Adbusting, Critical Media Literacy in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Class and Critical Thinking Skills of Partido State University College Students

University students are expected to develop critical thinking skills as this is deemed necessary in education. However, such is not always the case. In many universities in the Philippines and even abroad, it has been observed that students are yet to reach the critical thinking level, as they perform poorly in simple examinations. In order to address this problem, it is necessary that the students’ critical thinking skills level be determined and improved. This study described the level of Partido State University (PSU) college students’ critical thinking (CT) skills through the use of the CEU-Lopez Critical Thinking Test. The test was administered to 565 students of PSU-Goa Campus, AY 2014–2015, identified through stratified random sampling. Results showed that the level of the PSU students’ critical thinking skills was low (X = 5.13). Generally, the respondents obtained an adjectival rating of low in deduction, credibility, assumptions and meaning while the students in seven out of eighteen programs or 38.88% obtained an adjectival rating of very low in induction. Furthermore, the study determined the effectiveness and acceptability of adbusting as a tool in enhancing the Critical Thinking (CT) of the students using the experimental research design with a BSED English for Specific Purposes (ESP) class. Results reveal that adbusting or deconstructing an advertisement improved the level of the students’ CT skills and students enjoyed preparing adbusters, a form of media that looks like an advertisement but actually opposes the values and assumptions presented by a corporation through its advertising.