CORPOREALITY AND LANGUAGE SKILLS IN PRIMARY SCHOOL: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY BASED ON BACKWARD DESIGN

Abstract

Schools have the task, from the earliest stages of schooling, of offering varied experiential opportunities, since "the richer the individual's experience, the more abundant the material at his disposal" (Vygotsky, 1972, p. 29).

Experience is not a passive surface in which the child engages in interactive mechanisms based on a stimulus-response model, but rather a holistic and highly dynamic vision in which the subject plays an active role in the production of meaning (Dewey, 1938). Therefore, a child's experience is not simply exposure to events, but represents the way in which the child attributes meaning to the world. According to this perspective, perception, action, and signification are intertwined in a nonlinear, flexible system that is always open to reinterpretation (Dewey, 1938; Merleau-Ponty, 1945; Varela et al., 1991).

This study identifies corporeality as a fundamental dimension in learning processes, which goes beyond mere physical well-being, involving mental and emotional aspects and strengthening skills and abilities in primary school students.

This study was developed during the 2025-26 school year and included an initial screening (implemented in September 2025) of motor skills and Italian and English language skills, followed by a 5-month training program based on Backward Design (beginning October 2025 and February 2026) to orient motor planning toward linguistic competence goals. It was implemented in a primary school in the province of Naples, involving 155 students aged 9 to 11. Despite the limitations of the convenience sample and the unique local context, the research results suggest that children in the experimental group showed growth following bodily experiences compared to the control group