It has become a trend that language and critical thinking integrated teaching is increasingly adopted in the pedagogical reform of foreign language teaching. However, little research has been conducted on this topic from the perspective of linguistics. Under the framework of cognitive linguistics, this paper proposes a new approach to the integration of English competence and critical thinking ability. Drawing on the researcher’s academic English teaching practice, this paper explores ways to apply theories in cognitive linguistics and the findings of cognitive contrastive studies on English and Chinese to language and critical thinking integrated teaching from the four dimensions of construal, namely, specificity, prominence, perspective, and imagination.