How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
Abstract
Abstract: Many studies have shown the relationship between music and language. Concerning the
fact that music is one of the most dominant activities and that English, being the language of
global communication, is more or less present in all students’ playlists, my research is based on
the idea that this language can be easily learnt through music. Music is, just like language,
organized into hierarchically structured sequences. As one of the most prevailing activities in
people’s life, music influence both feelings and actions whether conscious or unconscious. The
aim of this paper is to investigate through questionnaire and literature review how much music is
dominant in students’ life and how much it can improve acquiring vocabulary of English as the
second language among students of English language and literature. This research gives a chance
to further possibilities for investigating the music’s influence on developing advanced language
skills, correct use of grammatical constructions, just as particular investigation of the positive
effect of music on learning English as the second language. I expect that this would help
improving the lessons in English language, which would be accompanied by music.
Key words: music, vocabulary, acquisition, foreign language, students, attitudes
1
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
Introduction
English literature today has such a central position in the study of arts and humanities that
it can be used in curriculum. Literarature, music, video, film and cultural studies have together
refined a sophisticated set of strategies that are decisive to reading and listening, and also impact
upon speaking and writing, especially, strategies of interpretation. According to Corbett (2003)
interpretation includes using our cultural knowledge to ‘go beyond’ the words contained in the
text in order to reach a richer understanding of them.1
If music itself does not have proportional value, how it is, then, possible that it can arouse
feelings, pictures, visions, associations, ideas, points out Antovic (2003); and he claims that
according to the new researches, it can even influence intellectual activity. 2 Music is not only one
of the most important means of expression, but also it is nowadays considered to be the most
superior of all other aspects of communication, therefore it is able to help us understand things as
they are.
Description of language and music as specialized abilities of human mind lead us to the
field of psychology. Cognitive psychology is considered to be the central discipline of cognitive
science. All theoretical models in linguistics, which originated from Chomskyan revolution,
agree that linguistics is not the taxonomic form for describing different languages all around the
world, but it is, literary, the branch of cognitive psychology, which aim is comprehension of
abstract mechanisms that determine human linguistics ability.
Neuropsychological organization of musical functions has attracted a great number of
researchers. Contemporary methods provide a lot of studies on reaction of certain centers of
cortex on musical stimulus. The left hemisphere is responsible for analytical functions such as
1
In the intercultural classroom this can be used in order to foster the crucial skill of interpreting.
Dr. Raucher and Dr. Shaw examined the influence of listening certain Mozart’s works while measuring subject’s
intelligence. There was a considerable difference in favor of subjects who were listening to music while performing
tasks. This is known as Mozart effect, and it will be described later in this research paper.
2
2
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
speech and mathematical abilities while the right hemisphere is responsible for so–called
synthetical functions such as spatial and auditory abilities.
Cognitive psychology of music reveals certain parallels between language and music
especially when it comes to hierarchical organization of constituents, that is what both forms
have in common.
Antovic (2003) 3 points out that analogy between music and language is as old as
civilization. Experience has proven a great number of attributes that are typical for both music
and language. Sensory-motor reality, in which both of symbolic forms are manifested (sound,
especially voice), indicate something familiar. The fact that music itself originated as vocal and
later became vocal and instrumental justify a lot about this relationship as well.
There are many popular beliefs about second-language acquisition. To ensure a successful
learning environment for English language learners, teachers need to understand six essential
concepts that are directly related to the statements, according to Haynes (2007) which are as
follows: culture shock, comprehensible input and output, language acquisition versus language
learning, the optimum age for learning a second language, the affective filter, and the silent
period.
Considerable body of knowledge can be exploited by materials designers and
methodologists. According to Nunan (1991) research will be effective only to the extent that it is
embraced by teachers. The purposes of a method are obtained through the instructional process,
through the interaction of teachers, materials and learners in the classroom. At the level of
approach any method demonstrates itself in kinds of learning and teaching activities in the
classroom. There is a great difference between teaching activities that pinpoint grammatical
accuracy and communicative skills. The activity types which are promoted by a method often
serve to differentiate methods. Audiolingualism makes use of dialogue and pattern practice while
the silent way, for example, focus on special charts and colored rods.
