The JFF project on improving oral language skills in children with EAL through a drama-based intervention is nearing its conclusion, and this week marked the end of data collection at our partner school! After two weeks of pre-testing, eight weeks of running the intervention, and two weeks of post-testing, we have all the data we need to move on to the next phase: analysis.
Analysing the data will involve determining whether participating in the drama workshops allowed children to improve in terms of receptive and productive language skills relative to a 'control' group that did not take part in the workshops. It will also entail exploring whether students were engaged in and enthusiastic about the workshops, as evidenced through observations and interviews.
As we were running two drama-based interventions - one utilising movement-focused activities and the other making use of text-driven activities - we are also keen to ascertain whether one worked 'better' than the other in terms of developing the students' linguistic proficiency and communication skills. Knowing what activities lead to greater gains will help us make stronger recommendations to educators at the end of the project.
As academic protocol demands, we will endeavour to publish the results of this study in a peer-reviewed journal. Nevertheless, we are also interested in reaching non-academic audiences (e.g., teachers who might be interested in incorporating drama-based activities in their language classrooms). To this end, will include a lay summary of our findings on this blog in the near future. If you want to find out more, please stay tuned!