The purpose of teaching foreign languages is the acquisition of knowledge, the formation of skills and abilities in students, as well as their assimilation of information of a regional, linguistic and cultural-aesthetic nature.

Creative thinking means a person’s ability to find non-standard solutions to various problems and at the same time overcome them more effectively [1].

Using language is already a creative action, since it is the creation of something new (text, statement, etc.) We transform thoughts and feelings into words and signs that can be seen and heard. Each time we build new sentences from existing words, using phrases in a new way, adding new meanings and shades of meaning to them.

It’s no secret that some people are naturally more creative than others, but creative thinking can be developed. This is good news for both teachers and students. Tasks for the development of creative thinking are always very interesting and bring a lot of positive emotions to teachers and students. They increase students’ motivation to learn English. Students use language to perform a creative task as a tool, that is, in its original function. This prepares them to use a foreign language outside of university classes [2].

There are many techniques for developing creative thinking during the learning process. Let’s consider those that are used most effectively when teaching students English.

1. Dramatizations. A classic task for acting out dialogue scenes. Students play roles and speak for their character. The more unusual the characters, the more exciting the game. They can be in the shoes of a heat power engineer, chemist, ecologist, etc.
2. Unusual use. Students are asked to come up with as many ways as possible to use any common object and talk about it in English. For example, a chair, a cup or a pencil, etc.
3. Debate. Debates are a formalized discussion built on the basis of pre-prepared speeches by participants – representatives of two opposing, rival teams: the affirmation team and the denial team. Each team usually consists of 4-5 student speakers. During the game, speakers take turns making speeches to demonstrate to the jury that their team’s position is more convincing than that of their opponents. Debate participants put forward their arguments and counterarguments about the proposed thesis in order to convince the jury members of their correctness and experience in rhetoric. Along with their arguments, debaters must present to the jury evidence, facts, quotes, and statistics that support their position. Debate participants ask questions of the opposing side and answer questions from their opponents; questions can be used to clarify opponents’ positions and to identify mistakes in the opponent. In addition to the speakers’ speeches, the game provides rounds of cross-questions, when the speaking participant in the debate is asked questions to clarify any points in the speech or to undermine the argumentation given.
4. Excuses. Students are offered quite absurd situations. Their task is to justify themselves.

For example:

You were seen gluing apples to the tree in the garden. Why did you do that?

You were seen in the zoo at midnight. What were you doing there?

5. Curiosity. To complete this task, the class is divided into 2 teams. One group of students asks at least 5 questions about a simple picture. The second team comes up with answers.
6. Brainstorming. The students’ task in this exercise is to write down as many words and expressions related to a given topic as possible.
7. Case study. The case is a description of a specific situation and ways to solve it. Since case study involves involving students in discussing and solving problems of a professional nature, the case material should therefore be of professional interest to students, because this encourages participation in the discussion. The closer the model is to the real situation, the more valuable the case. The case can be presented in multimedia or printed form; The inclusion of photographs, tables, and diagrams in the text makes it more visual.
8. Problem situations when working with text. The manifestation of the creative abilities of students’ personalities can be observed in English classes in the organization of work using the example of working with text. Any work with text or a small fragment of it begins with the fact that the artistic statement is perceived by children aurally or visually. And at this stage it is important to create problem situations that would help introduce students to the system of artistic images of this text. The process of perceiving a text (passage) and working on what has been read is organized using various task-questions such as:

What season do you think the poet is describing in this passage? By what signs did you guess this?

Look at the illustrations and guess what the text will be about?

How do you understand the title of the text? What could the story be about?

Draw an illustration for the text you read.

When comprehending the linguistic means of creating imagery in a literary text, students must realize the visual and expressive capabilities of the phenomena that are studied in the classroom. The beauty of a foreign language is revealed to students in the process of such work. For example, these types of task-questions:

Write down from the text the words that convey the colors of autumn, winter, etc. Are you the only ones who have to write down adjectives, and why?

What are the words that help describe the landscape?

Indicate synonyms and antonyms. Why was this particular word used?

What sounds predominate and why? etc.

         The use of such problematic situations in the educational process makes it possible to form a certain cognitive need in students, but also provides the necessary focus of thought on independently solving the problem that has arisen [3].

Simultaneously with the methods of developing creative thinking in educational activities, methods of developing the emotional intelligence of students are implemented.

1. Calendar of emotions. Write down every day what range of emotions you experience during the day, what are the reasons for their occurrence and how you feel about them. Pay attention to how your body reacts to certain emotions, try to restore these sensations in the subconscious. After analyzing the situation, you can understand your psychological and physiological state. Learn to identify your emotions. Keep track of how stress affects you, what consequences it can lead to, how effective your actions are and whether they can be somehow changed so that they bring an even greater effect.
2. Opinion of others. Don’t be afraid to be interested in the opinions of others: from the outside they can objectively evaluate your actions, tell you how your emotions influence them, how high your level of empathy is. Their assessment will help you understand how correctly you interact with people.
3. Reading fiction. Read works that contain characters who are distinguished by their versatility. This technique will allow you to look at the world through the prism of another person and study his thoughts. This, in turn, will help develop your empathy in reality.
4. Box of knowledge. It is best to use it when students study a large work over several lessons. At the beginning of the first lesson, we install a beautiful box in the classroom and invite students after each lesson in which a chapter (part) of the work was read, as well as after reading it at home, to write down on pieces of paper the moments when they experienced strong emotions. You need to describe the situation in one sentence and the emotion in one word. The list of emotions can be hung next to the box so that students do not have difficulties with wording. Students are asked to “throw away the negative” in a box by writing down bad emotions or impressions from the past lesson on pieces of paper.

The “box” can also be used to record positive emotions, collect wishes and motivational notes.

At the end of studying the work, we should summarize: we take out all the notes and voice them, thus consolidating the feelings from what we read [4].

5. Thoughts rule the world. A communicative technique aimed at developing emotional intelligence and often used by me in lessons and extracurricular activities is the technique “Thoughts rule the world.” It involves analyzing at the beginning or end of the lesson one quote from a famous actor, director, writer, politician or philosopher related to the perception of the world and emotions. It is necessary to select quotes when the words belong to a person familiar to modern teenagers. Students are asked to agree or disagree with the quote and give reasons for their point of view. For example, “I’m not afraid of mistakes because they are the best things to teach me.” (Orlando Bloom).

A foreign language has great potential for developing students’ creative abilities [5]. By influencing the personality, the formation of creative abilities enriches emotional and practical experience, develops the psyche, forms intellectual potential, promotes the development of aesthetic and mental abilities, leads to the accumulation of professional skills and abilities, the development of the natural inclinations of students, their moral qualities. It sets up schoolchildren for further, active, creatively conscious amateur performances, which meets their spiritual needs, satisfies their desire for self-realization and the manifestation of personal qualities. All this is an effective means of comprehensive development of the individual, identifying the formation of his creative potential.

Every student has creative abilities. These are individual psychological characteristics that distinguish one person from another. The creative potential of our society depends on how developed they are, since the formation of a creative personality today acquires not only theoretical meaning, but also practical meaning. And no matter what profession the student chooses in the future, the creative skills that he acquired in the process of learning a foreign language will definitely be useful to him in any activity and simply in life.