HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
TRAN NGOC QUANG
GRADUATION PAPER
THE STUDY ON THE BENEFITS OF MUSIC TO ENGLISH
LISTENING SKILLS FOR HUBT STUDENTS
HANOI, 2020
HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
GRADUATION PAPER
THE STUDY ON THE BENEFITS OF MUSIC TO ENGLISH
LISTENING SKILLS FOR HUBT STUDENTS
Field
: English Language
Name
: Tran Ngoc Quang
Student’s code : 16190077
Course
: 21
Class
: TA 21.03
Supervisor
: Luong Ba Hung, MA
HANOI, 2020
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled “The study on the benefits of music to English listening skills for HUBT
students” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Bachelor in English Language. Except for the indicated reference, no other person’s
work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the paper.
Hanoi, 2020
Tran Ngoc Quang
Approved by
SUPERVISOR
Date:……………………
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I cannot express enough thanks to my supervisor for his support and
encouragement: Mr Luong Ba Hung, MA. I offer my sincere appreciation for the
learning opportunities provided by my supervisor.
I am also very grateful to the talented Lecturers and Professors in my English
Department, who have provided me excellent lectures during four years of
university, for conveying me knowledge and experience.
My project completion could not have been completed without the support of
my classmates - thank you for giving me helpful advice and sincere suggestions.
Finally, to my caring, loving, and supportive family: my deepest gratitude.
Their encouragement when the times got rough are much appreciated and noted. It
was a great comfort and relief to know that they were willing to provide management
of our household activities while I completed my work. My heartfelt thanks.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT............................................................................. 4
PART A: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 8
1. Rationale of the study .................................................................................. 8
2. Aims and objectives of the study ................................................................. 9
3. Research questions ....................................................................................... 9
4. The scope of the study ................................................................................. 9
5. Design of the study ...................................................................................... 9
PART B: DEVELOPMENT .......................................................................10
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................10
1.1. Review of previous studies .....................................................................10
1.2. Review of theoretical background ..........................................................11
1.2.1. Listening skills .....................................................................................11
1.2.2. Music ....................................................................................................13
1.2.3. Relationship between music and foreign language .............................14
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY .............................................................16
2.1. Research questions ..................................................................................16
2.2. Methods...................................................................................................16
2.3. Research setting ......................................................................................16
2.4. Data collection instruments ....................................................................16
2.5. Data analysis ...........................................................................................16
2.5.1. Time students learn English before going to college ..........................16
2.5.2. Students' attitude to listening to English music ...................................17
2.5.3. Duration of listening to music .............................................................18
2.5.4. The attitude of students with the effect of listening to music..............19
2.5.5. Motivating for students ........................................................................19
2.5.6. Difficulties when listening to the music ..............................................20
2.5.7. Students’ ways of listening ..................................................................21
2.5.8. The drawbacks of spending time on music..........................................22
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CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ........................................24
3.1. Findings...................................................................................................24
3.1.1. Difficulties and challenges in learning listening skills ........................24
3.1.2. Advantage of music in teaching and learning process ........................25
3.2. Discussion ...............................................................................................26
3.2.1. Learning English through music is one of the most effective methods
..................................................................................................................................26
3.2.2. The disadvantages of using music in learning .....................................28
3.2.3. Some tips for learning the listening skills through music ...................29
PART C: CONCLUSION ...........................................................................31
1.Recapitulation .............................................................................................31
2. Limitation of the study ...............................................................................31
3. Suggestion for further study ......................................................................31
REFERENCES .............................................................................................32
APPENDIX ...................................................................................................34
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ABSTRACT
A song is a poetry set to motion. A song in a second language enhances the
learning of that target language. This study confirmed that English second language
learners were inspired by the singing of songs and music to achieve better in their
study of literature, as well as other aspects of the target language.
The research is answered the following questions: (1) What are the difficulties
for HUBT students when learning English listening skills? (2) What are the benefits
of English music in developing listening skills?
Through the qualitative method, the data gathered showed that listening to
English songs can improve listening skills. Listening skill is one of skill in the
English language that should be mastered. People who learn the English language
should master listening skills. To improve listening skills, people can exercise
through listening to English songs because listening to English songs has the benefit
to improve listening skills.
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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
A highlighting on language as a communication system is certainly
indispensable in the age of globalization. Not only does it help uncover principles
underlying social interactions, but it also enables us to get access to ways of thinking,
belief system and enhances empathy and mutual understanding. Investigating issues
concerning language learning is particularly momentous in today’s time.
When national boundaries are becoming less visible, more and more people
are engaging in intercultural communication. Finding most effective way to master
English will certainly qualify us to better comprehend the different ways of speaking
by people from different cultures.
Despite of the fact that English is still considered as a foreign language in
Vietnam, students in every level are expected to master English communicative
competence as one of their provisions in becoming professional workers at national
and multinational companies and institutions.
Therefore, English in Vietnam is a compulsory subject which is taught from
primary school to university schools as a second language. As a result, the
Vietnamese government always makes effort to improve the teacher quality and
other components which are involved in process of education. The English teaching
and learning in Vietnam have been improved from time to time, one of them is
established by curriculum. According to the competence-based curriculum, the goal
of learning foreign language is to learn how to communicate by using the target
language orally or writtenly so students are able to communicate in spoken or written
English.
