The Effectiveness of Creative Writing in Language

Learning:
A Comparative Study between Bangla Medium and English Medium Elementary Level

Thesis

Submitted to the Department of English and Humanities

of BRAC University

Submitted By

Nushrat Akhter
ID: 11363013
MA in English
 Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude towards my supervisor, Ms. Shenin Ziauddin for her

valuable advices, guidance, and time in this research. Without her understanding and assistance,

the present study would not have been completed. I would also like to thank Dr. Firdous Azim,

the Chairperson of ENH Department and all faculty members. I am deeply grateful to the

teachers and students who were the participants of this study. Finally, my warmest gratitude goes

to my parents and my friends for their care, encouragement and support. The success of this

dissertation is dedicated to my parents.

 Table of Contents

Page
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1.Research Topic 1
1.2.Limitation of the study 3
1.3The Summary of this Dissertation 3
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1.Language Skills 5
2.2.Reason for Teaching Writing 6
2.3.Approaches to Writing 7
2.3.1. Product-oriented Approach 8
2.3.2. Process-oriented Approach 9
2.3.3. Genre Approaches 10
2.3.4. Creative Writing 10
2.4. Teaching Techniques used in Creative Writing Class 11
2.5. Effectiveness of Creative Writing for Learners 13
2.6. Learner’s Characteristics 15
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1.Background Information 16
3.2.Participants and Settings 17
3.3.Nature of the Research 17
3.3.1. Primary Research
3.3.2. Quantitative Research
3.3.3. Qualitative Research
3.4.Research Design 19
3.4.1. Procedure
3.4.2. Research Instruments for Collecting Data
3.4.2.1. Questionnaire
3.4.2.2. Classroom Observation
Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis
4.1. Finding from the Questionnaire 22
4.1.1. Results of Question 1
4.1.2. Results of Question 2
4.1.3. Results of Question 4
4.1.4. Results of Question 5
4.1.5. Results of Question 6
 4.1.6. Results of Question 7
4.2. Results of the Classroom Observation 30
Chapter 5: Recommendations 32
Chapter 6: Conclusion 34
References 36
Appendix 38
 Abstract

Writing is one of the productive skills which sometime seems difficult to acquire to the

learners. There are many approaches to teach writing. Creative writing is one approach of

teaching writing which has become more familiar in recent era. In our country many schools of

Bangla and English medium are implementing this approach now-a-days to teach writing in the

elementary level. This aim of this study is to find out the effectiveness of creative writing in

language leanring. Moreover, I want to make a comparison between Bangla and English

medium. In order to conduct this research I have taken interviews of 40 students from both

medium. The findings showed that students of both medium like Creative writing classes and it

influences their language learning. Therefore, it can be said that Creative writing can be used as

an effective language learning tool.

 Chapter I

Introduction

This chapter outlines the background of the study. This also includes the limitations of

the study.

1.1.Research Topic:

Writing is one of the language skills which is considered a powerful mode of

communication. Like speech, writing helps to produce the language. It is considered that learners

can express their thoughts through writing in an organized way. When we write we go through a

mental process which is more complex. We have to think, organize the idea, write, revise and

edit to get a perfect writing and thus we can concentrate on language use more precisely.

However, writing is considered much more difficult language skill to learn like speaking rather

than listening and reading. Most of the learners need more time in acquiring writing skill

successfully.

There are a number of different approaches to teaching writing which focus on the

writing from different perspectives. Among these approaches product and process oriented

approaches are used extensively in teaching writing skill. However, there are Genre approaches

which have gained popularity last ten years. Creative writing is another approach to teaching

writing which is used in most of the English Language classrooms in recent times.

Creative writing is a form of writing that expresses feelings, thoughts or ideas in an

imaginative way. It provides the learners new ways to play with the language. Creative writing

enhances not only the writing skills of the learners but also it helps learners to improve all the

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language skills. Most of the cases in school young children are not expected to write themselves

in a systematic manner as adult learners do. They are exposed to different types of writing

activities which are more structured and designed by their teachers. But it is assumed that these

young learners have a vast array of experiences and knowledge which they have observed around

them and so it is claimed that they should be allocated with lots of literacy works. Moreover, as

they get an opportunity to play with language through creative writing, the more they will play,

the more they will learn about the language and the more they learn, the more they will get the

confidence to play with language. Thus these young children will be able to enhance their

language skills.

In the schools of Bangladesh, both Bangla medium and English medium, writing skill has

been given much more importance than other three skills; i.e. listening, speaking and reading.

Young learners are involved in different types of writing activities to enhance the writing skill.

They are exposed to text writing, copying from the board, filling worksheets or books etc.

Schools which follow the foreign curriculum claim that their students do creative writing and

they have individual class to practice creative writing. There, they write on selected topics given

by teachers. Teachers provide main ideas and key words to the students and help them in

producing their work. The main purpose of practicing these types of writing is to prepare the

students to produce any kind of writing on given topics in examinations. However, the schools

which follow the National Curriculum provide their students some particular topics as a syllabus

and prepare them to write on those given topics so that they can reproduce the same in

examinations. They have limited topics for practicing in each class whereas in English medium

school teachers choose the topics from real life events where students are supposed to share own

experiences.

