posted by Juergen Kurtz, Justus Liebig University (JLU) Giessen, Germany
This is just to let you know about the C Group, an independent and informal grouping of EFL professionals from around the world. The group aims collaboratively to share information, promote reflection and inquiry, and enrourage action through more creative and open teaching practices.
I joined the C Group two years ago, because I share the group’s conviction that creativity needs to be reinforced in ELT, especially in the age of standards-based instruction and assessment. To find out more, please click here.
My personal creativity focus is on improvisation in structured EFL learning environments, as documented on this blog. In these three publications I explain in more detail how creativity and improvisation (performative creativity) can contribute to promoting learners’ oral proficiency in EFL classrooms:
Kurtz, Jürgen (2011): “Breaking through the Communicative Cocoon: Improvisation in Secondary School EFL Classrooms”. In: Sawyer, R. Keith (ed.) (2011): Structure and Improvisation in Creative Teaching. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press, 131-160. For a preview of the book, click here.
Kurtz, Jürgen (2014): “Promoting oral proficiency in the foreign language class: Improvisation in structured learning environments.” In: Chenoll, Antonio, Sieberg, Bernd, Franco, Mario & Lindemann, Verena (eds.) (2015): Falar: A Competência Oral no Ensino de uma Língua Estrangeira; Speaking: Teaching Oral Communication Skills in Foreign Languages. Lisboa: Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Cultura, 18-53.” For the online version, click here.
Kurtz, Jürgen (2015): “Fostering and Building upon Oral Creativity in the EFL Classroom.” In: Maley, Alan & Peachey, Nik (eds.). Creativity in the English Language Classroom. London: British Council, 73-83. A free online version is avaliable here.
Foreign Language Education in the 21st Century 