Creative writing as a second language: What is creativity for second language writers?

Abstract

The purpose of this autoethnographic study is to advance our understanding regarding the use of the creative function of a second language respecting the second language writer's insight, mindset, and perceptions. This conceptual autoethnographic study explored how creative writing in a first language differs from using the creative function in a second language. The study revealed that after using the poetic function of language, the author experienced progress in her writing because of the following enlightening arguments: The author felt encouraged to use her second language in more advanced and sophisticated styles as a result of trying to use the creative function of her second language in figurative ways that she has never tried before. Searching for solutions to write in her second language creatively allowed the multilingual author to discover new literary lexical and semantic connotations, and this process improved her style by enriching her vocabulary choice. The author gained metacognitive awareness in order to express herself in more meaningful ways because using the creative function of her second language pushed her boundaries to use words out of their daily ordinary meanings.