The Impact of Art-Based Learning Program on Developing English Majors’ Creative Writing

Abstract

The study aims at investigating the impact of art-based program on developing English majors’ creative writing. Evidence of the need for improvement was shown through: a pilot creative writing test and students’ open-ended questionnaire. It was indicated that there was a need for a creative writing program. The study adopted the one group design of English majors at Faculty of Girls, Ain Shams University who received a pre-post creative writing test. The participants received the program which depended on the integration of different forms of art; namely, painting, ballet, opera, musical cartoon films and music on one hand, and creative writing on the other. The rationale that the study relied on is that art sparks imagination and emotion and can act as key for unlocking creative thoughts. The study adopted Leonard Bernstein Artful Learning Model following its phases “experience, inquiry, creativity and reflection”. Students viewed artistic work and reflected on it following Bernstein phases. Reflections on the works of art were practiced through writing an imaginative story, an interview, a memoir and narrating a dream. Thus, the integration between arts and creative writing offered an opportunity for students to apply knowledge to new problems and practice new skills in multiple contexts. Results of the statistical analysis of the pre/post writing test indicated that the program was effective in developing the participants’ creative writing skills, namely; images, voice, word choice, description, characterization and story structure. It was concluded that art-based learning contributed to expression, imagination, cooperation and curiosity.