ATTITUDES TOWARD CREATIVITY AMONG SAUDI EFL TEACHERS BY

ATTITUDES TOWARD CREATIVITY AMONG SAUDI EFL TEACHERS BY NORAH ALDUJAYN

INTRODUCTION: • Learning foreign languages has numerous benefits, and for Saudi Arabia, English as a foreign language (EFL) is one of the most common languages taught in high schools. • Studying the use of creativity in EFL instruction is important because creativity can • Lead to new ways to motivate students. • Help meet the needs of diverse groups of students. • Foster the ability of teachers to respond on the spot to unique and unexpected events and student responses in the classroom. • Research has shown that the use of creative teaching techniques improves student language mastery (Al-Qahtani, 2016; Hofweber & Graham, 2017; Kim, 2015; Schoff, 2016).

HISTORY OF EFL IN THE KSA: In 1924 -25, the UK introduced English language education to the KSA. Since then, Saudi education and the EFL curriculum has developed substantially: Early years – Education = 3 years of pre-school and 4 years of primary school, and English was taught 4 x/week (Elyas & Al Grigrij, 2014). 1950 s – Mo. E established, education expanded to secondary level, Saudi system moved away from Egyptian-based secular education. 1960 s – Education for females expanded. 1970 s – English taught at secondary level in public schools, primary and secondary in private schools. 1980 s-90 s – Revisions to EFL towards a more functional approach. 2000 s – Tatweer (development) education reforms introduced. 2010 s – English added to the fourth-grade curriculum at public primary schools (Elyas & Al Grigrij, 2014).

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM & PURPOSE • In Saudi Arabia, there is a lack of research on the topic of creativity in Saudi EFL classrooms. • However, a few studies have reported Male. Focused Research • little to no effort made by EFL teachers in terms of fostering creativity in their students (Al. Qahtani, 2016) • The creativity levels of the students were quite low (Ambusaidy & Al Balushi, 2005) • EFL teachers lack a clear understanding of creativity (Nedjah & Hamada, 2017). • The purpose of this research will be to examine the extent to which female Saudi EFL teachers define creativity in their classrooms, their attitudes toward creativity, and how they view their use of creative teaching methods.

1 2 3 How do Saudi female EFL teachers define creativity? What are their attitudes toward creativity? To what extent do they view themselves using creative teaching methods? RESEARCH QUESTIONS

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK • Beghetto and Kaufman (2007): • Little-C = creativity applied in everyday situation • Big-C = creativity that relies on historical and interpersonal judgment of appropriateness and novelty. • Mini-C = creativity that is enhanced through learning. • Creativity in language teaching is an example of Mini-C creativity since it involves EFL learners actively filtering & interpreting information through their existing conceptions, personal histories, and past experiences.

CREATIVITY IN LANGUAGE TEACHING • Encouraging creativity in second language classrooms helps in improving levels of language attainment. (Pringle, 2006) • Encouraging the development of creativity in language classes help learners to better internalize the language of study and engage better with the reading material. (Richards, 2013) • Creative teachers must be familiar with a wide range of teaching techniques and strategies which they call upon when teaching, thus avoiding repetition, which kills creativity. (Johnson, 2017).

CREATIVITY IN SAUDI EFL INSTRUCTION • In 2015, the Saudi government realized the needs and importance of creativity by establishing the King Abdul-Aziz & His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Al-Qahtani, 2016). • The purpose of this association is to foster awareness of creativity in society, develop what is being offered to educate creative individuals, and support “sustainable development in the Saudi Kingdom” (Al-Qahtani, 2016, p. 12).

CREATIVITY IN SAUDI EFL INSTRUCTION • Saudi Vision 2030 has called for increased competitiveness, innovation, and privatization. • As Picard (2018) explains, this vision suggests ESL and TESOL will be part of a movement towards education for: • Enhanced learning environments • Increased access to knowledge and skills • Development of creative and critical thinking skills (p. 160, emphasis added)

RESEARCH DESIGN • Non-experimental, quantitative design study. • Cross-sectional descriptive survey Sample and Sampling Procedure: • Saudi Female EFL teachers of secondary schools using the Courses Schooling System in a major city in Saudi Arabia. • Target population approximately 85 EFL teachers in Riyadh (capital of Saudi Arabia) • Comprehensive sampling.

INSTRUMENTATION: • Online survey • Measured using questionnaires based on Al-Qahtani (2016), Aish (2014), and Aljughaiman & Reynolds (2005). • 4 -point Likert scale of agreement (strongly disagree, strongly agree) • 44 items about definitions of creativity, attitudes towards creativity, and selfviewed use of creative methods.

FINDINGS Participants’ Characteristics Educational Level Bachelor Master Doctorate N % 62 20 3 72. 9 23. 6 3. 5 Teaching Experience 1– 5 6– 10 11– 20 More than 26 Total 14 20 35 16 85 16. 5 23. 5 41. 2 18. 8 100

FINDINGS: RQ 1 – DEFINITION OF CREATIVITY More processoriented than product-oriented (Mini-C creativity) However, 85. 9% agreed that “creativity is an unclear concept to me”

FINDINGS: RQ 2 - ATTITUDES TOWARDS CREATIVITY • Overall, there were high levels of agreement with positive statements about creativity in general and in the classroom: • The highest agreement (agree or strongly agree) was expressed for the following: • High school students can learn creativity (98. 8%) • I intend to use creative thinking activities in my language lessons. (95. 3%) • Using creative thinking activities improves my teaching skills. (94. 1%) • I would like to increase my knowledge about creative thinking activities in my language classes. (93%) • This finding differs from Al-Qahtani’s (2016) research on male Saudi EFL teachers.

FINDINGS: RQ 3 – USE OF CREATIVE METHODS • In general, the results show that Female Saudi EFL teachers make effort to foster creativity in their teaching practices. • More than 92% of the participants usually involve students in problem-solving tasks, vary their teaching strategies, and accommodate different styles of learning. • Moreover, the majority of the participants (80%) tolerate mistakes in classes, use open-ended questions, encourage students to evaluate what they read or allow for debating views and ideas.

DISCUSSION • Female Saudi EFL teachers tend to define creative as process-oriented more than product-oriented, aligning with the concept of “Mini-C creativity” from Beghetto and Kaufman (2007) • But they find the concept of creativity to be unclear, which is a common finding in research in teaching and learning creativity, pointing towards the need to more clearly define creativity. What are the issues with defining creativity? • They believe creativity can be learned (98. 8%) but are less confident it can be taught (75. 3%), suggesting that they see potential of teaching creativity but might need more training on how to implement it and foster it. What else might explain this difference in teaching vs. learning? • Differences between Al-Qahtani’s findings about male EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia and my findings on female EFL teachers – why?