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Перспективы Науки и Образования
Международный электронный научный журнал ISSN 2307-2334 (Онлайн)
Адрес выпуска: https://pnojournal.wordpress.com/2023-2/23-01/ Дата поступления: 11.08.2022 Дата публикации: 28.02.2023
О. Н. Кишко, М. В. Тимченко
Исследование подходов к развитию и оценке творческих способностей будущих специалистов-международников средствами обучения иностранному языку
Введение. Новые требования к компетентности специалиста международного профиля в условиях изменяющейся практики международных отношений диктуют необходимость формирования у будущих специалистов-международников способности творчески решать профессиональные задачи и осуществлять нововведения в условиях консервативной профессии. Преимущественное использование традиционной технологической базы не позволяет в полном объеме реализовать потенциал обучения иностранному языку в формировании творческих способностей студентов международного профиля и актуализирует разработку и обоснование новых эффективных инструментов комплексного развития творческих способностей будущих специалистов-международников средствами обучения иностранному языку.
Материалы и методы. Опытно-экспериментальной базой исследования послужили факультет Международного бизнеса и делового администрирования и Международный институт энергетической политики и дипломатии Московского государственного института международных отношений (университета) Министерства иностранных дел Российской Федерации. Всего в опытно-экспериментальной работе (2017-2021 гг.) принял участие 151 студент. Выборка формирующего эксперимента составила 74 студента. Экспериментальные данные получены с использованием психометрических инструментов: «Ценностные ориентации» (М. Рокич), тест креативности Е. П. Торранса и инструментов, разработанных на основе проективных методик.
Результаты исследования. В экспериментальной группе количество участников с высоким уровнем творческих способностей возросло с 22,16% до 51,88% по сравнению с ростом с 13,3% до 14,2% в контрольной группе; при этом количество участников с базовым уровнем творческих способностей сократилось с 36,2% до 15,14% в экспериментальной группе и с 44,78% до 40,8% в контрольной группе 0:ЭМГ|=6; p<0,05). Положительная динамика психометрических измерений в экспериментальной группе коррелирует с улучшением результатов, полученных с использованием проективных методов по соответствующим параметрам.
Заключение. Полученные данные подтвердили прогнозируемый рост значений исследуемых параметров у участников экспериментальной группы, что позволило обосновать эффективность использования разработанного комплекса инструментов формирования и оценки сформированности профессионально значимых творческих способностей в процессе профессиональной языковой подготовки будущих специалистов-международников. Апробированные подходы легли в основу авторского учебного курса, предлагающего практическое применение разработанных инструментов. Научный интерес представляют дальнейшие исследования в целях выявления взаимосвязи формирования творческих способностей с академической успеваемостью и качеством полученных знаний.
Ключевые слова: творческие способности, творческое мышление, оценка творческих способностей, обучение иностранным языкам, профессиональная языковая подготовка, высшая школа
Ссылка для цитирования:
Кишко О. Н., Тимченко М. В. Исследование подходов к развитию и оценке творческих способностей будущих специалистов-международников средствами обучения иностранному языку // Перспективы науки и образования. 2023. № 1 (61). С. 205-219. 10.32744/ pse.2023.112
Perspectives of Science & Education
International Scientific Electronic Journal ISSN 2307-2334 (Online)
Available: https://pnojournal.wordpress.com/2023-2/23-01/ Accepted: 11 August 2022 Published: 28 February 2023
O. N. Kishko, M. V. Timchenko
Research-based approaches to the development and assessment of the creative abilities of future international specialists by means of teaching a foreign language
Introduction. Updated requirements for specialists in foreign relations in line with currently changing practice of foreign relations call for developing in undergraduates such professionally relevant creative skills as finding creative solutions to professional challenges and introducing innovative approaches in the conservative paradigm. Conventional approaches prevalent in teaching a foreign language cannot reveal the full potential of fostering creative skills in future professionals in foreign relations, thus calling for developing and substantiating new effective tools of comprehensive development of creativity through teaching a foreign language in undergraduates majoring in foreign relations.
Materials and Methods. The study was conducted at MGIMO University, in 2017-2021. The total number of participants was 151 undergraduates, School of International Business and Business Administration, and International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy, with 74 participants in the educational experiment. The analysis was based on the data obtained through administration of the psychometric instruments the Rokeach Value Survey, the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, and additional instruments designed on the basis of relevant projective techniques.
