Fostering learner creativity in the English L2 classroom: Application of the creative problem-solving model

• Published in: Thinking skills and creativity Vol. 31; pp. 58 - 69
• Main Author: Wang, Hung-chun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2019
• Subjects: Creative problem-solving; Creative thinking; Creative writing; Creativity training; Creativity training; Creative problem-solving; Creative writing; Creative thinking
• ISSN: 1871-1871; 1878-0423
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsc.2018.11.005

•Four creative writing tasks were developed based on the Creative Problem-Solving Model.•Students generally felt positive about the effects of the creativity training.•The training significantly enhanced students’ ideational originality, but not their fluency and flexibility.•A pedagogical framework is proposed for designing CPS tasks for L2 learners. This study explores the application of the Creative Problem-Solving (CPS) model to infuse creativity training into English L2 classes. It involved 64 students enrolled in two Year-2 classes at a public high school in Taiwan. The participants completed two Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking aimed at evaluating their creative thinking skills at the beginning and the end of the study respectively. Over a period of four months, they took part in four creative writing tasks that were implemented based on the CPS model. Every time the participants finished a task, they also filled out a survey to report their opinions about it. By analyzing the students’ responses to a task evaluation survey and their test results, this study shows that the students generally indicated a positive feeling about the effects of the CPS tasks on facilitating their English skills, creative thinking, classroom participation, and interaction. They also demonstrated better ideational originality after participating in the four CPS tasks. Moreover, a pedagogical framework is proposed in this study to delineate a pedagogical procedure for designing and implementing CPS activities in English classes.