Кноль М. В., магистр гуманитарных наук, преподаватель иностранного языка, Карагандинского Государственного Университета им. академика Е. А. Букетова.

Creativity in foreign language learning

The notion “foreign language acquisition” actually contains three notions that are interrelated but do not overlap: mother tongue acquisition; language recognition associated with language learning at school and, lastly, foreign language learning.

In its turn, the foreign language may be of two types. If it is a language applied in the environment where the child is brought up, then “second language” is traditionally meant. It is a language of the national minority, an official language for non-native speakers. If there are almost no native speakers in the given language community, it is “foreign language”. This article attempts to make a research into the process of language acquisition focused on the third notion: foreign language learning.

Many psychologists distinguish between two most essential aspects of foreign language learning: cognitive-communicative and personal. 

The communicative aspect of foreign language learning implies both aiming at a definite interlocutor and the vision of the world through culture whose major component is the language. It is the cognition of the world that allows facilitating teaching communicative skills which, in contrast with mechanical speech skills, are of creative nature. Therefore, it is important for the teacher to use different patterns of communicative conditions so that the learners could master choosing new language media.

 Foreign language learning is also targeted at the learners’ consciousness and connected with motivations, settings, ego problems, personal/group identification, etc. Communication via the language must become a means of realization of the personality. Moreover, learners should be given a positive setting for the foreign speech. 

In addition to the establishment of the active personal position and cognitive abilities, teachers should help learners to develop creativity that is why teachers should have some knowledge of psycholinguistic and, what are more essential, psycho poetic mechanisms.

In the process defined above as “foreign language learning” motivation is unstable and often weakens. Thus, the problem of searching for new media to sustain the required motivation level is yet more acute. Creative approach to foreign language learning may solve this problem most efficiently.

By creating their new ideas in a foreign language, the learners make their own contribution to both language and culture. To some extent they feel like being part of this culture. Making up their own ideas in a foreign language they no longer feel either foreigners or outsiders.

Being creative is seeing the same thing as everybody else but thinking of something different. There are many aspects to creativity, but one definition would include the ability to take existing objects and combine them in different ways for new purposes. 

From art, music and invention to household chores, this is part of the nature of being creative. Another way of looking at creativity is as playing with the way things are interrelated. Creativity is the ability to generate novel and useful ideas and solutions to everyday problems and challenges. 

Creativity involves the translation of our unique gifts, talents and vision into an external reality that is new and useful. We must keep in mind that creativity takes place unavoidably inside our own personal, social, and cultural boundaries. 

In the creative process there are always two different (but interrelated) dimensions or levels of dynamics with which one can create: 

1. The system, which may be a particular medium or a particular process.   

2. The second dimension is described by the conceptual "content" which the medium describes. Again, the creative person depicts changes, manipulates, and expresses somehow the idea of that content. 

There is no one definition of creativity that everyone can agree with. 

Creativity researchers, mostly from the field of psychology, usually claim that being creative means being novel and appropriate. 

References

1. Зимняя И.А. Психологические аспекты обучения говорению на  иностранном языке. М., 1995.

2. Зимняя И.А. Психология обучения неродному языку. М., 1989.