The Influence of Process Drama on Elementary Students’ Written Language

Abstract

This article describes the influence of process drama on fourth grade students’ written language productivity and specificity. Participants included 16 students with learning and/or behavioral challenges at an urban public charter school. The influence of process drama on students’ written language was compared across contextualized and decontextualized activities to identify associations between activities and language outcomes. Significant increases in students’ written language productivity and specificity were observed in contextualized dramatic arts activities, as compared to decontextualized language arts activities. Implications and directions for future research in arts integration within content area instruction for students in inclusive settings are discussed.