THE ENHANCEMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACADEMIC WRITING IN ENGLISH LESSONS

The article delves into the significance of higher-order thinking skills in the context of academic writing, exploring various methodologies aimed at enhancing students' competencies in this area. It emphasizes the role of critical thinking, which is a key component of interdisciplinary knowledge as per Bloom's taxonomy strategy, encompassing the stages of remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. The study's main purpose is to analyze the effectiveness of the implementation of academic writing in the development of student's critical thinking skills. Accordingly, the research seeks to investigate and nurture students' critical thinking skills through academic writing. It demonstrates that students can effectively acquire critical thinking skills through specially structured educational activities in a phased learning approach. The study utilized a mixed-method design, collecting data through observation, written documents, and online surveys. The data obtained from these sources were then analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings of the research reveal various stages of teaching critical thinking, facilitated by the instructor's efforts to actively engage students in the learning process. Based on the results of theoretical and expert analysis, the quantitative and qualitative data were compared and illustrated positive growth in learners’ academic writing skills. The processed-based approach was determined as a means of successful learning methodology in the development of higher-order thinking skills. The study also highlights the importance of well-designed writing assignments and group activities in encouraging students to revisit concepts, critically evaluate assumptions, and make substantial revisions to their written work.