Fostering Creative Thinking And Improving English Communicative Competence

For long, we have adopted the traditional method, i.e. teacher-centered teaching method, because of the influence of college orientation in our country's middle school teaching. Transmitting and explaining knowledge points are the main aims. Though, recently, the communicative language teaching is prevalent gradually, enchanting the interaction between teachers and students, English is still learned only as a subject to pass examinations and we overlook it as a tool for communication.In the present English classroom teaching, teachers obey the traditional teaching procedure excessively, they explain knowledge points carefully, then drill them mechanically, lack flexible teaching methods and creative use of the language, hinder the development of students' communicative competence. So it's high time to reform this situation. First of all, we should change our views, it involves the change of thinking. Under such circumstance, some questions have to be reevaluated: What factors influence the development of students' communicative competence? If we should foster students' creative thinking in English teaching-learning process? What's the significance of the creative thinking? What role it will play for the development of English communicative competence? How to foster students' creative thinking in order to promote the development of English communicative competence?According to social constructivist theories and its related theories, knowledge is constructed by himself, not be transmitted by others, students' active role is emphasized. Students should learn actively instead of accepting knowledge passively. They should have creative thinking in order to learn creatively. Students with creative thinking can explore encouragingly, master systematic learning methods, construct their own knowledge system and cognitive system, form their own learning strategies, take part in practice encouragingly, develop their communicative competence. They learn English as a tool for communication and use it flexibly. Meanwhile, teachers, as mediators, play animportant role in the teaching-learning process. So teachers with creative thinking are needed. Such teachers are good at putting the newest scientific results and educational theories into use. They have unique ideas, can find efficient teaching methods, adopt appropriate teaching models. They are good at activating students' interest in English, fostering students' creative thinking, cultivating students' self-confidence. They can also make their students have good learning habit, form their own strategies, develop the abilities of learning independently and work co-operatively. Teachers with creative thinking can also assess students correctly in order to promote the development of students' communicative competence. In the teaching-learning process, teachers interact with students by tasks. Through it, students acquire knowledge and develop their abilities. So appropriate teaching models also play an important role in the teaching process. Task-based learning model and communicative language teaching model are effective. Teachers should also pay attention to the harmony of the three elements: engage. study. and activate.This paper analyzes the current state of English teaching, set forth the concepts of creative thinking and communicative competence, synthesizes constructive theories and its related theories, attempts to closely combine the theories with English teaching, takes English activities as activities of fostering students creative thinking in order to develop students communicative competence, and actively search after the way of developing students communicative competence in the practice of English teaching.