المستخلص: |
The new requirements and needs of Algerian higher education system in today’s fast changing world is more oriented towards developing students’ 21st century learning skills known as the 4 Cs: Creativity, Critical thinking, Collaboration and Communication. Creative thinking is undoubtedly a key characteristic of life skills that educationalists and language teaching practitioners strive to nurture in students. The main pursuit of the present study is to describe how EFL pre-service teachers at ENSB perceive creativity in their learning process. It is also an attempt to explore their perceptions about stimulants and impediments for the development of creative thinking in the classroom environment. To fulfill the purpose of this small scale study, a questionnaire was administered to fifty-seven pre-service EFL teachers (fifth year students) from the English department of ENSB, Algiers. The findings reveal that pre-service teachers have a clear understanding of creativity. However, poor knowledge is noticed regarding creative thinking sub-skills. The findings also suggest that in order to stimulate creative thinking in higher education, teachers should be able to create a motivating atmosphere which accepts thinking out of the box, provides students with alternatives, constructive feedback and boosts their self-confidence. On the other hand, in an environment which inhibits creativity, perspectives are ignored, new ideas are rejected and teachers are controlling. The study, therefore, calls for the implementation of creative thinking in EFL curriculum as essential learning and life skills.
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