Language, Identity and the Digital Realm

Language, Identity and the Digital Realm

A Comprehensive Investigation on the Moment-to-Moment Instructional Techniques Employed to Enhance Students’ Creativity Skills in the EFL Context of Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Department of TEFL, University of Hormozgan, Iran.
Abstract
The attainment of success in diverse fields, including education, hinges significantly on the presence of creativity. The cultivation of creative thinking within educational institutions has been recognized as a valuable objective due to its potential to equip students with the essential competencies required for navigating an unpredictable future. The present study utilized a blend of qualitative and quantitative methodologies in a specific sequential process to explore the methodologies employed to foster creativity within EFL contexts. A standardized questionnaire was administered to 214 EFL instructors working in public high schools to evaluate the frequency of their implementation of creativity-promoting strategies within their instructional environments. The findings suggest that teachers seldom employ these strategies in their instructional practices. Furthermore, a series of interviews were conducted with the instructors to discern the factors that hindered their successful implementation of these approaches. This study employed an analysis to deduce themes and categories extracted from the interviews to understand the lack of implementation of creativity-nurturing strategies among Iranian EFL teachers. Consequently, five key themes emerged from the analysis, illuminating the observed failures. The findings indicate that the simultaneous inclusion of performance-oriented instruction and the fostering of creativity within Iranian EFL classrooms imposes a challenging predicament for EFL instructors, leading to a sense of pressure and a conundrum when attempting to encourage creative expression. The capacity of educators to cultivate creativity is highly constrained by variables such as temporal limitations and curriculum-related stressors. Comprehensive reforms are required to promote the teaching of English in Iran, with the aim of cultivating creativity among students.
Keywords

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