ENHANCING STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS THROUGH CRITICAL WRITING

Abstract

Writing is a trained-skill that needs process to master it. When a student is trying to write, he must start from organizing ideas. Furthermore, critical thinking is also a necessary skill in writing. In education field, critical thinking is considered as a crucial part that should be achieved by students in 21st century. Critical writing and critical thinking are two necessary skills should be mastered by university students. Writing arguments, essays, and thesis are daily learning activities they should do. When learning activities cannot trig students to write clear argumentation on their writing it means that their critical thinking cannot be well-developed as well. This paper aimed to explore how students’ critical thinking can be enhanced through their critical writing skill in English as Foreign Language (EFL) classroom in a private college in Indonesia. The method used in this research was descriptive qualitative through observation of actual teaching practice, students learning activities and analysis of students’ critical writing papers. The finding shows that students’ critical writing skill trigs their critical thinking. It can be concluded that critical thinking and critical writing skills is an integrated skill that students must achieve as a goal of their EFL achievement in higher education.