Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Objectives: The study attempts to define what creativity and visual thinking mean in English education and to suggest how teachers can enhance children’s creativity through visual thinking strategy in English instructions. Methods: The method employed in this study is an analytic literature review in order to examine previous studies of creativity and visual thinking strategy, focusing on English language teaching and learning. The leading themes emerged from the literature review are: 1. A strong connection between creativity and language development, 2. A wide range of applications of visual thinking strategy, 3. Optimal environments for creativity and visual thinking strategy development. Findings: Findings indicate that only a few studies researched on concrete and explicit teaching models of visual thinking strategy in the area of English education, especially for English as a second or foreign language learner. Moreover, it seems that the concept of visual thinking and the advantage of visual thinking strategy are relatively unfamiliar idea in the area of English education. Therefore, more research should be conducted to develop various techniques and models applied with visual thinking strategy for English language learners’ creativity and English ability. The key finding of this study is meaningful in that it raises the issues of visual thinking strategy which can be effectively incorporated to language instruction, and it highlights the role of language teachers as a facilitator and provider of optimal learning environments for both creativity and visual thinking strategy. Finally, it is hoped that the finding of the study builds awareness of teachers and boosts adoption of levelappropriate practices of visual thinking strategy lessons. Additionally, it is also hoped that the finding helps the development of a theoretical framework for visual thinking strategy use in English education. Improvements/Applications: Based on the finding, suggestions are made for effective ways of teaching visual thinking strategy and integrating it into creativity development of English language learners in optimal classroom environments.
Keywords: Creativity, Creative Thinking, English Language Learners, Visual Thinking, Visual Thinking Strategy