Does Creative Drama Promote Language Development in Early Childhood? A Review of the Methods and Measures Employed in the Empirical Literature

Abstract

This systematic review of the literature synthesizes research from a number of disciplines and provides a succinct distillation of the methods and measures used to study the impact of creative drama on the language development of young children. An analysis of the merits and limitations of the reviewed studies reveals a number of methodological problems that threaten the validity, reliability, and credibility of drama research. Recommendations on how to limit these threats are offered. These recommendations can potentially help researchers design more rigorous studies that are better able to guide educators’ and administrators’ decisions about the inclusion of creative drama in early childhood curricula.

Improving second language skills of immigrant students: A field trial study evaluating the effects of a summer learning program

“…Implicit support may take on various forms. As a first step, we used theatre activities because a number of schools in Germany and elsewhere implement such programs as a means for second language support (for a review of research on the effects of drama on language learning see Mages, 2008). In addition, theatre classes are not directly associated with academic learning and the frustrations many second language learners experience in school due to their lower achievement levels.…”

“…The implicit language support was operationalized with a theatre program (Mages, 2008) which was designed to provide children with high-quality German language input and ample opportunity to develop their language skills. The theatre setting, which students knew would culminate in a public performance attended by their families, teachers, and peers, was expected to motivate them to process the language input and to attend to the correctness of their language use.…”

A Case Study of Drama Education for Kindergarten Children in the United States: Drama Specialists' Beliefs and Practices

“…Many scholars have supported children's participation in school drama activities because drama provides an opportunity to facilitate children's social, emotional, linguistic, and intellectual development as well as to encourage creativity (Kelin, 2007;Mages, 2008). Specifically, drama is believed to have a positive impact on language development, oral and written fluency, critical thinking, literature comprehension, attitude toward English and Language arts, and literature appreciation (Barnes, Johnson, & Neff, 2010;Chan, 2009;Dorion, 2009;Wagner, 1998).…”

“…There is little time allotted in the daily routine for drama in early childhood settings due to the pressure that many teachers feel to cover too much material in too little time (Dean et al, 2007;Jones & Reynolds, 1992). In such an educational climate, drama has often been conceptualized as a means to support learning other subject matter areas rather than as a foundation subject (Hatcher & Petty, 2004;Mages, 2008;National Curriculum Council, 1990). Accordingly, in most cases, drama has been seen as a teaching method, which leads to missing its own discipline knowledge.…”

Creating a Culture of Collaboration: The Conception, Design, and Evolution of a Head Start Theatre-in-Education Program

“…Few, if any, studies have investigated the effect of a drama intervention for preschool children that employs a team of trained professional actor-teachers (for a review of the literature on early childhood drama interventions, see Mages 2008a). A company such as ELTA, which specializes in the facilitation of preschool TIE programming, provides a unique research opportunity to investigate the conception, design, and evolution of a high-quality program that provides a rich context for young children's learning and development.…”