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 Now-a-days, syllabus designers of National Curriculum have given emphasis on free

writing where students are able to produce their own writing using their creativity.

Both Bangla and English medium claim that they are focusing on students’ creativity in

learning English language. Therefore they are utilizing creative writing as a language tool. Here,

I am interested to know that how much these creative writing activities are helpful for the

students of these two different curriculums of our country in language learning. Moreover, I want

to make a comparison between the way of teaching creative writing and its effectiveness of

English medium and Bangla medium.

1.2. Limitation of the study:

Due to time constraint it was not possible to conduct survey from many schools in Dhaka

city. Moreover, it was difficult to contact with the schools outside Dhaka city in this short period

of time. In addition, during the research time the teachers were busy with examinations so it was

difficult to conduct this research work. If these constraints were removed, a better research could

have been carried out.

1.3. The Summary of this Dissertation:

Chapter: 1- Introduction

This chapter contains the research topic and of this study. This also includes the

limitations of the study.

Chapter: 2- Literature Review

This chapter includes literature review. It discusses different types of language skills,

importance of teaching writing, different approaches of teaching writing, creative writing,

3
different types of creative writing, and teaching techniques of creative writing. This chapter also

includes the effectiveness of creative writing and learners’ characteristics which are helpful in

successful language learning. The views and opinions of other researchers are also included in

this chapter.

Chapter: 3- Research Methodology

The methodology that has been used to conduct this research is described in this chapter.

Chapter: 4- Findings and Analysis

This part of this study includes the findings of this study. The researcher has also discussed the

findings on the basis of literature review in this chapter.

Chapter: 5- Recommendations

In this chapter there are some recommendations on the basis of the findings.

Chapter: 6- Conclusion

In this chapter the whole study is summarized.

4
 Chapter II

Literature Review

In this chapter, relevant literature and theoretical framework of the study have been

presented. This chapter begins with a discussion on different types of language skills. Definition

of creative writing and its effectiveness are discussed in detail in this section.

2.1. Language Skills

Each language has four basic skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. These are

often divided into two types: receptive skills and productive skills. According to Harmer, reading

and listening are known as Receptive skills, skills where meaning is extracted from the discourse

and the term, Productive skills, is used for speaking and writing, skills where students actually

have to produce language themselves. All these four skills are equally important and these are

interrelated in a language learning environment. In his book “The Practice of English Language

Teaching,” Harmer stated that it makes little sense to talk about skills in isolation because in a

real conversation, we are bound to listen as well as speak. Eli Hinkle points out, “in meaningful

communication, people employ incremental language skills not in isolation, but in tandem”

(Harmer 2011: 265). Therefore, in real life, it is not easy to separate these four skills, as most

language skills are preceded or followed by a different skill. However, traditionally the teaching

guidelines for the skills of language do separate the skills. The main reason for this is to organize

learning activities into some order, and to assist teachers in deciding the aim of their lessons and

the way to do it.

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 Most students of English find it easier to master receptive skills, such as understanding

grammar, reading English text, and listening to spoken English, than productive skills, speaking

and writing. This does not mean that speaking and writing are more difficult to them. It is simply

because in English Language classroom, students are mostly exposed to target language items

through grammatical drills, reading comprehension, and listening to tapes or teachers without

students being drilled in how to express their ideas both in writing and speaking.

Writing is a difficult skill for many learners as it involves more than putting sentences together in

language that is grammatically correct and appropriate. When we speak we have the audience

present and we always get immediate feedback from the listeners. However, writing is not

always for the audience present and hence we have to get in right first time in writing (Hadfield,

2008). In case of writing, it demands clear and comprehensive message as there is no direct

interaction between writer and readers. Through writing we express our thoughts and ideas in an

organized way and to make a successful writing we go through a mental process. When we write

we first combine our ideas and thoughts and then arrange them in the form of sentences and

organize the sentences into a cohesive text. This mental process of writing arises some sub-skills

like- drafting, organizing, editing, revising, etc. Therefore, often it seems that language learners

face more difficulty to cope up writing skill than other three.

2.2. Reasons for Teaching Writing

According to Lindsay and Paul (2006), writing is a part of the language learning process.

There are various purposes to write. For instance, we write to practice the language, to reinforce

the language, to help memorization, etc. Therefore, in the classroom learners are involved to

different writing activities to develop their writing skills as part of the process of language

learning.

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 In his book, “How to Teach English,” Harmer utters some reasons for teaching writing to

students of English language which include reinforcement, language development, learning style

and most importantly, writing as a skill.

Reinforcement: Writing has always been used as a means of reinforcing language that has

been taught. Teacher often ask the students to write sentences using recently learnt aspect of

language, such as grammatical aspect, paragraph or text construction. Learners often find it

useful to write sentences using ‘new’ language after they have learnt it.

Language development: When writing, students have to go through a long mental process

in order to construct proper written texts. In this case they have to focus on accurate language

use. This helps them in language development.

Learning style: Writing can be considered as a learning style for some learners.

