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

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33936/cognosis.v11i2.8108

Resumen

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, 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.

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Citas

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Publicado

2026-04-06

Número

Vol. 11 Núm. 2 (2026): abril-junio

Sección

Idiomas Nacionales y Extranjeros

Licencia

Derechos de autor 2026 Sarai Btriceño

Creative Commons License

Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0.