This article introduces a pedagogical intervention that includes a set of creative activities designed to improve the oral and written production of students in the English classroom, especially those who have shown a lack of interest or attention. It was observed that participants initially seemed careless about studying the language. Eventually…

The purpose of the conference presentation upon which this paper is inspired was to present an innovative approach to motivate students to write in a second language during a first-year Spanish class. Usually, students comply with writing exercises that convey basic thoughts, due to constrained vocabulary and limited knowledge of grammatical…

Sixteen vocabulary and self-expression exercises on the word, sentence, and paragraph levels designed to encourage creativity and free expression in writing in French as a second language are described. (MSE)

Of all the language skills, writing is the most difficult challenge for language teachers because students have less experience with written expression. Stimulated by audio-visual materials throughout their lives, students are novices in the discipline of writing. Making writing an ongoing part of foreign language acquisition from the first day in…

Use of the writing workshop format to introduce creative writing in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes is discussed. The reasons for including creative writing and using the writing workshop format are outlined, and the author's experience using this format in three very different teaching situations (basic ESL writing, academic ESL, and…

It is proposed that intercultural creative writing exercises can be conducted using the fax machine to communicate between schools, even in different countries. Specific themes and activities for French second-language writing projects are outlined. (MSE)

The language of Spanish correspondence possesses particular characteristics that lie somewhere between the everyday conversational style and the more formal literary style. This minicourse contains three lessons intended to enable the student to learn the letter-writing style and to write letters in Spanish. It is also intended to encourage and…

Use of a directed creative writing exercise to assess intermediate language students' skills is discussed. The technique was developed for second-year college Spanish instruction as an alternative to conventional writing tests in which anxiety or lack of motivation may inhibit performance. Differences in the nature of language skills (listening,…