Recent studies in the field of foreign language education note that aspects like
the motivation facilitate the learning process. There are different approaches to
achieve this objective and improve the motivation and at the same time the
effectiveness of the learning; one of which is the music.
Music can be a very helpful tool to accelerate and generate a consistent
learning. There is not a specific methodology to learn English through music and
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songs, but it is possible to combine the advanced technology and the music with a
good teacher who should know how to introduce both disciplines.
With the above reasons, I think that finding of this research will have
contribution to language learners and language educators about informative inputs
with practical evidence on the use of English songs students’ listening skill.
2. Aims and objectives of the study
The main purpose of the study is: (1) find out how music can effectively
support English listening skills; (2) help students find the best way to learn listening
English skills through music.
3. Research questions
- (1) What are the difficulties for HUBT students when learning English
listening skills?
- (2) What are the benefits of English music in developing listening skills?
4. The scope of the study
In the scope of a small thesis, the study was conducted based on the survey of
students of HUBT. In addition, this study only focused on English listening skills
and the influence of music on this skill. Other skills will be considered in later
researches.
5. Design of the study
Part A: Introduction - Introduction to the method, purpose, object and scope
of language learning through music.
Part B: Development
Chapter 1: Literature review - General concept of music, genre of music.
Refers to the practice of listening skills through music.
Chapter 2: Methodology - Reality for the language of students HUBT.
Methods, research setting, data analyses…
Chapter 3: Findings and discussion - Discuss the difficulties of learning
listening skills through music and make helpful suggestions.
Part C: Conclusion
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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Review of previous studies
Music is a means of communication. It crosses all barriers – language, culture,
belief systems, age, gender and nationality. It is an innate part of a person’s being.
Depending on taste, it soothes and relaxes, inspires and motivates.
Eady and Wilson (2004) confirm that various studies prove that music does
contribute to a learner’s academic achievement, motivation and creative
development. They conclude that music helps one to learn more, and more
effectively. Music contributes to all of education. The learner benefits by enhancing
key developmental goals such as self-esteem and creativity. Learners achieved better
scores when music was part of their social studies. McTeer and Bailey (1980)
reinforce the thesis that music motivates learning in other disciplines through their
research on student attitude towards history and subject knowledge.
Language acquisition has a profound relationship with music in that they can
both develop and support each other. Research cited reveals a positive
interdependence when music is used with much reflection and planning in the
language
classroom.
“Melodic
recognition,
contour
processing,
timbre
discrimination, rhythm, tonality, prediction, and perception of the sight, sound, and
form of symbols in context are required in both music and language” Stansell (2005).
Traditional language teaching methods must be reviewed, and music
introduced as one means of further enhancing learning. There was positive impact
on the four key language learning areas: listening, reading, writing and speaking.
“Researchers over the last twenty years have made astounding advances in the theory
of language acquisition. Many find the pedagogical conjoining of language and
music compelling” Stansell (2005). When the case study learners colloquially talked
of their learning having a vibe, they expressed what Stansell (2005) more
academically stated: “The universal element of music can make the artificial
classroom environment into a ‘real’ experience and make new information
meaningful, bringing interest and order to a classroom.”
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Another study conducted by Horn (2007) also confirms that music is a form
of language, using tones, pitch, timbre and rhythm as a universal language. Both
language and music are “communicative modes, aurally and orally transmitted,
containing phonetic, syntactic, and semantic components, develop early in life and
are socially interactive media.” Horn (2007) adds that music enriches one’s
vocabulary and teaches articulation and pronunciation. She notes that music plays a
vital role in the teaching of English as a second language, emphasizing that to be
“able to learn, understand and experience music and language, the learner should
have well-developed listening skills.”
Developing the ability to listen enables learners to learn the basic skills of
language: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Horn suggests that music should
be used to encourage learners to listen in a mentally active and analytical way, adding
that ‘In learning the language of music, just as in learning any language, learners
need to listen to the language and its sound patterns before they are able to use it.’
Clearly, listening ability is basic to the teaching and learning of reading and
comprehension, being therefore a central component of language acquisition,
education and social development.
A study by Murray (2005), who actively teaches French using song lyrics. Her
point is that most people spend almost 50% of their time listening, a critical skill in
second language acquisition. Listening formed a vital part of the case study, and
expanded into assessment of communication and language performance for each
1.2. Review of theoretical background
1.2.1. Listening skills
1. Definition of listening
Listening is receiving language through the ears. Listening involves
identifying the sounds of speech and processing them into words and sentences.
When we listen, we use our ears to receive individual sounds (letters, stress, rhythm
and pauses) and we use our brain to convert these into messages that mean something
to us (following https://www.englishclub.com/listening/what.htm).
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Listening in any language requires focus and attention. It is a skill that some
people need to work at harder than others. People who have difficulty concentrating
are typically poor listeners. Listening in a second language requires even greater
focus (following https://www.englishclub.com/listening/what.htm).
