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2018/4/25 Creative writing for language learners (and teachers) | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC Help Log in Sign Up for a Free Account LearnEnglish Kids LearnEnglish LearnEnglish Teens EnglishAgenda Creative writing for language learners (and teachers) 5 109 82 7526 Submitted 8 years 4 mon...

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Creative writing for language learners (and teachers) 5

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Submitted 8 years 4 months ago by Alan Maley.

Creative writing normally refers to the production of texts which have an aesthetic rather than a purely informative, instrumental or pragmatic purpose.

Most often, such texts take the form of poems or stories, though they are not confined to these genres. (Letters, journal entries, blogs, essays, travelogues, etc. can also be more or less creative.) In fact, the line between creative writing (CW) and expository writing (ER) is not carved in stone. In general, however CW texts draw more heavily on intuition, close observation, imagination, and personal memories than ER texts.  

One of the chief distinguishing characteristics of CW texts is a playful engagement with language, stretching and testing its rules to the limit in a guilt-free atmosphere, where risk is encouraged. Such writing combines cognitive with affective modes of thinking. As the poet, R.S. Thomas once wrote, ‘Poetry is that which arrives at the intellect by way of the heart.’ The playful element in CW should not, however be confused with a lax and unregulated use of language. On the contrary, CW requires a willing submission on the part of the writer to the ‘rules’ of the subgenre being undertaken. If you want to write a Limerick, then you have to follow the rules governing limericks. If not, what you produce will be something other than a limerick: obvious, perhaps, but important too. The interesting thing is that the very constraints which the rules impose seem to foster rather than restrict the creativity of the writer. This apparent paradox is explained partly by the deeper processing of

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What are the benefits of CW for learners?

CW aids language development at all levels: grammar, vocabulary, phonology and discourse. It requires learners to manipulate the language in interesting and demanding ways in attempting to express uniquely personal meanings. In doing so, they necessarily engage with the language at a deeper level of processing than with most expository texts. (Craik and Lockhart 1972) The gains in grammatical accuracy and range, in the appropriacy and originality of lexical choice, in sensitivity to rhyme, rhythm, stress and intonation, and in the way texts hang together are significant. As mentioned above, a key characteristic of CW is a willingness to play with the language. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the role of play in language acquisition. (Carter 2004, Cook 2000, Crystal 1998) In some ways, the tsunami of the Communicative Approach has done a disservice to language teaching   by its insistence on the purely communicative functions of language. Proponents of ‘play’ point out, rightly, that in L1 acquisition, much of the language encountered by and used by children is in the form of rhythmical chants and rhymes, word games, jokes and the like. Furthermore, such playfulness survives into adulthood, so that many social encounters are characterized by language play (punning, spontaneous jokes, ‘funny voices’, metathesis, and a discourse which is shaped by quasi-poetic repetition (Tannen 1989)). These are precisely the kinds of things L2 learners are encouraged to do in CW activities. This playful element encourages them to play creatively with the language, and in so doing, to take the risks without which learning cannot take place in any profound sense.  As Crystal (1998) states, ‘Reading

and writing do not have to be a prison house. Release is

possible. And maybe language play can provide the key.’ Much of the teaching we do tends to focus on the left side of the brain, where our logical faculties are said to reside. CW puts the emphasis on the right side of the brain, with a focus on feelings, physical sensations, intuition and musicality. This is a healthy restoration of the balance between logical and intuitive faculties. It also affords scope for learners whose hemisphere dominance or learning-style preferences may not be intellectual or left brain dominant, and who, in the normal process of teaching are therefore at a disadvantage. Perhaps most notable is the dramatic increase in self-confidence and self-esteem which CW tends to develop among learners. Learners also tend to discover things for themselves about the language… and about themselves too, thus promoting personal as well as linguistic growth. Inevitably, these gains are reflected in a corresponding growth in positive motivation. Among the conditions for promoting motivation, Dornyei (2001: 138-144) cites:

“5.

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Create a pleasant and supportive atmosphere.

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  6. Promote the development of group cohesiveness. By continuing to browse the site we understand this is acceptable to you. Learn about managing cookies.

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13. Increase the students’ expectation of success in particular tasks and in learning in general. 17. Make learning more stimulating and enjoyable by breaking the monotony of classroom events. 18. Make learning stimulating and enjoyable by increasing the attractiveness of tasks. 19. Make learning stimulating and enjoyable for learners by enlisting them as active task participants. 20. Present and administer tasks in a motivating way. 23. Provide students with regular experiences of success. 24. Build your learners’ confidence by providing regular encouragement. 28. Increase student motivation by promoting cooperation among the learners. 29. Increase student motivation by actively promoting learner autonomy. 33. Increase learner satisfaction. 34. Offer rewards in a motivational manner.”   

