Tài liệu Effects of creative writing on writing skill improvement for first year students in ibd program at neu

M IN IS T R Y O F E D U C A T IO N A N D T R A IN IN G Ha N oi U n iversity T R A N T H I P H U O N G H IE N EFFECTS OF CREATIVE WRITING ON WRITING SKILL IMPROVEMENT FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN IBD PROGRAM AT NEU SUBM ITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLM ENT OF REQUIREM ENTS OF THE DEGREE OF M ASTER IN TESOL S U P E R V IS O R ’S N A M E : N G O T U Y E T M A I, M .E D THÖN& TH!/VIEN ü . .VV-WHNirÖC.-ifiOAf u,v ; J H anoi - O ctob er, 2009 ACKNOW LEDGEM ENTS Firstly, I w ould like to acknow ledge and express my deep gratitude and sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Ms. Ngo Tuyet M ai, M .Ed for her intensive revisions, patient guidance, encouragem ent, insightful suggestions and kind support throughout my research. Secondly, my special thanks go to Dr. Vu Van Dai and Ms. N guyen Thai Ha, M .Ed o f the D epartm ent o f Postgraduate Studies for their constant support and concern while the w ork was in progress. Thirdly, I also w ish to thank all my colleagues for the stim ulating and creative work environm ent; and my students at N ational Econom ics U niversity for their interest, creativity and kind assistance during the tim e I collected data for the study. Finally, I am deeply indebted to all the support and encouragem ent that my family has so lovingly offered me. A B ST R A C T Writing skill is one o f the most difficult skills in learning and teaching foreign languages in general and in English in particular. In fact, many teachers find it hard to make writing lessons inspiring and enjoyable. This study aims at exploring the links between teaching creative writing through short stories and poem s and stu d en ts' writing skill improvement and its effects on the first year IBD students ’ writing skill improvement at intermediate level o f English proficiency at National Economics University (NEU). An experimental research was chosen to carry out for the study.50 students were divided into 2 groups (the experimental and the control group) o f 25 participated in the study. Both o f two groups are given the pre-test to make sure that they are pretty much o f writing level. The experimental group was taught by the researcher using creative writing activities to teach them writing lessons. The control group however was taught through a different writing course o f traditional writing activities suggested in the designed syllabus. After the experiment time, the post test was used to measure stu d en ts' writing skill improvement. The data collected fro m the pre-test and post-test results was com puted and analyzed by means o f t-tests, using paired-sam ple and independent-sample t-tests. A t the end o f this course, questionnaires are distributed to get these stu d en ts' feed b a ck on the evaluation o f w riting in general and creative writing in particular with suggestions and comments to make the course better. This study shows that using creative writing through short stories and poem s are o f great benefits fo r both teachers and students. It helps teachers create an enjoyable and creative writing learning environment which m otivates students to learn writing lessons. Students can therefore improve their w riting ability, vocabulary and enrich their imagination as well. Creative writing through short stories and poem s is therefore highly recom mended being used in English language classrooms. TABLE OF CONTENT A C K N O W L E D G E M EN TS....................................................................................................... I A BSTR A C T...................................................................................................................................II TABLE OF CO NTENT........................................................................................................... I ll LIST OF A B B R E V IA T IO N S..................................................................................................V LIST OF T A B L E S.....................................................................................................................VI LLIST OF FIGURESIST OF FIG URES........................................................................... VI CHAPTER 1: INTRO DUCTIO N............................................................................................ 1 1.1. Rationale...............................................................................................................................1 1.2. Statement o f problems...................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Purpose o f the study......................................................................................................... 4 1.4. The significance o f the s tu d y ......................................................................................... 4 1.5. The organization o f the th e sis ........................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE R E V IE W .............................................................................6 2.1. W ritin g ................................................................................................................................ 6 2.1.1 Definitions o f w riting................................................................................................. 6 2.1.2 Types o f writing.......................................................................................................... 7 2.2. Creative w riting................................................................................................................. 