Writing as a skill: The most important reason for teaching writing is that writing itself is a

basic language skill. To learn a language students have to have this skill alike the other three:

listening, speaking and reading. Students have to know how write letters, how to put reports

together, etc. They are required to know some of writing’s special conventions such as,

punctuation, paragraph construction etc.

2.3. Approaches to writing

As one of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) writing has

always formed part of the syllabus in the teaching of English. There are different ways to

approach writing in the classroom. The best practice in any situation will depend on many factors

such as the type of students, the text type being studied, the school system etc.

7
 According to Harmer, there are a number of different approaches to the practice of

writing skills in the classroom but to choose the appropriate approach for the students, teachers

have to decide whether they want the students to focus on the process of writing more than its

product, whether they want them to study different written genres or whether they want to

encourage writing using their creativity. Among different types of approaches, over the last 20

years the process and product approaches are more dominant of teaching writing in the ESL

classroom. The product approach focuses on the construction of the end-product of writing rather

than the process of writing itself. On the contrary, process approach of writing pays attention to

the various stages that any piece of writing goes through. However, according to Chris Tribble

(1996: 37-57), in the last ten years, genre approaches have gained adherent (Badger & White

2000: 153). Another approach to writing that has been dominating in the ESL classroom for

recent few years is creative writing. Creative writing suggests imaginative tasks such as writing

poetry, stories and plays which promotes effective learning through self-discovery. (Harmer)

2.3.1. Product-oriented Approach

Product-oriented approaches to writing largely concern the forms of the written products

that students compose. Harmer, in his book “The Practice of English Language Teaching,” says,

“When concentrating on the product, we (teacher) are only interested in the aim of a task and in

the end product.” According to Gabrielatos (2002), a product approach is a traditional approach

in which students are encouraged to mimic a model text which is usually presented and analyzed

at an early stage. For instance, in a typical product approach-oriented classroom, students are

supplied with a standard sample of text and they are expected to follow the standard to construct

a new piece of writing.

8
 According to Pincas (1982), this approach focuses on linguistic knowledge as well as the

appropriate use of vocabulary, syntax and cohesive devices. Product-oriented approach

comprises of four stages: familiarization, controlled writing, guided writing and free writing. The

first stage, familiarization, aims to make learners aware of certain features of a particular text. In

the next two stages, controlled and guided writing, learner’s practice of the highlighted features

and learn how to organize the ideas until they are ready for the free writing section. The free

writing stage is the end product of the learning process when students use their writing skills,

structures and vocabulary that they have been taught to produce the product. Through this

section they show that they can do as fluent and competent users of the language.

2.3.2. Process-oriented Approach

Process-oriented approaches concern the process of how ideas are developed and

formulated in writing. Harmer states, “a process approach asks students to consider the

procedure of putting together a good piece of work.” In this approach writing is considered as a

process through which meaning is created by following a number of stages. According to Tribble

(1996), process approaches stress “….writing activates which move learners from the generation

of ideas and the collection of data through to the ‘publication’ of a finished text.” (Badger 2000)

In process approaches writing predominantly deals with linguistic skill, such as planning

and drafting rather than linguistic knowledge, for instance, knowledge about grammar and text

structure, etc. A process-oriented approach can have any number of stages with different views

that writers go through in producing a piece of writing, though a typical model is identified

which include four stages: prewriting, composing or drafting, revising, editing and finally

producing a finished version (Tribble 1996). In reality the writing process is more complex than

9
this. These various stages of writing are done in a recursive way. It means that the writer loop

backwards and move forwards between these various stages. For example, after doing some

editing or revising writers may feel to go back to pre-writing phase and think again and then may

edit bits of the writing as he draft it.

2.3.3. Genre Approaches

Genre represents the norms of different kinds of writing. Genre approach is one of the

most recent approaches to teaching writing. When teachers concentrate on genre, students study

texts in the genre in which they are going to be writing before they get on their own work. For

example, if the students are asked to write business letter, first the teacher will show them a

typical model of such business letter and then they will start to compose their own. (Harmer)

Genre approaches have lots of common with product approach and can be recognized as

an extension of product approaches. Alike product approaches, genre approaches consider

writing as predominantly linguistic but they believe that writing varies with the social context in

which it is produced (Badger 2000). Therefore, students who are writing within a certain genre

need to consider a number of different factors which influence that particular genre such as the

subject matter, the conventions and style of the genre as well as the relationships between the

writer and the audience.

2.3.4. Creative Writing

Harmer affirmed creative writing as a term which implies “imaginative tasks, such as

writing poetry, stories and plays.” Creative writing normally refers to the production of texts

which have an aesthetic rather than a purely informative, instrumental or pragmatic purpose.

Most of the time, such texts take the form of poems or stories, though they are not confined to

10
these genres. Letters, journal entries, blogs, essays, travelogues, etc. can also be defined as

creative writing. Creative writing texts have a great deal with intuition, imagination and personal

memories (Maley, 2009). In the words of distinguished novelist Ernest J. Gaines, creative

writing is “imaginative writing. ... Though the creative writer draws from factual sources,

sociology, psychology, politics, religion, etc., ... he should use all of that information

imaginatively—never factually” (Gaines, n.d.).

