Abstract In this paper we investigate the ways in which creativity is understood and enacted by language teachers. Although the term ‘creativity’ has gained enormous traction in language pedagogy, and in education more generally, we suggest that the concept remains a floating signifier carrying different personal connotations that are shaped by wider institutional and professional constraints. We report on interview data with practising language teachers who discuss their interpretation of creativity and how it manifests in their classrooms. Our analysis considered how teachers positioned themselves and their students in relation to each other and how the agency of the different actors was shaped by discursive constructions (of creativity) which were, in turn, underpinned by broader socio-historical and disciplinary frames. In particular, we focus on distinctions between creative language and creative language teaching and how these are construed differently across professional contexts. While teachers are keen to adopt creative approaches, findings show that there are significant differences in their interpretations of the concept that point to deeply rooted epistemological dissonances in the perception of language and personhood in the pedagogical encounter. In the final section we develop the implications of these findings for professional cultures and identities, in particular some of the critical but under-explored issues surrounding the idea of creativity in language teaching, including the ever-present ‘teacher-ledness’, the curricularised nature of taught languages and the absence of personal development.

中文翻译：

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在语言课堂中理解创造力概念中的代理和限制

摘要本文研究语言教师理解和实施创造力的方式。尽管“创造力”一词在语言教学法和教育中获得了广泛的关注，但我们建议，该概念仍然是一个浮动的指示符，带有受更广泛的制度和专业约束所塑造的不同个人内涵。我们向与会的语言老师汇报面试数据，他们讨论他们对创造力的解释以及它如何在教室中体现出来。我们的分析考虑了教师如何将自己和学生与彼此之间的关系定位，以及不同角色的代理机构是如何由（创造力）话语结构塑造的，反过来又以更广泛的社会历史和学科框架为基础。特别是，我们将重点放在创造性语言和创造性语言教学之间的区别上，以及如何在专业环境中对它们进行不同的解释。尽管教师们热衷于采用创造性的方法，但研究结果表明，他们对这一概念的解释存在很大差异，这表明在教学过程中对语言和人格的感知根深蒂固的认识论失调。在最后一节中，我们将探讨这些发现对专业文化和身份的影响，特别是围绕语言教学中的创造力思想的一些关键但尚未充分研究的问题，包括永远存在的“教师主导”，课程设置。教学语言的性质和缺乏个人发展能力。