Intercultural communication: Chinese language and its impact on cognitive abilities of Russian-speaking children

Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of creativity in younger students. The focus is on the impact of Southeast Asian languages and cultures on the development of creativity in younger Russian students learning Chinese, as well as on the impact of the educational environment on creative performance of schoolchildren. The paper presents the results of a three-year longitudinal study (2013–2016), implemented on the basis of the MBU to «Children’s Art School No. 7» and MBOU Secondary School No. 49, Chita, obtained by using the battery of the P. Torrens creativity test and the E. Tunic creative characteristics test. The empirical study involved 135 people: 105 pupils (3 groups of 35 pupils each) aged 9 to 11 years and 30 teachers, including 15 teachers of MBU DO «Children’s Art School No. 7» and 15 teachers of MBOU SOSH №49 (with in-depth study of English). The experimental group was represented by pupils of the foreign language studio learning Chinese. The control groups included 70 schoolchildren – students of the departments of theatrical and choreographic art (35 people at either department) who do not learn Chinese. The results indicate a statistically significant dependence of the elaboration and originality of the tasks performed by children (P. Torrens test) on their studies in the foreign language studio (Chinese language). The data obtained show a link between the educational environment and the creativity indicators of younger schoolchildren learning Chinese. The results of the study show that learning Chinese contributes to the development of creativity in children of primary school age. The language increases the intonational semantic distinction in speech, it facilitates the creation of an ambivalent context, which contributes to the development of susceptibility to the new even at the early school age. Learning Chinese has an increased effect on the ability to propose new ideas that are different from standard ones, it also contributes to constructive and inventive human activity. With considerable probability, it can be argued that the creativity of younger schoolchildren is formed mainly under the influence of their mastering the ideographic writing of the Chinese language.

Keywords
Chinese, creativity, primary school child, educational environment, integral individuality