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THE EFFECTS OF ENGLISH SONGS ON YOUNG LEARNERS' LISTENING
COMPREHENSION AND PRONUNCIATION
Article · July 2014
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (3), July 2014; 367-­‐375 Ghanbari, F., & Hashemian, M EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org THE EFFECTS OF ENGLISH SONGS ON YOUNG LEARNERS’
LISTENING COMPREHENSION AND PRONUNCIATION
Fariba Ghanbari (Corresponding author)
Department of English, Khorasgan (Isfahan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
E-Mail: fariba.ghanbari@yahoo.com
Mahmood Hashemian
Shahrekord University
E-Mail: m72h@hotmail.com
ABSTRACT
Integrating English songs into L2 classes might be considered by some authors to be a factor
conducive to the improvement of EFL learners’ listening ability. It is ideal for young L2 learners
because it is a way to help them become enthusiastic learners. Most L2 learners, whether young
or adult, have difficulty with listening comprehension and pronunciation. Good listening
comprehension paves the way for developing other skills in foreign language learning. Besides,
pronunciation is the most important skill because if one has impoverished pronunciation skills,
their message could not be understandable to the listeners. This research aimed to determine the
effect of using songs on young L2 learners’ listening comprehension and pronunciation and to
discover the possible difference between male and female learners in achieving better results in
learning listening comprehension and pronunciation via songs. For this purpose, 60 male and
female elementary L2 learners with the age range of 8 to 11 were randomly selected form two
language schools in Isfahan, Iran, and were assigned to 4 groups: 2 experimental groups with 1
containing 15 males and the other 15 females. There were also 2 control groups with 1
containing 15 males and the other 15 females. To ascertain that the experimental group and the
control group were homogeneous, all the groups took a pretest. An independent-samples t-test
was performed to analyze the data obtained on the pretest. In addition, a two-way analysis of
variance (ANOVA) was utilized in order to come up with the answers to the questions of the
study. The results revealed that utilizing songs in L2 classes had a positive effect on the L2
learners’ listening comprehension and pronunciation skills. It was also found that there was no
significant difference between the male and female learners’ performance in obtaining better
results in listening comprehension and pronunciation. The implications could refer to the fact
that incorporating songs into language teaching curricula is an indispensable asset helping to
improve all language skills, especially listening comprehension and pronunciation.
KEYWORDS: Songs, Young L2 learners, Listening comprehension, Pronunciation
INTRODUCTION
Good listening comprehension lays the basic part for developing other skills in foreign language
learning. However, it is also the most difficult among all the language skills for amateur to
337
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (3), July 2014; 367-­‐375 Ghanbari, F., & Hashemian, M EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org master. While listening to a native speaker, in most cases we discover they speak smoothly like a
river, even not fast, so that L2 learners may fail to understand what is going on (Shen, 2009).
According to Thanasoulas (2003), most adult L2 learners speak with an accent that derives in part
from phonological and phonetic differences between their L1 and L2. Terrible pronunciation
results in occasional misunderstanding.
Asher (1977) emphasized the top priority of listening comprehension at the early stage of L2
teaching because L2 learners acquire their L1 in the same process. As the human child first skill
is listening to his or her parents, and then tries to speak as he or she grows in age. So, listening
and speaking are the first skills before entering school age. Reading and writing are taught at
school when the child is ready for literacy. This is true for learning an L2.
L2 Learners often complain about boring English classes. Iranian teachers almost often apply the
traditional method of listening skill which is tedious for adults, too. A good solution to make
English classes live and motivating is by adding songs and music to class. Most L2 learners from
young to adults have difficulty with listening comprehension and pronunciation. There are lots of
graduate students in English with poor pronunciation and listening comprehension despite
spending years on learning English. It seems they just went further in education.
There is strong practical evidence supporting the use of songs in the English language classroom
(Schon, Boyer, Moreno, Besson, Peretz, & Kolinsky 2008; Wallace, 1994). There is also a
growing body of research confirming that songs are a useful tool in SLA (Schon, et al., 2008;
Wallace, 1994).
According to Ratnasari (2007), songs are a kind of art work which intend to be sung either with
or without instrumental accompaniments. The free encyclopedia (2013) defines songs as a piece
of music for accompanied or unaccompanied voice or voices. As for nursery rhymes, they are
short and simple rhyming verses, songs or stories which are usually designed, told or sung for
little children (Danielson, 2000).
