ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies the way in which English as a foreign language (EFL) students used haiku to focus on and express their personal histories. It reviews research on expressive writing in second language (L2) education. The chapter describes a case study of haiku writing on study abroad experiences in the Japanese EFL classroom. It also identifies how EFL students understand and expresses their study abroad experiences in haiku and clarifies the role of expressive writing in Asian EFL contexts. The chapter argues for the use of poetry as literacy practice in the L2 composition classroom. The four haikus express each of the writers' emotional responses to their own significant moment during their study abroad experiences. The haikus are study abroad in America, studying abroad, football game with a Brazilian team, and first day of school in Japan. The finding provides implications for teaching poetry writing as a way to humanize the L2 composition classroom.
