The purpose of the study is to investigate whether critical thinking skills can be fostered through a college English course. Approximately eighty female Korean students taking a basic freshman mandatory reading course participated in the study. The researcher taught them critical reading skills along with other reading comprehension skills and provided them with Korean local context in the given topic. The students critically read two units of the required textbook and attended presentations of high school students with minority cultural backgrounds. The students submitted four online reports about multiculturalism, and they were analyzed using a thematic analysis. The results revealed that even students with relatively low English proficiency could enhance their critical thinking skills by practicing critical reading. Also, additional information about local contexts not only compensated for a culturally limited text but also facilitated the development of critical thinking. The findings indicate that teaching critical thinking is feasible in an English language course despite limited environments. Yet, more studies are required to generalize the findings.

1. INTRODUCTION
 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
  2.1. Understanding Critical Thinking
  2.2. Understanding Critical Reading in Higher Education
  2.3. Critical Reading in ESL and EFL Situations
 3. METHODOLOGY
  3.1. Data and the Participants
  3.2. Procedure
  3.3. Data Analysis
 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
  4.1. Reading Against the Text
  4.2. Definition of Multiculturalism Before and After the Presentations
 5. CONCLUSION AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
 6. LIMITATIONS
 REFERENCES

• Kyung-Ae Oh(Soongsil University)