The casual nature of learning through singing can help promote a productive atmosphere in the
class, lowering the affective filter and, in turn, increasing the potential for language acquisition
(York, 2011). Moreover, there is one more advantage why teachers introduce songs in the
classroom, according to Papa and Lantorno (1989), claiming that “singing is certainly one of the
activities which generates the greatest enthusiasm and is a pleasant and stimulating approach to
the culture of foreign people” (p. 8).
The L2 learners may feel more fluent singing along to song lyrics than they do speaking an L2,
so this builds confidence. Also, a range of colloquial language can easily be introduced through
songs. Finally, most lyrics need to be interpreted, and regular practice of this may improve
prediction and comprehension skills.
Applying conventional techniques in teaching the English language such as explaining and
drilling are unattractive and can be very dull for the L2 learners. Generally, L2 teachers in Iran
338
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (3), July 2014; 367-­‐375 Ghanbari, F., & Hashemian, M EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org like any other countries are seeking ways to improve the L2 learners’ level of proficiency and
accuracy in English. So, the question for many L2 teachers is how to encourage L2 learners to
continue learning and using English once the examinations are over.
An area of basic research in L2 learning is the identification and description of learning strategies
used by the L2 learners and the correlation of these strategies with other learner variables such as
proficiency level, age, gender, motivation, and the like (Chamot & El-Dinary, 1999; El-Dib,
2004; Green & Oxford, 1995; Oxford & Burry-Stock, 1995).
For the two last decades, L2 methodology has been actively supporting the merging of using
music and songs in class (Orlova, 2003). Some researchers (Eken, 1996; Graham, 1993, 1994;
Murphy, 1996; Saricoban, 2000) further support that music, songs and chants are put to use in
class based on methodological purposes.
Lo and Li (1998) say that songs play an important role in motivating the L2 learners to learn
English. They can support the progression of L2 learners’ skills in reading, writing, listening and
speaking, as well as provide opportunities for learning pronunciation, rhythm, grammar and
vocabulary. Besides, songs often offer variety and change from routine, repetitive classroom
activities to a fun and lively atmosphere in class, as Schoepp (2001) exhibits that songs can create
a relaxing, entertaining and non-threatening classroom atmosphere and L2 learners will be more
open to learning in this regard.
Thus, we can conclude that songs have the power and influence not only on our physical and
mental conditions but also they can prompt a positive attitude toward L2 learning, somehow, they
“recharge” our minds. Positive attitude is a must for successful learning atmosphere. Positive
energy confirmation and a belief in the L2 learner’s ability develop a comfortable atmosphere for
the students in the classroom.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Considering the significance of teaching listening comprehension and pronunciation, the
following research questions are put forward:
1. Is using songs more effective than the traditional method which does not use songs in
teaching English listening comprehension and pronunciation to young Iranian L2 learners?
2. Does L2 learners’ gender make any significant difference in their success in English
listening comprehension and pronunciation learning?
METHODOLOGY
Participants
The population from which the participants were selected for this study included 60 Iranian
elementary male and female English L2 learners within the age range of 8 to 11 whose L1 was
Persian. Participants were selected randomly from two language institutes: 30 females from
Pejvak Language Institute and 30 males from Jahad Language Institute. Each male and female
339
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (3), July 2014; 367-­‐375 Ghanbari, F., & Hashemian, M EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org group was assigned to two groups: control and experimental. They were in the same level of
proficiency, i.e. elementary, especially in the case of listening comprehension and pronunciation
abilities since they had scant exposure to English before they enrolled for their English course,
and they were studying the same book at the same level when the study was being conducted.
Materials and Instruments
This research adopted a quasi-experimental design to shed some light on the issue that applying
songs in L2 classrooms for young L2 learners was a useful strategy for better listening
comprehension and pronunciation skill. This study examined the effect of applying songs
(nursery rhymes) on listening comprehension and pronunciation of 60 Iranian male and female
young beginner L2 learners.
As for the materials, 10 nursery rhymes from the book Jingle Bells and Other Songs (1982) were
used. They included easy and elementary vocabularies but different sound patterns and phonetics.
The nursery rhymes were “Ba Ba Black Sheep, If You’re Happy, London’s Burning, Do You
Know the Muffin Man, Hot Cross Buns, Ten Green Bottles, One Two Three Four Five, Sumy
Thumb, This Is the Way, and I Wish You a Merry Christmas.” The listening comprehension and
pronunciation instruction in the experimental groups were mainly presented through songs. In the
control groups, the listening comprehension instruction was from the book First Friends 1(2009).
