Writing skills improvement and development of critical thinking

The article discusses the importance of improving writing skills along with the development of critical thinking. Despite significant achievements in this area, the study of critical thinking and its individual aspects as a complex phenomenon, as a necessary component of the process of improving writing skills, remains relevant. The interest in this topic will not diminish. The aim of the article is to substantiate the necessity of a comprehensive approach to writing skills improvement, that should be based on the simultaneous development of both writing skills and critical thinking skills for higher education students; to describe teaching techniques and technologies effective for the development of writing in a foreign language using critical thinking skills. The process of developing critical thinking takes place within the framework of improving discourse competence (coherence and cohesion), one of the four components (grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse, strategic) defined as parts of the general communicative competence. Discourse competence can be improved when the development and strengthening of the grammatical competence component (words and rules) have already been completed. As the work on improving writing skills in foreign language classes for higher education students is supposed to adopt a holistic and comprehensive approach the Complex for improving writing skills is offered. The main requirements for the Complex for improving writing skills are as follows: grammatical competence (words and rules) is supposed to be basically formed; critical thinking skills should correspond to the accompanying mental operations; it is mandatory to work on words and phrases that enable logical transitions between between pieces of information in narration ; it is mandatory to work on techniques that train emotional control, the ability to communicate effectively under pressure while maintaining neutrality; and the development of cooperation skills and self-organization with the use of digital tools is essential. A detailed list of technics is offered that are parts of the Complex for Improving Writing Skills, which consists of 3 stages (1) accumulation of information from various sources; 2) research/processing of information (comparison, analysis, evaluation, ordering; sorting; testing different points of view, different possibilities and justification); 3) conclusion, recognition and analysis of errors, decision-making). The Complex for Improving Writing Skills aligns with the core requirements for fostering critical thinking while enhancing communicative competence in foreign language classes at higher education institutions.