Writing Outside the Box: Creativity in the EFL Classroom

Page No.: 
127
Writer(s): 
Cory J. Koby, Miyagi Gakuin Women’s University

Reference Data: 

Koby, C. (2016). Writing outside the box: Creativity in the EFL classroom. In P. Clements, A. Krause, & H. Brown (Eds.), Focus on the learner. Tokyo: JALT.

Japanese high school students rarely have the opportunity to express themselves through creative writing in their native language. There are even fewer opportunities for them to write creatively in English, and opportunities to engage in writing English poetry are almost unheard of. This paper discusses the results of a creative writing lesson that employed short poetry and prose writing tasks. The class consisted of 19 high English ability, 3rd-year students in an all-girls private high school and focused on facilitating individual expression. Data collected from pre- and postlesson questionnaires suggest that second language learners can benefit from creative writing activities. Results from this lesson may provide impetus for language educators to consider incorporating creativity into their classrooms.

日本の高校生は母語である日本語ですら自分の意見を文章で表現する機会がほとんどない。まして英語での創作 、特に詩を書く活動は皆無であると言っても過言ではない。この研究では、英語で詩や散文を書く活動について議論する。授業は女子高校3年生の比較的英語力のある生徒を対象とし、自己表現に重点を置いた。授業の前後で得た学習者を対象とするアンケートデータによると、英語での創作活動が有益で、自己表現による創作活動導入を奨励する結果となっている。

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