Creativity And English Language Teaching

This book offers a unique perspective on creativity in an educational environment where there is a relative dearth of literature on this subject. The authors link practice and principle to provide a practical and valuable guide for more creative language learning and teaching, using not only theoretical ideas but useful practical advice and recommendations on how better to introduce creativity into teaching and daily life. This innovative volume is sure to become a crucial reference point for teachers and practitioners of language teaching, and anyone interested in the ways in which creativity can be channelled into the teaching and learning process.

Current, comprehensive, and authoritative, this text gives language teachers and researchers, both a set of conceptual tools with which to think and talk about creativity in language teaching and a wealth of practical advice about principles and practices that can be applied to making their lessons more creative. Providing an overview of the nature of creativity and its role in second language education, it brings together twenty prominent language teachers and researchers with expertise in different aspects of creativity and teaching contexts to present a range of theories on both creative processes and how these processes lead to creative practices in language teaching. Unique in the field, the book takes a broader and more critical look at the notion of creativity in language learning, exploring its linguistic, cognitive, sociocultural and pedagogic dimensions. Structured in four sections— theoretical perspectives, creativity in the classroom, creativity in the curriculum, and creativity in teacher development—each chapter is supplemented by Questions for Discussion and Suggestions for Further Research. Its accessible style makes the book relevant as both a course text and a resource for practicing teachers.

This book borrows from a range of theories about creativity and about learning, while remaining largely practical in focus. It contains numerous examples for teachers of how to apply ideas about creativity in the classroom. In doing so, it attempts to maintain the subject's core identity while also keeping abreast of contemporary social, pedagogical and technological developments. The result is a refreshing challenge to some of the more mundane approaches to English teaching on offer in an age focussed excessively on standardisation and teaching to tests.

This volume underlines the relevance of an empirical, data-based and scientifically informed approach to the teaching of a second or foreign language, even though the contributions gathered here carry out this task through very different means and with various theoretical underpinnings. This is evident especially in the different and versatile perspectives on academic issues in the linguistic and methodological sections of the volume. The contributions here are assembled according to their disciplinary categories of linguistics, methodology of teaching English, and cultural and literary studies.

Before unlocking creativity, we must first unpack what it means. In this book, creativity is unravelled from various perspectives and the relevance for language teaching and learning is explored. Tin offers a coherent discussion of creativity, adopting an inclusive and integrated but, at the same time, focused approach to creativity. Divided into 12 chapters, the book covers: A critical review of the way the term ‘creativity’ is used, defined and written about in various disciplines Various models and theories of creativity, the product- and process-oriented views of creativity and their relevance for language teaching Three pillars on which creative language pedagogy should be based Over 60 practical tasks, applying theoretical arguments and principles of creativity to language teaching and learning Based on the author’s own practice and research on creativity over the last two decades, the book provides exciting new ideas for scholars and practitioners interested in creativity and creative language pedagogy. The book serves as an important contribution for students, teachers and scholars in the field of applied linguistics, language teaching and education.

Across the world, education is being restructured to include greater focus on developing critical and creative skills. In second language education, research suggests that cognition and language development are closely related. Yet despite increasing interest in the teaching of thinking skills, critical thinking has not been widely intergrated into language teaching. Thinking Skills and Creativity in Second Language Education presents a range of investigations exploring the relationship between thinking skills and creativity, and second language education. Focusing on cognitive, affective, social, and emotional perspectives, this book highlights current research and raises questions that will set the direction for future research. Its aims are as follows: Provide an in-depth understanding of the link between second language development and thinking skills. Consider approaches to developing thinking skills in second language instruction. Examine practices in implementing thinking skills in second language learning. Offer an updated list of sources of information on thinking skills in second language education. A new addition to the Research on Teaching Thinking and Creativity series, this book is relevant to researchers in the field of educational psychology, to Masters degree and PhD students in this field, and to anyone interested in developing thinking skills.

Language and Creativity has become established as a pivotal text for courses in English Language, Linguistics and Literacy. Creativity in language has conventionally been regarded as the preserve of institutionalised discourses such as literature and advertising, and individual gifted minds. In this ground-breaking book, bestselling author Ronald Carter explores the idea that creativity, far from being simply a property of exceptional people, is an exceptional property of all people. Drawing on a range of real examples of everyday conversations and speech, from flatmates in a student house and families on holiday to psychotherapy sessions and chat-lines, the book argues that creativity is an all-pervasive feature of everyday language. Using close analysis of naturally occurring language, taken from a unique 5 million word corpus, Language and Creativity reveals that speakers commonly make meanings in a variety of creative ways, in a wide range of social contexts and for a diverse set of reasons. This Routledge Linguistics Classic is here reissued with a new preface from the author, covering a range of key topics from e-language and internet discourse to English language teaching and world Englishes. Language and Creativity continues to build on the previous theories of creativity, offering a radical contribution to linguistic, literary and cultural theory. A must for anyone interested in the creativity of our everyday speech.

This book explores the implications of technology-mediated project-based language learning for CALL teacher development, focusing on the role of video-based instruction in elucidating challenges and opportunities to promote learner creativity in the language classroom. The volume builds on existing literature on project-based language learning by extending the focus on the affordances of machinima, digital video created by teachers and learners to capture experience in 3D immersive games or virtual worlds. Drawing on data from a large-scale research project featuring case studies that examine different facets of CALL teacher education, the book calls attention to language learning and teaching strategies that encourage both learners and teachers to develop innovative approaches in the language classroom and how such approaches promote the integration of lifelong learning skills alongside traditional linguistic competencies. Offering a dynamic contribution to the growing literature on the interface of language learning and teaching and technology, this book will appeal to students and researchers in applied linguistics and language and education, as well as those interested in the latest developments in CALL.