Music in Language EducationA Comparison of Music and Traditional Methods on

Vocabulary Retention

Amandine Bailey, Emad Eldigwy, Yoshiko Tsuda

Music in Language Education

Language educators are always looking for new methods in which to instruct students.

Effects of music have been positive overall.

Important to study music in comparison with traditional methods used in schools today to see if the addition of music does improve vocabulary retention.

Related LiteratureFronseca-Mora (2011)

Music and rhythm have been shown to improve the memory and recall abilities of language learners as it mixes linguistic and musical information through use of both hemispheres of the brain.

Medina (1990)

Adding music to meaningful information helps further increase memorization.

Related LiteratureLi (2009)

The effects of music on language proficiency with adult ESL learners from the People’s Republic of China.

Results showed that students obtained higher language proficiency scores following nine hours of music-based instruction than in partially music-based instruction and in non-music-based instruction.

Students also showed a more positive attitude towards learning the language and greater confidence in their instruction

PurposeGap in understanding how music affects vocabulary retention in comparison with traditional methods.

This study examined two hypotheses:

1. Students will retain more vocabulary with the music-based approach than the traditional approach.

2. Students will feel more successful in their language learning with the music-based approached than the traditional approach.

Participants22 English Language Learners, CollegeTown USA

Country of Origin:

People’s Republic of China (20), Tibet (1), Tanzania (1)

13 females, 9 males

Ages 17-22

Design

Vocabulary-based course

Between-subjects experimental design

Subjects separated into two groups by third party. Researchers were blind to the proficiency levels

Each class began and ended with the pre- & post-survey

MaterialsPre-, Post-, & Delayed Post-Survey

(self-rating scale)

Vocabulary

Tangerine PlasticineMarmalade

Cellophane Looking-glass Porter

Kaleidoscope Turnstile

I don’t

know it

1

I sort of

know it

2

I

know it

3

I know it

and can

explain it

4

Materials“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by The Beatles

Picture yourself in a boat on a river

With tangerine trees and marmalade skies

Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly

A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

MaterialsSentence worksheet with traditional group

1. Tangerine Frank likes to eat tangerines from Florida.

2. Marmalade Tom puts butter and marmalade on his toast.

3. Turnstile I went through the turnstile in a hurry to catch the train.

Music-Based Approach25 minutes

Pre-survey, 12 or less (72.7%) on a scale of 8-32

Song lyrics, discussing one line at a time, using visuals

Sing song

Explaining words to partner

Sing song

Post-survey

Traditional Approach

25 minutes

Pre-survey, 12 or less (81.8%) on a scale of 8-32

PowerPoint and sentence worksheet

Writing sentences & sharing

Volunteers to share sentences

Post-survey

Debriefing1.5 hours later

Reminder of the study (but not the vocabulary)

Delayed post-survey

Debriefing questions

Debriefing1. What did you think we were looking for?• Students recognized the purpose of the study (best methods

of learning, memorization).2. Was the song familiar to you?• Only one student was familiar with the song.

3. How did you feel about the use of song in your lesson to learn vocabulary?• Helped with pronunciation and remembering the meaning.

4. Did you feel successful in learning and remembering the vocabulary?• Yes.

Debriefing1. What did you think we were looking for?• Students recognized the purpose of the study (“how we learn”,

memorization).2. Did you recognize the words?• Some said they were familiar with the words, most were not.3. How did you feel about the use of sentences and practice in your lesson to learn vocabulary?• Very useful. Familiar with this method.4. Did you feel successful in learning and remembering the vocabulary?• Yes, because they were used to it and did it all the time.

Focus Group

Games

Movies/TV

Reading

News

Conversations

Music

What has been your favorite way to learn?

Interactive & entertaining activities

Results & DiscussionContrary to the hypothesis that the participants in the music group would retain vocabulary longer, the traditional method subjects did significantly better on the delayed post-survey.

t (20) = 2.14, p = .004, d = .23.

Pre Post Delayed05

101520253035

Overall Means of Scores

TraditionalMusic

Results & Discussion

Pre Post Delayed0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Proficiency Levels & Scores - Traditional

GoodExcellent

Traditional Group

Results & Discussion

Pre Post Delayed0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Proficiency Level & Scores - Music

GoodExcellent

Music Group

Shortcomings & Considerations

Survey (self-rating scale)

Self-rating and formal assessments

Time

Literature showed increased time in studies showed more positive results with music

Group size

Different instructors

Effects of music on pronunciation and communication abilities

ConclusionsThis study did support our second hypothesis

Findings with first hypothesis were contradictory to literature, Beasley (2006)

Raised questions concerning aspects of the procedure

Effects on pronunciation

Critical for language educators – new concepts and methods to help provide a more meaningful and natural learning environment for language learners

ReferencesBeasley, R. E., & Chuang, Y. (2006). The effects of web-based American music, lyrics, definitions, and explanations on

Taiwanese ESL learners. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 34(4), 461-471. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ757141&site=ehost-live&scope=site; http://baywood.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.2190/ABE1-K30H-B4UE-V1NU

Fonseca-Mora, M., Toscano-Fuentes, C., & Wermke, K. (2011). Melodies that help: The relation between language aptitude and musical intelligence. Online Submission, Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED518583&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Hahn, S. M. (1972). The effect of music in the learning and retention of lexical items in German. (). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED119455&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Kim, Y. (2008). The effects of integrated language-based instruction in elementary ESL learning. Modern Language Journal, 92(3), 431-451. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ808311&site=ehost-live&scope=site; http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00756.x

Li, X., & Brand, M. (2009). Effectiveness of music on vocabulary acquisition, language usage, and meaning for mainland Chinese ESL learners. Contributions to Music Education, 36(1), 73-84. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ864263&site=ehost-live&scope=site; http://homepage.mac.com/wbauer/cme/abstracts/abstract36-1.html

Lucas, M. (2011). Adolescent male attitudes about singing in choir. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 30(1), 46-53. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ940511&site=ehost-live&scope=site; http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/8755123311418623

Medina, S. L. (1990). The effects of music upon second language vocabulary acquisition. (). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED352834&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Sevik, M. (2011). Teacher views about using songs in teaching English to young learners. Educational Research and Reviews, 6(21), 1027-1035. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ961890&site=ehost-live&scope=site; http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR/PDF/Pdf%202011/12Dec/Sevik.pdf