APAPAN RUENGKUL -

THE EFFECTS OF PROJECT-BASED WRITING INSTRUCTION ON STUDENTS' WRITING ABILITY AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS : TEACHING WRITING

Writing and critical thinking skills are necessary for everyone in today’s life and in academic setting. However, it is deemed problematic for Thai EFL students. To promote students to be competent in written communication and think critically, project-based instruction is regarded as an appropriate way to help develop students (Stoller, 2012; Newprasit, 2014; Kettanun, 2015). Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of project-based writing instruction on students’ writing ability and critical thinking skills. This research design will be a mixed method conducted with 33 first-year undergraduate students from Srinakharinwirot University. Quantitative data collection will be conducted using the writing tests and the attitude questionnaire. Then these data will be analyzed using paired-sample t-test and descriptive statistics. Regarding qualitative data collection, it will be conducted using stimulated recall, a semi-structured interview, and students’ reflective journals. After that these data will be analyzed by means of content analysis.

Apapan Ruengkul is a Ph.D. candidate in the English as an International Language Program at Chulalongkorn University. At present, she is a lecturer at Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University. Her research interests include project-based instruction, English writing instruction, critical thinking instruction, and material development.