TEACHING CRITICAL THINKING IN A COLLEGE-LEVEL WRITING COURSE: A CRITICAL REFLECTION

Abstract

This paper challenges the widely held assumption that teaching writing inevitably equips students with the critical thinking skills required to succeed in college and beyond. The paper reviews the literature on the relationship between writing and the development of critical thinking skills, and critically reflects on the author’s experiences in teaching an introductory college-level argumentative writing course. Asynthesisof the literature and the author’s experiencesemphasizethat the relationship between writing and critical thinking is not obvious, and that writing instructors must make intentional effortsto clarify this relationship to students, and to teach and assess critical thinking skills from students’ essays.Additionally, the paper demonstratesthat despite critical thinking skill development being an expected outcome in writing courses,the process of enhancing critical thinking skills through written tasks remains covert and largely undocumented. Following acritical analysis of herteaching practice, the authorproposes and documents an integrated approach to fostering critical thinkingwithin a college-level writing course. Ultimately, thispaper makes a theoretical and practical contribution to the less explored quest of clarifying the link between critical thinking and writingand illuminating the process of integrating both skillssetsin a writing course.