The Effectiveness of using L2 Creative Writing in the Classroom to support Autonomous Learning and Motivation

Sammanfattning: This study investigates the effectiveness of creative writing instruction (CW) in classrooms where English as a second language (ESL) is taught. The study aims to determine under what circumstances CW can help learners grow in terms of autonomous learning (AL) and motivation. These benefits stretch beyond formal language acquisition into more personal, socio-cultural, and psychological domains that lead to self-empowerment. AL and motivation are central constructs in the Swedish steering documents. By contrast, creative writing in second-language English (CW L2) does not feature heavily in the steering documents. Given the absence of specific studies, the role of CW L2 in Swedish schools is difficult to estimate and potentially quite limited. Against that background, this study asks under what conditions AL and motivation result from CW L2. It does so by selecting ten articles relevant to the research question and synthesizing thematically two by two. This has allowed us to identify and analyze five essential aspects of CW in L2: first, that pupil surveys widely report positive effects from CW L2 on motivation but that this may not always extend into other areas, notably attitudes toward learning English; second, that instructors can specifically design CW L2 to boost motivation; third, that there appear to be set cognitive patterns as AL is built up through CW L2; fourth, that CW L2 can be readily combined with other modes of output; and finally that teachers can adjust CW to generate motivation in unmotivated learners.