Effects Of L2 Proficiency, Openness To Experience And Age On Bilinguals’ Creativity

Bilinguals’ creativity, as one of the most important cognitive abilities, has attracted considerable attention in the field of second language acquisition. Most previous studies explored the effects of one or two factors on bilinguals’ creativity; these factors mainly involved L2 proficiency, openness to experience and age. However, the main effects of them on bilinguals’ creativity in previous studies are often conflicting. In addition, little research has been conducted on how various factors interactively affect bilinguals’ creativity. Thus, this study aims to comprehensively explore the effects of L2 proficiency, openness to experience and age on bilinguals’ creativity. Specifically, it addresses the following research questions:1. Are there any significant main effects of L2 proficiency, openness toexperience and age on bilinguals’ creativity?2. Are there any significant interactions among L2 proficiency, openness toexperience and age on bilinguals’ creativity?The present study was a 2(L2 proficiency) × 2(openness to experience) × 3(age) mixed ANOVA design. L2 proficiency, measured by the subjects’ scores of the Picture Naming Test, was divided into high- and low-proficiency levels. Openness to experience fell into two categories, i.e. high-openness and low-openness. Age involved three groups: primary school group, middle school group and university group. Bilinguals’ L2 proficiency was measured by the accuracy of participants’ responses to 120 pictures of simple objects in the Picture Naming Test. The questionnaire measuring openness to experience was adapted from the NEO-Five Factor Inventory(Costa & Mc Crae, 1992). Bilinguals’ creativity was measured by Torrance’s(1966) Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults(ATTA).The research involved 120 subjects from a primary school, a middle school and a university respectively. All the subjects were given a L2 proficiency test and a bilinguals’ creativity test, and then a questionnaire of openness to experience was taken in the class session.A mixed ANOVA was conducted, with results displayed as follows:1. L2 proficiency, openness to experience and age have significant main effects on bilinguals’ creativity(L2 proficiency: F = 62.293, p <.05, η2 =.366; Openness to Experience: F = 31.409, p <.05, η2 =.225; Age: F = 22.232, p <.05, η2 =.292).2. There are two two-way interactions between L2 proficiency and openness to experience(F = 3.573, p <.05, η2 =.062), and between L2 proficiency and age(F = 4.256, p <.05, η2 =.038). However, there is no three-way interaction among L2 proficiency, openness to experience and age(F = 2.037, p >.05, η2 =.036), nor is there between openness to experience and age(F = 2.361, p >.05, η2 =.042).(1) There is a significant medium interaction between L2 proficiency and openness to experience on bilinguals’ creativity. In either low-proficiency group or high-proficiency group, the mean difference between low-openness to experience group and high-openness to experience group is statistically significant(p <.05), i.e. bilinguals with high-openness to experience have better creativity. Similarly, in either low-openness to experience group or high-openness to experience group, there is also a statistically significant mean difference between low-proficiency group and high-proficiency group(p <.05), i.e. bilinguals with high-proficiency have better creativity.(2) There is a significant medium interaction between L2 proficiency and age on bilinguals’ creativity. Within each of the three age groups, the mean differences between high-proficiency group and low-proficiency group on creativity are both significantly different(p <.05), i.e. bilinguals with high-proficiency have better creativity. For low-proficiency group, the mean difference between primary school group and university group, as well as middle school group and university group is statistically significant(p <.05), i.e. university group have the highest creativity than middle school group and primary school group, while there is no significant mean difference between primary school group and middle school group(p >.05). For high-proficiency group, the mean difference between primary school group and university group is statistically significant(p <.05), i.e. university group perform better than primary school group on creativity, while there is no significant mean difference between primary school group and middle school group, as well as middle school group and university group(p >.05).The present study has important theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical implications. Theoretically, the results of the present study lend support to Language Mediated Concept Activation Model. Methodologically, the present research adopts a 2×2×3 mixed ANOVA design. It not only explores the main effects of three variables, namely, L2 proficiency, openness to experience, and age, on bilinguals’ creativity, but also investigates the interaction effects among the three variables. Pedagogically, on one hand, during the instruction of L2 learning, English teachers should not only concentrate on the word itself, but to enlarge the correlations with other relevant knowledge to enhance students’ language proficiency. On the other hand, teachers should be adept in utilizing teaching materials, raising proper questions and putting the key teaching contents in the apparent place but needing further consideration for students so as to let them master the knowledge based on their own experience and thinking process.