All these conditions are met in a well-run CW class. The exponential increase in motivation is certainly supported by my own experience in teaching CW. Learners suddenly realize that they can write something in a foreign language that has never been written by anyone else before, and which others find interesting to read. (Hence the importance of ‘publishing’ students’ work in some form.)  And they experience not only a pride in their own products but also a joy in the ‘flow’

of the process. (Czsikszentmihaly 1997). 

Finally, CW feeds into more creative reading. It is as if, by getting inside the process of creating the texts, learners come to understand intuitively how such texts function, and this makes similar texts easier to read.  Likewise, the development of aesthetic reading skills ( Kramsch  1993, Rosenblatt 1978), provides the learner with a better understanding of textual construction, and this feeds into their writing.

And teachers? I argued in the first article that teachers, as well as learners, should engage with extensive reading.  In the same spirit, I would argue that there are significant benefits to teachers if they participate in CW.

There is little point in exhorting learners to engage in CW unless we do so too.  The power of the teacher as model, and as co-writer is inestimable.

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CW is one way of keeping teachers’ English fresh and vibrant.  For

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much of our professional lives we are in thrall to the controlled By continuing to browse the site we understand this is

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English of our students.  As teachers of language, we surely have a responsibility to keep our primary resource alive and well. CW seems to have an effect on the writer’s level of energy in general.  This tends to make teachers who use CW more interesting to be around, and this inevitably impacts on their relationships with students. The experimental stance with regard to writing in general appears to fee back into the teaching of writing.  Teachers of CW tend also to be better teachers of writing in general                              

My evidence for these assertions is largely anecdotal, backed by a survey of writing teachers I conducted in 2006.  One of the interesting facts to emerge was a widespread belief among teachers of writing that CW had a positive effect on students’ writing of Expository texts and helped them develop that much- desired but rarely-delivered ‘authentic voice’.

Space does not allow me to expand on these findings, nor on some of the possible activities teachers might try.  I will attempt to make good these omissions in some of my blogs during the month of December. I will also make reference there to ways in which CW intersects with some of our major current concerns. Meantime, anyone interested could sample some of the books from the list below: Fry (2007), Koch (1990), Matthews (1994), Spiro (2004, 2007), Whitworth (2001) and Wright and Hill (2009)

References

Carter, Ronald.  (2004)  Language and creativity: the art of common talk.  London: Routledge. Cszikszentmihalyi. M. ( 1997) Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention.  New York: Harper Perennial   Cook, Guy (2000)  Language Play: Language Learning.  Oxford: Oxford University Press. Craik, F.I.M  and R.S Lockhart    (1972) 

‘Levels

of processing: a

framework for memory research’  Journal of  Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour.  11.  671-685 Crystal, David (1998) Language Play. London: Penguin Dornyei, Zoltan (2001)  Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fry, Stephen (2007)  The Ode Less Travelled.  London: Arrow Books. Koch, Kenneth. (1990)  Rose, where did you get that red?  New York: Vintage Books.

site usesContext cookies toCulture help make it moreTeaching.  Kramsch,This Claire (1993)  and in Language Oxford: Oxford usefulUniversity to you. Press.

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By continuing to browse the site we understand this is Matthews, Paul (1994)  Sing Me the Creation.  Stroud: Hawthorne Press. acceptable to you. Learn about managing cookies.

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Rosenblatt, Louise  (1978)  The Reader, the Text, the Poem. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. Spiro, Jane (2004)  Creative Poetry Writing.  Oxford: Oxford University Press. Spiro, Jane (2007)  Storybuilding. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tannen, Deborah. (1989)  Talking Voices: Repetition, dialogue, and imagery in conversational discourse.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Whitworth, John.  (2001)  Writing Poetry.  London: A and C Black. Wright, Andrew and David S.Hill.  (2009) Writing Stories.  Innsbruck: Helbling By Alan Maley

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Comments Shef

replied on 18 December, 2009 - 03:26 PERMALINK

(/COMMENT/6075#COMMENT-6075) VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR? (/COMMENT/6075#COMMENT-6075)

