Developing A Course of Multimodal Creative Writing

The paper reports the development of a course of multimodal creative writing at an English Letters Department, Universitas Ma Chung, Indonesia. It involved 56 students who were taking Creative Writing course. Prior to the teaching of multimodal creative writing, they were tested for creative writing ability and their knowledge of creative writing. They were also asked how the teaching should be carried out. ADDIE was used to design the multimodal course. The course introduced the students to incorporate several semiotic modes, which included photographs, video clips, and podcast materials, into their written essays. Models of essays incorporating each of those elements were presented and explained before the students were assigned to produce multimodal essays independently. By the end of the semester, they were again tested for their abilities to create multimodal essays and their knowledge about multimodality. There was a marked increase in their scores from their previous scores in the pre-test. Overall, the respondents showed positive attitude toward multimodal creative writing. Further development should emphasize the seamless connection between the visual and aural elements and the written essays, which as a whole should work harmoniously to create enjoyable pieces of multimodal essays. Along with that, the evaluation should also assess elements other than those which have been conventionally assessed in creative writing