Views on Creativity and Secondary Language Teaching in Higher Education

Abstract

In the higher education field, creativity has become one of the significant qualities of learners in the 21st century. Accordingly, creativity is also seen as a developmental goal in language education. In the course of activating and fostering learners’ creative potential, multiple sociocultural factors can influence the development and ideology of creative thinking. However, it is undeniable that second language teachers are playing important roles as observers, preparators, facilitators, and reflectors that are not only limited to the physical classroom. Currently, some scholars decode creativity as a process, product, or personality and it is a trend to delve into creative foreign language teaching with interdisciplinary education, such as psychology and art. In the language learning classroom, creative teaching strategies can be applied to arouse students’ imagination and motivation, encouraging learners to think out of the box. This thesis emphasizes the foundation of subject-related knowledge, and a deep understanding of creativity is of importance for language instructors. Meanwhile, the value of improvisation is also clarified. Creativity does not appear in a vacuum but has its roots in the collaboration between language learners and teachers, such as the interaction of questioning and answering, and efficient feedback availability. Under the surface of language involvement, individuals’ motivation and cultural background influence the development of creativity. Ideally, language teachers are also lifelong learners who explore and play with creativity to foster students’ creative thinking.