Communicative language teaching theorists have used tasks which are differently
completed by each learner. The use of different kinds of activities reflect on different attitudes at
3
Antovic, M. (translated from Serbian language). Muzika i jezik u ljudskom umu.
3
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
the level of approach. For some methods, for example, the role of the teacher has been explicitly
detailed. Patterns of interaction between teachers and learners are created to transfer the
responsibility for learning from teacher to learner. The role of the teacher is seen as that of
psychological counselor, in order to establish warm, acceptive and supportive environment in
classrooms. Some contemporary methodologists tend to establish kinds of relationships between
the teacher and the learners such as friend to friend, colleague to colleague since the success of a
method may depend on the teacher’s ability to create the conditions for successful language
learning.
A definite set of learning recommendations that stem from Suggestology is a method
called Suggestopedia. It is developed by Bulgarian educator Georgi Lozanov. Lozanov described
it as a "science ... concerned with the systematic study of the nonrational and nonconscious
influences" that human beings are constantly responding to (Stevick 1976: 42). Suggestopedia
has the aim to optimize learning potential, with the use of music, and specific teacher-learner
relationship.
"There is no sector of public life where suggestology would not be useful"
(Lozanov 1978:2).
Suggestopedia teachers often read dialogues in a special way, to the accompaniment of
music. Lozanov points out ties in tradition to yoga and Soviet psychology. From raja-yoga 4 ,
Lozanov used techniques for certain states of consciousness and concentration, in order to
optimize learning and recall. According to Lozanov, relaxed but focused state is the optimum
state for learning. The most prominent feature of Suggestopedia is the role of music and musical
rhythm to learning. Moreover, Suggestopedia is characterized by particularly therapy use of
music.
Gaston (1968) points out three functions of music in therapy: to assist the progress of the
establishment and personal relations; to accomplish self-esteem through increased selfsatisfaction in musical performance; and to bring order by using the unique potential of rhythm,
which Lozanov himself uses to relax learners and to precisely present linguistic material.
4
Raja-yoga is a kind of meditation in which the mind is trained to be focused at one point.
4
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
Furthermore, Lozanov points out the importance of experiencing language material in
"whole meaningful texts" and claims that the suggestopedic course directs "the student not to
vocabulary memorization and acquiring habits of speech, but to acts of communication".
Lozanov also proposes home study of recordings of " whole meaningful texts (not of a
fragmentary nature)" that are, " above all , interesting." These are listened to " for the sake of the
music of the foreign speech". It is often refered to the language to be learned as "the material"
that is read or recited by a well-trained teacher. Linguistic nature of the material is considered to
be irrelevant and if the focus of a language course were, for example, memorization of grammar
rules, Lozanov would feel a a suggestopedic approach to be the optimal one.
Learning can be influenced by learners’ affective states, and music is found to have
positive effects in this field. Richard-Amato (2003) describes the affective state as a learner’s
attitudes, motivation, anxiety levels, acculturation, personality, and feelings of community. If the
affective filter is lowered, or in the absence of the emotional and motivational blocks to language
learning, it is generally accepted as an important aspect in language learning. Music appears to be
very beneficial in this area, for it can improve joy and confidence while getting rid of anxiety.
There are examined ways in which different types of music and lyrics can affect listeners’
emotional states.
Structural parallels between music and language are examined, just like the ways in which
music influences the affective state, and the cognitive processing of music and language. Existing
structural parallels between music and language can influence the ways in which music is best
used in a language classroom. Certain structures can be largely applied to music and language,
while others seem to be culturally specific. Jackendoff and Lerdahl (1982) were two of the earlier
theorists who examined general structural parallels, comparing the syntax and prosody of music
and language as well.
What could also increase language acquisition is the cognitive processing of music and
language. Since memory is an important aspect of language learning, many studies have shown
the relationship between musical support and improved memorization. In his book, Introduction
5
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
to the Musical Brain, Campbell (1992) claims that the more connections are made in the brain,
the more integrated an experience becomes within memory (Adkins, 1997). Many connections
are created by combining music with language, as language is processed in the brain’s left
hemisphere and music in its right hemisphere.
