A case study of social skills development in bilingual preschool-age children

Abstract

This study presents a case study of preschool-age dual-language learners’ social skills development. The research focuses on several widely recognized dimensions of children’s social development: communication, cooperation, emotional management, and problematic behaviours. The case study utilized several methods for data collection, including non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Five dual-language preschool-age children participated in the qualitative data collection, and two early childhood educators participated in the qualitative data collection through interviews and classroom observations. The results indicate that the main reason for dual-language children’s exclusion is their language limitations rather than their appearance or other factors that would contribute to them being considered an outsider. Also, the main barrier in the social skills development of dual-language children seems to be negative feelings such as frustration and hesitation that this group of children experience in relationships with others, which appear to inhibit them from interacting with others. The role of early childhood educators, peers and parents in the social skills development of this group of children is significant.