Evaluating the Impact of World Literature Exposure on Critical Thinking Among A-Level Literature Students in Abuja

Exposure to world literature texts from diverse cultural traditions is hypothesised to develop critical thinking and cultural empathy in secondary school students, but this hypothesis has not been empirically evaluated in the Nigerian educational context. This study evaluated the relationship between world literature exposure and critical thinking development among A-level literature students at five secondary schools in Abuja Federal Capital Territory. A professional programme evaluation methodology was employed, administering a validated critical thinking assessment instrument (the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal adapted for literary analysis) to 180 A-level literature students from schools where world literature was regularly included in the curriculum alongside 180 matched students from schools following a Nigeria-only literature curriculum. A pre-test and post-test design was used over one academic year. Post-test results showed that students with regular world literature exposure demonstrated significantly higher scores on the inference, evaluation of arguments, and interpretation subscales of the critical thinking instrument (p < 0.01 for all three subscales). Teacher assessments of essay analytical quality showed parallel improvements. Qualitative interviews with 20 students suggested that encountering unfamiliar cultural assumptions in literature required them to examine their own cultural assumptions more consciously, a key element of critical thinking development. The study concludes that world literature exposure makes a measurable contribution to critical thinking development and recommends formal integration of world literature texts into A-level literature curricula across the FCT and beyond. Keywords: world literature, critical thinking, A-level literature, Abuja, secondary education