METHODS OF TEACHING STUDENTS CREATIVE THINKING THROUGH THE DESIGN OF CREATIVE TASKS IN ENGLISH

The article examines the theoretical and methodological foundations of teaching students creative thinking through the design and implementation of creative tasks in English in non-philological fields of higher education. The essence of creative thinking is revealed as an important component of the professional and communicative competence of a modern specialist. Particular attention is paid to the potential of the “Foreign Language” discipline in developing students’ ability to independently generate ideas, find alternative ways of solving educational and professionally oriented tasks, substantiate their own viewpoints, and create original spoken and written products. The article considers such methods as problem-based learning, project-based activities, brainstorming, the case method, role-playing and business games, storytelling, the open-ended question method, and digital creative tasks. An algorithm for designing creative tasks is proposed, comprising motivational, problem-search, productive-creative, and reflective-evaluative stages. It is concluded that the systematic use of creative tasks contributes to the simultaneous development of foreign-language communicative competence, learner autonomy, flexibility of thinking, and students’ professional readiness.