A Study On The Effect Of English Writing Teaching Based On Production-oriented Approach On Senior High School English Learners’ Critical Thinking Ability

According to the English Curriculum Standard for Senior High School(2017 edition),cultivating learners’ critical thinking ability is one of the objectives of English courses.As one of language output skills,writing is an important approach to developing learners’ critical thinking ability.However,English writing teaching in reality pays more attention to language learning than the development of critical thinking due to the influence of examination and learners’ weak language foundation,and the effect of fostering critical thinking ability is very limited.How to unleash the potential of cultivating critical thinking ability in English writing teaching is worthy of further exploration.With the “key competency theory”,the Production-oriented Approach clarifies the importance of cultivating critical thinking ability in English teaching.The challenging communication situation,multiple learning activities and diverse evaluation methods provided by the three stages of Production-oriented Approach: motivating,enabling,evaluating are the key to developing learners’ critical thinking ability.Based on the above facts,this study attempts to apply the Production-oriented Approach to English writing teaching to verify the effectiveness of the English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach in promoting the critical thinking ability of high school English learners.Based on the “key competency theory” of Production-oriented Approach and the relationship between writing and critical thinking,91 students from two parallel classes in Grade Two of E High School in the Fourth Division of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps were selected as the research subjects.This study lasts for three months and aims to probe the influence of English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach on high school English learners’ critical thinking ability.This study includes the following two research questions.First,what is the impact of English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach on high school English learners’ critical thinking skills? This question consists of six sub-questions,namely,how does the English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach affect the interpretation,analysis,evaluation,inference,explanation and self-regulation ability of high school English learners? Secondly,what is the impact of English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach on high school English learners’ critical thinking dispositions? This question contains seven sub-questions,namely,how does the English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach affect the truth-seeking,open-mindedness,analyticity,systematicity,self-confidence,inquisitiveness,maturity of high school English learners?Based on the research questions,the methods of literature research,experiment,test,questionnaire survey,interview are selected as the research methods of this study.The writing parts of the 2006 College Entrance Examination English paper of Shanghai and the 2019 College Entrance Examination English paper of Jiangsu province are used to examine the change of learners’ critical thinking skills,and the critical thinking disposition questionnaire and interview are utilized to investigate the change of learners’ critical thinking dispositions.After a three-month experimental study,the research results are as follows: first and foremost,the English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach exerts a positive impact on the critical thinking skills of the subjects in the experimental class,and there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of six sub-skills of critical thinking and the total value of critical thinking skills in the experimental class after the English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach.Compared with the subjects in the control class,the explanation,analysis,evaluation,inference,explanation,self-regulation and overall critical thinking skills of the subjects in the experimental class have been greatly enhanced.In the second place,the English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach has a positive effect on part critical thinking dispositions of the experimental class.There are significant differences in the pre-test and post-test scores of truth-seeking,open-mindedness,analyticity,self-confidence,inquisitiveness,the total value of critical thinking disposition in the experimental class,but there is no significant difference in the pre-test and post-test scores of systematicity and maturity after the English writing teaching based on the Production-oriented Approach,that is,the truth-seeking,open-mindedness,analyticity,self-confidence,inquisitiveness and overall critical thinking disposition of the subjects in the experimental class are remarkably improved while systematicity and maturity are not effectively promoted.The implications of this study for cultivating learners’ critical thinking ability in high school English writing teaching are as follows: first,teachers are expected to try to apply Production-oriented Approach to English writing teaching to improve learners’ critical thinking ability by putting forward motivating questions that can make learners know their inadequacy in knowledge,providing diversified teaching activities aimed at realizing the enabling of language form and viewpoints,and leading learners to participate in the assessing process.Secondly,teachers are supposed to design writing topics that are challenging and full of critical thinking based on textbook,and carry out argumentative writing training to help high school English learners develop their critical thinking ability.