Engaging the students’ creative abilities is often neglected in language teaching, the assumption being that they need more language at their fingertips before they can start to use it creatively. Not true. With a very small amount of language, students can be encouraged to develop creativity and use language in imaginative ways. The teacher has to create an atmosphere in which this is encouraged; he or she has to avoid the sort of classroom in which students are only allowed to use carefully taught language in carefully rehearsed situations. They must have the freedom to experiment.

Give examples of creativity
In order to feel confident to be creative themselves, most students will need the encouragement of seeing examples of creativity at work. Poems have fallen out of fashion in many schools – let’s bring them back! Let’s look at simple (or not so simple!) poems in the foreign language. Let’s look at pop songs with repetitive lyrics. These can be a great source of pronunciation practice and subliminal grammar reinforcement as well as examples of creativity. Advertising campaigns can be very creative both visually and linguistically. Let’s read short stories on topics which students find interesting. It is amazing how much effort students will put into gist comprehension if it is something they are interested in reading. Let’s show them examples of mime, dance and visuals being used to convey meaning.

Give them a reason to be creative
We all know that students enjoy working in groups to create something of value which can be shared with classmates, so encourage them to show off what they have done. Give the opportunity to celebrate achievement and enjoy each other’s creative talent. Create displays, arrange showcase events, run in-house competitions, put together booklets of students’ creative efforts, reward creativity. A good example of students working collaboratively together to make games for younger language learners is showcased in the case study with video clips from the English Martyrs School in Hartlepool. 

Entering national competitions, such as the CILT LAFTAs (Languages and Film Talent Awards), can give students a real opportunity to use their creative talents for a genuine purpose and the possibility of earning national recognition for their work.

Vocational language courses can give students of all ages a reason for their language learning and allow them the chance to be creative. A fine example of this can be found in this case study from Hastings College of Arts and Technology where the students are learning Spanish in the context of air cabin crew, making use of authentic props and settings to inspire them. 

Involve other curriculum areas
If you are encouraging students to write poems, involve the English department in looking at some aspects of poetry. If you want them to compose a song or rap, involve the Music department. And what an excellent opportunity creativity offers to involve the students in using technology – video, sound and even computer animation. Amazing effects can be achieved with something as simple as Windows Movie Maker and sound files. For more information on this, read the case study with accompanying video clips from Helston Community College, where the students are using Movie Maker to create presentations to help them to prepare for their GCSE Spanish oral examination. Also have a look at this case study and accompanying video where year 9 pupils from Crofton School created their own animated films. Some schools have their own school radio station, so why not do some of the broadcasting in a foreign language?

Teach Younger learners
An excellent outlet for students’ creative activity could be preparing materials to share with younger pupils, possibly in feeder primary schools. They could make up stories, record them, illustrate them with puppets or computer animation. They could write sketches and act them out. This could contribute to the Foreign Language Leaders Award.   

What about accuracy and pronunciation?
Accuracy and good pronunciation don’t need to go out of the window; they just need to be handled sensitively so as not to stifle creativity. Students are used to drafting their work, having it corrected and then redrafting, so the same principle can be applied to creative work. Use an FLA, if available, to help with pronunciation, encourage peer review and correction, encourage the use of a dictionary, etc. Reading their work aloud or displaying it in written form can be a great incentive to ‘get it right’. We must be careful, however, not to lose sight of the aim of the exercise – engaging creatively with the foreign language.