IMPROVING EFL STUDENTS’ CRITICAL READING AND WRITING SKILLS: A PROPOSED SYLLABUS AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS

Abstract

The present study aims to suggest a syllabus for a critical reading and writing course for pre-service EFL teachers at the department of English Language Teaching, and to investigate its effectiveness. The syllabus was designed according to the frameworks of critical reading and writing and needs analysis conducted with lecturers of reading and writing skill courses and their syllabi. One-group pretest-posttest design, one of the quasi-experimental research designs, was used since there was only one group. Data were collected through pre and post-tests using argumentative essays and the Questionnaire on Critical Thinking Ability in English Reading and analyzed using a paired-sample t-test. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the pre and post-test scores of critical reading and writing (p <.01). Consequently, it could be concluded that the suggested syllabus improved students’ critical reading and writing skills. Accordingly, some suggestions were recommended for further studies.