Chinese Teachers’ Perceptions of Creativity in the EFL Classroom: Advancing a Culturally Situated Conceptualization of Creativity

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

School of Languages, Linguistics, Music & Visual Culture, University of Aberdeen

Abstract

This study explores Chinese EFL teachers’ perceptions of what characteristics define a creative pupil, beliefs about the malleability and creative competency of students, viewpoints on creativity’s relationship to academic subject matter, and assumptions of how creativity is facilitated in the EFL classroom. With the primary aim of contributing to the understanding of creativity as a cultural construct, rather than just a cognitive or social concept, this mixed method research design employed an online questionnaire to include teachers working in different regions and diverse educational contexts in China, as well as interviews to better understand and articulate teachers’ viewpoints about creativity in the language classroom. The results of the current study are remarkably inconsistent with the findings of the existing literature that largely support traditional Chinese perceptions and philosophies in relation to creativity, indicating that the concept may be changing in China and/or it may be defined and understood differently in the context of language education. Nonetheless, some traditional perspectives of creativity remain, such as its relationship to academic performance and intellectual aptitude. The study holds important implications for highlighting teachers’ conceptualizations of creativity and thus helping to illuminate and advance a culturally situated understanding of creativity in the Chinese EFL classroom.

Keywords

References

Andiliou, A., & Murphy, P. K. (2010). Examining variations among researchers’ and teachers’ conceptualizations of creativity: A review and synthesis of contemporary research. Educational Research Review, 5(3), 201-219. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.07.003
Baghaei, S., & Riasati, M. J. (2015). An investigation into the relationship between teachers’ creativity and students’ academic achievement: A case study of Iran EFL context. Journal of Studies in Learning and Teaching English, 4(2), 021-032.
Baran-Łucarz, M. (2014). Pronunciation anxiety and willingness to communicate in the foreign language classroom. Concordia Papers in Applied Linguistics, 5, 36-49.
Chan, D. W., & Chan, L. K. (1999). Implicit theories of creativity: Teachers' perception of student characteristics in Hong Kong. Creativity Research Journal, 12(3), 185-195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1203_3
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Perennial.
Derakhshan, A., Greenier, V., & Fathi, J. (2022). Exploring the interplay between a loving pedagogy, creativity, and work engagement among EFL/ESL teachers: A multinational study. Current Psychology, 1-20.
Diakidoy, I. A. N., & Kanari, E. (1999). Student teachers’ beliefs about creativity. British Educational Research Journal, 25(2), 225-243. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0141192990250206
Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press.
Fryer, M., & Collings, J. A. (1991). British teachers’ views of creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 25(1), 75–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.1991.tb01356.x
Ghonsooly, B., & Showqi, S. (2012). The Effects of Foreign Language Learning on Creativity. English Language Teaching, 5(4), 161-167.
Greenier, V., Liu, X., & Xiao, Y. (2023). Creative translanguaging in formative assessment: Chinese teachers’ perceptions and practices in the primary EFL classroom. Applied Linguistics Review.
Hadfield, C., & Hadfield, J. (2016). Teaching grammar creatively. In A. Maley & N. Peachey (Eds.) Creativity in the English language classroom. 51-64. British Council.
Hummel, K. M. (2013). Introducing second language acquisition: Perspectives and practices. John Wiley & Sons.
Jones, R.H. (2015). Creativity and language. In R.H Jones & J.C. Richards (Eds.) Creativity in Language Teaching (pp. 36-51). Routledge.
Jones, R.H. & Richards. J.C.  (2015) Creativity in Language Teaching (pp. 36-51). Routledge.
Kaufman, J. C., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (2006). The international handbook of creativity. Cambridge
Khany, R., & Malekzadeh, P. (2015). Associations among EFL teachers' professional identity, professional vitality, and creativity. Teaching English Language, 9(2), 37-74.
Lubart, T. (2010). Cross-cultural perspectives on creativity. In J. Kaufman & R. Sternberg (Eds.) The Cambridge handbook of creativity. 265-278. Cambridge.
McDonough, K., Crawford, W. J., & Mackey, A. (2015). Creativity and EFL students' language use during a group problem-solving task. TESOL quarterly, 49(1), 188-199.
Maley, A., & Kiss, T. (2017). Creativity and English language teaching: From inspiration to implementation. Springer.
Misra, G., Srivastava, A. K., & Misra, I. (2006). Culture and facets of creativity. In J.C. Kaufman & R. Sternberg (Eds.) The international handbook of creativity, 421-455. Cambridge.
Niu, W., & Kaufman, J. C. (2013). Creativity of Chinese and American cultures: A synthetic analysis. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 47(1), 77-87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jocb.25
Niu, W., & Sternberg, R. (2002). Contemporary studies on the concept of creativity: The East and the West. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 36(4), 269-288. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.2002.tb01069.x
Niu, W., & Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The philosophical roots of Western and Eastern conceptions of creativity. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 26(1-2), 18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0091265
Porter, A., Graham, S., Myles, F., & Holmes, B. (2022). Creativity, challenge and culture in the languages classroom: a response to the Ofsted Curriculum Research Review. The Language Learning Journal, 50(2), 208-217.
Rudowicz, E., & Yue, X. D. (2000). Concepts of creativity: Similarities and differences among mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwanese Chinese. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 34(3), 175-192. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.2000.tb01210.x
Runco, M. A., & Johnson, D. J. (2002). Parents' and teachers' implicit theories of children's creativity: A cross-cultural perspective. Creativity Research Journal, 14(3-4), 427-438. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15326934CRJ1434_12
Saldaña, J. M. (2015). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Seidinejad, L., & Nafissi, Z. (2018). Enhancing Syntactic Complexity of EFL Learners' Essays Through Creative Thinking Skills. Teaching English Language, 12(2), 145-167.
Shahisavandi, G. H. (2023). The Relationship Between Iranian EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate and Their Creativity. Journal of Studies in Learning and Teaching English, 12(1), 19-37.
Shao, Y., Zhang, C., Zhou, J., Gu, T., & Yuan, Y. (2019). How does culture shape creativity? A mini-review. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1219. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01219
Stepanek, L. (2015). A creative approach to language teaching: a way to recognise, encourage and appreciate students’ contributions to language classes. In A. Maley & N. Peachey (Eds.) Creativity in the English language classroom. 98-103. British Council
Tin, T. B. (2022). Unpacking Creativity for Language Teaching. Taylor & Francis.
Vahdat, S., Anai Sarab, M. R., & Ghobadi, S. (2020). Evaluating the cultural appropriacy of commercial English language teaching textbooks in the Iranian context. Teaching English Language, 14(2), 111-144.
Wang, L., & Kokotsaki, D. (2018). Primary school teachers’ conceptions of creativity in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in China. Thinking skills and creativity, 29, 115-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2018.06.002
Xie, G., & Paik, Y. (2019). Cultural differences in creativity and innovation: are Asian employees truly less creative than western employees? Asia Pacific Business Review, 25(1), 123-147.
Zhou, J., Shen, J., Wang, X., Neber, H., & Johji, I. (2013). A cross-cultural comparison: Teachers’ conceptualizations of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 25(3), 239-247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2012.730006
Teaching English Language
Volume 17, Issue 2
July 2023
Pages 169-211

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 07 March 2023
  • Revise Date: 12 October 2023
  • Accept Date: 19 October 2023

Share

How to cite

Statistics