The Effectiveness of Critical Thinking Reading and Writing Instruction on Improving Writing Performance

The Effectiveness of Critical Thinking Reading and Writing Instruction on Improving Writing Performance

EFL students mostly have problem in writing. Teachers should try to help their learners to improve writing by different methods. One of the new methods that can be helpful in improving writing process is critical thinking. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the formal instruction of critical reading and writing on developing written performance. Teacher as the researcher of the study chose 40 EFL learners from Islamic Azad University-Tabriz Branch. After assessing the group s homogeneity by using a writing task as a pre-test, the researcher randomly assigned them into two groups. Teacher also completed a questionnaire about critical thinking for both groups in the pre-test and post-test. The control group was supposed to write about different topics at home and they got teacher feedback in class for their writing. However, in the experimental group, teacher in class explained about critical reading and critical writing. They read the text in class critically with students and they wrote about the same topics as control group wrote. Teacher helped the learners in every stage both in reading critically and writing critically. Learners wrote their essays in class while they received feedback from teacher and peers at the same time. The results showed that students in the experimental group, who received critical reading and writing instruction, improved their writing. Furthermore, students in the experimental group in the posttest got higher mark in critical thinking questionnaire than the control group. It shows there is a positive correlation between critical thinking and writing performance. As a whole, the result indicates that critical thinking reading and writing instructionmay be helpful in improving learners’ writing performance.

EFL students mostly have problem in writing. Teachers should try to help their learners to improve writing by different methods. One of the new methods that can be helpful in improving writing process is critical thinking. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the formal instruction of critical reading and writing on developing written performance. Teacher as the researcher of the study chose 40 EFL learners from Islamic Azad University-Tabriz Branch. After assessing the group s homogeneity by using a writing task as a pre-test, the researcher randomly assigned them into two groups. Teacher also completed a questionnaire about critical thinking for both groups in the pre-test and post-test. The control group was supposed to write about different topics at home and they got teacher feedback in class for their writing. However, in the experimental group, teacher in class explained about critical reading and critical writing. They read the text in class critically with students and they wrote about the same topics as control group wrote. Teacher helped the learners in every stage both in reading critically and writing critically. Learners wrote their essays in class while they received feedback from teacher and peers at the same time. The results showed that students in the experimental group, who received critical reading and writing instruction, improved their writing. Furthermore, students in the experimental group in the posttest got higher mark in critical thinking questionnaire than the control group. It shows there is a positive correlation between critical thinking and writing performance. As a whole, the result indicates that critical thinking reading and writing instructionmay be helpful in improving learners’ writing performance.