Results. The analysis of data obtained for the experimental and control groups shows more noticeable changes in the parameters under study in the experimental group. For high developmental level of creativity, 22.16% increased to 51.88% in the experimental group, compared to increase from 13.3% to 14.2% in the control group. For basic developmental level, 36.2% reduced to 15.14% in the experimental group, compared to decrease from 44.78% to 40.8% in the control group (tEXP=6; p<0,05). The findings from the psychometric measurements are consistent with the findings from the projective techniques, where improvement in performance correlates positively with higher scores for the relevant parameters. The analysis additionally looked into the changes in the profile of scores and in separate scores in the experimental group.
Discussion and Conclusion. The findings of the study support the expected increase in the parameters under study in the experimental group, and substantiate effectiveness of the set of instruments designed to develop and measure professionally relevant creative skills through teaching a foreign language in undergraduates majoring in foreign relations. The approaches verified in the study were used to develop the authors' foreign-language course, which offers practical application of the instruments described here. Further research should explore the correlation of higher creativity scores with higher academic performance as well as the quality of knowledge.
Keywords: creativity, creative thinking, intellectual creativity, creativity assessment, foreign language teaching, higher education
For Reference:
Kishko, O. N., & Timchenko, M. V. (2023). Research-based approaches to the development and assessment of the creative abilities of future international specialists by means of teaching a foreign language. Perspektivy nauki i obrazovania - Perspectives of Science and Education, 61 (1), 205-219. doi: 10.32744/pse.2023.1.12
Introduction
reativity has never been a separate academic discipline, yet every university
graduate is expected to be a professional who can ask novel questions to improve
existing knowledge and come up with the answers to benefit society at large [25].
With education no longer restricted to mastery of the subject, it is increasingly expected to train creative minds. The latest educational initiatives aim to foster creativity in higher education settings worldwide. In 2020, the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) launched the project* aiming to develop students' creative and critical thinking along with disciplinary content in higher education.
Although creativity is believed to be relevant to work with challenging or emerging problems, universities are encouraged to have a wider look at how it is applicable in professional settings and see its relevance in wider contexts [11]. At the same time, understanding that creative teaching and training is not the monopoly of higher education [14], universities should be open to the experience of successful business practices in terms of creativity [21].
The article aims to explore the place of creativity on the higher education curriculum, and substantiate the means of developing and measuring creativity in a foreign-language class in a higher education setting through documenting the findings revealed during the educational experiment.
Higher education institutions are increasingly expected to foster creative skills in their students in line with providing content knowledge in professional fields [9; 22]. Leaders from innovative institutions worldwide struggle to adapt their approaches to teaching through revising pedagogical philosophy, experimenting with innovative pedagogies. The most widely-used trends nowadays include inter-disciplinary innovative courses (e.g., Aalto University, Finland; National University of Singapore) and elective courses targeted at developing students as critical consumers of information (McGill University, Canada; Australian Awards for University Teaching, Universities Australia, Australia). However, researches in the field are unanimous in applying student-centred approaches and intensive teaching methods (based on the opinion exchange of expert participants of the Q&A webinar: Fostering 21st-century skills in higher education, organized as part of a two-day online event supporting the OECD project "Teaching, Learning and Assessing Creativity and Critical Thinking in Higher Education").
As creativity is a cross-curriculum concept penetrating all disciplines, the aim is to foster it through disciplines. Time-proven opportunities for nurturing creativity are offered through problem-based learning [16], providing environment for creative participation [7], stimulating creative thinking [13], and introducing Thinking Process tools [24] in such fields as engineering, teaching, psychology, economics, health and nature sciences.
However, teaching creativity should not be restricted to the above fields and subjects that lend themselves to a problem-solving. Ample opportunity is provided with a foreign-language class, where the value of foreign-language teaching is that creativity could
* https://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/fostering-assessing-students-creative-and-critical-thinking-skills-in-higher-education.htm
Literature Review
be incorporated into every aspect of the language practice, rather than reserved for a specific purpose or activity. Discussion [3; 8] has been conventionally regarded as the most applicable form of fostering creativity in a foreign-language class, since Carter in his work termed creativity in language an all-pervasive feature of speaking everyday language [6]. The British Council volume of articles on creativity edited by A. Maley and N. Peachey is an excellent source creativity-conscious teachers refer to, as it provides a collection of helpful case studies for various students' levels, with few examples applicable to university settings [23]. Although the volume offers a wide range of developments and examples of everyday teaching creativity through working with vocabulary, reading and speaking skills, grammar, also found in Burrows [5] and Gerngross et al. [12], approaches based on teaching of texts are few, with the main focus on creative writing. The examples include the projects in EFL high school classes designed by Peter Lutzker, and literature classes in an Asian context taught by Phuong thi Anh Le [23]. With digital aids gaining more popularity, some teachers see them as the primary source of creativity in a foreign-language class, using video and art in digital environment [20; 27], exploring the power of play in university settings [15].