A pretest and a posttest were also used as the instruments of this study. They were previously
used in a pilot study and their reliability indexes were found to be .78 for the pretest and .83 for
the posttest.
Procedure
Prior to the implementation of the treatment, a listening comprehension pretest was administered
in order to ascertain that the experimental groups and the control groups are homogeneous. They
were all at the elementary level of L2 learning. Generally, their knowledge were in common with
each other in knowing alphabets, short greeting, and just saying a mere Yes or No. In addition,
their listening comprehension and pronunciations were too poor, which is logical for this level of
L2 learning. This test was aimed to match the participants and made them more homogenized.
Moreover, the listening comprehension and pronunciation instruction in the experimental groups
were mainly presented through songs and for the control groups the listening comprehension
instruction was the ordinary listening parts in the elementary English books. The instruction
lasted for 12 weeks, that is 36 sessions.
Data Analysis
An independent-samples t-test was performed to analyze the data obtained in the pretest. In order
to reach plausible answers to the questions, the performances of the experimental and control
groups on the posttest had to be compared. Moreover, the performances of male and female
participants needed to be examined. Thus, a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized
(since there were two independent variables in this study: gender and instruction through songs)
in order to come up with answers to all the questions of the study.
340
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (3), July 2014; 367-­‐375 Ghanbari, F., & Hashemian, M EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A listening comprehension pretest was administered in order to ascertain that the experimental
group and the control group were homogeneous. In so doing, an independent-samples t-test was
performed to analyze the data obtained in the pretest. The following tables show the results of the
t-test:
Table1: Descriptive Statistics for Comparing the Experimental Group’s (EG) and
Control Groups’ (CG) Listening Comprehension Pretest (LCP) Scores
Groups
N
Mean
Std.
Std.
Error
Deviation
Mean
LCP Scores
EG
30
1.6667
.71116
.12984
CG
30
1.7000
.87691
.16010
Table 1 depicts the group names, the number of participants in each group, the mean scores and
standard deviations of each group on the listening comprehension pretest. The experimental
group (M = 1.66) and the control group (M = 1.70) do not seem to be substantially different in
their performances on the listening comprehension pretest. To ascertain that such is the case, the
value under the Sig. (2-tailed) column in the t-test table should be checked.
Table 2: The Results of Independent-Samples T-Test for Comparing the Performances of the Experimental and
Control Groups on the Listening Comprehension Pretest
Leven’s Test for
Equality
of
Variances
Equal
variances
assumed
Equal
variances not
assumed
t-test for Equality of Means
F
Sig.
t
df
1.562
.216
-.162
58
Sig.
(2tailed)
.872
-.162
55.628
.872
Mean
Difference
Std. Error
Difference
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower
Upper
-.03333
.20613
-.44595
.37928
-.03333
.20613
-.44595
.37928
Under the Sig. (2-tailed) column, if the value is equal to or less than .05, there is a significant
difference in the mean scores on your dependent variable for each of the two groups. On the other
hand, if the value is above .05, there is no significant difference between the two groups. Based
on the above table, there was no significant difference between the listening comprehension
pretest scores of the experimental group (M = 1.66, SD = .71) and the control group, M = 1.70,
SD = .87; t (58) = -.16, p = .872 > .05 (two-tailed). Thus it was showed that the two groups were
at roughly the same level of listening comprehension ability before the treatment began.
In order to reach plausible answers to the questions, the performances of the experimental and
control groups on the posttest had to be compared. Moreover, the performances of male and
female participants had to be examined. Conducting several independent-samples t-tests would
341
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (3), July 2014; 367-­‐375 Ghanbari, F., & Hashemian, M EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org enable us to find the answers to the questions, but that way the risk of running into Type I Error
(i.e. rejecting the null hypothesis when it is maintained in reality) would increase. Thus, a twoway analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized (since there were two independent variables in
this study: gender and instruction through songs) in order to come up with answers to all the
questions of the study.
Table 3 summarizes the results of descriptive statistics related to the comparison of male and
female participants in the experimental and control groups.
Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for Comparing the Performances of
Male and Female Participants in the Experimental Group (EG)
and the Control Group (CG)
Groups
Gender
Mean
Std. Deviation
N
EG
Male
8.2667
1.16292
15
Female
8.8000
1.01419
15
Total
8.5333
1.10589
30
CG
Male
3.8667
1.35576
15
Female
4.0667
1.27988
15
Total
3.9667
1.29943
30
Total
Male
6.0667
2.55874
15
Female
6.4333
2.66113
15
Total
6.2500
2.59481
30
As it can be seen in the table above, in the experimental group, female participants (M = 8.80)
had a slightly higher mean score that male participants (M = 8.26). Likewise, in the control
group, females (M = 4.06) outweighed, though not very remarkably, the male participants (M =
3.86). The total mean score of females (M = 6.43) was thus a little more than that of males (M =
4.06). In addition, the total mean listening comprehension score of the experimental group (M =
8.53) was higher than the mean listening comprehension score of the control group (M = 3.96).