Like babies, we learn this skill by listening to people who already know how
to speak the language. This may or may not include native speakers. For practice,
you can listen to live or recorded voices. The most important thing is to listen to a
variety of voices as often as you can.
2. Types of listening
The two main types of listening - the foundations of all listening sub-types
are: discriminative listening and comprehensive listening.
Discriminative listening is first developed at a very early age – perhaps even
before birth, in the womb. This is the most basic form of listening and does not
involve the understanding of the meaning of words or phrases but merely the
different sounds that are produced. In early childhood, for example, a distinction is
made between the sounds of the voices of the parents – the voice of the father sounds
different to that of the mother.
Discriminative listening develops through childhood and into adulthood. As
we grow older and develop and gain more life experience, our ability to distinguish
between different sounds is improved. Not only can we recognize different voices,
but we also develop the ability to recognize subtle differences in the way that sounds
are made – this is fundamental to ultimately understanding what these sounds mean.
Differences include many subtleties, recognizing foreign languages, distinguishing
between regional accents and clues to the emotions and feelings of the speaker.
Comprehensive listening involves understanding the message or messages
that are being communicated. Like discriminative listening, comprehensive listening
is fundamental to all listening sub-types.
In order to be able use comprehensive listening and therefore gain
understanding the listener first needs appropriate vocabulary and language skills.
Using overly complicated language or technical jargon, therefore, can be a barrier to
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comprehensive listening. Comprehensive listening is further complicated by the fact
that two different people listening to the same thing may understand the message in
two different ways. This problem can be multiplied in a group setting, like a
classroom or business meeting where numerous different meanings can be derived
from what has been said.
1.2.2. Music
1. Definition of music
Music is a form of art; an expression of emotions through harmonic
frequencies. Music is also a form of entertainment that puts sounds together in a way
that people like, find interesting or dance to. Most music includes people singing
with their voices or playing musical instruments, such as the piano, guitar, drums or
violin.
2. Kinds of music
Music can be divided into different genres in many ways. Below are the top
genres in the music industry currently.
Electronic Dance Music: generally referred as EDM, this form of music is
produced by DJs who add dozens of tones to a piece to create unique music. You can
hear them in clubs or even live, depending upon your accessibility for the same.
Rock Music: originated as “Rock & Roll” in the United States, Rock music
has been rocking the world since the 1950s. It is a form of music that started around
string instruments, but now uses other modern instruments too making it a little
difficult to give it an accurate definition. Its loud and strong beats make it popular
among the youths.
Jazz: identified with swing and blue notes, Jazz has its roots both in the West
African and European culture. It is said that Jazz is “One of America’s original art
forms” and boasts a unique combination of creativity, coactions and interactivity.
Rhythm and Blues: originated in the 1940s, this African American music is a
combination of hip hop, funk, dance, pop and soul focusing on themes like
relationships, sex and freedom.
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Country Music: has its roots from American folk and western music. It is
formed using simple forms of instruments ranging from electric and steel guitars to
drums and mandolin or mouth organ.
Pop Music: “Pop” is a term derived from “Popular” and thus Pop Music is
known to be a genre of popular music. With its roots in the rock & roll style, this
form can include any form of music ranging from urban and dance to rock, country
and Latin. Instruments highly used are electric guitars, synthesizer drums as well as
bass.
3. Choose your songs wisely
For the purpose of listening to English songs to learn listening skills, it is
necessary to choose songs wisely. This might seem obvious, but many learners fail
at this simple step. The reason? They either listen to random songs on the radio or
pick whatever hot songs are currently trending on Spotify or YouTube.
As simple as this sounds, to effectively learn English through songs, you must
choose songs that you like - songs that you'll live with and listen to a hundred times.
That way, you'll want to listen to them and want to learn the words in your target
language.
1.2.3. Relationship between music and foreign language
Traditionally, music and language have been treated as different psychological
faculties. This duality is reflected in older theories about the lateralization of speech
and music in that speech functions were thought to be localized in the left and music
functions in the right-hemisphere of the brain. For example, the landmark paper of
Bever and Chiarello (1974) emphasized the different roles of both hemispheres in
processing music and language information, with the left hemisphere considered
more specialized for propositional, analytic, and serial processing and the righthemisphere more specialized for appositional, holistic, and synthetic relations.
This view has been challenged in recent years mainly because of the advent
of modern brain imaging techniques and the improvement in neurophysiological
measures to investigate brain functions. Using these innovative approaches, an
entirely new view on the neural and psychological underpinnings of music and
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speech has evolved. The findings of these more recent studies show that music and
speech functions have many aspects in common and that several neural modules are
similarly involved in speech and music (Tallal and Gaab, 2006). There is also
emerging evidence that speech functions can benefit from music functions and vice
versa. This field of research has accumulated a lot of new information and it is
therefore timely to bring together the work of those researchers who have been most
visible, productive, and inspiring in this field.
This special issue comprises a collection of 20 review and research papers that
focus on the specific relationship between music and language. Of these 20 papers
12 are research papers that report entirely new findings supporting the close
relationship between music and language functions. Two papers report findings
demonstrating that phonological awareness, which is pivotal for reading and writing
skills, is closely related to pitch awareness and musical expertise (Dege and
Schwarzer, 2011; Loui et al., 2011). Dege and colleagues even show that
preschoolers can benefit from a program of musical training to increase their
phonological awareness.
