An Investigation into the Impact of Collective Creativity on L2 Learners' Language Learning Ability through the Blended Module

Subject Areas : Creativity and innovation from psychological, epistemological, educational and pedagogical

Farhad Ghorbandordinejad ¹ , Saeed Khazaie ²

1 - استادیار گروه آموزش زبان انگلیسی، دانشگاه تربیت دبیر شهید رجایی، تهران (نویسندة مسئول) [e-mail]
2 - دانشجوی دکتری آموزش زبان انگلیسی، دانشگاه شهید چمران، اهواز [e-mail]

Received: 2016-05-09 Accepted : 2016-05-09 Published : 2016-01-21

Keywords: Collective creativity, blended module of L2 English pedagogy, m-game,

Abstract :

Abstract Purpose: This study endeavored to find out if employing different types of mobile games (m-game) can foster collective creativity and improve L2 English classroom success in the blended module of vocabulary learning. Method: To these ends, some180 boy and girl second-year high school students in Isfahan were selected. After conducting Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), they participated in 16 blended sessions to learn new L2 vocabulary items. In each session, at first, they were taught new materials (i.e., L2 English vocabulary items) in the face-to-face mode and then they practiced the contents in dyads through the medium of paper-and-pencil. Through the application of Latin Square (LS), on the same day they were required to practice the materials in four virtual playgrounds individually or collectively, depending on the type of playground, namely, ready-made vs. native. The triangulation design in this study was grounded in questionnaire, learners' performance in classroom and non-classroom settings; that is, archival data gathered through the formative and summative assessment of their performance. Results: The results revealed that though some creative solutions can be seen as a product of individual manner of gaming, others should be regarded as the products of the collective manner of playing the didactic games. Conclusion: The collective creativity indicated a shift in the quality of learners' performance as well as its precipitating role in the blended module of L2 pedagogy comprised of mobile games (m-games). Implications of the study can pave the way for understanding the social settings and developing interaction among learners in favor of collective creativity.