Developing Thinking Skills in the Course of Academic Writing

Thinking is as natural as breathing, drinking and eating. People have an innate eagerness to discover things, to reason about the processes and activities they are involved in. But for adults learning a second language various dimensions of thinking play a significant role, including their beliefs, attitudes, their capacity to remember, and the use of strategies. The aim of the article is to list and categorize lower order and higher order thinking skills which might contribute to the enhancement of skills of writing and which students need when studying at the university, particularly when writing their seminar paper, Bachelor paper or dissertation. Moreover, an implementation of thinking skills into the teaching of writing is demonstrated.