The integration of critical thinking within the learning process is considered a crucial indicator of education’s quality. Nevertheless, with the reforms introduced in higher education, less importance was given to this skill; consequently, most Algerian EFL learners cannot think critically and creatively. To fill the gap, this study suggests using literature as a bridge between the teaching of the foreign language and the enhancement of learners’ critical thinking abilities. The research also proposes strategies and approaches to motivate students to use their critical thinking skills in literature class. To this end, the researcher raised the following research question: How do we enhance learners’ critical thinking abilities while teaching literature? And what strategies and approaches to adopt to motivate students using their critical thinking abilities within a literature class? The researcher adopted semi-structured interviews with teachers and classroom observations as instruments to collect necessary data. The participants are EFL university teachers and first-year students of different genders from the department of English language at the University of Dr. Moulay Tahar, Saida (Algeria). Obtained results show positive feedback from the students towards the critical thinking approaches used by the teacher-researcher in literature class. It also revealed that teachers are aware of the effectiveness of critical thinking when teaching literature to improve the learners’ proficiency in English as a foreign language and enhance their critical thinking abilities. This study recommended using high order of thinking as a strategy when teaching literature. Keywords: Algeria University, critical thinking, EFL learners at Saida University, high-order thinking, literature teaching

中文翻译：

---

文学在促进EFL大学生批判性思维中的作用：以阿尔及利亚一年级学生为例

批判性思维在学习过程中的整合被认为是衡量教育质量的关键指标。然而，随着高等教育的改革，对这项技能的重视程度有所降低。因此，大多数阿尔及利亚 EFL 学习者无法批判性和创造性地思考。为了填补这一空白，本研究建议使用文学作为外语教学与提高学习者批判性思维能力之间的桥梁。该研究还提出了激励学生在文学课上运用批判性思维技能的策略和方法。为此，研究人员提出以下研究问题：在教授文学作品的同时，我们如何提高学习者的批判性思维能力？以及在文学课上采用哪些策略和方法来激励学生使用他们的批判性思维能力？研究人员采用对教师的半结构化访谈和课堂观察作为收集必要数据的工具。参与者是来自赛达（阿尔及利亚）Moulay Tahar 博士大学英语系的 EFL 大学教师和不同性别的一年级学生。获得的结果表明，学生对教师-研究人员在文学课中使用的批判性思维方法给予了积极的反馈。还揭示了教师在教授文学作品时意识到批判性思维的有效性，以提高学习者的英语作为外语的熟练程度，增强他们的批判性思维能力。这项研究建议在教授文学作品时使用高阶思维作为一种策略。关键词：阿尔及利亚大学，批判性思维，赛达大学外语学习者，高阶思维，文学教学