Date of Award

5-2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Committee Member

Anna Hall

Committee Member

Alison Leonard

Committee Member

Sandra Linder

Committee Member

Meihua Qian

Abstract

The demographic landscape in the U.S. is changing rapidly, and early childhood programs are experiencing an increase in the enrollment of Dual Language Learners (DLLs). The current study focused on the social and emotional aspects of DLL students and employed a case study design to explore the impact of creative drama on young DLLs’ social and emotional development. Six DLL students enrolled in a Head Start center participated in the 9-week creative drama intervention. Results from the paired t-tests showed that participants’ social and emotional skills improved significantly after the intervention. Qualitative data further revealed that participants demonstrated improvements in social interactions, including increased confidence, improved cooperation skills, and better emotion management. Overall, findings from the current study suggest that creative drama is a promising strategy to use with preschool DLLs to increase their social and emotional competence.

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