To sum up, the efforts aimed at developing creativity in a foreign-language class are generally expected to employ special developments and allocate special resources, whereas the common text, part and parcel of every foreign-language university class, offers great untapped potential for instilling creativity in students on a routine level thus contributing to development of one of the most crucial skills.
The approach of teaching texts in a foreign language draws on the ontological language studies that reveal the nature of the creative potential of the language [28], which helps substantiate teaching texts as the independent source of creativity to tap. Thus, creativity can be comprehensively developed through teaching texts in the original. Moreover, the effect of applying this approach is predicted to be long-lasting as a foreign-language course is long-term, unlike short-term elective courses.
Initiating research, it is important to define the concept under study. The definitions of creativity in pedagogical settings vary from generic ones as the ability to come up with solutions, both novel and appropriate, or "to generate innovations or ideas which can then be honed through the problem-solving process" (skillsbuilder.org), to more specific, practice-oriented as "having an 'entrepreneurial eye' for economic and social opportunities, asking the right questions to generate novel ideas, and demonstrating leadership to pursue those ideas into practice" [2]. The higher education objectives focus on work with hypothesising, generating ideas, applying the known to far domains, a paradigm shift, and originality of the ideas at the highest academic levels [21].
The current knowledge of creativity draws on the theory of its core dimensions of motivational, intellectual, aesthetic, and existential parameters. Where motivational parameters stand for providing energy resource of creative activity; intellectual parameters correspond to dynamics of creative activity; aesthetic parameters define implementing and complete elaboration of the product; and existential parameters integrate the overall system [1]. Thus, the structure of the concept under study is made up of creative outlook (motivational), faculties for transformation, divergent thinking, anticipation and prediction (intellectual), faculties for adhesiveness, creating new harmonious configurations and complete elaboration (aesthetic), all integrated by overall creativity (existential).
Thus, operationalizing creativity and linking it with the structure, the aim of reported experiment was to develop the ability to be proactive in going beyond the boundaries defined for the activity as development of motivational parameters; the ability to
undertake the activity aimed to transform the information constructively as development of intellectual parameters; and the ability to produce novel results, subjectively and objectively meaningful as development of intellectual and aesthetic creative parameters within development of creativity overall.
In creativity research, assessment of the effects is one of the controversial issues with divided opinion, whether creativity should be assessed with explicit assessment criteria [4], or the evaluation of creativity is implicit [26], assessed as non-credit activities; whether to assess creative process or product. Our study is based on the balanced view, where classroom assessment is more concerned about accomplishment than summative aspects. However, the research purpose will be to supplement quantitative assessment of the process with qualitative analysis of the product. Therefore, we take psychometric data for quantitative assessment, and the results manifested in students' creative products for qualitative analysis.
The article, thus, reports the findings revealed for creativity as multidimensional structure developed through teaching texts in a foreign-language university class in the pedagogical experiment. The work is in line with dissemination of practical knowledge about promoting creativity in higher education, as according to OECD, "little is known about the relevance and effectiveness of different approaches to support the development of these skills in higher education institutions" (based on the materials of OECD Q&A Webinar Fostering 21st-century skills in higher education, 12-13 January 2022).*
Materials and Methods
The study aimed to develop and assess creativity in undergraduate students through designed approaches to teaching texts in the English language class; to make measurements over time and substantiate the approaches with the findings obtained.
The study included the development and experiment stages. The total number of participants was 151 first- and second-year undergraduate students, School of International Business and Business Administration, International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy, MGIMO University, in 2017-2021.
The development stage (2017-2020) involved the analyses of literature; design of assessment; defining developmental levels of creativity; research of relevant language activities; design, testing, and finalising of the text-based activities to use in the experiment. The total number of participants involved in the development stage was 77 undergraduate students.
The important part of the development stage was to design assessment. The psychometric instruments included the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Figural Form (TTCT), the gold standard of creativity tests with a high validity rating [17; 18], and the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), a time-proven measure of values.
The table below outlines the assessment methodology which comprised psychometric and additional instruments designed using projective techniques, and shows parameters-wise assessment design (see Table 1).
TTCT provides separate scores, flexibility, originality, abstractness of titles, elaboration, and resistance to premature closure. The five scores, therefore, constitute the primary basis for assessment, whereas creative strengths are used to make it complete. Given extra scores, creative strengths include emotional expressiveness, storytelling articulateness,
* https://www.youthforesight.org/resource-details/Event/1417
movement or action, combining two or more figures into a single image, unusual visualization, colourfulness of imagery.