8 2.2.1. Definitions o f creative w riting................................................................................ 8 2.2.2. Types o f Creative W ritin g .......................................................................................9 2.2.4. Creative writing m ethodologies in ELT classroom s........................................ 13 2.2.5. W riting poem and short stories in the classroom .............................................. 14 2.3. S u m m ary .......................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 3: M ETH ODOLOG Y....................................................................................... 18 3.1. Experimental research....................................................................................................18 3.2. Subjects o f the s tu d y ......................................................................................................18 3.3. Procedures........................................................................................................................19 3.3.1. Designing pre-test and p o s t-te st.......................................................................... 21 3.3.2. Schedule o f the main activities for the study ................................................... 22 3.3.3. Q uestionnaires.......................................................................................................... 23 3.4. Description o f data analysis tools............................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND F IN D IN G S.....................................................................26 4.1 . Influences o f applied activities on experimental students................................... 26 4.2 The results o f the writing tests.......................................................................................28 4.2.1. The test results o f the control group................................................................... 28 4.2.2. The test results o f the experimental group......................................................... 30 4.2.3 The test results between control and experimental groups..............................32 4.3. Discussion o f the test results......................................................................................... 35 4.4 Questionnaire an alysis................................................................................................... 37 4.4.2. Students’ attitude toward Creative Writing o f short stories and poetry.... 38 4.4.3 Students’ difficulties when approaching creative w riting............................... 41 4.4.4 Suggestions on course improvement................................................................... 42 4.5 Summary........................................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 5: RECO M M ENDATIONS AND C O N C L U SIO N ................................45 5.1 Recommendations........................................................................................................... 45 5.2 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................47 R EFER ENC ES........................................................................................................................... 49 Appendix 1: Definitions o f ten types o f creative w riting............................................... 52 Appendix 2: Description o f applied activities.................................................................. 53 Appendix 3: Sam ple tests and marking schem es............................................................ 57 Appendix 4: Stories o f “The Goose and the Golden Egg” and “The Boy and the N uts” ...................................................................................................................................... 60 A ppendix 5: Q uestionnaire.................................................................................................... 62 Appendix 6: Students’ real w o r k ......................................................................................... 66 Appendix 7: Suggested websites for creative w riting id eas......................................... 79 Appendix 8: Some other Poetry’s perspective................................................................80 Appendix 9: Pre-test and post-test results......................................................................... 81 Appendix 10: Response results o f questionnaires........................................................... 84 LIS T O F A B B R E V IA T IO N S NEU: National Economics University 1BD: International Business Department EFL: English as s Foreign Language CG: Students o f control group EG: Students o f experimental group L2: Second language SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences M: Mean P: Probability value SD: Standard Deviation v LIST O F T A B LE S Table 1: Four forms o f writing Table 2: Five factors o f language learning framework Table 3: Design o f the main study Table 4\ Pre- and Post- test Results o f the Control Group Table 5: Pre- and Post-test Results o f the Experimental Group Table 6: Test Results between Control group and Experimental Group Table 7: The Section Test Results between Control Group (CG) and Experimental Group (EG) Table 8: Creative W riting activities students enjoyed most Table 9: Students’ suggestions for improvement LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Pre- and Post- test Results o f the Control Group Figure 5.1: Pre- and Post-test Results o f the Experimental Group Figure 6.1: Test Results between Control group and Experimental Figure 7.1: The Section Test Results between Control Group (CG) and Group Experimental Group (EG) Figure 8: Students’ attitude towards writing in general Figure 