Milovanov and Tervaniemi (2004) underscore the beneficial influence of
musical aptitude on the acquisition linguistic skills as for example in acquiring a
second language.
To sumup, there are the tight relationship between music and language
functions. Thus, musical training may aid in the prevention, rehabilitation, and
remediation of a wide range of language, listening, and learning impairments. On the
other hand, this body of evidence might shed new light on how the human brain uses
shared network capabilities to generate and control different functions.
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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1. Research questions
The study is aimed to answer the research questions like (1) What are the
difficulties for HUBT students when learning English listening skills? (2) What are
the benefits of English music in developing listening skills?
2.2. Methods
This thesis has used the survey method. The author gave a questionnaire to the
surveyed subjects - HUBT students. Then, based on the results obtained, the author
analyzed, synthesized and made the assessments. In addition, the author also used
secondary data analysis. Secondary data analysis involves a researcher using the
information that someone else has gathered for his or her own purposes.
2.3. Research setting
The data utilized in this research paper was gathered from a survey carried out
among Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) in May 2017.
Initially, a questionnaire including 8 multiple-choice questions was designed in
accordance with the two above research questions. In the following step, 50 students
of different ages and various academic levels were randomly selected to answer 8
questions while the interviewers filled in the questionnaire basing on their choices.
This method of interviewing made the topic more concerned with the survey in
comparison with the procedure of distributing questionnaires and then collecting
them. Thus, the data acquired reached a quite high level of genuineness.
2.4. Data collection instruments
The data collection tool of this study was an 8-question survey questionnaire.
Students were asked to answer those questions in a way that they think is best. The
questions had easy-to-understand instructions. The collected results were
summarized, calculated and graphed by excel for analysis and evaluation.
2.5. Data analysis
2.5.1. Time students learn English before going to college
Table 1: How long have you been studying English?
16
Q1/ How long have you been studying English?
Number
%
Less than 5 years
4
8
5-10 years
16
32
More than 10 years
30
60
Today in Vietnam, students are exposed and learn English very early. In the
city, students learn English from elementary school, even from kindergarten. In rural
areas, students' exposure to English may be slower. Therefore, it is not surprising
that up to 60% of the students' responses were studying English for more than 10
years and 32% of students were studying English from 5 to 10 years. With such a
long-time studying English, their English listening skills must be at a certain level.
These students will clearly understand what the benefits are, difficulties as well as
the negative side of listening to music for English listening skills.
8%
Less than 5 years
32%
60%
5-10 years
More than 10 years
Chart 1: How long have you been studying English?
2.5.2. Students' attitude to listening to English music
Table 2: Students' attitude to listening to English music
Q2/ Do you like listening to English music?
Number
%
I love it
29
57
Normal
15
29
I don’t like it
6
12
I hate it
1
2
Many students like to listen to English songs while learning listening skills
(57%). This is a positive sign that today's students have positive and effective ways
to learn English. Students who don't like or hate listening to music make up 14%.
17
This is understandable because besides the positive aspects that music brings, there
are also negative aspects such as music affecting health or making noise for others.
12%
2%
I love it
Normal
29%
I don’t like it
57%
I hate it
Chart 2: Students' attitude to listening to English music
2.5.3. Duration of listening to music
Table 3: Duration of listening to music
Q3/ How often students listen to music to learn
Number
English listening skills?
%
Everyday
29
58
Three time a week
12
24
Once a week
6
12
One hour or less a week
3
6
The results show that, although the number of students who like listening to
English music accounts for nearly 90%, in fact, the number of students listening to
music everyday accounts for nearly 60%. There are many factors that govern the
daily listening to music, and not everyone has time to listen to English music every
daily, even if it is a hobby.
6%
Everyday
12%
Three time a week
24%
58%
Once a week
One hour or less a
week
Chart 3: Duration of listening to music
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2.5.4. The attitude of students with the effect of listening to music
Table 4: The attitude of students with the effect of listening to music
Number
%
Q4/Do you find music useful?
Very useful
42
84
Useful
7
14
Needless
1
2
When asked “Do you find music useful”, 84% of students answered, “Very
useful”. The few remaining answered “Useful”. Students who find music useful
often have better English listening skills than others. This shows that when the author
asks about their academic results. But it's not that 100% of students who think that
listening to music works well are good at learning this skill.
14%
2%
Very useful
Useful
Needless
84%
Chart 4: The attitude of students with the effect of listening to music
2.5.5. Motivating for students
Table 5: Motivating for students
Q5/Do your teachers encourage you to listen music for
Number
%
listening skill?
Encourage
27
54
Recommended, but limited
23
46
Not recommended
0
0
Motivation is a significant key to success. Students need to be motivated and
encouraged in order pass the barriers and success. Teachers are the role models of
students. So, they have a big role in learning their students and they should be
motivators of their students. In the survey as it is shown in the table (5) and in the
chart (5) in the response of the question (Do your teachers encourage you to listen
to music for listening skill?), 54% of the participants said (Encourage). The
19
remaining 46% said their teachers encouraged listening to music to learn to speak
English, but certain restrictions were needed. This is probably the right advice for
students. Because anything excessive, even good, is also harmful. Teachers are the
ones who understand which learning method is the best and give appropriate advice
to their students.
0%
Encourage
46%
54%
Recommended, but
limited
Not recommended
Chart 5: Motivating for students
2.5.6. Difficulties when listening to the music
Table 6: Difficulties when listening to the music
Q6/In your opinion, among the comments below what
Number
%
are the difficulties for English listening?
Not recognizing English sounds
18
36
Difficult to grasp the main idea of the listening
32
64
Do not keep up the speed of the speaker
37
74
Limit vocabulary
21
42
Others
15
30
In the difficulties that students encounter when learning speaking skills with
the song is that they do not catch up to the speed of the song. Up to 74% of students
responded like this. The next difficulty is that they have difficulty grasping the main
idea of the song (64%) because they don't know what the main point of the song and
the words in a song are sometimes quite confusing. Lack of vocabulary is also a
hindrance when listening to music in English. There are also other difficulties such
as “not recognizing English sounds”, “difficult sentence structure” …
20
OTHERS
30
LIMIT VOCABULARY
42
DO NOT KEEP UP THE SPEED
OF THE SPEAKER
74
DIFFICULT TO GRASP THE MAIN
IDEA OF THE LISTENING
64
NOT RECOGNIZING ENGLISH
SOUNDS
36
0
20
40
60
80
Chart 6. Difficulties when listening to the music
2.5.7. Students’ ways of listening
Table 7: Students’ ways of listening
Number
%
Q7/What do you do while you are listening?
Choose your favorite genre
24
48
Use subtitles
15
30
Repeat the short phrase
32
64
Sing from memory
29
58
Do not try to understand the song
28
56
Others
17
34
With this multiple-choice question, the results showed there are many
strategies for listening skills problems, such as: choose a favorite genre, use subtitles,
repeat the short phrase, sing from memory…
You can search for video songs through channels like YouTube. These are all
websites that have a huge library of songs. Here, finding videos of your favorite
songs with English subtitles is very simple.
OTHERS
34
DO NOT TRY TO UNDERSTAND…
56
SING FROM MEMORY
58
64
REPEAT THE SHORT PHRASE
30
USE SUBTITLES
48
CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITE GENRE
0
10
20
30
40
50
Chart 7: Students’ ways of listening
21
60
70
2.5.8. The drawbacks of spending time on music
Table 8: The drawbacks of spending time on music
%
Q8/What are the drawbacks of spending time on music? Number
Time-consuming
31
62
Easy to be distracted
37
74
Easy to get addicted
45
90
Bad for health
12
24
Noisy, affecting others
29
58
Others
10
20
Listening to music to learn English listening skills also has its disadvantages.
Especially, 90% of students think that listening to music is very addictive. When
they listen to music, they will listen to one song after another and forget the main
goal of listening is to practice English skills.
Ultimately, the effects of music on study habits are dependent on the student
and their style of learning. If easily distracted (74% of students agree), students
should most likely avoid music so they can keep their focus on their work.
Conversely, students who function better as multi-taskers may find that music helps
them to better concentrate.
OTHERS
20
NOISY, AFFECTING OTHERS
58
BAD FOR HEALTH
24
90
EASY TO GET ADDICTED
74
EASY TO BE DISTRACTED
62
TIME-CONSUMING
0
20
40
60
80
100
Chart 8: The drawbacks of spending time on music
Students who listen to music with lyrics while completing reading or writing
tasks tend to be less efficient and come away having absorbed less information.
Loud or agitated music can have adverse effects on reading comprehension
and on mood, making focus more difficult.
22
Students who use music to help them memorize sometimes need to listen to
music while taking the test in order to reap the benefits of this study method. In the
silent test-taking environment, these students may find it more difficult to recall the
information.
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CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Findings
3.1.1. Difficulties and challenges in learning listening skills
Here are some difficulties in learning English that you often encounter:
1.Not recognizing English sounds
The learner does not recognize the sounds in English mainly because: do not
distinguish between homophones and words with almost identical pronunciations,
confusion between affirmative and negative, Especially due to some of the effects
on the pronunciation of speech in English.
2.Lack of concentration when listening
The cause of lack of concentration when listening may be the lack of listening
experience, which makes it harder for the listener to focus on listening.
3.Difficult to grasp the main idea of the listening
The cause of the difficult to grasp the main idea of the listener is because the
listener does not know what is important information to hear in the article. Or
because the listener's inability to deduce the main content of the listener from key
words leaves them unaware of the main idea.
4. Do not keep up the speed of the speaker
You do not keep up the pace of the speaker mainly because during listening
you always translate what you hear into Vietnamese and then understand, then your
brain will have to do three things at the same time: listening, What to hear from
English to Vietnamese, then understand what in Vietnamese has just translated.