Table 1
Instruments used to assess creativity parameters under study
Creativity parameters Assessment instruments
Motivational dimension: Creative outlook (value of creativity, creative attitude to professional activities, etc.) - Rokeach Value Survey - TTCT (flexibility, resistance to premature closure)
Intellectual dimension: Faculty for transformation and alteration (flexible thinking; altering, reshaping, ideas, stereotypes; variability) - TTCT (flexibility, originality, resistance to premature closure, elaboration, creative strengths) - "Challenging labels" (E. de Bono), "Antimyths", "(De) compression of information" (T. Barysheva), "Metaphor-based methods"
Faculty for divergent thinking (a multivariate view of the subject, etc.) - TTCT (flexibility, resistance to premature, originality, creative strengths) - "Search for alternatives" (E. de Bono), "Inversions" (T. Barysheva), modified test of divergent thinking (J. Guilford)
Faculty for anticipation and prediction (advancing diverse, original hypotheses) - TTCT (flexibility, originality) - "Hypothesizing", "What if ...?", modified test of divergent thinking (J. Guilford)
Aesthetic dimension: Faculty for making associative links, adhesiveness - TTCT (abstractness of titles, creative strengths) - "Compression of information" (N. Barysheva), - "Metaphor-based method"
Faculty for creating new harmonious configurations - TTCT (abstractness of titles, creative strengths) - "Ambivalence-based method", "Metaphor-based definition"
Pursuit of complete elaboration and improving creative products - TTCT (elaboration) - "Decompression of information"
RVS covers terminal and instrumental values, assesses priority of creativity within values hierarchy, where high ranking of terminal values 1, 5, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, and instrumental values 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 15, 17 in the individual hierarchy of values, show participants' creative outlooks and high motivation for creative activities. In addition, as shown in the table below, high scores for the TTCT flexibility and resistance to premature closure reflect high motivation for creative activities.
Additional assessment instruments were specific text-based tools designed using projective techniques, which act as stimuli for the participant to project their creative potential as if onto the screen. Manifestation of the individual's creativity in the creative product makes projective techniques the valuable source to analyse and supplement the data obtained with psychometric methods.
To substantiate the concurrent use of psychometric and additional tools in analysis of the data, the parameters under assessment in both were contrasted and analysed to explore the conceptual overlap between them. The table below gives the results of the analysis carried out for the intellectual parameters.
As shown in the table, the parameters of the psychometric tools map on those of the projective techniques. Therefore, further analysis of data obtained is substantiated by common conceptual basis revealed in their assessment parameters.
Defining the parameters under study laid the basis for setting out three developmental levels of creativity: high, medium, and basic. Worked out in line with the operationalisation of creativity, developmental levels are essential for experimental work to develop creativity and measure the effects. The developmental levels and relevant criteria are given in Results.
Table 2
Conceptual overlap between the parameters of additional tools and TTCT (given on the example of the intellectual parameters)
Parameters assessed with additional tools Parameters assessed with TTCT
Faculty for transformation and alteration: Ability to make transformations, diversity and ease of transformations and alterations, including range of altering, reshaping, reformulating strategies; range and variability of options produced Degree, quality and originality of transformation, transformation at the level of the whole or comprising elements; metaphoric transformation or inversion Level of motivation for performing creative activities Flexibility: Ability to produce a variety of ideas, using varied strategies and shifting from one approach to another; diversity of ideas and approaches, shown in the range of responses; reflects level of motivation for performing creative activities Resistance to premature closure: Ability to delay mental leap to consider all the factors for original ideas; reflects level of motivation for performing creative activities, readiness and openness to new experience Elaboration: Ability to elaborate ideas, use exposition of detail, to carry out dynamic analysis, constructive activities Abstractness of titles: Ability to capture the essence involved, define and express the nature of things, synthesize, make abstractions and associations
Faculty for divergent thinking: Ability to make use of varied categories, factors, and strategies of thinking within and beyond the suggested field; field independence, a variety of conditions and approaches Ability to see the subject through multiple aspects (retrospective-perspective; text-implication-context), ranging from one-aspect view to dichotomic or quantal view, recognising the novelty Ability to come up with alternative categories, factors, and strategies of thinking Flexibility: Ability to produce a variety of ideas, using varied strategies and shifting from one approach to another; diversity of ideas and approaches, shown in the range of responses; reflects level of motivation for performing creative activities Originality: Ability to produce ideas well beyond the commonplace or established, come up with unusual and highly imaginative responses Creative strengths: Ability to combine two or more figures into a single image; movement or action; unusual visualization
Faculty for anticipation and prediction: Ability to advance multiple hypotheses; broad span of the search field Range and variety of hypotheses advanced; soundness of hypotheses advanced Originality and ingenuity of hypotheses advanced Flexibility: Ability to produce a variety of ideas, using varied strategies and shifting from one approach to another; diversity of ideas and approaches, shown in the range of responses; reflects level of motivation for performing creative activities Originality: Ability to produce ideas well beyond the commonplace or established, come up with unusual and highly imaginative responses
The next step was to design specific text-based activities to incorporate into the foreign-language course within the experiment. The aim was to design the activities that, on the one hand, would reflect the core parameters of the concept under study to enable systematic development of creativity and, on the other hand, would be creative in nature, match those of the course and be easy-to-use. At this stage, the activities were designed, tested in the field work in various groups and language aspects, and finalized for the experiment stage.
