Creative writing as an engagement strategy to develop ELT teachers’ literacy at university

This work presents qualitative findings from longitudinal, design-based research (DBR) inserted in the Applied Linguists area (ELT/teacher education). I examined the impact and benefits of this curricular innovation proposal titled 'Creative Writing to develop literacy competence' in the 'Reading and Writing English Practice subject, at the Letters Course (Portuguese/English) in a Community-University in the south of Brazil. Based on Maley's work, writing practices have to be felt as enjoyable and perceived as useful in the 'real' world outside the classroom (MALEY, 2012). Furthermore, reading and writing are complex interconnected skills that have a central role in ELT teachers' language use and development. In this context, the proposal aimed to challenge the undergraduate's literacy practices to be responsive to the 21st-century classrooms' linguistic and cultural landscape to prepare more linguistically competent professionals. Besides that, its goal was also to contribute to students' critical thinking building. This study, also, considered that reading and writing are indissociable linguistic skills fundamental for those who desire to teach English, that is, the more the teachers read, the better they will write. Moreover, creative writing development can be an efficient strategy to motivate and promote writing in English class. The data were generated, in 2019, from fourteen participants - eleven preservice and five in-service teachers - speakers of Portuguese as L1 who have English as their additional language. I used constant comparison analysis to analyze data sources, which included field notes, questionnaires, participants' artifacts, and portfolio reflections. The results evidence the positive impact of the interventions in supporting the participants' linguistic and teaching needs, collaborating for their professional identity affirmation, and bolstering their English literacy.