Drama as a FL Enhancing Creative Activity in FL Preschool Learners’ Environment

Abstract

The study was aimed at checking whether the drama technique positively affects the acquisition of English vocabulary among 5-year-old preschool students. The study involved 16 students from one of the kindergartens in southern Poland (8 in the experimental group and 8 in the control group). The aim of the study in the experimental group was to learn a selected set of English vocabulary so that at the very end they would put on a Christmas presentation. At the same time, the control group practiced the same material with the method generally recommended for teaching preschool children, i.e. with flashcards or games. In both cases, the experiment lasted more than 2 months, with 30-minute English classes for participants once a week. The results of the study were subject to statistical analysis: both dependent and independent samples of the t-test were used here. After collecting all the information, the hypothesis that the drama technique positively affects the acquisition of English vocabulary among 5-year-old students was confirmed. In addition, it has been shown that this type of foreign language learning methods turned out to be more effective and more durable than other language learning techniques used in preschool education.

Keywords

• English drama
• preschool learners
• TEFL
• vocabulary assimilation