Table 3 shows the activities designed to develop faculty for transformation and alteration within intellectual parameters of creativity which includes flexible thinking; altering, reshaping, and reformulating ideas, images, stereotypes; variability, in line with the skills to be developed.
The table, thus, exemplifies the activities aimed to develop creativity within the experiment. Similarly, the activities were designed to develop motivational, and aesthetic parameters, to embrace all parameters and develop creativity as a system. An example of systematic use of activities covering all parameters under study can be found in the published course 'A Story-based English Class' [19].
Table 3
Samples of text-based activities to develop faculty for transformation and alteration
(intellectual parameters)
Parameters assessed with additional tools Parameters assessed with TTCT
Dissociation: rearrangement and transformation of stereotypical ideas and patterns - Search through the story for some traditional, social, cultural or other stereotypes or popular clichés. Write them down. - Challenge these stereotypes and clichés found. Give an alternative opinion of them. You may start with the words given or choose your own opening words. It's a complete myth that..., Contrary to popular myth,... - Debunk the myth that ....
Compression of information: cohesion of new domains with previous experience; substitution of several ideas or images with a single higherorder one; using concise information symbols; making up abstract, generic concepts - Say in one sentence only what this story is about. - What is the problem that the story deals with/the message of the story? - What other titles would you think of to convey the same/not to give away the ending? - Think of your title of the story. Explain the relationship between your title and the story, account for your choice. (Based on ambivalent stimuli) - Write a short summary of the story in 7-10 sentences not to miss the key events, avoiding any unimportant detail. Restore the exact sequence of the events. - Work out the script of the movie based on the story. Think of the title for your film, choose actors, etc. Account for your choices. Write a 60-sec pitch to a potential film producer.
Decompression of information: decoding and detailed elaboration of ideas, projects, messages; multifunctional use of details; making metaphor-based transformations and alterations - Elaborate the meaning of the idiom/metaphor. - Explain the metaphors in your own words without changing the meaning. -Think of other metaphors that would suit this story. - Search for the punchline. How do you interpret it? - The main character pretended to be blind (any provoking statement from the teacher). Prove it with the ideas and quotes from the story (students will need to decode implied information; read between the lines).
The experiment stage (2020-2021) included the initial assessment in the experimental and control groups, practising the activities designed and embedded in the language course in the experimental group, and the follow-up assessment to measure effects in students' performance in the experimental and control groups.
The total number of participants in the experiment was 74 students, with 37 in the experimental group and 37 in the control group. Designed activities were used as regular practices in a foreign-language class. Throughout the experiment, all the parameters were monitored and effectiveness of the activities was analysed with the aim to improve. To measure the effects and changes, the experiment stage was completed with the follow-up assessment. The instruments of the initial assessment (Test 1) matched those of the follow-up (Test 2).
Results
The findings under analysis included data from TTCT, RVS, and additional assessment tools (see Table 1). The quantitative data, therefore, were analysed in contrast to the qualitative data represented by the participants' creative works.
Administration of the RVS provided data to analyse changes in the motivational parameters through analysis of changes in priority of relevant terminal and instrumental values within the participants' hierarchies of values. With similar data for motivational parameters obtained at the initial stage, the results of the follow-up show the participants' changes in ranking of terminal values within their hierarchies: for Activity (an exciting, active life) from 48.6 to 46
and from 35.7 to 41.6, for Beauty (a world of beauty, nature and arts) from 5.4 to 13.5 and from 7.1 to 12.5, Productivity (a sense of accomplishment, contribution) from 37.8 to 46 and from 42.9 to 41.6, Development (self-improvement) from 35 to 51.3 and from 50 to 54.1, Freedom (independence, free choice) from 37.8 to 62 and from 35.7 to 33.3, Creativity (opportunity to do creative work) from 8 to 13.5 and from 0 to 4.2, Confidence (inner harmony, freedom from inner conflict) from 29.7 to 48.6 and from 42.9 to 42.8, in experimental and control groups respectively. The diagram below (Fig. 1) shows the participants' rankings of terminal values within their hierarchies of values for the follow-up.
