Effects of a Critical Thinking College English Writing Class

English writing instructions in the Korean EFL context rarely perform research with a focus on critical thinking. This paper investigates the effects of a critical thinking college writing class on the writing of a class of 15 beginning writers with an intermediate level of English. A translation test consisting of 15 questions, as well as a free writing self-introduction assignment were conducted as a pre-test and a post-test at the beginning and end of the semester, respectively. The accuracy of the translation text was examined, as well as the fluency, complexity and accuracy of the free writing were analyzed qualitatively. Though the grammar didn’t improve much compared with a class with a Korean instructor, according to the analysis of accuracy, fluency and complexity of the free writing, the students exhibited increased confidence, creativity and a greater focus on abstract topics in the content and self-expression of their free writing.