This study investigated how the critical language awareness (CLA) framework can be implemented with an emphasis on writing and how English-language learners respond to CLA. The findings suggest that the students directed their attention away from the sole emphasis on reading for learning vocabulary and grammar to other dimensions of texts and identity possibilities as readers. In addition, the students responded favorably to the identity positions of writers made available through the writing implemented in this research. Furthermore, they were able to understand linguistic features as more than vocabularies and grammatical structures but also serve ideological purposes. However, the results also showed that the students considered the constructed nature of texts in relation to author intentionality and ignored how writers and readers both function within Discourse communities. These findings reveal the necessity for a more explicit discussion with students of the consequences of a critical awareness of texts for them as writers. The pedagogical implications from the research are discussed.