Book club and creative writing workshop in the ESL university classroom

Introduction: La Casa de las Lenguas, a language centre at the University of La Rioja (Spain), offers the course “Let’s Read” designed as a book club that allows students to read and discuss short stories in English by authors from different countries and periods. Creative writing workshops are used alongside a more conventional approach to literature in the university course “Contemporary Narrative in English.” Methodology: This article aims to use the experience gained from teaching these courses to propose a combination of an English language book club with a creative writing workshop in the ESL university classroom. This university teaching experience is designed both to enhance language proficiency in English and to foster creativity and critical thinking. Results: Sessions are designed to work on the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English. Activities include an introduction to the author and their socio-cultural context, the reading/listening of the selected text, reading comprehension exercises, guided discussions, and creative writing tasks. Discussion and conclusions: The experience gained suggests that the benefits of this proposal include students’ improvement in language skills, greater motivation to learn a foreign language and engage in its culture, and the cultivation of creativity and critical thinking.