Bonnel et al. (2001) also demonstrate that music and language are processed
independently in the brain, which means that paying attention to both music and language
simultaneously should not interfere with the memory of either. 5 Music will increase language
acquisition on cognitive levels, especially with regards to memory. Wallace (1994) claims that
music can assist memory. According to Wallace, when text is set to music, recall of that text is
much higher than when the text is spoken. Moreover, Wallace found that recall of text set to
music is incomparably better than when the same text is spoken in a rhythmic pattern, thus
language acquisition may be further promoted by adding melodies and songs to their curricula.
The effectiveness of music for language learning was investigated by Fisher (2001) and
Quast (1999), and both researchers proved that music positively affects language acquisition. In
Fisher’s study, not only did students begin each day with an opening song, but they also learned
in musical classrooms spelling words taken from songs and read stories that were set to music.
The positive results of this study suggest that EFL teachers should actively use music to teach
language and to incorporate music into their curricula.
Additionally, Quast (1999) claims that even background music may positively affect
language acquisition. In his study, students showed more positive attitudes and they were less
exhausted when music was played in the background. Moreover, students who memorized word
lists, while background music was playing, showed much better performance. In his study, Quast
used methods that were based on the theory of Suggestopedia, with Baroque music above all
other genres. However, different musical genres had different effects on different students, which
would suggest that instructors should include a variety of musical genres in their curricula.
5
This alludes to the situation when using music while teaching language will not distract students or inhibit their
acquisition of linguistic forms.
6
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
The Mozart Effect 6, proved that “music makes you smarter”. Students did better on a test
of spatial ability after listening to Mozart. Soon, websites which were promoting music-enhanced
learning became very popular. The results showed that the Mozart group improved due to
listening to the music, while the silence group improved due to a normal learning curve.
It was also found that if the silence group were performing any task, such as reading a
book, it would have similar subtest scores to the music group (Levitin, 2007). Research has
suggested that the Mozart Effect was not attributable to Mozart, but to elevated mood and arousal
levels promoted by lively music.
The other research has focused on the longer-term effects of music training on learning. In
a review of quantitative and qualitative educational and psychological studies about the effects of
music on the personal, social, and intellectual development of children and youth, Hallam (2010)
presented strong support for the advantages of active musical engagement, especially in early
childhood, on language development, literacy, numeracy, intelligence, creativity, concentration,
confidence, sensitivity, social skills, relaxation, and coordination. It was also found that
adolescents have gained health, social, and personal development benefits through music. Music
is considered to have an important role for many adolescents and young adults worldwide. Larson
(1995) found in his study on American adolescents’ use of music in their daily lives, that many of
them used music to help develop their identity, to regulate emotions, and to explore possible
selves.
It is believed that music has an outstandingly strong effect on mood improvement:
especially if the musical activity was self-selected, it always seemed to make the adolescents feel
better and change their mood in a positive direction. They experience pleasure when they listen to
their favorite songs and singers. Also, listening to lyrics clarified their feelings and thoughts,
gained new insights, and what is more important, writing their own songs was an effective way to
deal with personal issues.
6
The Mozart effect is a phenomenon based on a University of California study (Rauscher, Shaw & Ky, 1993)
(Demorest & Morrison, 2000, p. 33).
7
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
In the United Kingdom, group singing enhanced positive feelings in young adults,
improved breathing, relaxation, social connections, and emotional uplift. One participant
explained the benefits of music: “If your physical side is related to your spiritual side, then it can
do only good. Healthy mind, healthy body, etc.” Educators can support adolescent learners by
including some of the findings from these studies with their teaching practices, incorporating, for
example songwriting as a form of self-expression, facilitating group interaction through music,
and using music to facilitate stress management (Duerksen & Darrow, 1991).
The curriculum could be enriched with activities such as analyzing and singing favorite
popular songs, and writing songs in small groups. Working with a school counsellor is considered
to have therapeutic support for adolescent learners facing developmental challenges. It is
suggested that a team-teaching strategy with a counsellor should model collaborative values and
mentorship through lyrics writing, music listening, and discussion of favorite songs. Another
good idea is to develop student rock bands. An experiment was conducted in the United
Kingdom, called Musical Futures, with student’s rock bands in school. Perhaps existing bands—
formed outside of school—could occasionally perform in class.