In an interview, Vishnu S. Rai, a well-known name in Nepalese ELT, claimed creative

writing as an art which can be taught. He added that as people are helped to learn different arts

and crafts such as painting, drawing or music, more suitably they can be helped to learn the

creative writing art. Moreover, he emphasized on two aspects of creative writing; these are-

i) to be a creative writer and get published, etc., and

ii) to use creative writing in the classroom

According to him, the people who do creative writing in the classroom, the primary

purpose is to help the learners develop their language skills without stress and with fun.

2.4. Teaching Techniques used in Creative Writing Class

In his article, “Teaching Creative Writing,” the writer suggested some way of teaching

story writing. According to him, while students are writing it should be enjoyable. Students

should have opportunities to choose their own subjects and methods of writing as the goal of

creative writing is to develop children’s cognitive and communication skills. Moreover, he

suggested that before starting their writing, students should be reinforced to have an idea of each

type of creative writing. For instance, he talked about story writing that many students do not

have the sense of what story is. However, according to him, a sense of what a story is can be

11
reinforced at the beginning of the discussion and if the students are led in a helpful way in these

discussions, they may began to see similarities and differences between books of different

writing styles and contents. As a result, they will begin to form an idea of the forms and

structures that stories generally follow.

He also suggested that teachers should give feedback after the ending of the session or

class. Moreover, if the teacher give the opportunity to the students to read each other’s work and

give feedback that will be helpful for both reader and writer. In this case, their peers comment

will be more attended than the teacher’s. However, he suggested that this interaction of students

in giving feedback needs to be monitored and modeled by the teacher.

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2.5. Effectiveness of Creative Writing for Learners

In his article, “Teaching Creative Writing in an ESL Context,” Kenny uttered four major

factors for using creative writing in language learning classroom. These are:

i) Freedom of Expression: According to Kenny, most writing classes focus on

grammatical structure and correct form. There is less concentration on utilizing the

creativity of the students. As a result, it can “lead to dissonance and low motivational

levels” as well as “leave little room for the cultivation of views, opinions and ideas.”

However, he thinks that creative writing activities have a direct connection to the

learners’ imaginations as these are allowing the learners to explore their “interests and

ideas in a spontaneous. Immediate and personal way.”

ii) The use of the imagination: Kenny claimed that promoting the use of the imagination,

the implementation of creative approaches, activities and tasks play a vital role in the

development as a human being. If the teachers help the students to access their

creative mind and promote self-expression, it will raise the students’ motivational

levels as well as encourage them in good learning habits.

iii) Emotional response: According to Kenny, the major difference between creative

writing and factual writing is creative writing can ignite an emotional response in

learners and facilitating an emotional response can have a beneficial effect on

learning.

iv) Connecting the known to the unknown: Creative writing can link pre-existing

knowledge with new ideas and unfamiliar linguistic structures.

13
Vishnu S. Rai utters:

“Creative writing is fun. Creative writing breaks the monotony of the class. It brings fresh

air in the classroom. It helps students to learn language with fun. The most important thing

is that it boosts their morale. It gives them confidence that they can write poems and stories

in English. The same is true with the teachers. Once they are exposed to creative writing

activities, their self-confidence soars up.” (Kumar, 2012)

According to Alan Maley (2009), some benefits of creative writing for learners are:

• Creative writing aids language development at all levels, such as grammatical,

vocabulary, phonology and discourse.

• It fosters “playfulness” which encourages learners to take risks with the language, to

explore it without fear of reproof.

• Creative writing put emphasis on the right side of the brain, with a focus on feelings,

physical sensations, intuition and musicality.

• Creative writing tends to develop self-confidence and self-esteem among learners.

• Creative writing leads to a corresponding growth in positive motivation.

• Creative writing feeds into more creative reading. By getting the process of creating the

text, learners come to instinctively understand how such texts work, and this make them

easier to read.

• Moreover, creative writing helps to improve expository writing.

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2.6. Learner’s Characteristics

Learners have some individual characteristics which may affect their success in second language

acquisition. Many researchers have found different factors of learners which are responsible in

successful language learning. Some of these are:

1. Learner’s aims and purposes in learning the language: Some learners aim for accuracy

and others aim for communicative effectiveness. Different aims and purposes will

produce different outcomes in second language acquisition.

2. Exposer to the language: Learners need to expose the language. Some, many learners use

very formal language while communicating and some are very informal in using the

language.

3. Learner’s age: Learner’s age is a great factor in language learning process.

4. Motivation: It is need to measure that whether the learners are motivated towards

learning the language or not.

5. Personality: Personality traits such as empathy and risk-taking have been argued to affect

success in learning a second language.

6. Language aptitude: Aptitude is a special ability for language learning, a combination of

linguistic, memory, and auditory ability.

7. Learning styles and strategies: Learners vary tremendously in their preferred ‘style’, or

approach to learning second languages (whether concrete, analytical, synthesizing,

communicative or authority-based). Some learners want clear rules and others are content

with ambiguity. Learners can succeed using very different approaches in different social

15
 Chapter III

Research Methodology

This part of the study will discuss the methodology that has been used to conduct the study in

detail.

