Abstract:
Emotional intelligence and language development are essential for development of children, especially in preschooler which is an appropriate stage to promote learning ability. The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to examine effects of the learning promotion program through storytelling on emotional intelligence and language development among preschoolers. A multi-stage random sampling was used to recruit a sample of dyads of parents and preschool children age 4-5 years who came to study at a school. They were randomly assigned to the experimental group for 26 dyads and the control group for 27 dyads. The experimental group received the learning promotion program through storytelling. The program was developed based on the Banduras social cognitive learning theory composed of 4 steps of attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. The control group received routine activities. Research instruments included the assessment of emotional intelligence for preschoolers and the language development test. Their Cronbach s alphas were .91and .95 respectively. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi-square test and independent t-test. The results revealed that after receiving the learning promotion program through storytelling, preschoolers in the experimental group had significantly higher emotional intelligence than those in the control group for both the total score (t= 7.40, p< .001) and all 3 subscales scores including, good, intelligent and happiness (t 5 = 8.74, t= 8.96 and t= 2.60, p < .001, respectively). However, language development of preschoolers between both groups was found no difference (p>.05). These findings suggest that parents and child caregivers/teachers should utilize this learning promotion program through storytelling to promote emotional intelligence for preschooler.