Nurturing Divergent and Creative Thinking through Micro Writing: Insights from a Tertiary EFL Classroom

Abstract

Regardless of its potential to foster divergent and creative thinking, micro writing (MW) has not been a major theme of studies, making it lack empirical evidence on its feasibility and effectiveness. This study aims to portray how MW was implemented in a mixed-ability EFL classroom and how the students responded to MW activities. In this study, MW was realized in form of 2 main activities: word-limited compositions and framed responses. The participants were 25 first-year students of an English Education Department.  While the study was carried out with the whole class, three focal respondents were observed closely to see how the MW was met by three different categories of students: the struggling, the average, and the strong students. In addition to observations, an open-ended questionnaire was used to enrich data on students’ perceptions and responses to the MW. The collected data were analyzed using an interactive model and emerging themes are discussed. The findings of this study provide a hands-on guide for teachers to conduct MW in their respective contexts while mitigating the challenges that might occur in the process.