3.1. Background information

As mentioned above, creative writing is as an approach of writing where students can get

the opportunity to write using their creativity. This type of writing not only enhances learners’

creativity but also helps in language development at all levels. In Bangladesh, now-a-days

creative writing is familiar in both National and International curriculum. Schools which follow

international curriculum have supplementary class for creative to improve learners’ writing skills

through fun and imagination. In recent times National curriculum also realizes the effectiveness

of creative writing and therefore, they have incorporated different types of creative writing

activities. However, it can be said that the learners of Bangla medium are hardly benefitted from

these activities and the object of utilizing creative writing is almost not fulfilled in this case. The

aim of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of creative writing in learning language as

well as this paper will make a comparison between the way of teaching creative writing in

Bangla and English medium. To conduct this study both quantitative and qualitative methods are

used. Students of both medium have been given a same questionnaire to find out how much they

have achieved through the activities of creative writing. In addition, to differentiate between the

way of teaching creative in Bangla and English medium the researcher has observed creative

writing classes of both medium.

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Therefore, my research questions are:

i) How much is creative writing effective for English language learning for the

students?

ii) What are the differences between Bangla and English medium in teaching techniques

of creative writing?

3.2. Participants and Settings

The subjects participating in this study are consisting of 40 elementary students studying

in different classes from class one to class five. Among these students 20 students are from

Bangla medium who are taught in National Curriculum of Bangladesh. All of them are familiar

with four language skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. They have practiced different

kinds of creative writing in their classes such as essay writing, picture describing, story writing,

and letter writing etc. which are usually prescribed in their syllabus. However, they take ideas

from different composition books to make their piece of writing better so that they can get good

marks. In order to get good marks they usually memorize their piece of writing though they all

know that they should practice writing themselves which will help them to learn English

language more precisely. They know memorization will not help them in language learning but

as their teachers always emphasis on accuracy of grammatical forms they are compelled to do

the memorization.

Other 20 students are from English medium who are taught in International Curriculum.

They have supplement class for Creative Writing once in a week. They write themselves on the

topics selected by the teachers. They have also practiced different kinds of creative writing such

as essay writing, letter writing, picture describing and story writing etc. They always write using

17
their own ideas. However, their teachers also help them in understanding the topics. All of them

are also familiar with four language skills.

As both of the groups, Bangla and English medium are familiar with creative writing they

have their own perspective towards this kind of writing and it will help the study in finding the

answer of the research questions. Moreover, they are from different classes of elementary level

which will make the study more consistent.

3.3. Nature of the Research

This part describes the nature of the research.

3.3.1. Primary Research

The research is a primary research. Primary researches refer to those where the data is

collected from direct sources rather than from secondary sources to obtain original information

(Brown 1988). In this study the data has been collected from two groups of students who are

learning a same language in different context.

3.3.2. Quantitative Research

Quantitative researches are those where numerical data is used in order to analyze the

gathered information. According to Aliaga and Gunderson (2000):

Quantitative research is ‘explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are

analyzed using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics)’.

Quantitative data contains closed ended information such as that found on attitude behavior and

performance instruments. In this study the students have been given a questionnaire to find out

18
the effectiveness of creative writing in language learning and this questionnaire has been derived

and analyzed in terms of numerical data. This is why the research falls under quantitative

category.

3.3.3. Qualitative Research

The qualitative approach is a way to gain insights through discovering meanings by

improving our comprehension of the whole. It explores the richness, depth, and complexity of

phenomena. This type of research analyzes data from direct fieldwork observations, in-depth,

open-ended interviews, and written documents. According to Mackey (2005), qualitative

research refers to the research that is based on descriptive data that does not usually deal with

statistical procedures. The careful and detailed description is required in terms of qualitative

research rather than measurements, ratings and scores. This type of research is often process-

oriented or open-ended. It follows an inductive process that begins with few perceived notions

and so “qualitative researchers tend to approach the research context with the purpose of

observing whatever may be present there, and letting further questions emerge from the

context” (Mackey, 2005). Here, the researcher has observed creative writing classes of both

Bangla and English medium in order to gather detail information about the way of teaching

creative writing.

3.4. Research Design

This part discuss about the research design in details.

3.4.1. Procedure

In order to find out the effectiveness of creative writing activities towards English

language learning for the students, this research collected data from 40 students and among them

19
20 participants were from Bangla medium and rest 20 students were from English medium. All

of them were from elementary level. The data were collected following the proper procedure

with the permission of the Principal and respective class teachers. At the beginning of the data

collection, the researcher made it clear to the students that it was a voluntary work and the data

will be used for research purpose. Moreover, as all the participants were from elementary level,

the researcher explained each questions to them so that they can response correctly. Then the

researcher herself distributed the questionnaires and was present there in order to help the

participants for further explanation. Both groups had been given same time to fill up the

questionnaire.

The second part of data collection was observing creative writing classes of both Bangla

and English medium. The researcher observed two classes respectively from Bangla and English

medium.

3.4.2. Research Instruments for Collecting Data

Two data collection instruments were administered in this study; a questionnaire and

classroom observation. Questionnaire provides quantitative data and classroom observation provides

qualitative data for the study.