Figure 1 Ranking of terminal values measured with RVS in the experimental
and control groups in Test 2
For instrumental values, the results of the follow-up show the participants' changes in ranking within their hierarchies: for Expectations (ambitions) from 32.4 to 32.4 and from 28.6 to 37.5, for Cheerfulness (light-heartedness, sense of humour) from 46 to 48.6 and from 42.9 to 29.1, Independence (self-reliance, decisiveness) from 29.7 to 48.6 and from 50 to 41.6, Irreconcilability (uncompromising about one's own and others' shortcomings) from 0 to 5.4 and from 14.3 to 4.1, Courage (standing up for opinion) from 24.3 to 32.4 and from 50 to 12.5, Open-mindedness (broadmindedness) from 7.8 to 46 and from 35.7 to 37.5, Efficiency (hard working, productive work) from 21.6 to 46 and from 14.3 to 33.3, in experimental and control groups respectively. The diagram below (Fig. 2) shows the participants' rankings of instrumental values within their hierarchies of values for the follow-up.
Administration of the RVS, TTCT and additional tools provided data to analyse changes in the motivational, intellectual, and aesthetic parameters summed up as overall creativity. The data were analysed across the developmental levels of overall creativity defined at the development stage, which included:
High developmental level of creativity is characterized by high motivation for creative activity; producing unusual and statistically infrequent responses within varied, nonrepeating categories; manifestation of high intellectual activity and non-conformity; using figurative or metaphorical language revealing implications expressed with abstractions and associations; making up configurations applying meaningful details and techniques of constructive transformation, appreciated by other participants; manifestation openness to experimenting with new problems.
Activity
Beauty Productivity Development Freedom Creativity Confidence
—Expérimental group — —Contro Igroup
— —Exper "m ental group — —Control group
Figure 2 Ranking of instrumental values measured with RVS in the experimental
and control groups in Test 2
Medium developmental level of creativity is characterized by moderate motivation for creative activity; prevailing frequently-used responses within various but repeating categories and rare ideas beyond the commonplace; intellectual activity not enough to come up with unusual solutions; using descriptive language, expressing thoughts and feelings with the help of abstract techniques, though failing to convey the essence; producing obvious solutions, applying meaningful details and sporadically using techniques of constructive transformation, meaningful to the participant; showing little enthusiasm for experimenting with new problems.
Basic developmental level of creativity is characterized by low motivation for creative activity; producing least unusual and trite responses within a limited range of categories, of little or no value to the participant or other participants; using descriptive language stating family or class of species or giving specific features, expressed without abstractions and associations; producing trite solutions applying minimum details, avoiding meaningful details or techniques of constructive transformation; showing lack of enthusiasm for experimenting with new problems.
The aggregated data on the parameters under study for Test 1 and Test 2 were used to calculate mean values for the developmental levels and to analyse changes in distribution for the experimental and control groups in Test 1 and Test 2.
Table 4 and Figure 3 show the distribution of the participants in the experimental and control groups across the developmental levels of creativity.
To verify the findings obtained, dependent t-test was calculated*. The calculations of dependent t-test based on the data of the initial and follow-up assessments in the experimental group are given in Table 5.
The results from the initial (M = 11.8, SD = 6.4) and follow-up (M = 16.1, SD = 6.02) assessments indicate that practising the designed activities and using specific text-based instruments embedded in the foreign-language course to develop creativity in undergraduate students majoring in foreign relations resulted in an improvement in their creativity scores t (37) = 6, p < 0.05.
