Taking a longitudinal qualitative case study approach,this study followed two high school EFL teachers over an academic year to explore their beliefs and practices in writing instruction. Multiple methods were used in data collection, including interviews with the teachers and students,classroom observations,and written documents such as course syllabi, handout and students’ writings. Data analyses showed that the two teachers considered that the purpose of English writing instruction was to nurture students’ abilities of critical thinking and omprehensive language use. Therefore,the development of writing competence should be integrated with the competences of listening,speaking and reading. They took genre approach, integrating writing activities into other English teaching activities,and attending the process of learning to write in English. This study indicates that high school EFL teachers may go beyond the constraint of examination pressure to nurture their students’ development in English writing competence.