Integration Of Critical Literacy And Writing Skills In Indonesian Language Learning Among Elementary School Students

This study examines the relationship between critical literacy and writing skills among sixth-grade students at SDN 69 Kendari. Critical literacy is an important component of language learning because it enables students to identify relevant information, evaluate ideas, interpret texts, and develop evidence-based understanding. These abilities may be associated with students’ capacity to organize ideas and communicate them effectively through writing. This study employed a quantitative correlational design involving 83 sixth-grade students selected from a population of 104 students using proportionate random sampling. Data were collected through a critical literacy test and a writing task assessed using an analytical rubric. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Shapiro–Wilk normality test, a linearity test, Pearson product-moment correlation, and the coefficient of determination with the assistance of IBM SPSS version 25. The results indicated that the data met the assumptions of normality and linearity. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between critical literacy and writing skills (r = 0.684, p < 0.001). The coefficient of determination (R² = 0.468) indicated that 46.8% of the variance in writing skills was statistically accounted for by critical literacy in the linear model. These findings suggest that students who demonstrate stronger critical literacy skills tend to achieve better writing performance. However, the correlational design does not establish a causal relationship between the variables. These findings highlight the importance of integrating critical reading and writing activities into elementary Indonesian language instruction. Teachers can implement activities that encourage students to identify relevant information, distinguish facts from opinions, evaluate textual content, develop evidence-based ideas, organize arguments, and produce coherent written texts.