It is well-documented that the national policies of foreign language education are formulated under the influence ofmany factors such as national policies in politics and economy, and the policies of foreign language education can shape the practiceof language teaching and learning. In China, English learning has long been instrumentalism-oriented, while its values to humancognition are under explored. In this study, a set of English compositions collected from different levels of English learners in Chinaare quantitatively analyzed to reveal the signifi cance of English learning to Chinese learners’ analytic thinking. It is found that Englishlearning has reinforced Chinese learners’ analytic thinking, a crucial ability for analyzing and solving problems. A linear increase wasobserved in their analytic thinking ability along with the improvement of English language ability. The positive infl uences of foreignlanguage learning on learners’ thinking developments imply that foreign language learning is valuable for the development of learners’cognitive abilities, and fostering learners’ analytical and critical thinking abilities should be made one of the goals of English teaching.