Due to one of those quirks of fate I have found myself teaching two very similar units in two different courses in the very same week. How about that? The first unit of the C2 textbook, Keynote Proficiency, is devoted to the subject of creativity. Unit 11 from Outcomes (the book I'm using in my C1.2 classes) has a section about wordplay. Needless to say, both topics are connected.
Alright. Allow me to say something right out the gate. For language learners creativity is a bit of a double-edged sword. An eager student may be tempted to dabble in wordplay, to try and be literary in their essays. I'm all for creativity. I believe it's actually a state of mind and one you can't just get out of. That said, being creative with language is the domain of writers, poets and wits. Not exactly your average joes, if you know what I mean. So it should come as no surprise that, as a teacher, I don't encourage linguistic creativity amongst my students. Asking a student to get creative is not unlike encouraging a pupil to walk on a tight rope when they are not exactly steady on the ground. I hope you do not misrepresent this statement.
By and large, learners don't know when they may flaunt the grammar rules. When it's okay to use a word instead of another. Allow me to sum it up by paraphrasing Liam Neeson in Taken: creativity requires "a particular set of skills"; mostly because language creativity is fraught with potential pitfalls. For instance, you may want to write a spy novel and use the word spook to refer to a secret agent (because you're an advanced learner and you know that spook is a term for undercover agent). Unfortunately spook is also an old racist term (which you might not find in many current dictionaries today). So, should a hypothetical advanced student use that word to refer to a black spy... they may wind up have the wrong kind of impact on the reader. I know that this is a rather contrived example, but I suppose you get my meaning.
On a more technical note, I can discourage you by simply reminding you that all levels, from A1 to C2, are about the conventions in the language. So, developing a personal idiosyncratic style takes long years (and you still use conventions) but shaping a creative voice is clearly off-limits for most students Having said all that, I am all for creativity in every conceivable way. Just watch this little video. You'll understand what I mean.
This is creativity in all its glory, isn't it? You can be creative in a restaurant, in an office. Even in politics! In Germany the coalition of three political parties (the CDU/CSU, the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party) brought about the expression Jamaican Coalition, just because the colors of those three parties are the very same colors you see in the Jamaican flag. That same coalition has been called Schwampel, a neologism that blends together the word Schwarz (black) and Ampel (traffic lights) because that political alliance shows the same colors of that hypothetical traffic lights: black, yellow and green. Something similar happens in the U.S., where states are sometimes called purple states (because they are red and blue at the same time). Isn't that creative?
The way I see it, creativity usually consists in challenging expectations. A quote by American comedian Roger Dangerfield (1921-2004) is a perfect example of just that. In twelve words Dangerfield managed to set up an expectation and then surprise you. He once said: "My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met". They key to that joke lies in the little twist, which defies what is expected. You may argue that such a one liner depends on wit not on creativity, but I would counter that being witty involves a form of creativity.
Again, students are not supposed to get off the beaten track. They're expected to beat the darned track. A way of being moderately creative can occur when a speaker plays around with a well established idiom. Check out this exchange:
-You know what they say: "When in Rome do as Romans do"
-Maybe you've been in Rome for too long.
Witty, right? Okay. In practical terms, you may want to learn some vocabulary. So here goes. Idioms that describe a person's originality and celebrate creative thinking do abound in English. Just check out this short sample:
They are common because the media keep discussing scientists that break new ground. Artists and business people that push the boundaries. I would argue there is an obsession with pioneers, rebels and unconventional types, which -come to think of it- is only logical. What else do we learn at school? Were Picasso and Van Gogh traditional painters? Was Albert Einstein a conventional man?
As far as your learning process goes, I don't think you should try and write poetry. Not yet, anyway, but you should try your best to go off the script, take chances, go out on a limb and attempt to do something new. That's how you learn, isn't it? By trying new things. In terms of wordplay... Maybe you can try punning, for instance. Punning tends to be harmless. Or if you want to go the distance try palindromes. They're so much fun. You may not be surprised to learn that I'm a closet palindromist, which is why I'm so happy about this recent documentary:
