Teaching English Writing to Develop Creative Thinking Skills For High School Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate a method of teaching English writing to develop creative thinking skills for high school students. This research was basic descriptive qualitative research intended to describe various methods of teaching English writing to develop creative thinking skills for high school students. Five-scale rating questionnaires and open ended interview were used to investigate the teaching methods to be utilized for creative thinking development using the process of teaching writing, and classroom activities to generate creative thinking of students. The sample of the study were teachers (N=23) in three educational service areas of Chonburi province, and experts (N=15) in Educational Psychology Department at Burapha University. The result showed that the teaching methods always used in teaching English writing to generate creative thinking were: brainstorming, working in groups and pairs, and drill and practice. In the process of teaching English writing, two groups of respondents provided the same answer, but the priorities of “Encouraging students to write”, or “Providing the suitable topic” were also acceptable. The answers to the questions matched four thinking theories in creative thinking, which were: the theory of fluency, the theory of flexibility, the theory of originality and the theory of elaboration. The answers to questions also added to theories of teaching creativity with the two group sample’s suggestion and experienced opinions towards the teaching English writing with creative thinking skills.

Keywords : Teaching Methods, English Writing, Creative Thinking