本研究探讨了多外语学习者创造性思维的发展特征及其影响因素,重点关注创造性思维在跨语言迁移中的表现及正规课堂环境对其发展的影响。基于多个案质性研究方法,研究对13名多外语学习者进行了两轮单独访谈,并收集了相关文本资料。研究者发现,多外语学习者的创造性思维迁移更倾向于聚敛式思维,即学习者在学习第二外语时会优先筛选和整合母语及第一外语经验,而非完全发散式地探索。此外,正规课堂教学环境的去个性化特征对创造性思维的发展构成一定限制,表现为课堂互动中少数派观点的缺失以及从众顺应现象显著,进而抑制了学习者的认知灵活性和创造性表达。可见,多门外语学习经历的高度同质性可能促发了路径依赖,使学习者在新语言学习中更依赖稳定的认知框架,而非探索性策略。同时,课程与教学跨越不同外语的这种同质性在一定程度上也弱化了第一外语在创造性思维迁移中的作用,促使学习者更多回溯更为迥异的母语经验,以寻找创新性学习策略。因此,我们应重新审视课程与教学在外语学习者自主性和创造性思维发展中的作用,并倡导更具灵活性和多样性的学习模式。

This study examines the development of creative thinking in multilingual learners and its influencing factors, with a particular focus on the role of cross-linguistic transfer and the impact of formal classroom environments. Employing a multiple-case qualitative research design, the study conducted two rounds of individual interviews with 13 multilingual learners and collected relevant textual data. The findings reveal that multilingual learners exhibit a convergence-oriented pattern in creative thinking transfer, wherein they prioritize selecting and integrating experiences from their native language (L1) and first foreign language (L2) when learning a second foreign language (L3), rather than engaging in entirely divergent exploration. Furthermore, the depersonalized nature of formal classroom instruction imposes constraints on the development of creative thinking, as evidenced by the absence of minority perspectives in classroom interactions and the predominance of compliance over cognitive transformation. These findings suggest that the high degree of homogeneity in multilingual learning experiences may reinforce path dependence, leading learners to rely more on stable cognitive frameworks rather than exploratory strategies in learning a new language. Similarly, the cross-linguistic uniformity of curricula and instructional practices weakens the role of L2 in creative thinking transfer, prompting learners to draw more extensively from their structurally distinct L1 experiences in developing innovative learning strategies. These insights highlight the need to critically reassess the role of curriculum and pedagogy in promoting learner autonomy and creative thinking in foreign language education, thus advocating for more flexible and diverse learning models.