3.4.2.1. Questionnaire

“Questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of

questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out their answers or selecting

from among existing answers” (Brown, 2001, p.6). It is the easiest way of collecting quantitative

data and it provides the researcher with a huge amount of data from a large number of subjects in

the cheapest and fastest way. There are types of questionnaire questions: close-ended and open-

20
ended questions. Open-ended questions allow the participants to express their opinions in a free-

flowing manner. On the other hand, close-ended questions are the structure questions which

require the subject to mark responses, to check agreements or disagreements, or to select among

a number of alternatives. Questionnaire that has been used in this research has only close-ended

questions. The different segments of the Questionnaire focus on the number of creative writing

classes, students’ views about their creative writing classes and the teaching techniques that are

used in creative writing classes.

There are altogether 8 questions among which some are multiple choice type questions

and some are Dichotomous questions. Dichotomous questions are those where respondents are

asked to answer in “yes” or “no”.

3.4.2.2. Classroom Observation

Classroom Observation is a process by which the researcher sits in on one or more class

sessions, records the teacher’s teaching practices and student actions, and then meets with the

teacher to discuss the observations. Classroom observation provides great amount information.

Through observing the classroom the researcher can get a firsthand experience of the activities

performed in the classroom. The main aim of this classroom observation was to have closer look

at the activities done in creative writing classes and also to find how students perform in these

activities.

21
 Chapter IV

Findings and Analysis

This part of the research will discuss, analyze and interpret the results obtaining from the

questionnaire and classroom observations.

4.1. Finding from the Questionnaire

As mentioned in the previous chapter, a questionnaire is used to find out the effectiveness

of creative writing in English language learning for the students.

4.1.1. Results of Question 1

Among Bangla medium students, 80% students responded “no” in question.1 which

means they do not have supplement class for practicing writing in English class. However, 20%

students responded ‘yes’ which indicates that they have supplement classes for writing. On the

other hand, among English medium students, 100% students responded “yes” in the same

question which shows that all English medium schools have supplement class for practicing

writing in English class.

4.1.2. Results of Question 2

In question 2, learners are asked to put tick mark on which types of creative writing they

have practiced in their class. Table 4.1 shows the result of this question. Here, 100% participants

of both Bangla and English medium responded that they have practiced story writing and

composition writing in their writing classes. However, none of the participants put tick mark on

poetry which shows that in their wiring classes they never practice poetry writing.

22
 Table 4.1. Response to Question No. 2

Types Participants of Bangla Participants of

medium English medium

Story 20 20

Poetry 0 0

Picture describing 5 20

Composition 20 20

Personal Letter 20 15

Moreover, 100% students of English medium responded that they had picture describing

type of writing whereas 25% students of Bangla medium put tick mark on this type of writing. In

case of personal letter writing only 15 students of English medium responded positively while 20

students of Bangla medium responded positively.

The following graph represents Table 4.1.

25

20

15

10 Bangla Medium
English Medium
5

0
Story Poetry Picture Composition Personal Letter
Describing

Graph 4.1: Response to Question no 2

23
4.1.3. Results of Question 4

Table 4.2 shows the results of facing problems while writing from the students’

perspectives. It shows that 100% (20) students of both Bangla and English medium face problem

in terms of organizing the data while writing. However, 100% students of English medium

responded negatively towards the last problem. 90% students of Bangla medium are found that

they cannot write themselves without the help of the books.

Table 4.2: Response to Question No. 4

Bangla Medium English Medium

Problems Yes No Yes No
I know what I have to write but I can’t organize the 20 0 20 0
idea.
I am concern about grammatical errors. 15 5 17 3
I understand the topic but I can’t write in English. 17 3 7 13
I can’t write myself without the help of the books. 18 2 0 20
Average score 17.5 2.5 11 9

The following Pie charts represent Table 4.2.

Bangla Medium English Medium

No No
13% 19%

Yes Yes
87% 81%

Graph 4.2: Response to Question no 4

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 Here, it can be seen that 87% students of Bangla medium are facing problems while

writing. However, in case of English medium it seems that the percentage is less, 81%.

4.1.4. Results of Question 5

This set of questions was about the students’ view of creative writing class. The results

derived have been showed in the following table and graph.

Table 4.3: Response to Question No. 5

Bangla Medium English Medium

Questions Yes No Yes No
I enjoy the creative writing class. 12 8 15 5

I think this writing class helps me in learning English Language. 17 3 18 2

I feel we should have more creative writing classes. 18 2 20 0

I think I can write confidently in any given topic. 5 15 16 4

I think we should give the chance to select the topic. 17 3 18 2

Average score 13.8 6.2 17.4 2.6

Bangla Medium English Medium

No No
15% 13%

Yes Yes
85% 87%

Graph 4.3: Response to Question no 5

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 In the above table, it can be seen that in case of Bangla medium, except 4th

question, in all other questions students responded to ‘yes’ that suggests that students enjoy their

creative writing class and this type of class is helpful for them and therefore they recommended

to have more creative writing classes per week. However, the low score in the 4th question

implied that the students of Bangla medium do not have the confidence to write on any given

topic as they are dependent on books for writing.