* Automated calculation of dependent t-test at https://www.psychol-ok.ru/statistics/student/
Table 4
Distribution across developmental levels of creativity in the experimental and control
groups in Test 1 and Test 2
Developmental level of creativity Test 1 Test 2
Experimental group Control group Experimental group Control group
High (%) 22.16 13.3 51.88 14.2
Medium (%) 41.64 41.92 32.98 45.0
Basic (%) 36.2 44.78 15.14 40.8
36,20 15,14 32,9S 40,60
41,54
51,BB 45,00
22,16
14,Z0
Exper "mental group Tea 1 Experimental group Test 2 Control group Test 1 Control group Test 2
■ Basic level ■ Med "urn level ■ High level
Figure 3 Change in distribution across developmental levels of creativity in the experimental and control groups in Test 1 vs. Test 2
Table 5
Calculation of t-test
Initial assessment (Test 1 before the experiment) Follow-up assessment (Test 2 after the experiment)
M SD M SD
11.8 6.4 16.1 6.02
Discussion
The quantitative data obtained in the experiment play a part in the analysis of changes from Test 1 to Test 2, but in view of the field of study qualitative analysis of the same data helps to look into the reasons behind and interpret the changes. Thus, we made the choice for additional interpreting the structure and profile of scores. This analysis strategy also helped us compare and contrast the findings with the results of the creative products. Also, we saw the assessment of changes in creative products as feedback to improve the approach applied.
For the motivational parameters, more changes in priority of terminal values are revealed in the experimental group, where 6 out of 7 values showed growth, compared to 3 out of 7 values in the control group. Besides 6 out of 7 values scored higher in the experimental group compared to the scores in the control group. The exception is Development which
showed relatively low growth from 50% to 54.1% in the control group, and marked growth from 35% to 51.3% in the experimental group, though remaining lower in comparison.
In addition, the analysis of the structure of the terminal values within the participants' hierarchies in the experimental group helped reveal some patterns. For example, for Activity and Productivity, 19% of the participants who chose Activity in Test 1, preferred to choose Productivity in Test 2. At the same time, 43% participants who chose either of these two values in Test 1, preferred to choose Productivity in Test 2. Therefore, increased number of the participants with the value Productivity within their hierarchies is accounted for by both new participants who ranked this value high in Test 2 and re-distribution of those who preferred the value in Test 2. This change in the participants' preference suggests more significance of being productive and realizing potential rather than leading an active life.
Consistent with the results for terminal values, more changes in priority of instrumental values are revealed in the experimental group, where 6 out of 7 values showed growth, compared to 3 out of 7 values in the control group. Expectations scored the same (32.4%) in the experimental group in both Test 1 and Test 2, which may be accounted for by developing more focus on the inner selves of the participants reflected in the rest of the values within this hierarchy.
The analysis of the structure of the instrumental values in the experimental group helped to reveal that the same score for Expectations can be accounted for by an evolved view of this concept in line with drastic improvement for Independence (decisiveness) from 29.7% to 48.6%, Courage (standing up for opinion) from 24.3% to 32.4%, and Open-mindedness (broadmindedness) from 7.8% to 46%.
The findings suggest marked increase in motivation for creative activity in the participants of the experimental group compared to the control group.
The data for the motivational, intellectual, and aesthetic parameters were analysed as overall creativity across the developmental levels, where the data obtained for the experimental and control groups show more noticeable changes in distribution across developmental levels of creativity in the experimental group.
For high developmental level of creativity, 22.16% increased to 51.88% in the experimental group, compared to increase from 13.3% to 14.2% in the control group. For medium developmental level, 41.64% reduced to 39.98% in the experimental group, compared to increase from 41.92% to 45% in the control group. For basic developmental level, 36.2% reduced to 15.14% in the experimental group, compared to decrease from 44.78% to 40.8% in the control group.
It is important to point out that marked changes in distribution across developmental levels of creativity in the experimental group are mostly accounted for by marked increase for high developmental level - from 22.16% to 51.88% and significant decrease for basic developmental level - from 36.2% to 15.14%.
Further analysis was done to look into correlation between the findings from the psychometric measurements with those of additional tools. Taking an example of the intellectual parameters, for the faculty for divergent thinking, the parallel multimodal view of the subject (manifestation of divergent thinking in creative works) which replaced the initial one-aspect view was found in 56.8%, which correlates with higher scores for flexibility in 59.5%, assessed with the TTCT. It is important to note that the parallel multimodal view of the subject is also shown to correlate positively with such creative strengths as unusual visualization, combining two or more figures into a single image, and combining all figures
into a single plot with relevant titles. These manifestations were found in the TTCT findings in 54% of the participants.
In terms of the faculty for transformation and alteration, improved performance (from transformations of supplementary repetitions to complex transformations) was found in creative works of 67.6% participants, which positively correlates with higher scores for the abstractness of titles and resistance to premature closure found in 78.4% participants, in TTCT.
The faculty for anticipation and prediction is manifested in creative works as variety of hypotheses advanced, with a broad span of search outside the suggested field, which replaced the scarce selection of obvious and trite hypotheses within the search field limited by the plot or idea proposed. Improved performance was revealed in 70.3%, which correlates with higher flexibility scores found in 59.5%.
