Creative Writing in the EFL Classroom/Teaching Ideas/Raising Students' Awareness of Textualization through the use of mini sagas and haiku poems

Developing students’ awareness of textuality
Two kinds of text types: haiku poems and mini sagas, are suitable as texts with potential to raise the students' textuality.

What makes a series of sentences or utterances a text? Or Criteria for Textuality
 * Criteria for the state of being a text


 * 1) They must make sense. (Sentences must be coherent.)
 * 2) They must have a clear communicative purpose. (Function เช่น To thank someone)
 * 3) They must be well-formed.
 * 4) They must hang together. (They must be cohesive.)
 * 5) They must be a recognizable text type. เช่น Ads, Fables, Letters, Notes, Textbooks, Haikus, etc.

The direct way is to have students memorize these criteria, but it may not be the best way to do. Alternatively, EFL teachers can use haikus and mini sagas to help them develop their awareness of these qualities.


 * What is a haiku poem?

A haiku poem is a syllabic poem of three lines. The first line must have 5 syllables, the second 7, and the third 5.

For example

The nature of life Flashing brightly then fading Like a shooting star Lin Lihua, China)

Here's another example: Sitting in the park The blind man waiting Alone, in the rain


 * What is a mini saga?

A mini saga is a very short story. It must contain exactly 50 words.

For example: Stronger Song is my friend. He thought he was faster than me in everything. One day, we      visited  a brothel. He said he needed no protection. Four years later he died of HIV. After the cremation, I threw his ashes into a river. I know he is always faster than me. (Yongyuth Khamkhong) Here's another mini saga: A Banana Grower While visiting a small village along the Thai-Myanmar border province of Kanchanaburi, Thongdee helped a Karen man from going to jail. The acquitted man gave him a big plot of  land. The man helped him plant bananas. The plantation was successful; he quit his job and became a banana grower. (Janpha Thadphoothon)