In case of English medium, maximum students answered to ‘yes’ which suggests

that they are highly motivated towards creative writing. They responded that they enjoyed their

creative writing class and therefore they suggested having more classes.

From the pie charts of Graph 4.3, it can be seen that students of both Bangla and

English medium are highly motivated towards having creative writing classes. It also suggests

that creative writing activities help them in English language learning.

4.1.5. Results of Question 6

The set of questions was about the way of teaching in the creative writing classes. Here

students were asked to respond to the teaching techniques which were used by their teachers.

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 Table 4.4: Response to Question No. 6

Bangla Medium English Medium

Yes No Yes No

My teacher chooses the topics for us. 16 4 18 2

My teacher explains the topics at the beginning of the class. 11 9 18 2
My teacher helps us to organize our idea. 7 13 16 4
My teacher writes for us on the board. 16 4 15 5
My teacher helps me in getting new words. 12 8 17 3
My teacher always encourages me to write myself. 17 3 20 0
My teacher always makes me alert about errors. 13 7 9 11

Average Score 13.14 6.86 16.14 3.86

Here, from the table 4.4, it can be seen that in case of Bangla medium, except 3rd

question, all other have highly scored to “yes”. It means that according to the students’

perspective, their teacher plays an important role in their creative writing class. Though students

in creative writing class should be given freedom to write themselves, here teacher played the

dominating role on their writing. In the 3rd question, maximum students responded negative and

one of the reasons for this result may be that students have books to help them. Therefore,

teacher does not help them in organizing the idea.

In case of English medium, except 7th question, in all other questions students have

responded positive. It means that their writing class is also dominated by the teachers. However,

in question no.6, 100% students responded that their teacher encouraged them to write

themselves. So it can be assumed that as they are in elementary level they need teacher’s help but

sometime they should be given freedom to express their opinion. Otherwise, they will become

dependent on their teacher and in future they would be not able to write themselves.

27
 The following Pie charts represent the average score of Table 4.4.

Bangla Medium English Medium

No
No 19%
32%

Yes
68% Yes
81%

Graph 4.4: Response to Question no 6

Here, the pie chart of Bangla medium is showing that in average 68% students responded

positively to the questions whereas the average in the pie chart of English medium is 81%. The

average of Bangla medium scored less not because that students were free to write themselves

but the reason is that they had other material such as, books to help them. Moreover, the students

of Bangla medium have the tendency to memories all types of writings. On the other hand, in

English medium, teacher plays an important role in their writing class not only because they are

the students of elementary level but also because of the time limit.

4.1.6. Results of Question 7

The aim of this question is to find out whether the students have a strong connection with

the creative world or they just practiced in the classroom context.

28
Table 4.4: Response to Question No. 7

Time Duration Bangla Medium English Medium

Response Percentage Response Percentage

Everyday 2 10% 6 30%

During holidays 5 25% 8 40%

Sometime 3 15% 4 20%

Very often 10 50% 2 10%

From the above table, it can be seen that 50% students of Bangla medium do not have the

habit of reading fictional books in English. It can be assumed that students of Bangla medium are

less connected to the creative world of English. On the other hand, 40% students of English

medium responded that they read fictional books during holidays. However, the percentage of

reading fictional books everyday is less, only 30%. It shows that though they are from English

medium background, their relation with the creative world of English language is very poor. The

above data has been showed in the following graph.

12
10
8
6 Bangla Medium
4 English Medium
2
0
Everyday During holidays Sometime Very often

29
4.2. Results of the Classroom Observation

In the previous chapter it is mentioned that the aim of classroom observation is to have a

closer look at the creative writing classes both in Bangla and English medium and to investigate

the authentic response of the students towards creative writing activities.

Here, the researcher observed altogether eight classes. While observing classes of Bangla

medium, the researcher found that all the teachers followed some similar ways of teaching. For

instance, after entering the classroom the teacher started to write on the board. He wrote the topic

name on the board and then asked some students to tell something about that topic. After that,

the teacher discussed the topic with the students and then he asked them to write on that topic. In

every class teachers gave word limits which may have a bad effect on their writing fluently. The

researcher also observed that in every class students were allowed to take help from their books

or notes. While students are writing, the teachers monitored the class and helped the students in

case of difficulty. Most of the students were busy to copy from the books. Some were taking help

from their friends or trying to copy from others. There were very few students who were asking

questions to their teachers. It seemed that they were not achieving anything from these classes

rather they were doing what they were asked to do. However, in one class the researcher found

that the teacher started his lesson quite differently. At beginning of the class, the teacher did

elicitation which grabbed the attention of the students. Then, gradually she started to discuss the

topic and she tried to involve her students in the discussion. After that, she introduced the topic

and asked students to write on that topic. The researcher observed that the students of this class

had more interest to write rather than the other three.

