Critical Thinking Cultivation of Teachers’ Perspective: Conception, Influencing Factors and Challenges in English Writing Teaching

This qualitative study delves into the influential factors and pivotal challenges affecting the fostering of critical thinking within the realm of English writing instruction from the perspective of teachers.Therefore, this study adopts interview and thematic analysis methods to extract the key elements of critical thinking development.Through an in-depth analysis of interview data, the research identifies significant elements including "three levels" and "six elements".Specifically, the three levels are teaching cognitive tools, learning tasks, and teaching guidance framework; with teaching cognitive tools mainly referring to the element of mind maps; and learning tasks encompass immersive writing tasks, discovery-based tasks, and authentic assessment tasks.Moreover, the study unveils an indirect impact of cognitive tools on students' critical thinking growth through the avenue of peer support, as previously explored.These findings highlight the indispensable roles assumed by cognitive tools, learning tasks, and learning scaffolds in nurturing critical thinking skills among secondary school students within the framework of English writing instruction.