Developing creative writing skills in a high school ESL classroom

Abstract

The article considers the relevance of creative writing in language development while emphasising the role of this type of writing in personal development through boosting imagination, creative thinking, self-esteem and the ability to find original solutions. The paper sets out to identify skills required to ensure productive creative writing, addresses various approaches towards defining creativity and compares creative writing to expository writing. The authors argue that in order to impart creative writing skills to high school students, teachers need to create favourable conditions to incorporate creative writing in the language classroom by means of different techniques and heuristics. The authors conclude that creative writing should receive more attention as part of the school curriculum since it transforms the learning process by rendering it more stimulating and enjoyable.