Therefore, when you hear and understand a sentence, the speaker mentioned
the second, third, leading to you do not understand what they are saying. Not to
mention the fact that foreigners are still attached to the tones, you do not listen to
English often, which leads to unfamiliar listening, and as a result does not keep pace
with the speaker.
5. Limit vocabulary to use in everyday life
You may have learned a lot of vocabulary, but when you hear foreigners say
you are “standing”, and ask yourself, “What are they saying?” Sometimes you may
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be mistaken that you know a lot of vocabulary, but you should check that vocabulary
is popular in your daily life, you know the words about tourism, economics,
sewing, … But with limited vocabulary to use in everyday life, then how do you hear
others say.
When communicating, you and your partner talk about everyday life more
than talking about specialized words about a particular industry. So, learn the
vocabulary that starts with the closest thing to yourself.
6. Not enough vocabulary and sentence structure
This problem is not in the number of vocabulary and structure you own but
depends on how much you can remember and use it in real-life situations. The way
to learn vocabulary, traditional structure by repeatedly recording the word or
structure you want to learn together with the Vietnamese meaning has limited your
ability to remember for a long time and easy to make you “lost” in the mesmerizing.
3.1.2. Advantage of music in teaching and learning process
There are many advantages in using songs in the language classroom as
follows:
a. Songs and music can be used to relax students and provide an enjoyable
classroom atmosphere.
b. Songs contain examples of colloquial speech. The natural language of songs
as opposed to the artificial language in many textbooks, so it takes language input.
c. Every song is a culture capsule containing within itself a significant piece
of social information, of it has much cultural input.
d. Songs can be used as texts in the same way that a poem, short story or novel
or any other piece of authentic material can be used.
e. Songs and music as supplements; can be used to supplement a textbook or
can serves as the text itself.
f. Songs have much related to students’ interest.
g. Other advantages related to teaching which has several correlations with
teaching in many aspects as follows.
- Song can be used as a launching pad for conversation.
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- Songs are especially good at introducing vocabulary because it provides a
meaningful context for the vocabulary.
- It provides a natural context for the most common structures such as verb,
tenses, and prepositions.
- Songs can be provided for some languages with a suitable way to teach and
practice the several skills.
- It can be used for pattern practice and memory retention.
Based on the statements above, it shows that song or music is a manifestation
of culture and has been used in classes in many ways and for different reasons,
through music which creates a relaxed learning environment for students. In general,
songs and music affect our emotions; many people can be moved to tears or other
strong emotions by music, song can acquire strong emotional associations with
people, events and places.
3.2. Discussion
3.2.1. Learning English through music is one of the most effective methods
1. Scientific and effective
There is scientific evidence that Music can help second language learners
acquire grammar, vocabulary, and spell correction quickly. This method is called the
“Mozart Effect,” the notion that classical music improves the performance of brainrelated tasks such as learning.
2. Real English (Music uses common spoken and spoken words)
Songs and Music always contain lots of common vocabulary, phrases and
banners in daily communication. And since the music for the audience is primarily
native, the songs consist of frequently updated phrases and language of
communication. The language used in the song is colloquial and useful if you know
how to choose the right song to learn.
3. Improve listening skill
Listening to music helps you get acquainted with the flexibility of the difficult
title in English such as the sound, the sound, the tone up and down ... The
characteristics of the song is very rich so we can hear and sing along. To practice
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both phonetics, intonation in sentences. If you practice phonetics in a phonological
class, a phonetically, several times you want to drop the book. The good thing here
is that the song helps us to learn the phonics in a very interesting way, and so the
effect will certainly be much higher.
4. Deep learning (Music makes English easy to remember in your mind)
Language is imitation, repetition. At birth, children's thinking has not formed.
They learn the language this way: imitation, repetition. As the larger the human brain
develops in logical thinking, remembering and learning everything is based on logic.
Without logic we learn very hard. When learning a new word, for example, “fish” is
“fish”, it is just recitation, but there is no logic here. It is like remembering a phone
number 0900039787, for example, merely memorizing it through repeating several
times. A professor, doctor or ordinary person who memorizes this phone number
they share a common way of remembering. All is just memorization thanks to
repetition.
So, to memorize English, it is very important that we need repetition many
times. When we listen to music, we can hear and listen to a favorite song without
being bored. Songs are meaningful or easy to remember, especially the ones that I
like. So automatically, we will have the repetition of English structures many times
without any investment, just relax. In addition, choruses and choruses are repeated
many times throughout the song. So, the more I repeat that sentence structure. Plus,
the impressive sound of the song left in our heads, much easier to memorize than
traditional bored lessons.
In each song, many vocabulary and sounds are repeated, and this makes it easy
to deepen your mind. Music has extraordinary powers as they deepen in our
consciousness. The melody and lyrics will often penetrate our thoughts and dance.
All this will make learning English song easier to remember the words and phrases
in it. In fact, after a short time you will feel almost impossible to forget them. If you
pay attention, you will find that you have good voice, standard pronunciation, good
phonetic while speaking English are those who have hobbies singing English.
5. Emotion (Music creates emotions)
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The relationship between us and music is extremely deep, powerful and
helpful. It is the key to unlocking emotions, affecting mood and enhancing our
mental and physical well-being. When something is emotional, then of course it is
easier to remember.