To find out whether the differences between the experimental group and the control group, and
also the difference between males and females were statistically significant or not, the Sig. values
in front of Groups and Gender in the two-way ANOVA table needed to be checked.
Table 4: The Results of Two-Way ANOVA for Comparing the Performances of Male and Female Participants
in the Experimental Group (EG) and the Control Group (CG)
Source
Type III Sum of Squares df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
Partial Eta Squared
Corrected Model 315.250
3
105.083
71.764
.000
.794
Intercept
2343.750
1
2343.750
1600.610 .000
.966
Groups
312.817
1
312.817
213.631
.000
.792
Gender
2.017
1
2.017
1.377
.246
.024
Groups * Gender .417
1
.417
.285
.596
.005
Error
82.000
56
1.464
Total
2741.000
60
Corrected Total
397.250
59
The Sig. value in front of Groups is smaller than the specified level of significance (.000 < .05).
This implies that the difference between the experimental and control groups was statistically
significant. Thus the treatment (i.e., teaching songs) had a positive effect on the listening
comprehension of the learners in the experimental group. The p value in front of Gender,
342
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (3), July 2014; 367-­‐375 Ghanbari, F., & Hashemian, M EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org however, was greater than the alpha level (p = .24 > .05). This would mean that male and female
participants were not significantly different as far as their listening comprehension ability was
concerned.
One advantage of two-way ANOVA is that it provides, besides the main effects of the two
independent variables, the interaction effect of the independent variables on the dependent
variable. This joint effect can be found under the Sig. column in front of Groups * Gender. This
value in the above table is also larger than the specified level of significance (p = .59 > .05),
indicating that the joint effect of teaching songs and gender was not statistically significant. In
other words, the effect of teaching songs to the experimental group had not been different for
males and females. The findings of the present study are also graphically represented in the
following Figure.
Figure1: The Performances of Male and Female Learners in the Experimental Group (EG) and the
Control Group (CG) on the Listening Comprehension Posttest
The upper line depicts the performance of female participants in the experimental and control
groups on the posttest, while the lower line shows that of the male learners. As it could be seen,
in both the experimental group and the control group, the performances of males and females
were approximately the same, with females managing to obtain slightly higher mean scores.
However, between-groups comparisons delineate that the performance of learners in the
experimental group was remarkably better than the performance of the learners in the control
group.
CONCLUSION
Listening comprehension and pronunciation are the crucial basic skills in learning languages and
communication. In this vein, L2 teachers play an important role in assisting students in
343
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 6 (3), July 2014; 367-­‐375 Ghanbari, F., & Hashemian, M EISSN: 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org developing listening comprehension and pronunciation strategies. This research study was an
attempt to shed some light on the issue that integrating song instruction is a useful strategy for
better listening comprehension and pronunciation skills. The researcher hopes that the results of
the study will help L2 teachers to enhance Iranian learners’ listening and pronunciation
achievement and removing their problems with using different listening strategies, especially
song instruction.
As a result, the use of songs in the L2 classrooms can make learning more enjoyable and
interesting. At the same time, students learn the target language and feel comfortable in a relaxing
atmosphere. This aids them lower their affective filter, and become more receptive toward
learning. In addition, songs help L2 learners improve both their listening comprehension and
understanding and production of important pronunciation features. Finally, L2 teachers should
choose the songs carefully; pay attention to different aspects such as the learners’ level, age and
preferences, as well as the level of difficulty of the song and its rhythm.
The results of the study, however, should be approached and used with caution since this study,
not unlike any other study, has a number of limitations. First, the participants of the study were
limited to elementary learners selected from two language institutes. Participants with varying
levels of proficiency sampled from a wide variety of institutes might yield different results.
Second, this study concentrated on the effects of songs on the two skills of listening
comprehension and pronunciation. Other skills and areas, e.g. vocabulary, might be affected by
songs as well. Finally, there is a host of strategies that could be used for the improvement of
listening comprehension and pronunciation; the focus of this study was placed only on English
songs. Future studies could take into consideration the variables which were excluded in the
present research.
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