The Effect of Critical Language Awareness on EFL Learners’ Writing Ability

The present study sought to investigate the effect of Critical Language Awareness (CLA) on upper-intermediate EFL learners’ writing ability. Thirty-two EFL learners were selected based on their scores on a placement test and were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. In addition to the placement test, a five-paragraph essay writing test was administered to assess the participants’ writing ability through the use of a standardized rubric consisting of five categories of critical response, development of ideas, structure of response, word choice, and mechanics. The three-stage treatment which was based on the frameworks of Wallace (1992), Fairclough (1989) and Ivanic and Simpson (1992) was offered to the experimental group in twelve sessions. The result of independent samples t-tests did not show any significant effect of the treatment on the participants’ overall writing ability; however, when the categories were considered separately, the result was statistically significant in terms of critical response. The major implication of this study is for writing instructors who need to consider critical attitudes of the EFL learners as an important factor in their instruction.