6. Music is very popular, close
One of the reasons people find it difficult to learn a language is that they do
not have much time to care about learning. However, when learning English through
songs, you do not need to spend too much time because you can listen to music
anywhere. You can listen to music while on the go, wash dishes and take a shower.
And by choosing the music you like; you can listen to the songs without being boring.
7. Music teaches you about the culture of people and other countries
Music gives you insight into British culture and how people who speak
English think and feel. Familiarizing yourself with popular songs and artists will
provide you with a great deal of knowledge and basic knowledge to communicate
with your friends who are speaking English in communication.
3.2.2. The disadvantages of using music in learning
It is widely accepted that music has brought about many benefits to students.
However, how to use songs and video music effectively is a different story. It is very
doubtful if it also contains some detrimental effects as a coin has two sides.
Generally, students could realize the drawbacks of using too much music. According
to the questionnaires and the interviews, most students had the opinion that listening
music is time-consuming, addictive and distracted at a high level. Given the
experiences and issues described in a recent research, Marie Lorraine (2010) pointed
out that who is addictive to famous singers and songs as “a seemingly compulsive
need to check the page for updates, or search for other music trends several times a
day”. This is possibly because music access is now available at various mediums of
media such as almost mobile phones in addition to computers. Some students tend
to be addicted to music as once they get started, they will probably find it hard to
neither stick on finding all their favorite idols updated new hits nor come up with
fascinating ones to sit all day listening to a song. All of these can pose a great obstacle
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to their study. Students may forget their assignments, cannot stay focus on the
lectures leading to descend productivity of working.
Moreover, the misleading that the screens and sound do not harm their health
is examined showing that a great deal of time sitting in front of the computers and
holding the MP3 players or smartphones could be the causes of some ailment risks
such as heart diseases, cancers, back stiff and pain hinge (Khalid 2009). Thus,
modern technology creates an immense menace to both student’s daily and study
life.
3.2.3. Some tips for learning the listening skills through music
1. Sing alone
Unless you’re singing in front of an audience, it doesn’t matter if you’re the
worst vocalist in the world. So, don’t worry if you don’t possess any musical ability.
Regardless of your singing prowess, you should try singing out loud to the music.
This forces your mouth to adopt the right shapes and move with the rhythm of the
song.
2. Try to sing from memory
After a while, you should find that you’re starting to memorize the song. And
then you’re ready to take the next big leap – try singing the song without looking at
the lyrics. By the point, you should be able to find that you can do a much better job
including such words in your everyday speech.
3. Periodically review
You don’t have to complete learning one song before you move to the next.
In fact, after you get comfortable with one song, you can move to the next. And then
after enough time passes, you can go back to the first song. This is called “spaced
repetition” and it’s been proven to be more effective than trying to learn it perfectly
all at once.
4. Find new music that builds on top of what you’ve learned
This is perhaps one of the most difficult steps. Each new song that you learn
should have the right balance of totally new vocabulary and in progress vocabulary.
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This right level of overlap keeps you motivated, and naturally reinforces your
previous learning for maximum benefit.
Music is a universal language and one that we can all enjoy and relate to.
Listen to English songs every single day and you’ll soon be surprised at how much
of the English language you can pick up with relative ease. When you incorporate
language learning into fun activities like listening and singing aloud to music, you
won’t even notice that you’re picking up a second language.
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PART C: CONCLUSION
This part will deal with a summary of the major findings, limitations of the
study and some suggestions for further studies.
1.Recapitulation
To sum up, after doing the research which based on primary data, it is clearly
seen that music has had huge impact on students, either spiritual or learning
efficiency. Acquiring knowledge through songs and music can bring a great deal of
benefits, especially in the field of communication and language education. However,
too much access to music through digital devices also brings about several
downsides, which may affect students’ physical as well as spiritual health. Music - a
universal in all human cultures - can be exploited fully and effectively if students
can control their time budget spending on MP3 players or smartphones and not be
distracted by irrelevant information. Due to the limited scope as well as the dearth
of time, this research still does not cover all the details and required information.
Hopefully, in the future there will be many more studies inspecting thoroughly the
impacts of music on students so that these young users can enjoy listening to music
and learning at the same time in the most effective way.
2. Limitation of the study
Due to limitations of time and specialist knowledge I admit there exists
inevitable shortcomings and mistakes in the report. I therefore hopefully expect the
instructor’s sympathy and concessions for my report when making assessment. I am
looking forward to receiving remarks and comments so that I could excel my report
writing skill in the future.
3. Suggestion for further study
Due to the limited scope as well as the dearth of time, this research still does
not cover all the details and required information. Hopefully, in the future there will
be many more studies inspecting thoroughly the impacts of music on students so that
these young users can enjoy listening to music and learning at the same time in the
most effective way.
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REFERENCES
1.
Bever, T. G., and Chiarello, R. J. (1974). Cerebral dominance in
musicians and nonmusicians. Science 185, 537–539.
2.
Dege, F., and Schwarzer, G. (2011). The effect of a music program on
phonological
awareness
in
preschoolers.
Front.