In addition, Test 2 revealed no missed or inaccurately completed assignments in the experimental group compared with blanks and gaps left in Test 1, which also suggests confidence in performing creative activities.
Therefore, the findings from the psychometric measurements are consistent with the findings from administration of projective techniques used as additional tools, where improvement in performance manifested in creative works correlates positively with higher scores for the relevant parameters assessed with the psychometric instruments.
The findings of the study support the approaches of A. Maley and N. Peachey who advocate integrating creativity development into every aspect of the foreign language practice rather than reserving it for a specific activity. In line with their approach, we incorporated the specific activities in routine foreign-language class though we went beyond the common scope of activities used for creativity development. Also, contrary to the growing trend towards using visual or digital aids as means of developing creativity in a foreign-language class, e. g. used by M. Spezialetti, L. Kohnke, F. Kigikaya and J. Krajka, in our study we confined to working with texts proper, to support the hypothesis that the text on its own offers great untapped potential for instilling creativity in students in a foreign-language class.
As discussed above, in the context of creativity development, the approaches based on teaching of texts are not so wide-spread. One of the traditional approaches is based on the reader response theory and stylistic analysis, which focuses mainly on literary texts, as developed by Dr. Saroja Dhanapal [10]. Also, in the foreign-language setting, working with texts is often used for teaching creative writing, as practised by Peter Lutzker, and by Phuong thi Anh Le. All the cases mentioned suggest literary classes (e.g. Home Reading). In our study working with texts was not limited to home reading classes, but made part of the general language course, as well as other language aspects, wherever we had the text to study.
Since creativity has been traditionally developed in problem-solving contexts, we kept in line with the ideas of N. Jackson and M. Shaw, and chose some activities involving challenging issues - social, human, moral, ethical, etc., thus creating situations which excluded single solution to foster creative actions and thinking in students. Though we did not use problemsolving as independent resource but made it part of the set of instruments designed and meant for comprehensive development of creativity in undergraduate students majoring in foreign relations.
The approaches verified in the educational experiment were used to develop the authors' foreign-language course (A Story-Based English Class), which offers practical application of the methods and techniques described here.
Conclusions
This study reports the new comprehensive approach to developing creativity through specific text-based activities incorporated into the foreign-language course in professional training of undergraduates majoring in foreign relations. Resorting to the text as the most available and valuable resource, the approach is based on the multidimensional concept of creativity and is aimed at systematic developing of all its structural components comprehensively as a system. The findings of the study help reveal the distinctive feature of the approach which encourages going beyond the realm of the subject of a foreign language, thus contributing to developing professionally relevant creative skills in undergraduates majoring in foreign relations.
The study reported is in line with the latest educational initiatives to foster creativity of the students and develop their creative and critical thinking along with disciplinary content, as well as in line with the high demand for dissemination of practical knowledge and educators' experience about different approaches to promoting 21st-century skills in higher education.
The study, although limited in the generalizability of the analysis due to a small sample of participants, provides preliminary evidence that substantiates approaches to developing and measuring professionally relevant creative skills in undergraduates majoring in foreign relations through application of specific set of instruments in a foreign-language course.
To lend support to the findings of the present study, future research should be done with larger samples of participants. Further research is also needed to explore the correlation of higher creativity scores with higher academic performance as well the quality of knowledge in undergraduates majoring in foreign relations.
_Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all our colleagues at MGIMO University who have contributed to the pedagogical experiment and this article, as well as the reviewers and editors of the journal for their valuable feedback which helped improve the article.
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Информация об авторах Тимченко Мария Владимировна
(Россия, Москва) Доцент, кандидат педагогических наук, заведующая кафедрой английского языка № 4 Московский государственный институт международных отношений (университет) Министерства иностранных дел Российской Федерации ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8858-7923 E-mail: m.timchenko@inno.mgimo.ru
Кишко Ольга Николаевна
(Россия, Москва) Старший преподаватель кафедры английского языка №4
Московский государственный институт международных отношений (университета) Министерства иностранных дел Российской Федерации E-mail: o.kishko@inno.mgimo.ru ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5201-332X Researcher ID: G-5412-2018
Information about the authors
Maria V. Timchenko
(Russia, Moscow) Associate Professor, Cand. Sci. (Educ.), Head of English Department №4
MGIMO University ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8858-7923 E-mail: m.timchenko@inno.mgimo.ru
Olga N. Kishko
(Russia, Moscow) Senior Lecturer, Department of English Language № 4 MGIMO University E-mail: o.kishko@inno.mgimo.ru ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5201-332X Researcher ID: G-5412-2018
