2. Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hongkong)

Abstract: Hong Kong is a predominantly Chinese speaking community but has a multilingual and multicultural environment, and developing an appropriate curriculum and effective teaching strategies for non-Chinese speaking (NCS) children is a pressing issue in Hong Kong education. The research team worked with the teachers to design the teaching materials and drama activities in a Hong Kong secondary school, then observed the teachers’ performance in CSL Chinese History classroom and the interaction between teachers and students, conducted interviews with the teachers, and also evaluated and reflected on the whole design of drama in classroom. 60 NCS secondary school students (N = 60) at an average age of 14 years were participated in this study. According to the teachers' feedback and the findings of the study, drama in Chinese History classroom has five effects on NCS students' learning in Chinese History, including: 1) Enhancing motivation — students have a higher level of participation in the classroom. 2) Deepen learning — it helps students to put themselves in the situations of historical figures, and to trigger their associations and personal evaluations of the characters. 3) Vocabulary acquisition-through repeated and comprehensible output. 4) Eliminate language anxiety — students enjoy participating in drama, and in the process. 5) Enhance collaborative learning — owning to drama activities, the NCS students had more opportunities of collaborative learning in lessons. This study also examines the difficulties in the implementation of drama for NCS students in Hong Kong. Both the pedagogical and theoretical implications for teaching Chinese History through the use of drama are discussed.

Key words: ethnic minority, Chinese as a second language, drama in education, inclusive education