assumptions, plus; semantics, definition, prediction in planning experiments.
17
3. California Critical Thinking Skills Test CCTST
The California Critical Thinking Test CCTST is administered by Insight Assessment. The CCTST has been used in many countries such as USA and
in authorized translations worldwide countries. The CCTST targets the core critical thinking skills: analysis, interpretation, inference, evaluation, and
explanation. Several scores are generated by the CCTST as follows: total score; inductive and deductive reasoning, and sub-scale scores; sub-scale
scores relating to the categories of analysis, inference, and evaluation. The CCTST can be used for learning outcomes assessment, performance
funding, program evaluation, professional development, training, and as an element in application, admissions, and personnel evaluation processes.
18
4. The Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test
The test was created by R. H. Ennis and E. Weir from Midwest Publications. It is aimed to measure CT skill at grades 7 through college.
Also intended to be used as a teaching material. Incorporates getting the point, seeing the reasons and
assumptions, stating one‟s point, offering good reasons, seeing other possibilities including other possible explanations,
and responding to and avoiding irrelevance, reversal of in a relationship, overgeneralization, credibility problems, and the use of emotive language to
persuade.
19
Test instruments that are used to measure critical thinking skills typically require the student to read and evaluate statements that measure
various aspects of thinking ability include investigation, analysis, evaluation
17
R. H. Ennis, Millman, J. Tomko, T. N., Cornell Critical Thinking Tests Level X and Level Z Manual, CA: Midwest Publications, 1985, 3
rd
ed., p. 3 —10.
18
www.insightassessment.com
19
R. H. Ennis, Suplement to the TestEnnis Critical Thinking Test. Retrieved from: http:faculty.education.illinois.edurhennissupplewmanual1105.htm
and argumentation. From these measures, it is hoped that the quality or the level of the students critical thinking can be determined.
B. The Concept of Writing
1. Nature of Writing
Writing is one of the major skills in English considered as active or productive skills. Writing is the way to communicate to the other through written
symbol. In writing, the writer needs to express the idea in the mind to the paper or any other kinds of writing tool which is readable. As Browne stated writing is
a complex activity involving many skills to determine ideas and to transfer the ideas onto a piece of a paper clearly and comprehensibly for the reader.
20
Another definition was given by Olsthain as quoted by Murcia viewing writing as an act of communication suggests an interactive process which takes
place between the writer and the reader via text.
21
It means that in written communication, both the writer and the reader have significant role on which the
writer acts as an informant, while the reader acts as the receiver. Based on the explanation above, it can be conclude that writing is an
activity to transfer or to communicate the idea in someone„s mind to other through the process of writing. Through writing, they can also transfer information and
knowledge to others. In other words, writing can be said as a mean of communication between the writer and the reader. Additionally, Writing is
different from other skills because except language skills, it needs other skills such as knowledge and the ability to analyze and synthesize the idea.
2. Writing Process
Writing is not an activity that can be done only in once activity, but it needs some steps that should be passed by the writer. As Langan quoted that
“writing is a process of discovery involving a series steps and those steps are very
20
Ann Browne, Teaching and Learning communication, Language and Literacy, London: Paul Chapman Publishing, 2007, p. 81.
21
Celce-Murcia, Marianne, Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, Boston: Thomson Learning Inc, 2001, p. 207.
often a zigzag journey ”.
22
It means that the process of writing is often complicated and need time to reach the final draft because each stage has its own
difficulty and complexity as well as its own significance and goal. Therefore, in order to write effectively and correctly, each process should be conducted
carefully. There are many steps of writing process as proposed by some experts. The
process of writing is mainly depend on the reader, the purpose, the content and the situation in which the writer composing writing.
23
Dietsch proposes the stages of writing into 4 steps as follow:
1. Prewriting
This is the first stage of writing. In this stage the writer produces some ideas and decides the purpose and the reader of the writing.
2. Drafting
Drafting is primarily a stage of discovery and exploration. This stage requires the writers to transform ideas into sentences in semi organized
manner. The aim is to let the writers‟ ideas develop, expand and build
connection. 3.
Revision Revising is the activity of deleting, expanding and clarifying the ideas.
Revising can be done during all the process of writing. 4.
Editing proofreading In this stage requires examining ideas, details, words, grammar, and
punctuation. Here the emphasis is on accuracy, correctness and clarity.
24
Meanwhile, Oshima and Hogue state that the process of writing consists of four steps, those are: pre-writing, organizing, writing a draft and the last is
22
John Langan , College Writing Skills, New York: McGraw- Hill Companies, 2007, 6
th
Edition, p. 13.
23
Kristine Brown and Susan Hood, Writing Matter: Writing Skills and Strategies for Students of English, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 6.
24
Betty Mattix Dietsch, Reasoning and Writing Well: A Rhetoric, Research Guide, Reader and Handbook, New York: McGraw-Hill Company, 2006, 4
th
edition, p. 11.