30
 The researchers also observed four creative writing classes of English medium. There,

she found all the teachers followed same teaching techniques though they were teaching in

different schools. She observed that after entering the classroom the teachers first had the

greetings with their students. Then they did elicitation where they asked different questions to

the students in order to grab their attention and also to refresh their knowledge. After that the

teachers introduced the topic and wrote on the board. Then they discussed how to write on that

topic and wrote some key words related to the topic on the board. Then the students started to

write on. Some students asked their teachers for help and tried to make their own sentences in a

different way. Other tried to make sentences with the key words given on the board. Here,

students were also facing some limitations. They were asked to write 12 sentences on the given

topic. Among these four classes, the researcher found that in two classes after introducing the

topic the teachers were writing 12 sentences on the board and asked students to copy them. In

these two classes students were busy in copying the sentences rather thinking themselves for

writing new sentences. However, in other two classes, where students were writing themselves,

the researcher observed that they were enjoying the class. They kept their teachers busy with

asking questions, new words and made a competition to write better than others.

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 Chapter V

Recommendations

This chapter of the study presents recommendations based on the findings. This section

provides some suggestions for both Bangla and English medium how the teachers can make their

creative writing class more interactive and interesting so that it can make an effective role in

language learning for the learners.

Though it is claimed in both Bangla and English medium that the teachers are teaching

their students to write creatively, from the findings of this study it can be seen that students are

not getting the actual opportunities to use their own creativity. Students should give the

opportunity to choose the topic themselves and use their own way of writing. They should not be

asked to follow books rather they should encourage to write themselves. It can be seen in the

findings, that though poetry is considered as more creative activity, students of both medium

have not practiced it in their creative writing class rather they have practiced a lot on

composition writing. However, creative writing classes should give preference to those activities

which develop the learners’ cognitive level. As in one class it is not possible to teach every type

of creative writing so in each week there should be more than two classes for practicing creative

writing.

Teachers who teach creative writing should be more creative themselves. Their first

motive should be making the class more attractive. From the classroom observation session, the

researcher has an idea that most of the teachers are still following the traditional way of teaching.

But it should be changed. They should think how they could make their class more interesting

and effective. As in creative writing class students will write themselves, teachers should

32
encourage them not to follow the books. Moreover, teachers should first give an idea of each

type of creative writing before starting the class. They should arrange a session where students

can get chance to comment on their peers’ work. Therefore, teachers should study and think a lot

how to make their classes more effective.

33
 Chapter VI

Conclusion

The aim of this study is to explore the effectiveness of creative writing for English

language learning in both Bangla and English medium and make a comparison between the ways

of teaching of both medium.

It can be seen from the results of this study that students of both medium are motivated

having creative writing classes. They are interested to write themselves using their creativity

rather following the teachers’ instructions. Moreover, their response towards creative writing

suggests that teachers should give them more opportunities to practice different type of writing.

From the findings it can be also seen that English medium students are more confident than

Bangla medium students in case of writing. The reasons behind this is English medium students

do not follow any books or do not memories their writing whereas Bangla medium students are

traditionally used to in memorizing any kind of writing. Therefore, the students of Bangla

medium are always anxious about the grammar and writing themselves without the help of the

books. Teachers’ ways of teaching is also responsible for this type of situation. If the teacher

encourages his students to write themselves as well as explores their creativity during the

classroom context, students will be able to have high confidence level.

However, the researcher’s view is if the students get opportunities to use their creativity,

surely they will be able to write creatively and to do so the teachers should be more creative.

They should study the modern methods and should adopt them for their own classes. They

should think about their students rather than completing the syllabus. Therefore it can be stated

34
that creative writing can be an effective language tool which helps the learners in developing

both cognitive and communicative skills.

35
 Reference

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Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice Of English Language Teaching. Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex
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Kumar, S. (2012). ‘Creative writing brings fresh air in the classroom’ An Interview with Vishnu
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Lightbown, P. M. & Spada, N. (1999). How Languages are Learned. Great Clarendon Street,
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Malhotra N. K. (2006). Questionnaire design and scale development. In R. Grover & M. Vriens
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 Appendix

Questionnaire for Students

This research is being done as a requirement for the completion of a post graduation degree (MA in
English). You can choose more than one if it is required.

1. Do you have a supplement class for practicing writing in English class?

o Yes
o No

2. Which types of writing have you practiced in your writing class? Put a tick.
• Story
• Poetry
• Picture describing
• Composition
• Personal letter

3. Please, mention some topics (at least four) that you have done recently in your writing class.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

4. Please response to the following problems if you face while writing.

Yes No

I know what I have to write but I can’t organize the idea.

I am concern about grammatical errors.

I understand the topic but I can’t write in English.

I can’t write myself without the help of the books.

5. Please rate whether you agree with following statements about your creative writing class.

Yes No
I enjoy the creative writing class.
I think this writing class helps me in learning English Language.

38
I feel we should have more creative writing classes
I think I can write confidently in any given topic.
I think we should give the chance to select the topic.

6. Please rate the following statements about your teacher’s way of teaching.

Always Sometimes Never

My teacher chooses the topics for us.

My teacher explains the topics at the beginning of the class.
My teacher helps us to organize our idea.
My teacher writes for us on the board.
My teacher helps me in getting new words.
My teacher always encourages me to write myself.
My teacher always makes me alert about errors.

7. How often do you read fictional (story, novel, poem) books?

o Everyday
o During holidays
o Sometime
o Very often

Thank You

39