021)
Chile
Qualitative
(teacher
reflections)
In-service EFL
teachers in
MA program
Critical thinking in
ELT
Teachers report
limited CT training;
institutional
pressures constrain
critical pedagogy.
Guzmán-
Valenzuela et
al. (2023)
Latin
America
Systematic
review
HE CT studies
across region
CT
conceptualizations
Reveals cognitive
dominance & limited
critical-pedagogical
approaches
(epistemic
disjuncture).
Fandiño
Parra et al.
(2021)
Latin
America
Documentary
review
LATAM
teacher-
education
sources
CT in teacher
preparation
Highlights
inconsistent CT
training and
fragmented
theoretical
approaches.
Note: Table 1 summarizes the studies included in the final corpus and their main methodological
and contextual characteristics.
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3. RESULTS: INDICATIONS AND FINDINGS
Among the main results, it was found that small-scale interventions are successful;
such is the case of Castano-Roldán and Correa (2021) and Espinosa-Cevallos et al.
(2022) whose studies reflected improving students' comprehension through literary
reading circles, respectively. The questionnaires provided by Chica Ramirez et al.
(2023) increased students' metacognitive awareness. These research studies
confirm that reading can be effective in resource-limited South American settings.
The instructional direction which has been most strongly supported across the
empirical research in the corpus is a hybrid approach which integrates
sociocultural scaffolding (e.g., collaborative reading routines, e.g. literature circles,
guided questioning and peer discussion and strategy teaching) with explicit critical-
pedagogical questioning (e.g. author stance, ideology, and text-to-context
connections). Outcomes dealing with students are most likely to be enhanced when
critical reading activities are carried out in a structured interaction and guidance
as opposed to using critical thinking in solitary activities.
In Ecuadorian university settings, collaborative literary practices and strategy-
instruction are linked to engagement, vocabulary, and comprehension gains, but
in Colombian work settings critical awareness gains are found through structured
critical reading units and guided questioning, though studies also indicate that
sustained implementation is moderated by assessment regimes, class size,
training, and resource conditions.
The Ecuador studies are concentrated on classroom intervention and instructional
routines (e.g., collaborative reading and strategy instruction) with statistically
significant improvements in comprehension related outcomes. Colombian is more
explicit on the rationale of critical reading as stance, evaluation and awareness
building based on structured critical reading activities and guided questionnaires.
Chilean evidence foreshadows teacher preparation and institutional pressure, in
which the teachers recognize the importance of critical thinking but claim to be
constrained by factors that restrict the prolonged critical pedagogy. The reviews of
the regions also reveal that the models of higher education research are inclined to
favor the cognitive skills, which introduces an epistemic gap between Latin
American critical-pedagogic traditions and the epistemic values of the research.
However, the review by Guzmán-Valenzuela et al. (2023) revealed persistent
analytical gaps in higher education in Latin America, where students entered
professional life without being fully prepared in some skills related to critical
thinking applied in the university context, which raises the following question: why
are certain interventions effective and the overall results remain low?
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In this sense, implementation is the key, through effective interventions whose
teachers are dedicated to using medium to small groups, special materials and
external professional assistance, is recommended. Standard contexts vary:
teachers teach large courses with mandatory curricula and assessment guidelines
that limit innovation.
This shows that good strategies exist, but that they do not work under normal
conditions. Informing teachers about the best possible situations offers minimal
advice to teachers working in restricted conditions. The discipline requires studies
on how to maintain critical reading pedagogy under institutional conditions of large
class sizes, standardized tests, and limited resources.
On the other hand, the fact that Guzmán-Valenzuela et al. (2023) observed an
epistemic mismatch is important. Theories of critical thinking in the north are more
concerned with the cognition of individuals and do not coincide with Latin
American pedagogical practices rooted in liberation theology and social change.
Educators who employ the Freire methodology are not convinced that cognitive
skills models are sufficient for their teaching goals. This raises evaluation
problems. Although standardized tests assess logical thinking and analysis, they
lack critical awareness as observed by Latin American educators; the ability to
recognize an ideological point of view and relate texts to structural inequalities.
Students can also be very good at reasoning, but not very critical of power relations.
Studies indicated that methods for integrating mental abilities and critical
awareness would likely be best. The development of structured analysis, the
preoccupation with power, and ideology guarantee the result of critical rather than
technical analysis. Therefore, it is important to develop these structures of critical
thinking demand based on Latin American records, and thus try to reduce the
academic gap between the process of critical thinking development and the result
achieved as a professional, which will be analyzed in the next section.
4. DISCUSSION: MEANINGS IN DIALOGUE
Research indicated that there has been a consistent disparity between teacher
intentions and critical reading practice in English teaching, specifically in South
America. Although educators value the importance of critical reading and analytical
thinking, assessment requires skills and resources that do not facilitate effective
implementation in the Colombian, Ecuadorian, and Chilean contexts.
The causes of this gap in implementation are due, firstly, to lack of practical
knowledge about the application of critical pedagogy in teachers. Second,
assessment systems that focus on measurable outcomes over critical thinking.
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Third, resource inequality and large class sizes limit the feasibility of student-
centered, discussion-based methods.
The interaction between sociocultural theory and critical pedagogy explains the
trends in the classroom. Most of the Vygotskian practices that teachers embrace
include scaffolding, small group reading and comprehension practices because
they deliver quantifiable gains and are administratively feasible.
In comparison, the emancipation goals of the critical pedagogy to raise critical
consciousness and challenge power are hard to operationalize in the context of
accountability. It is this pragmatic compromise that would justify the instrumental
usage of sociocultural tools as opposed to serving as a means of attaining enduring
critical awareness.
