Abstract
This paper presents findings from a naturalistic inquiry study conducted by the author with English as a Foreign Language (hereafter EFL) learners at a Saudi university. The aim of this study is to understand individuals' experiences of a critical thinking approach for learning speaking. It explores learners' affective and metacognitive engagement while participating in critical thinking lessons over 12 weeks. The SPARE Wheel model (Burden and Williams, 1996) has been applied to evaluate the implementation of the critical thinking approach. The present paper limits its focus to findings from regular interviews with the participants and reflective journals written at the end of the course. Analysis of data from other methods is in progress. Results suggest that students and their teacher hold positive perceptions about this approach. The critical thinking approach encourages students to participate in meaningful dialogue. Despite these positive views, empowering learners and incorporating their voices in designing the lessons and sharing their views about learning with the teacher seems to be a complicated issue in this context.