9: Students’ attitude toward creative writing in general Figure 10: Attitudes o f students toward Creative W riting o f short stories and poems Figure 11: Difficulties in doing Creative W riting activities o f short stories and poems C H A P T E R 1: IN T R O D U C T IO N 1.1. R ation ale W riting is considered one o f the most enjoyable and satisfying activities for both teachers and students to do together in a foreign language classroom, especially in an English classroom, especially in a foreign language classroom. Olson (1998) compared writing to fishing. People who are good at fishing should therefore study and practice it. They learn which tools to use for catching the best fish in different types o f water. In fact, no one is bom with fishing talents. Some people may enjoy it more than others, but everyone can do it if they want to. Writing is pretty m uch similar as it requires practice, tools and motivation. W riting helps students achieve academic mastery or academic success. W riting is usually a matter o f concerns for students when they are at school. Not all students find it easy to express their ideas in written form even in their m other tongue, not to mention in a second or foreign language. So how to encourage students in such as way to make them feel comfortable in writing in their second language is a question for teachers to make effort to answer. W hen a student writes something, it means that his or her writing is a product o f a thinking process from brains storming ideas to writing them on papers. And he or she expects that his or her writing product should be better or more interesting than others. His or her writing is required to be more creative to make differentiation in the mind o f readers. According to Rozakis (1997), creative writing is writing that expresses the writer's thoughts and feelings in an imaginative, often unique, and poetic way. And creative writing is guided more by the writer's need to express feelings and ideas than by restrictive demands o f factual and logical progression o f required writing under orders o f teachers or rules o f courses/programs. This is one o f the reasons why creative writing can be used as a tool to inspire students and get them involved in the second language. In many ways, it can help students improve their academic writing skills as required by the program. Though it is hard to have a clear definition o f creative writing, it can simply refer to writing o f short stories or poetry rather than o f essays or thesis. In creative writing, meaning bursts out o f the words used, and meanings come as much from the heart as from the mind. 1 Having attended the latest workshop on creative writing hosted by Hanoi University in 2007, the researcher was attracted by presenters coming from a w'ide range o f countries and teaching contexts who have an enthusiasm for creative writing, which inspired the researcher so much about the impacts o f creative writing on removing fear to wTite something in L2. With the desire and enthusiasm to make students improve writing skill through creative writing, the researcher wants to conduct an experimental research on teaching writing creatively and believes that course will gain a significant success. Concerning creative writing, there are various text types available for use. Each type has its own purposes, advantages and disadvantages. According to Rozakis (1997) there are top ten types o f Creative W riting including article, autobiography, biography, drama, essays, fantasy, novels, poetry, short stories and song lyrics (see Appendix 1 for description o f these types). However, not all ten text types o f creative writing are equally interesting or m otivating for students. Drama, fantasy and song lyrics do not seem to be favored in the writing curriculum because it takes a lot o f time to understand them, and it is difficult for students to master them for a short time o f twelve weeks. For four other types o f autobiography, biography, articles and novels, they seem to be too tough for both students to write in L2 and teachers to find the sources and design suitable activities. This research has therefore decided to choose poetry and short stories to design activities for students during writing lessons in class as both o f these two text types are very fam iliar to students. In addition, it is believed that sources o f short stories and poetry are various, and students will find it motivating to understand short stories and poems and interesting to write. Though it might be argued that poetry or/and short stories are not always easy to write even in m other tongue, this research proves that as long as teachers are provided with suitable teaching methodologies they can make it an easy and effective activity. 1.2. Statement of problems The first problem o f writing classes is the lack o f flexible and relaxing ways o f writing. A writing classroom in university contexts often starts with and focuses on writing for academic purposes because teachers always expect their students to be able to use their writing to present information under the rules o f academic writing that displays a clear understanding o f a subject in assignments. W riting teachers seem 2 to be usually to follow the footprints o f previous generations o f teachers with the same writing curriculum, same writing lesson plans o f teaching academic writing Therefore, writing becomes impersonal for the students since everything is being overly controlled by them because students are busy to keep up with the teachers’ demands and rely on teachers' corrections. Students may feel that they are incapable o f expressing their own ideas. They usually feel bored with learning writing because o