Psychol.
2:124.
doi:
10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00124
3.
Eady, I and Wilson, J.D. (2004). The Influence of Music on Core
Learning. Education,125 (2), 243.
4.
GiGlue
(2017).
Top
10
genres
of
Music
Industry.
From
https://medium.com/giglue/top-10-genres-of-music-industry-7f19cdb177cb
5.
Hilda F Israel (2013). Language Learning Enhanced by Music and Song.
Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal (LICEJ), Special Issue,
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
6.
Horn, C.A. (2007). English second language learners: using music to
enhance the listening abilities of grade ones. Master’s thesis. Unisa.
http://etd.unisa.ac.za/ETDdb/theses/available/etd09212007.133117/unrestricted/dis
se rtation.pdf.(accessed February 5, 2010).
7.
Lutz Jäncke*. The relationship between music and language. Division
Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich,
Switzerland
8.
Milovanov, R., Tervaniemi, M., and Gustafsson, M. (2004). “The impact
of musical aptitude in foreign language acquisition,” in Proceedings of the 8th
International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (ICMPC8), eds S. D.
Lipscomb, R.Ashley, R. O. Gjerdingen, and P.Webster (Adelaide: Causal
productions.
9.
McTeer, H. J. and Bailey, R. T. (1980). The effect of the teaching
technique using popular music upon students' attitudes toward history and subject
matter knowledge. A study conducted at South Cobb High School, Austell, GA.
April Dialog, ERIC, ED 196 749.
32
10. Murray, S.K. (2005). Learning a Second Language through Music,
Baylor
University,
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Exchange
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(2),
http://www.questia.com/library/1G1136071099 (accessed May 27, 2013).
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Review of the Literature. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
http://mste.illinois.edu/courses/ci407su02/ (accessed May 27, 2013).
12. Tallal, P., and Gaab, N. (2006). Dynamic auditory processing, musical
experience and language development. Trends Neurosci. 29, 382–390.
13. Tri Listiyaningsih, IAIN Surakarta (2017). The Influence of Listening
English Song to Improve Listening Skill in Listening Class. Academic Journal of
Multidisciplinary studies. Vol. 1 No. 1.
14. Unknow
author.
What
is
Listening?
From
of
Listening.
From
https://www.englishclub.com/listening/what.htm
15. Unknow
author.
Types
https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/listening-types.html
16. Unknow author. Lyric. From https://literarydevices.net/lyric/
33
APPENDIX
I am Tran Ngoc Quang, a student of the faculty of English language studies,
Hanoi University of Business and Technology. We are doing a research project on
the contribution of music in learning English. This questionnaire is designed to help
us obtain data for our research project. We highly appreciate your opinions which
are apparently to the completion as well as the quality of our paper. We promise
privacy will be kept and that is only for the study. Please return the completed
questionnaire by 25 May 2020. Thank you for your cooperation!
QUESTIONNAIRE (BẢNG KHẢO SÁT)
1. How long have you been studying English? (Bạn học tiếng anh được
bao lâu rồi?) (Tick one answer)
➢ Less than 5 years
➢ 5-10 years
➢ More than 10 years
2. Do you like listening to English music? (Bạn có thích nghe nhạc bằng
tiếng Anh không?) (Tick one answer)
➢ I love it
➢ Normal
➢ I don’t like it
➢ I hate it
3. How often do you listen to music to learn English listening skills?? (Bạn
có thường nghe nhạc không?) (Tick one answer)
➢ Everyday
➢ Three times a week
➢ Once a week
➢ One hour or less a week
4. Do you find listening to English music useful? (Bạn có thấy nghe nhạc
tiếng Anh hữu ích không?) (Tick one answer)
34
➢ Very useful
➢ Useful
➢ Needless
5. Do your teachers encourage you to listen music for listening skills?
(Giáo viên của bạn có khuyến khích bạn nghe nhạc cho kỹ năng nghe không?)
(Tick one answer)
➢ Encourage
➢ Recommended, but limited
➢ Not recommended
6.
In your opinion, among the comments below what are the difficulties
for English listening? (Theo bạn, trong số các ý kiến dưới đây, những khó khăn
khi nghe tiếng Anh là gì?) (You can tick more than one.)
➢ Not recognizing English sounds
➢ Difficult to grasp the main idea
➢ Do not keep up the speed of the
speaker
➢ Limit vocabulary
of the listening
➢ Others
7.
What do you do while you are listening? (Bạn dùng cách gì trong khi
nghe tiếng Anh?) (You can tick more than one.)
➢ Choose your favorite genre
➢ Sing from memory
➢ Use subtitles
➢ Do not try to understand the song
➢ Repeat the short phrase
➢ Others
8.
What are the drawbacks of spending time on music? (Những hạn chế
của việc dành thời gian cho âm nhạc là gì?) (You can tick more than one.)
➢ Time-consuming
➢ Bad for health
➢ Easy to be distracted
➢ Noisy, affecting others
➢ Easy to get addicted
➢ Others
Thank you for participating in our survey!
(Xin chân thành cảm ơn các bạn đã tham gia vào cuộc khảo sát của chúng tôi.)
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