STUDENTS’ COLLABORATIVE STORY WRITING PROJECT IN AN EXTENSIVE READING PROGRAM

As the nature of Extensive Reading (ER) emphasizes the reading activity, most ER follow up activities are developed to support the act of reading. This might neglect the fact that reading can also be a stimulus for creative and imaginative writing. Although ER has a potential role to develop students’ L2 writing, not many have explored it. This preliminary study investigates a writing project undertaken as a post-ER activity. This project was done at the end of an ER program in an EFL context. In this project, the students worked collaboratively to write a 1,000-word short story. The study examined how the ER teachers and ER students in the study perceived the story writing project. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with three ER teachers and six ER students. Findings showed that both the teachers and students perceived the story writing project as beneficial to enhance the students’ creativity and imagination. They also agreed on the connection between reading and writing. The quality of the story was perceived to be significantly influenced by the students’ reading behaviors. Practical suggestions on how to integrate this project into an ER program were also offered.