f some reasons such as low motivation writing application, linguistic difficulty, vocabulary barrier, or even methodology o f teachers. The second problem is the lack o f teachers’ openness to the new text types. Hargeaves (1989) has asserted that change in the curriculum will not work effectively if there is no change in the teaching methodology. Thus, the teaching method is also very crucial to quality o f teaching writing. Because if a teacher knows how to involve students into lessons and make them released to share ideas with other students, or help them to clarify the m otivation and objective o f theirs to get what they want, students will study better. For example, by using activities or creating a lot o f interaction between students and lessons, teachers may help students improve their vocabulary, knowledge and imagination. Although the problem o f achieving effective teaching method challenges teachers, they are encouraged to overcome. The paper holds the view that creative writing through poetry and short stories may address these problems o f both teachers and students. It helps students how to produce their creative expressions through exciting exercises that expand their im agination and creativity. N othing is more wonderful than writing their own stories or com posing their own poems because they can express their own feelings, emotions, critical and logical thoughts and feel free to write what they want without being worried about obeying strict rules o f academic writing assignment in the course books. Creative writing makes them realize that they can reinvent or self-discover their insight talent. Goodwin (2007) said that people have lost dozens, hundreds, thousands, o f ideas because they haven’t captured them. By having an idea notebook o f some kind at all times, people can jo t these ideas down when they first come to. Then, once written down, they begin to take on a life o f their own. The more ideas people write down, the more people let the ideas flow, the more freely they’ll come to people, and the better they get. 3 Last but not least, there is a lack o f “creative writing’’ concepts in EFL classroom. In Vietnamese school curriculum, there is no subject o f creative writing. Very few researches so far touch on the concepts, some teachers who had attended creative writing courses or workshops in which “creative writing” was introduced do not want to choose creative writing as a writing activity. On the other hand, schedules for writing teachers imposed by the current writing syllabus are so tight and does not allow for creativities or flexibility. There is a lack o f tools to assess merits o f their students’ creative writing work. Some o f them may have doubts that they can get their students interested in writing poems, dramatic sketches or short stories. 1.3. Purpose o f the study With a focus on writing skill improvement, the current study is designed to exam ine the effects o f creative writing through poetry and short stories on writing skill im provement by comparing two ways o f teaching: teaching writing skill with and without creative writing o f poetry and short stories. Therefore, the study aims at answering the two following research questions: 1. What are the links between creative writing o f short stories and poem s an d writing skill im provement f o r IBD f ir s t yea r students in NEU? 2. H ow can the links have their impacts on teachers’ teaching methods o f writing skills and stu den ts’ writing perform ance? 1.4. The significance of the study As stated earlier, creative writing seems to be a new concept for English language teachers in Vietnam though it has been long applied in many countries. Only some courses on creative writing for teachers have been organized so far. This study is expected to suggest a new approach to teaching writing for university teachers o f English in Vietnamese contexts. In addition, this study takes into consideration the w riting motivation for students and their awareness o f writing skill’s importance. It helps students be confident in discovering and exploiting their own talent to play w ith language creatively. Furthermore, throughout the study, some relevant teaching experience in using creative writing for English writing lessons in IBD program is also shared. 4 It is strongly believed that the research result helps Vietnamese university teachers o f English be more open to and better equipped with a new approach to teaching writing contributing to the improvement o f Vietnamese students’ writing performance. 1.5. The organization of the thesis This thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1, the introduction, states the reason for the choice o f the research topic and some desirable targets (objectives) that the study aims at achieving. It also states the research questions to be answered as well as the research direction. Chapter 2, the Literature Review, explores various definitions o f creative writing while it focuses on the selected types o f creative writing. It shows a gap in literature by reviewing and analyzing the previous researches related to the same topics o f teaching writing in question. Chapter 3, the methodology, explains the research methods chosen for the study, which involves the four basic com ponents o f the experimental study: the subjects, variables, data collection instruments, and the research procedures. Chapter 4, the findings includes the presentation o f the findings resulted from the investigation, analyses o f the data as well as practical implications and recom mendations. Chapter 5, the conclusion addresses the limitation o f the research before giving some practical implications for both teachers and researchers o f writing skills for their further studies. 