Scrivener (1994) declares that songs on recordings or perhaps played on a guitar in the
classroom are often used in order to change the mood or pace of a lesson, moreover it can be
usefully integrated into the main flow of the course. Since many cousrsebooks today include
songs that specifically focus on grammatical or functional items, these may have been used
because of its content.
Scrivener states that interesting lyrics and clarity of vocals can be successfully used with
appropriate classroom material. There are few ideas for using songs in class, which include
reading or listening comprehension, listening and discussing, gapped text when students are
given the lyrics with certain words blanked out and they have to listen carefully and fill in the
missing words, composing, dictation, etc.
It is considered that music on its own, especially classical, can also be useful in the
classroom. Music can set the mood at the start of the lesson, additionally, it can be used as
background music while students do a particular task, for pleasure or to help students relax.
8
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
Scrivener also holds that music can help visualizing images when students close their eyes or to
conclude, close down and round off the lesson. It is very important that teachers should remain
sensitive to the wishes of their students, because some of them may be against turning music on
while they work, and Scrivener suggests that teachers should ask their students whether they are
fancy for it. Teachers should encourage students to bring in their favorite recordings, share the
lyrics because it is a great starting point for discussion and study as well.
Research Site
There are many benefits of incorporating music to existing teaching material. As
mentioned above, classroom activities such as reading, listening and discussing can be very
useful realized if music is included. Moreover, classical music could influence relaxation, elevate
mood and makes the learner more focused on his tasks. Since music can improve joy and
confidence and gets rid of anxiety, many experiments have been conducted in order to prove that
music has positive effect on learning and performing tasks. The approach, Suggestopedia, is
based on this idea, which is developed by Lozanov. Who claims that relaxed but focused state is
the optimum state for learning. Accordingly, Suggestopedia makes use of music, especially from
Baroque and Mozart period. The questionnaire7 was conducted in order to examine how much
music is dominant activity in student’s life, and how much it can influence acquiring the second
language, in this case, the English language. The questionnaire included 36 examinees, who are
senior students at the Department of English language and literature in Kosovska Mitrovica. The
design of the questionnaire took a quantitative approach,which included 14 questions with the
answers from Likert’s scale (4. Definitely; 3. Very much; 2. Not really; 1. Definitely not;), and
the last one which is the open question, thus the qualitative one, and students were asked to give
their opinion whether music should be included in lessons in English language and why.
According to the results, on the first question in which they were asked if listening to
classical music makes them concentrate, more than half answered with very much and definitely
(very much: 42%, and definitely: 14%, that is 58% positive answer). This is the result that can be
compared with the Lozanov’s claim, nevertheless 38% disagree.
7
See: Apendix.
9
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
1. Listening to classical music helps you concentrate.
1
5
14%
2
10
28%
3
15
42%
4
5
14%
The results from the second question proved that music is one of the most dominant
activities in student’s life. Approximately, 92% of respondents answered positively that justifies
the inevitable effect of music on learning, on the personal, social, and intellectual development
examined by Hallam (2010) and his statement that adolescents have gained health, social, and
personal development benefits through music.
2. I listen to music every day.
1
1
3%
2
2
6%
10
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
3
5
14%
4
28
78%
Students are far more likely to remember the new language if they are emotionally open
to it, as can be concluded from the introduction above. The valuable fact is that 92% of
respondents answered that they like learning words. As seen from the chart below, 64% of
respondents claimed that they always look up the meaning of unknown words in a dictionary, on
the other hand, 83% of them declared that they like learning through music and videos.
Summarizing this, one of the possible solutions is to get to know what kind of music students
like, because listening favorite songs and singers could change learning in a positive direction.
