A Study On The Relationship Between English Majors'Critical Thinking And Writing Performance In Terms Of Toulmin Model

The construct of critical thinking has been a hot issue in academic research and the cultivation of students' critical thinking has been considered as one of the fundamental goals of education in many Western developed countries since 1990 s.While critical thinking is receiving an increase amount of attention in recent decades in China,it has also been extensively explored in the field of language teaching,especially in the teaching of argumentative writing.Critical thinking runs through the entire process of argumentative writing from conception,layout,and expression to modification.Therefore it would be of great significance to explore the relationship between the level of students' critical thinking ability and their argumentative writing performance.This research aimed to probe the general levels of English majors' critical thinking ability and the relationship between English majors' critical thinking ability and their argumentative writing performance in terms of Toulmin model of argument structure.75 participants involved in this study were third-year English majors in a college in northern China,ranging from 19 to 22 years old.They were all native speakers of Chinese.Meanwhile,they have been learning English for about twelve years.This study was underpinned by a multi-method approach,comprising two questionnaires to measure students' critical thinking ability,an argumentative writing task and participant interviews.The result from the study revealed that the level of English majors' critical thinking ability was not as high as expected.There was still a long distance for participants to be critical thinkers.Another useful finding was that participants' critical thinking ability was not only significantly positively correlated with their argumentative writing scores but also with Toulmin elements of data,counterargument claim and rebuttal occurred in their writing,which demonstrated that students with sound critical thinking ability were more likely to perform well in argumentative writing and vice versa.Meanwhile,students with excellent critical thinking ability were apt to take opposing viewpoint into account in their writing,and the use of Toulmin elements of data,counterargument and rebuttal in writing would be favorable for students to make well-founded reasoning and write well-organizedessays.The results of the study were conducive to the understanding of critical thinking,and enhancement of students' critical thinking ability.It also brought profound implications for the teaching of argumentative writing,since Toulmin model was proposed to be integrated into argumentative writing instruction in classroom.