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter 2, Literature Review, is composed o f three sub sections. The first section studies the theoretical background o f writing including the definition of writing, and forms o f writing. The second section outlines some aspects o f creative writings such as benefits o f for using creative writing in the classroom and the benefits gained from using it for language learners and teachers. The questions o f how to make it work and what to write in the classroom are also addressed. The third section summarizes key points studied in this chapter. 2.1. W ritin g 2.1.1 Definitions o f writing There is a variety o f writing definitions. Byrne (1991) shared the standpoint o f writing in saying "W riting is a sequence o f sentences arranged in a particular order and link together in a certain way”. Byrne has given the priority o f writing as the consequence o f sentence order. To him, when a person connects sentences together and writes them down on paper, that’s writing. In her book, Rozakis (1997) further points out that “ W riting is a way o f communicating a message to a reader for a purpose”. Her em phasis is on the communicative function o f writing as what Leki (1976) once also wrote: “ W riting is communicating. Good writing gets your ideas out o f your head and into the reader’s head without losing or distorting those ideas”. In fact, an effective writing requires a contribution to organization in the development o f ideas and information, accuracy to make sure that there is no ambiguity o f meanings, careful choices o f vocabulary, grammatical patterns and sentence structures to get a suitable style for the subject matter and even the readers. From a slightly different point o f view, Rhodes (1995) stresses the rewards gained from the hard work o f writing. The reward here is not as obvious as when you have a sum o f bonus money and you can count it immediately, it can be seen after a process o f hard-working to produce the writings and to make it exist for a long time. Structured from a common code, writing is considered to be more durable than other private life events like loving, raising children, and doing the housework. Taking a book as an example, it can live a longer life than any o f us and its popularity can stay permanent with time. 6 However, Brannon, Knight and N ever-Turk (1982) have seen writing as a piece o f art that any o f us can create. It is the product o f our creativity. According to this. “ Writing is a creative act, not an assembly-line operation o f locking words together into sentences and bolting sentences together into paragraphs in accordance with a predefined plan’’. “W riting is like painting - a creative process o f continually making choices” . Writing requires creativeness and it is seen as an art work. In general, writing should be creative because creativity means that authors are good at using lexis, grammar, form and style to turns ideas into sentences and make them group together; and when the authors express their feeling and emotions through words it also means that they are communicating. In fact, writing is not a mysterious activity in which only few people can succeed; rather it is a craft, like weaving or playing an instrument that can be learned by almost anyone willing to invest the necessary time and energy. Writing is a creative process in transferring feeling, emotion and ideas o f writer to reader o f m aking choice but still follows the basic rules o f a good writing. 2.1.2 Types o f writing Traditionally, the types o f writing are divided into narration, description, exposition, and persuasion (Rozakis, 1997) D ESC R IPT IO N TY PES Narration -writing that tells a story -tells about real events includes biographies and autobiographies and deal with fictional events include short stories, myths, narrative poem s, and novels. -creates a word picture o f what something or som eone is like. Description - made up o f sensory details that help readers form pictures in their minds - uses images, words that appeal to one or more o f our five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, or smell. Imagery can be found in all sorts o f writing (and should be) but it is most common in poetry. Exposition -explains, shows, or tells about a subject - the most common type o f everyday writing -includes news articles: memos; business reports, and notes. Persuasion -tries to m ove an audience to thought or action (e.g. newspaper editorials, advertisements, and letters to the editor) Table 1: Four fo rm s o f writing 7 All four types o f writing share one crucial element - the reader, or the audience. Because when something is written down, it always aims at a certain destination which writing wants to send messages to. The message o f writing is its content and the message is presented in a variety o f ways. In this study, the researcher is in favor o f description because with this form, teachers can help students build their own world without any barriers. They write because they want to communicate ideas, want to learn something, fulfill a dream, and have information to share or speak with their passion; or because writing satisfies their soul. 2.2. Creative writing 2.2.1. Definitions o f creative writing Creativity in writing seems complicated to define yet it can be viewed that in some ways o f writing (short stories, poetry) are more creative than others (essay writing, thesis writing). Both teachers and students find it difficult to teach and write and too hard to reach. It sounds like the famous and great works o f famous people. According to Rozakis (1997), ‘All writing is creative’ but ‘creative writing is