Dear Alan, Though the 'communicative' method is predominantw here I work, I do include a loto f simple creative writing exercises - diamond poems, shape poems, rhymes, English words (lyrics) to be setto a given popular tune etc. and these activities are well received by the adultl earners who I work with. Atth e intermediate level, the participants do activities like listening to a piece of Thismusic siteand uses cookies to help make it more writing their thoughts or a script involving Yes, I agree useful to you. cartoons or two mythological characters etc. With these By continuing to browse the site we understand this is learnerstothere is a scope improvement i n grammar butNo, I want to find out more acceptable you. Learn aboutofmanaging cookies. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/creative-writing-language-learners-teachers

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Creative writing for language learners (and teachers) | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC in the case the pre-intermediate learners, it has more to do with vocabulary. This said, I am glad you wrote this article as ito nce again emphasizes playfulness in language acquisition! Bestw ishes, Shefali   

Alan Maley PERMALINK

replied on 20 December, 2009 - 15:00

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MUSIC AND WORDS (/COMMENT/6122#COMMENT-6122) Dear Shefali,  Thanks again for your supportive comments.  By the way, could you tell me which country you work in and whatk ind of institution?  It sounds to me as if you have found ways of circumventing, to some degree, the kinds of institutional constraints thatm any teachers work under.  And the idea of using music as a stimulus for writing is brilliant.  Atth e lastI ATEFL conference in Cardiff, I ran a symposium on The arta nd Artistry of ELT.  One of my co-presenters was Ben Russell, who gave us some highly creative ideas on how music can be used to develop creative writing.  (The write-up is in the Cardiff Conference selections.)  With best wishes  Alan

rob lewis

replied on 21 December, 2009 - 09:44 PERMALINK

This site uses cookies to help make it more (/COMMENT/6133#COMMENT-6133) useful to you. A HAIBUN EXPERIENCE By continuing to browse the site we understand this is

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Creative writing for language learners (and teachers) | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC Dear Alan and all I think you mightf ind this blog entry by Nina Mustafa

(http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blo gs/ninamustafa/a-haibun-experience) worth a read. In two parts, Nina describes her introduction to and firste xperience of working with haibun in her creative writing class. She decided to take her class outf or a walk:My 19

CW students are undergraduates ata very impressionable age of 20-22.  They are very colourful, a mixed of abilitya nd attitude. But one thing in common is thatth ey all love writing.  When I firstm entioned to them thatw e were going outo f the class for a shortw alk around the faculty- something unconventional for a language class here in my country - itw as received with a mixed reaction.  The more easygoing and adventurous ones were really elated to the ceiling and received itw ith a "Yesss!!  Alllrightt!!"; the follow-the book ones were a little hesitanta nd worrisome, receiving itw ith a "Walk? Outside?  Is itl egal?"; the vanityfa ir ones who are notto o keen to expose themselves to the bad 5 pm rays withouts f sunblock went "You mean now, as in now?".I then discussed with my students on whath aibun is, citing Alan's brilliant piece.  And since in haibuns, narratives are intertwined with shortp oems, so I wento n to touch a bito n writing poems.  The students were a little more worried on the poem part.  I tried notto intimidate them, so I assured them thati n writing the poem bito f the haibun ,anything is acceptable, thatth ere is no right or wrong.  If their poems are notu nderstood, treat ita s an abstract- abstracts are notm eantt o be understood anyway. Thatm ade them feel a whole lotb etter. You can read the conclusion and an example of one of Nina's students' work in her second blog entry

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Creative writing for language learners (and teachers) | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC continuation).Have you ever tried anything similar? (Alan, I'm imagining you have!)

aadikc

replied on 8 May, 2011 - 17:25 PERMALINK

(/COMMENT/15334#COMMENT-15334) IMPROVEMENT (/COMMENT/15334#COMMENT-15334) Hi  sir, firsto f all thanks a lotf or ur wonderful article basically i hails from india and working as a english teacher here i completed my MA in english. Buts ir i don'tk now sir still i have problems in my grammar areas because of this I am nota ble to deliver even a speech please give me

jvl narasimha rao PERMALINK

replied on 18 December, 2009 - 06:01

(/COMMENT/6076#COMMENT-6076)

ALL ABOUT CREATIVE WRITING (/COMMENT/6076#COMMENT-6076) Dear Alan,                                                 Thank you very much for your extremely useful and highly productive article On creative writing for learners and teachers. In fact I am looking for a great person of your stature who will guide me in my poetic and

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writing pursuits. I have already requested you to have a

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look atm y poems and you have read them but not offered

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Creative writing for language learners (and teachers) | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC other 2 poems The streetc hildren and the typical Indian railway journey and send your comments either to my email or express them in your comments as response. You have given a detailed information about creative writings and expository writings,how they are useful to the students and teachers,which books they should refer to and which activities they should attemptv ery clearly and lucidly. I hope you will ta...