The Role of Teachers’ Multidimensional Teaching Strategies in Enhancing EFL Students’ Language Creativity in Writing

Authors

  • Dan Shen Universiti Utara Malaysia
  • Rafizah Mohd Rawian Universiti Utara Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1609.03

Keywords:

teacher creativity, language creativity, teaching attitudes, creative teaching, classroom pressure

Abstract

This study examines how teachers’ multidimensional teaching strategies relate to students’ language creativity in EFL writing among English majors at Guangzhou Institute of Science and Technology, China. Using a quantitative research design, this study collected data from 99 second-year English majors through teaching strategy scales and writing creativity tests. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the differential predictive effects of four strategic dimensions: Teacher Creativity, Creative Teaching, Teaching Attitudes and Classroom Pressure, on students’ language creativity including Fluency, Flexibility, Originality and Elaboration. The results revealed distinct predictive profiles across these creativity dimensions: Teacher Creativity and Creative Teaching were identified as the strongest positive predictors, significantly correlating with Fluency, Flexibility and Originality. Notably, Creative Teaching exhibited the strongest explanatory power for Elaboration, producing the highest standardized coefficient. After controlling for other instructional variables, the independent predictive effects of Teaching Attitudes and Classroom Pressure did not reach statistical significance. Taken together, students’ language creativity in EFL writing appears to be shaped not by a single teaching factor but by the combined influence of multiple instructional practices. This finding provides an empirical foundation for designing creativity-oriented English writing curricula.

Author Biographies

Dan Shen, Universiti Utara Malaysia

School of Language, Civilization and Philosophy

Rafizah Mohd Rawian, Universiti Utara Malaysia

School of Language, Civilization and Philosophy

References

Amabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity: A componential conceptualization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(2), 357–376.

Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity. Westview Press.

Ayyildiz, P., & Yilmaz, A. (2021). “Moving the Kaleidoscope” to see the effect of creative personality traits on creative thinking dispositions of preservice teachers: The mediating effect of creative learning environments and teachers’ creativity fostering behavior. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 41, 100879.

Baghaei, S., & Riasati, M. J. (2015). An investigation into the relationship between teachers’ creativity and students’ academic achievement: A case study of Iran EFL context. Journal of Studies in Learning and Teaching English, 4(2), 21–32.

Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36(2), 81–109.

Beaty, R. E., Benedek, M., Silvia, P. J., & Schacter, D. L. (2019). Creative cognition and brain network dynamics. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23(2), 158–170.

Bruner, J. (1962). The conditions of creativity. In H. E. Gruber, G. Terrell, & M. Wertheimer (Eds.), Contemporary Approaches to Creative Thinking (pp. 1–30). Atherton Press.

Carter, R. (2004). Language and creativity: The art of common talk. Routledge.

Chambers, J. A. (1973). College teachers: Their effect on creativity of students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 65(3), 326–334.

Craft, A., Jeffrey, B., & Leibling, M. (Eds.). (2001). Creativity in education. Continuum Intl Pub Group.

Cross, R. (2012). Creative in finding creativity in the curriculum: The CLIL second language classroom. The Australian Educational Researcher, 39(4), 431–445.

Feldman, D. H., Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Gardner, H. (1994). Changing the world: A framework for the study of creativity. Praeger.

Galton, F. (1869). Hereditary genius. Macmillan.

Ghafouri, M., Hassaskhah, J., & Mahdavi-Zafarghandi, A. (2024). From virtual assistant to writing mentor: Exploring the impact of a ChatGPT-based writing instruction protocol on EFL teachers’ self-efficacy and learners’ writing skill. Language Teaching Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688241239764

Guilford, J. P. (1950). Creativity. American Psychologist, 5(9), 444–454.

Humboldt, W. von. (1999). On language: On the diversity of human language construction and its influence on the mental development of the human species (M. Losonsky, Ed.; P. Heath, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1836)

Järvenoja, H., Malmberg, J., Haataja, E., Sobocinski, M., & Kirschner, P. A. (2023). Examining the causal model between socially shared regulation of motivation, engagement, and creative performance. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 48, 101288.

Kettler, T., Lamb, K. N., Willerson, A., & Mullet, D. R. (2018). Teachers’ perceptions of creativity in the classroom. Creativity Research Journal, 30(2), 164–171.

Khodabakhshzadeh, H., Hosseinnia, M., Moghadam, H. A., & Ahmadi, F. (2018). EFL teachers’ creativity and their teaching’s effectiveness: A structural equation modelling approach. International Journal of Instruction, 11(1), 227–238.

Klieme, E., Pauli, C., & Reusser, K. (2009). The Pythagoras Study: Teaching quality and student outcomes in German mathematics classrooms. In E. Klieme, C. Pauli, & K. Reusser (Eds.), Teaching quality and student outcomes in mathematics and science education (pp. 35–56). Springer.

Liao, Y. H., Chen, Y. L., Chen, H. C., & Chang, Y. L. (2018). Infusing creative pedagogy into an English as a foreign language classroom: Learning performance, creativity, and motivation. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 29, 213–223.

Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics. Cambridge University Press.

Mullet, D. R., Willerson, A., Lamb, K. N., & Kettler, T. (2016). Examining teacher perceptions of creativity: A systematic review of the literature. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 21, 9–30.

Pishghadam, R., Baghaei, P., & Shayesteh, S. (2012). Construction and validation of an English language teacher creativity scale (ELT-CS). Journal of American Science, 8(3), 497–508.

Plucker, J. A., & Beghetto, R. A. (2004). Why Creativity Is Domain General, Why It Looks Domain Specific, and Why the Distinction Does Not Matter. In R. J. Sternberg, E. L. Grigorenko, & J. L. Singer (Eds.), Creativity: From potential to realization (pp. 153–167). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10692-009

Rhodes, M. (1961). An analysis of creativity. The Phi Delta Kappan, 42(7), 305–310.

Sharma, K. (1979). Manual for Divergent Production Ability Test. National Psychological Corporation.

Shen, D. (2021). Influential Factors on Language Creativity of College Students in ESL Writing. Advances in Educational Technology and Psychology, 5(9), 146–154.

Soh, K. (2017). Fostering student creativity. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 23, 58–66.

Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1995). Defying the crowd: Cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity. Free Press.

Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. M. Gass & C. G. Madden (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235–253). Newbury House.

Torrance, E. P. (1962). Guiding creative talent. Prentice Hall.

Vasudevan, H. (2010). The influence of teachers’ creativity, attitude and commitment on students’ proficiency of the English language [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Malaya.

Zhang, Z., Chen, C.-H., Guo, Z., & Chiu, T. K. F. (2026). How does learner prior language knowledge play in GenAI-assisted project-based learning for creative thinking? Technology, Knowledge and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-026-09984-5

Zielińska, A., Lebuda, I., Czerwonka, M., & Karwowski, M. (2025). Self-regulation prompts improve creative performance. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 59, e674. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.674

Downloads

Published

2026-09-11

Issue

Section

Articles