Exploring creativity in young learners’ English writing: A corpus-based analysis of 6th-grade students in the IB programme in Korea

This study explores the creative writing abilities of young Korean EFL learners within the framework of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP). A corpus of 145 creative writing samples from 6th-grade students was analysed to examine both linguistic features and creative thinking skills by employing the Coh-Metrix Text Profile (TERA) and Guilford’s Divergent Thinking Model. The results indicate a high level of narrativity and syntactic simplicity, as well as deep cohesion in the students’ writing, reflecting their developmental stage and educational practices. However, the analysis also reveals limitations in flexibility and originality, which may be attributed to the cultural impact on creativity. These findings may support the integration of creative thinking skills into language learning in EFL education, emphasising the need for targeted pedagogical strategies to foster originality and diverse perspectives among young learners in the Korean EFL contexts.