The Effects of Applying Critical Thinking Skills on EFL Medical Students’ Argumentative Writing

Despite the importance of argumentative writing in education, most tertiary level students still cannot write effectively or persuasively. They often do not know how to support their claims, justify their reasons, and use logic in their writing. These debates imply the lack of critical thinking (CT) skills in students’ writing. This study tried to investigate if language instructors can provide considerable opportunity for the practical attainment of CT skills to improve students’ argumentative writing. The participants were 67 medical students who were required to take an academic writing course at the English Language Department of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Students were divided randomly into two groups of experimental and control while CTskill training were applied only to the first group. The Cornell CT Test Level X (CCTT-X) and the Holistic CT Scoring Rubric were used to evaluate students’ CT ability and their quality of thinking in their argumentative writing, respectively. Students’ argumentative writing scores show that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in writing. This study have some implications for teachers who do not know what CT skills are and how these skills can be implemented in teaching or training setting to improve students’ writing.