“I’m Not a Friend of You": Emergent Bilinguals’ Socioemotional and Semiotic Exploration in Dramatic Play (Poster 19)

• In Event: Thursday Poster Session 4:20 pm
  In Poster Session: Languages, Literacies, and Representations Poster Session

Abstract

Dramatic play (DP) activity provides a supportive context for emergent bilingual (EB) children to practice socioemotional skills (Keung & Cheung, 2019) through their rich linguistic and multimodal repertoire. The Social Skills Improvement System Social Emotional Learning Edition framework (SSIS SEL; Gresham et al., 2020) was used to analyze children’s socioemotional and semiotic practices in DP. Children enacted self-control by using appropriate language with peers when upset and resolving disagreements calmly. They often said “please” to recruit/relate to peers, invited others to join play activities, and asserted themselves by standing up to unfair treatment. Children’s visual and actional modes were central to their self-management skills whereas verbal modes took precedence in forging relationships and practicing assertiveness with peers.

Authors

• Sabrina F. Sembiante, Florida Atlantic University

• Catherine Restrepo-Widney, Florida Atlantic University

• Mileidis Gort, University of Colorado - Boulder