different from everyday-ordinary-comm onplace w riting’. It means that when writings are produced, more or less they are products created out o f creativity. But the products are unique in themselves, and they themselves bring different value to their writers. At the creative writing workshop at the Hanoi Open University in 2006, Maley kept repeating the great originality creative writing offers us. W hen we write something like short stories or poems, we create things that no one has ever done before. Those ideas originated from our own creativity. Rozakis (1997) also states: “Creative W riting is a kind o f writing that uses language in imaginative and bold ways”. Being able to create something “aesthetically pleasing” or in other words “artistically appealing” in a foreign language not only helps us to notice the language being used but also gives us the pleasure o f accomplishment. When writing an expository text we are essentially instrumentally motivated. We have facts, ideas, and opinions to put across. We have to follow rules and conventions o f grammatical and lexical accuracy. The aim o f expository writing is to be logical, consistent and impersonal to the reader. In contrast, creative writing is aesthetically motivated. It deals less in facts than in the imaginative representation o f 8 emotions, events, characters and experience. Creative writing doesn't mean breaking the rules o f the language; it also has forms, patterns that we have to follow. Creative writing aids language development at all levels: grammar, vocabulary, phonology and discourse. As learners manipulate the language in interesting and demanding ways attempting to express uniquely personal m eanings, they necessarily engage with the language at a deeper level o f processing than with expository texts. The gains in grammatical accuracy, appropriacy and originality o f lexical choice, and sensitivity to rhythm, rhyme, stress and intonation are also significant. In addition, according to Maley (2006) ‘Creative writing is a personal activity, involving feeling". The ingenuity o f a plot or the intricate structure o f a poem is not the product o f unthinking mind. It gives the person who writes it the opportunity to express something about themselves, gives writers the chance to express our personal meanings, what writers are feeling, thinking or what we know. However, an important quality o f creative writing is the way it can evoke sensations. Unlike expository writing, it can be read at many different levels and is multiply interpretable. In short, concepts o f creative writing above share the same point o f creativity which helps people develop imagination and express their feelings and thoughts w ithout breaking the language rules o f language. Creativity should therefore have a m ore and more important place in teaching and learning English writing. Creativity activities may allow teachers to make good use o f their students’ imagination and get the more involved in learning process. W ith the wide range o f classroom activities, students are helped to build up confidence in doing their learning tasks as they learn to view other people as unique individuals. In addition, students can enrich their vocabulary through the process o f learning creative writing, and remove the barriers o f ideas for writing when they work in pair or group because they can learn ideas from their friends during discussion. Furthermore, students will realize how creative they are through their writer work and how they can explore their imagination and put into their writing learning. 2.2.2. Types o f Creative Writing Various types o f creative writing can be found in many newspapers, magazine, publishes, or on the Web. However, According to Rozakis (2007) there are the best and most common ten types o f creative writing which are believed to be familiar with 9 students in school (see Appendix 1 for detail definition o f top ten types o f creative writing). All types o f creative writing mentioned above can be used to design activities for students in class, but the important thing is what kinds o f creative activities are available for teachers to find sources to design activities for the writers who are beginner as the first year students in 1BD program at NEU. Each o f them may have his/her own kind o f writing they are able to write or good at writing. Therefore, two popular kinds with variety o f sources for teachers to take as reference and help students enhance their imagination and creativeness without many difficulties in mastering through activities in classes are poems and short stories among ten types. 2.2.3. Benefits o f creative writing in the classroom According to Powell (1996), applying creative writing in classroom is very important. Because for students, it is like a new way o f encouragement in individual writing for individual purposes and concerns, rather than tasks set by their teacher. Powell had mentioned the benefits o f poems and short stories as the reason for using creative writing in the class room that they are a useful tool o f encouragement for students to write creatively. It also helps the students be led towards better English because this may help to improve vocabulary and standards o f grammatical accuracy. When talking about Poetry in the Adult ESL Classroom (1999), Eric also stated that poetry provides adults with rich learning opportunities in language, content, and com munity building. Repetition o f words and structure typifies poetry, and poetry encourages language play with rhythmic and rhyming devices. Poetic themes are often universal; at the same time, giving insights into individuals’ lives, cultures, beliefs and practices. W hen teachers and