Webinar "Plurilingual Creativity at work: Theoretical and empirical arguments for expanding framework for research in the consequences of acquisition and use of multiple languages for creative behavior"

This presentation focuses on the consequences of multilingual practice for creative behavior. Interest in the relationship between multilingualism and creativity was revived about 15 years ago. This relationship was formalized in the Multilingual Creative Cognition (MCC) framework and received extensive empirical support showing a positive effect of multilingualism on creative behavior. However, the MCC paradigm appears to take a rather narrow perspective on these two phenomena. Since it was developed within the traditional bi-/multilingualism and creative cognition frameworks, respectively, it focuses primarily on the cognitive mechanisms underlying creative capacity, which could benefit from an individual’s multilingual practice. At the same time, scholarly reflection on learning and use of multiple languages has introduced a broader perspective with work in translanguaging, linguistic multi-competence and especially plurilingualism. The latter presents a holistic view, which considers languages as composing a single dynamic language repertoire, thus shifting the focus from the languages to the agency of the individual in the interaction of languages. Similarly, reflection on creativity has expanded towards a broader and more articulated conceptualization, with a number of models being developed that all stress the complex and multidimensional nature of creativity. Both shifts paved the way to a reconsideration of the relationship between linguistic and cultural diversity on one side and creativity on the other. In this talk, after briefly recapitulating the MCC paradigm, we present an argument supporting the need for a broader perspective on the relationship between multilingual and creative practices. We introduce some of the plurilingual and pluricultural factors, which may shape personality traits fostering creativity. Then, we provide empirical evidence from the studies investigating these factors. The presentation culminates with a discussion of the applications of the expanded Plurilingual Creativity paradigm in education and introduces Plurilingual Intercultural Creative Keys (PICK) program, which constitutes a unified teaching model blending language-learning and creativity-fostering instructions into school curriculum.