5. CONCLUSIONS: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
This narrative review has synthesized research related to topics on the development
of critical thinking in reading in English in South American university contexts,
fulfilling three objectives: to report on the method of teaching reading used by
teachers, to examine the conceptualizations and practices relevant to the
development of critical thinking, and to define the contextual factors that influence
teachers' pedagogical decisions. The synthesis showed consistent tendencies,
didactic contradictions, and notable gaps that, together, trace the directions of
future study and practice.
Three key findings were identified in the review. Although teachers value critical
reading and thinking, implementation in some cases is skill-oriented down to the
dialogic level. The pedagogy of critical reading is limited by contextual factors,
evaluation pressures, inequalities in the allocation of resources, and gaps in
teacher training. The opinions of teachers facing these limitations are not adequate
and academic research has been conducted on student performance and not on
teacher decision-making and progress.
Critical pedagogical analysis and sociocultural theory analysis revealed that these
frameworks are parallel discourses in South American EFL contexts. Educators
share student Freirean goals but employ more Vygotskian pedagogical tools such
as scaffolding and strategic teaching. This resembles the usefulness of
sociocultural methods and the constraints on the mechanisms of systematic
implementation of critical pedagogy. The review promotes the incorporation of
sociocultural practices as a means to critical-pedagogical ends other than the
impartial development of skills.
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Based on the synthesis of the findings of the studies included, the best approach
to developing the reading competence of students and their critical thinking in the
typical conditions of South American EFL universities is a structured, hybrid
strategy: (a) sociocultural scaffolding with the help of collaborative reading (e.g.,
literature circle, role of peer discussion, guidance strategies in reading, teacher
questioning sequence, text-to-context reading), and (b) explicit critical reading
prompts that define critical thinking as taking a stance, assessing evidence,
interpreting the text in relation to its context. The reason why the approach is
described as the most appropriate is that it is the most commonly supported in the
corpus and under conditions typical of most performance (large classes, limited
resources, and accountability-driven assessment).
This review contributed to deepening the understanding of the relationships
between critical pedagogy and sociocultural theory in South American conditions,
revealing synergies and tensions. In addition, this review suggested the use of
reading tasks based on both sociocultural scaffolding and critical-pedagogical
questioning, because, in the future, critical and sociocultural frameworks can be
integrated into teachers' preparation programs, likewise, administrators will be
able to adapt evaluations and critical thinking objectives and manage the
imbalance of resources. This will allow for more research and the promotion of
critical thinking in a contextually appropriate way that respects Latin American
traditions.
However, it should be noted that these contributions have some limitations. This
review focused on Colombia, Ecuador and Chile; The results cannot be generalized
to other nations with other educational systems or cultural backgrounds. Small
qualitative studies offer enriching information, but they cannot be generalized;
considering the latter, practices may work, but not their prevalence or generalized
applicability. Recent literature has not resolved the gap between teacher voices,
limiting understanding of how educators manage constraints. The following
limitations propose three research priorities. The first is that the field requires
multi-site comparative research on teaching experiences in various South
American settings, such as different countries, institutions, and evaluation
regimes. Research in this direction should be directed at the teaching narrative to
learn how practices develop under the pressure of the context.
Second, intervention research should be conducted in combination with a critical-
pedagogical framework with sociocultural approaches to evaluate linguistic and
dispositional interventions using longitudinal evaluation. The question that needs
to be examined in the research is whether or not there is a difference between
reading programs that incorporate the critical elements and innovative programs
that focus on reading skills to influence students' habits and reasoning.
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Third, policy research should study evaluation systems to determine possibilities
for reform. This involves exploring the nature of assessment systems that facilitate
the development of critical thinking and schemes that facilitate pedagogical
practices.
This discipline requires a theoretical contribution to create contextual critical
thinking concepts in Latin American higher education. The epistemic disjunction
identified by Guzmán-Valenzuela et al. (2023) between imported models and
regional traditions necessitates the creation of frameworks based on Latin
American philosophical traditions, but not the adaptation of models from the
North. Although current studies focus on teaching experience, they offer a minimal
narrative for the teacher.
Finally, English teachers in South America are under difficult conditions: they need
to develop reading and critical thinking skills at the same time, they work in
results-oriented institutions, and in many cases, they are not fully prepared to set
the appropriate guidelines for the development of these critical skills, for various
reasons. Articles by Espinosa-Cevallos et al. (2022) and Castaño-Roldán and
Correa (2021) sampled successful innovations by teachers despite these
limitations. That is, the shift towards a systematic pedagogy of critical reading will
require better tools, preparation, and organization of teachers: evaluation regimes
that reward critical interaction, equitable distribution of resources, and research
that learns through teaching experience. A teacher-centred research agenda, which
is methodologically varied, can be used to maintain and scale up effective
classroom practices, which aim to make pedagogical practice, theoretical
commitments and institutional structures consistent with the formation of EFL
readers, who think critically and act thoughtfully outside the classroom.
Figure 3. Practical recommendations for researchers, teachers and educators, institutions
and policymakers.
Note: Figure 3 shows a conceptualization that reflects the aspects necessary to address and develop
critical thinking from the perspective of university teachers, with a structured approach in integrative.
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6. DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest in relation to this
article. They have not received funding or support from any organization or
entity that could influence the content of the work.
7. CONTRIBUTION OF THE AUTHORS
Author 1
Conceptualization, Formal Analysis, Research, Methodology,
Project Management, Resources, Supervision, Validation,
Visualization, Writing – Review and Editing.
Author 2
Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Research,
Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft,
Writing – Proofreading and Editing.
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