THE CORRELATION BETWEEN PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ CREATIVITY AS A PART OF 4C SKILLS AND WRITING PERFORMANCE AT ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION

Abstract

21st-century skills, particularly the 4Cs (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity), have become a major focus in higher education, including in academic writing instruction. Creativity is often considered a factor that can enhance the quality of students’ writing. However, the relationship between creativity and writing performance among prospective English teacher students still requires empirical evidence. This study aims to determine whether there is a correlation between creativity and students’ writing performance in the English Language Education Study Program. This study employed a quantitative method with a correlational design. The research subjects consisted of 53 third- and fifth-semester students who had completed the Argumentative Writing course. Creativity data were collected through a questionnaire, while writing performance data were obtained from students’ writing assignment scores. Data analysis was conducted using the Spearman Rank correlation test. The results showed a correlation coefficient of r = -0.191 with a significance value of 0.170 (p > 0.05). This indicates that there is no significant correlation between creativity and writing performance. The very weak and non-significant correlation suggests that creativity is not a primary factor determining academic writing quality. Writing performance is likely more influenced by linguistic aspects such as grammar, vocabulary, organization, and coherence. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that creativity does not have a significant relationship with students’ writing performance in this study.