EVALUATING ESL STUDENTS’ CREATIVITY IN WRITING

Writing as a productive skill is very important integral part in the language learning process. However, writing is not considered as an easy skill by the students and it is certainly considered a difficult skill to teach by many ESL teachers. Creative writing normally refers to the production of texts which have an aesthetic rather than a purely informative, instrumental or pragmatic purpose. Creative writing in ESL classes has started developing lately but only to be incorporated as a supportive skill in teaching writing. Responding to students’ writing is an important issue to discuss when considering teaching creative writing. Response is a process that includes peer review, peer editing and continuous feedback through the stages of creative writing. By giving a constructive feedback, the teacher understands writer’s problems and intentions by also making students responsible for finding and analyzing what needs to be improved. Keywords: teaching, writing, creativity, feedback, assessment