Social Networks and Creative Writing in EFL

Abstract

A sample of Facebook creative writing club pages created by Arab Facebook users and a sample of Facebook creative wall posts from each creative writing club page were collected and examined. The study aimed to find out the types of creative text forms (genres), themes and discoursal features of the Facebook English creative texts posted by non-native writers. In addition, a sample of Facebook Arab creative writers who are non-native speakers of English was surveyed to find out the personal, social, and cultural factors that impact their creativity in English as a foreign language. The chapter describes the data collection and analysis procedures and the challenges that a researcher faces in collecting, sorting out and analyzing creative texts posted on the Facebook wall. It reports results quantitatively and qualitatively. Implications for developing creative writing skills in foreign/second language learners using Facebook are given.