4. I like learning words.
1
1
3%
2
2
6%
3
4
11%
4
29
81%
11. I always look up the meaning of unknown words in a dictionary.
11
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
1
3
8%
2
10
28%
3
8
22%
4
15
42%
6. I like learning through music and videos.
1
3
8%
2
2
6%
3
9
25%
4
21
58%
The main findings consist of the fact that 78% of them asserted that they would prefer if
classes were enriched with music. Secondly, 91% of respondents claimed that it is easier for them
to remember words from the songs than to learn them by heart. Finnaly, 83% of them answered
that it is very easy for them to remember phrases if they come across them in songs. According to
the results, it can be concluded that music influence acquiring second language not only on
phonological level, but grammatical as well. As Scrivener (1994) suggests, many coursebooks
12
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
that include songs may have been used because of its content. These could be used for reading or
listening comprehension, listening and discussing, composing, dictation. Music can be also used
as background music while students do a particular task, for pleasure, or to help students relax.
5. I would prefer if classes were enriched with music.
1
3
8%
2
5
14%
3
14
39%
4
14
39%
12. I find it easier to remember words from the songs than to learn them
by heart.
1
2
6%
13
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
2
2
6%
3
12
33%
4
21
58%
13. I find it very easy to remember phrases if I come across them in
songs.
1
1
3%
2
5
14%
3
7
19%
4
23
64%
The questionnaire included one open question where students had a chance to give their
opinion if music should be more included in lessons in English language and why. Most of the
examinees explained that they would like it, as can be concluded from their previous answers,
and only few of them answered negatively, explaining that it could distract their attention.
Surprisingly, the first one who answered this question, gave such an explanation for which we
can say that it represents something like the summary for all the answers responded later.
‘‘Tentatively, yes. Though I avoid reading and listening to the music at the same time because it
makes me hard to concentrate, I suppose that playing music in class from time to time can be
helpful. It is important, however, to make smart choices concerning the lyrical content and the
genre of the music played.’’ Some of them induced classical music, jazz and nature sounds as
preferable ones. The most of them claimed that it is far more interesting to incorporate music into
14
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
classes of English language, which can foster creative abilities and make the process of learning
more amusing and effective. 8
Conclusion:
Concerning the fact that music enhances language acquisition which was proven by the
authors and researchers mentioned above, I was given the results almost the same as I had
expected. What I didn’t expect was the chance that some examinees may have understood that
‘music’ is related to the background music while they would be performing tasks in the second
language. In that case, some of them agreed that it could have positive effect because it can help
them relax and, moreover, it makes them feel positive. The other ones, although in smaller
number, disagreed claiming that it may distract their attention. The examinees mostly agreed that
music can influence good mood and that students would be relaxed and ready to receive
information and to remember it much easier. Considering music the most superior of all other
aspects of communication, it has been proven that music positively affects language acquisition,
therefore, it is able to help us understand things as they are. Gaston (1968) points out that music
assist the progress of the establishment and personal relations. This idea is related to the idea
about Suggestopedia, which suggest that teachers should always try to establish warm, acceptive
and supportive atmosphere in classrooms. When students are relaxed, their affective filter is
lowered, and the input can be absorbed and processed far more effectively. According to Wallace
(1994), music can assist memory and when text is set to music, recall of that text is much higher
than when the text is spoken. The effectiveness of music for language learning was investigated
also by Fisher (2001) and Quast (1999), and both researchers proved that music positively affects
language acquisition. Quast (1999) claims that even background music may positively affect
language acquisition, nevertheless, it is in contrary to certain results from the questionnaire.
Finally, this research paper could serve as basis for further researches on this topic.
8
See all the answers in the Appendix.
15
How Music Influences Acquiring Second Language
References:
1. Antovic, M. (2003). Muzika i jezik u ljudskom umu. 1.izd. Nis: Niski kulturni centar,
2004(Nis:Galeb).
2. Corbett, J. (2003). An intercultural approach to English language teaching. Clevedon,
England: Multilingual Matters.
3. Haynes, J. (2007). Getting started with English language learners. Alexandria, Va.:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
4. Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching Methodology. New York: Prentice Hall.
5. Richards, J.C. & Rodgers, T.S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching
(2nd ed.). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
6. Scrivener, J. (1994). Learning Teaching. Heinemann Publishers. Oxford
16