System of playful activities to improve writing skills in the english language

Abstract

The present research project aimed to design and implement a system of workshops with playful activities to improve writing skills in English among tenth-grade students of Basic General Education in an educational institution in the city of Machala. The identified issue was the students’ low performance in written English, attributed to traditional teaching methods, lack of motivation, and limited meaningful language practice. The proposal was grounded in the theoretical contributions of Dewey (1938), who advocated for experiential learning; Ausubel (1983), with this theory of meaningful learning; and Hymes (1971), who emphasized communicative competence as a core element in language instruction. The research followed a quantitative approach with a pre-experimental design, involving a sample of 32 students. Theoretical methods (historical-logical, analytic-synthetic, systemic, and hypothetical-deductive) and empirical methods (observation and surveys) were used. The implemented system integrated playful activities targeting the linguistic, cognitive and pragmatic dimensions of writing, including language games, group dynamics, creative writing, and visual prompts. The results showed a significant improvement in students’ writing performance, particularly in linguistic and pragmatic aspects. However, the cognitive dimension showed more modest progress, highlighting the need to reinforce strategies that promote idea organization and critical thinking in future applications. It is concluded that playful workshops foster motivation, participation, and meaningful learning, offering an effective and replicable teaching alternative in similar educational contexts.