Creative writing activities and TPR plus: An implementation of foreign language development project to students with dyslexia

This paper outlines the rational for and the purpose of designing and implementing a project with the basic purpose to make dyslexic EFL learners develop their language skills through their participation and involvement in interactive psychomotor and creative writing activities. The project, which is a part of a longitudinal project, was implemented in 10 students with diagnosed dyslexia of a Greek primary school. The basic characteristics of the project were the cooperation, communication, verbal interaction, creativity and creative writing and active participation. When the school class was chosen as a teaching place, students participated in classroom activities included creative writing activities, memory and word games, drawings, constructions, role-play games, pantomime as well as songs. When the gym was taken the place of instruction, children participated in creative physical activities, relay races, chases and hopscotch, with the aim in all cases being the improvement of their oral and writing communicative skills. In order to examine the effectiveness and feasibility of the project, an evaluation study was conducted by using: a) a pre-and post-language test administered individually to the children; b) journals kept by the teachers once a week; c) structured interviews conducted with the children, at the end of the project. It was evident that overall psychomotor and creative writing activities had a positive effect on developing dyslexic learners' oral and writing skills, as well as on motivating them to participate in everyday.