Multilingual creative cognition: Theory and practice

P. 452–466.

Kharkhurin A. V.

The chapter presents a theoretical framework of multilingual creative cognition. It rests on creative cognition paradigm perceiving creative capacity as an essential property of normative human cognition. Increase in general cognitive functioning may facilitate an individual’s creative abilities. Multilingual development may result in establishing specific architectures of the mind that are likely to promote later cognitive advantages. If multilingualism results in more elaborate cognitive structures and/or functioning, it may also facilitate creative functioning. Thus, an individual’s acquisition and use of multiple languages may have impact on one’s cognition and therefore facilitate creative cognition. The chapter reviews the empirical research supporting multilingual creative cognition. It identifies cognitive mechanisms underlying creative thinking, which are potentially encouraged by an individual’s cross-linguistic and cross-cultural experiences. The chapter concludes with a discussion of potential applications of the multilingual creative cognition. Specifically, it introduces a Bilingual Creative Education program, which constitutes a unified teaching model introducing both language learning and creativity-fostering instruction to the school curriculum. The purpose of the program is to introduce students to a school curriculum in two languages and to foster four defining aspects of creativity: novelty, utility, aesthetics, and authenticity.

Keywords: креативность, creativity, bilingualism, билингвизм и многоязычие

In book

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Creativity

Jones R. Routledge, 2015.