Creative action and innovative artifacts in foreign language teaching

Abstract

In the world of work, it is necessary to think and act critically to take the best decisions possible and express them to the community. Recent curricular adjustments have been introduced in the Maltese education system as a response to the changing demands of individuals and society. This study aims to identify how, within the local Foreign Language teaching context, teachers undertake creative action to generate new material. The novel Five A's theoretical framework, referring to actor, action, artifact, audience, and affordances, underlines this study. The framework offers a more comprehensive perspective on creativity and integrates social and cultural factors. Semi-structured interviews were held with 14 foreign language teachers from State, Church, and Independent Schools in Malta with the aim of researching their views on creativity, gain deeper understanding on creative teaching, and establish the link between environments and produced resources. The results indicate that foreign language teachers often face time constraints, utilise varied methodologies, consider character traits as an influencing factor, and that teaching creatively is conditioned by sociocultural contexts. The findings imply the need for changes in policy making to sustain improved practice. Further exploration in other subjects and domains can strengthen the validity of the 5A’s framework in creativity research.