Towards creativity in ELT: The need to say something new

Abstract

What lies at the centre of the evolution of human language, according to complex/dynamic theory, is the need for humans to innovate and use language to construct new meaning. Language evolution studies propose that language grows in complexity over time to deal with complex tasks. Language goes through a trajectory of change in accordance with the needs of language users as they innovate complex language to handle complex tasks and communicate new meanings. However, in many language learning tasks used in research and language teaching, language is employed primarily to express 'known meaning' rather than to construct 'unknown meaning'. In order to increase the learner's desire to explore and retrieve less accessible language within and beyond their Zone of Proximal Development, this paper discusses how language learning tasks can be transformed into creative tasks. It proposes two conditions that facilitate creativity: the use of multicultural experiences and constraints. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.