The Relationship of Story-Based English Teaching on Primary Students’ Creative Thinking: Mechanisms and Improvement Strategies

Abstract

In the context of global education reform, which increasingly prioritizes core competencies, the cultivation of creative thinking has emerged as a critical objective in primary English education. Story-based instruction, esteemed for its contextual depth and engaging narrative qualities, serves as an effective medium for fostering creativity among young learners. This study examines the current implementation of story-based English instruction in primary schools, analyzing how its principal components relate to students’ creative thinking across dimensions such as adventurousness, curiosity, imagination, and a challenging spirit. Utilizing data from 271 students in Grades 4 - 6 at a primary school, the study employs questionnaires, interviews, and structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate teaching practices and their underlying associations. The findings indicate that: 1) the overall implementation of story-based instruction is robust, characterized by high levels of student interest and teacher engagement; 2) students’ creative thinking exhibits distinct dimensional differences, with a challenging spirit being the most developed, while imagination is relatively weaker; and 3) among the core elements of story-based instruction, student interest is identified as the most significant predictor of creative thinking, teacher attention acts as a crucial supportive factor, classroom atmosphere supports only certain dimensions, and teaching strategies primarily associated with curiosity. These findings provide practical insights for English educators and contribute empirical evidence to the ongoing discourse on effectively fostering creative thinking in story-based language classrooms.