The effect of drama method on listening skills of Turkish children living abroad

Mother tongue is the first experience of human beings and the first process of this experience starts with listening. The main purpose of the study is to examine the effect of drama method on listening skills of Turkish children living in Germany. In this study, which was carried out in a mixed approach and explanatory sequential design, the sub-objectives of the research, which were handled in two different dimensions, quantitative and qualitative, were determined with research questions and hypotheses. The pre-test, post-test and retention test scores of the students using the achievement test developed by the researcher and the attitude scale of Turkish children living abroad towards their mother tongue constitute the data for the quantitative dimension of this study. Semi-structured interview form and student diaries used at the end of each session constitute data for the qualitative dimension. In the study, qualitative data were observed to support quantitative data. The study was limited to students studying in the Stuttgart region of Germany, participating in the Turkish and Turkish Culture course, and to the 8-week implementation period in the 2022-2023 academic year. The study was conducted with 5th level students attending Turkish and Turkish Culture courses in the Zollernalbkreis region of Baden Württemberg, Germany. While Turkish students living abroad constitute the population, the sample consists of 5th level students attending Tailfingen and Hechingen Turkish and Turkish Culture courses in the Zollernalbkreis region. In the pretest-posttest application in the experimental group in which the drama lesson was applied, the drama application increased achievement and general attitude; however, it did not affect the Turkish lesson, speaking-writing and listening-reading sub-dimensions in the attitude scale. It was concluded that there was no significant difference between the pretest and posttest averages of the achievement test and attitude scale sub-dimensions of the control group. In the experimental group, the difference between the posttest and the retention practice in the Turkish lesson and listening-reading sub-dimensions of the achievement test and attitude scale was significant. When the qualitative data were analyzed, it was seen that the drama practice contributed to students' positive attitudes, affected listening skills and other language skills, increased communication and interaction, and positively affected learning and comprehension activities in the codes and categories obtained. Keywords: Listening Skills, Drama, Turkish children abroad, Mother tongue attitude.