Creative Techniques Used by Iraqi Teachers to Enhance Academic Writing Skills for Dentistry Students who use English as a Foreign Language Creative Techniques Used by Iraqi Teachers to Enhance dentistry Academic Writing Skills

Abstract

       Academic writing is an essential skill for dentistry students, who must accurately document clinical observations, summarize scientific research, and communicate professionally in English. However, Iraqi dentistry students who study English as a foreign language (EFL) face persistent challenges in acquiring academic writing proficiency due to linguistic limitations, insufficient exposure to scientific English, and traditional teaching practices that emphasize memorization over creativity. This study investigates the creative techniques employed by Iraqi EFL teachers to enhance academic writing skills among dentistry students. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, the study integrates instructor questionnaires with student and teacher interviews to explore common writing difficulties and the instructional strategies employed to overcome them. The findings show that teachers rely heavily on guided feedback, collaborative tasks, modeling through sample texts, and meaning-focused writing activities. Students, meanwhile, report difficulties with paraphrasing scientific texts, organizing ideas, and using academic vocabulary accurately. The study concludes that creative pedagogical approaches significantly support dentistry students in developing discipline-specific writing skills, and it recommends integrating creative, interactive methods into the English curriculum of dentistry programs across Iraq.