learners write and read poetry together, they connect with texts and with one another in powerful way. Blue (1997) has encouraged ESL students to get “outside the box” o f traditional academic research paper by com bining Creative writing with Academic research. He engaged the students’ creativity energy while not scaring students through what he called a creative research story. The assignment proposed by Blue (1997) follows T.S.Eliot’s belief that “amateurs borrow; professional steal” by having students try to imitate a story they have read by a professional author. After thoroughly researching the author’s methods, style, symbolism, and so on, his 10 students will then "borrow " (they are am ateurs after all) these ideas to create stories o f their own. To summarize, above mentioned previous studies show the benefits o f creative writing in general and short stories and poetry in particular for students in classroom. Firstly, it is an effective means which is innovative, challenging, effective and learner-centered for L2 students who want to practice their English and culture and writing styles o f native writers. Secondly, it creates academic benefits in terms o f text analysis and comprehension, both for content and forms which students can steal or borrow from professional authors. Finally, creative writing can provide a creative and emotional counterbalance to the rather cerebral nature o f academic study. For language learners: When discussing benefits o f Creative W riting for the process o f language learning, Harmer (2001) insists that “It helps us ‘notice’ language”. He claimed that ‘noticing’ the use and meanings o f words and patterns at the sentence and discourse level is central to the acquisition o f an additional language, and that it helps learners become more independent in their learning. We cannot write with creativity if we do not notice patterns. M uch o f what we teach in creative writing classes focuses on the patterns, rather than others form and invites learners to try out their patterns (and change them). Viete (2006) also states that “creative writing makes learning motivating and fun”; because writers seeking words to m ake meaning are motivated to expand their vocabulary. And more than that, creative writing helps learners express themselves, which helps them learn about each other. Another benefit o f Creative W riting under the view o f Powell (1973) is “It gives us ownership o f language”. Because according to Powell, we often associate creative writing with ‘good’ writers and ‘good’ writers with the mythical ‘native speaker’ concept, we often believe that we will never fully belong in the language. W riting creatively can help us to believe in ourselves as owners o f the language and even beginners can achieve this. Last but not least, “It expands what others can do with language”, thus reinvigorates language. Kramsch (2003) has given exam ples o f poems written by L2 learners o f English in two or three languages (in the same poem), which are perfectly com prehensible to an audience that does not speak all o f these languages. 11 In general, creative writing courses allow learners to have an opportunity and an avenue by which they can not only express themselves creatively, but they also will be able to bring their ideas to life, especially the dedication and the pride they will feel when they see their work come to life. Students can create stories, poems, or other works that would allow them to infuse their personality as well as their "story" to express themselves. Besides, with creative writing activities from teachers, students can have a chance to open their eyes to the joys o f self-expression, and to encourage them to write their own truth and not someone else. And in trying to understand the motivations o f their characters in a story, they will learn to understand other people's points o f view. In contemplating the different things that can happen in a story, they will realize the possibilities in their own lives. In striving to make others understand what they're trying to convey students will be more adept in the use o f language, and will benefit them in any endeavor that requires oral or written expression. As a result, creative writing and its benefits are crucial tools for developing those abilities for students. For language teachers: Creative W riting does not only bring benefits for language learners but also for language teachers. Franz Andres M orrissey (2003) revealed in the research o f “W hat can Creative W riting do for the teachers?” that the feeling o f being able to create images or worlds with words, o f getting a memory or an idea crystallized into words, is one o f the most exciting and stimulating intellectual experience as a teacher. Creativity provides a boost to teachers’ morale which is borne out by participants’ responses to the question as to whether they feel the seminars o f creative writing can benefit them. It fills teachers with the kind o f enthusiasm that makes them want to make other people try the same thing. Supporting for enthusiasm o f teacher to make others try creative writing, Franz (2003) admitted that a creative writing seminar is useful and highly appreciated because a lot o f language teachers find personal stim ulation in writing. As a lot o f writing, especially present-day writing is rather playful, an additional benefit for teachers can be that through teachers’ writing they learn to explore other facets o f the language than the ones they normally (have to) teach. This too can be quite a liberating experience as our way o f dealing with language tends to be somewhat normative and prescriptive. It is therefore not surprising that many o f the teachers say 12