Evaluating ESL Students’ Creativity in Writing

Writing as a productive skill is an integral
part of the language-learning process. However,
students do not consider writing an easy skill to learn
and many ESL teachers certainly consider it a
difficult skill to teach.Creative writing normally
refers to the production of texts that 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 providing
constructive feedback, the teacher understands a
writer’s problems and intentions by making students
responsible for finding and analyzing what needs to
be improved.