Developing students' critical thinking skills has been a crucial component of the language teaching curriculum, as it fosters students' abilities to analyze and evaluate information, as well as to make their own decisions related to their academic success (Nold, 2017). Take academic English writing as an example. Experienced writers have to construct texts at the dual levels of content and language as endorsed by academic English communities (Hyland, 2002). This means that English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) writers have to gain corresponding critical thinking skills, and through them, deconstruct valued English texts and construct their own content on the two levels, projecting their professional identity as culturally and linguistically endorsed academic writers (Hyland, 2002).
Unfortunately, despite the importance of critical thinking skills in the process of writing construction, they are still largely ignored in the writing classroom, which primarily focuses on the teaching of grammar or structure and hampers students from composing effective essays (Lee, 2008). Even in international communities that try to develop English writers' critical thinking skills, actual writing teaching practices are still limited to non-linguistic strategies (e.g., using questions), which are often too abstract or inaccessible for students' writing literacy development on both the content and language levels (Mok, 2009). In EFL writing contexts, teaching critical thinking skills is, in addition, challenged by conventional classroom practices in which teachers often lack effective educational training and are constrained by the contents of the textbook, leading to a scenario where teachers dominate the classroom and provide limited space for students' development of critical thinking (DeWaelsche, 2015). Therefore, this case study attempts to explore how a language learning theory (i.e., systemic functional linguistics [SFL]) based on the adoption and use of instructional resources (i.e., online materials ) can help EFL writers critically navigate the complexities of academic writing literacy on the levels of both language and content. It aims to call EFL writing teachers' attention to the importance of teaching critical thinking skills as well as to provide them with an accessible tool for adopting and using supplementary materials in the classroom while developing their students' critical thinking skills in regard to the construction of effective writing.
References
DeWaelsche, S. A. (2015). Critical thinking, questioning and student engagement in Korean university English courses. Linguistics and Education, 32, 131-147.
Hyland, K. (2002). Options of identity in academic writing. ELT Journal, 56, 351-358.
Lee, I. (2008). Student reactions to teacher feedback in two Hong Kong secondary classrooms. Journal of Second Language Writing, 17, 144-164.
Mok, J. (2009). From policies to realities: Developing students' critical thinking in Hong Kong secondary school English writing classes. RELC Journal, 40, 262-279.
Nold, H. (2017). Using critical thinking teaching methods to increase student success: An action research project. International Journal of Teaching & Learning in Higher Education, 29, 17-32.
Rose, D., Martin, J. R. (2012). Learning to write, reading to learn: Genre, knowledge and pedagogy in the Sydney school. London, England: Equinox.
