UNIVERSIDAD DE GUADALAJARA

LIMSEDILE

INTEGRATIVE MODULE

STUDENT:

FRANCISCO RAMIREZ GARCIA

[email protected]

Tutor:

Enriqueta Villa Olvera

Date: October 27TH, 2012

SUBJECT: “The impact of songs in ESL students’ motivation”

ABSTRACT
English students face many problems when learning a language, the pronunciation,
vocabulary, the lack of practice, etc. But these aspects get worse when classes are
boring and too repetitive, etc. Routine leads to students' demotivation and teachers'
frustration

ELT can be fun and relevant if we take in consideration what students like and if we set
a comfortable environment by reducing anxiety and including the integration of songs
in a lesson, the combination of rhythm, music, lyrics in the target language, and an
unexpected change in the traditional structure in the lessons will contribute to change
first of all the students’ attitude and facilitating students’ learning.

This paper provides theoretical arguments and practical support for using English songs
in ELT as a powerful strategy to motivate students to learn the language and at the same
time to improve the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

INTRODUCTION
Many methods and techniques have been implemented in ESL lessons in order to guide
them to one objective… to communicate in the most spoken language in the world.
Business, science and industry are the fields where English has gained an important role
in career development. Many are the barriers which English students have to overcome
to learn English (pronunciation, vocabulary, structure among others.) Many are the
challenges that English teachers must face in order to lead students to learn the
language. The task is not easy, besides the grammatical differences and the new sounds
to be learned, there are about 540,000 in the new language.

To learn a language implies for teachers’ patience, creativity, etc. and for students, a
positive attitude, to be willing to learn, etc. Methods, techniques appear and are
developed in order to make teaching and learning process more effective and less boring
but in most of the classrooms it seems to be only good proposals but the fear of losing
the control of the group is more determinant; teachers prefer to follow the traditional
activities and to maintain the students as busy as possible. This practice is accepted and
well seen by the school authorities who prevent teachers from giving students enjoyable
activities and the opportunity to participate actively in the class by suggesting what they
would like to do. How can we have critic and analytic students? if when they say “I feel
bored” or “Your class is boring” adults, teachers immediately punish them. The answer
is not letting students do whatever they want to do, but that does not mean that we
cannot use technology or realia as a part of the class.

Quiet classrooms for many teachers have been seen as effective teaching and learning,
Noises, movement, laughs and sounds are seen as indiscipline in the classroom.
Traditional teachers consider that learning does not take place under these conditions.
(K. Alfie 2002) states that effective teachers are not concentrating on being effective
disciplinarians; she points out that this is partly true because they have better things to
do, and those better things prevent problems.

This is the purpose of this paper to look for other solutions which lead students to learn
English.

In this paper I include information about the school, the group where the research was
carried out, the objectives, theoretical the background, the analysis of the results, the
conclusion, the references, and the appendix section.

The general purpose of this paper is to prove that teachers must reflect about our
practice to be open to other possibilities to motivate students to learn. Songs are not the
panacea for learning but can be used to vary lessons as Dr. M. P. CHHAYA in his
introduction of his book “EFFECTIVE TEACHER EFECTIVE CLASSROOM”
states “Can you imagine a technician repairing a machine with only one tool? Obviously
not, he needs and must utilize different tools in different situations. According to him,
similarly, teachers need to vary their teaching strategies according the classroom’s
situations.

CONTEXT, SCOPE AND AIMS OF THE INVESTIGATION

How can teachers motivate students if what students like is not included or considered
as a part of the lesson plan or in the list of activities proposed during the course;
discipline concerns, the fear of abandoning the syllabus are among others stop teachers
to search for other alternatives. The first objective of every teacher should be to
motivate students, to make them feel relaxed.
As a student, my English teacher in first grade of high school used to take songs to the
classroom, and we expected for his classes anxiously because it was something different
from the rest of the classes; the exciting of listening the songs of the moment and to
discover the meaning of the lyrics, twenty years have happened since then, and I have a
picture of that class in my mind, and also I remember clearly the name of the song and
the group; the next year, we had a different teacher, the traditional one and I kept
listening to music in English and looking for the lyrics. Listening to songs in English
besides motivating me, helped me to learn English. This does not mean that I do not
learn with my other English teachers but the attitude was different; I remember more
those lessons full of joy and different from the traditional ones.

When I became an English teacher, I thought I would be a good idea to repeat

what I liked the most of my English teachers and avoid what I did not like of their
classes. It was a success, my students were happy and my principal was happy with me
because the former teacher had discipline problems all the time and they could not
control students behavior, at least four teacher failed trying to convince students about
the importance of the language.

The aim of this action research is to provide the results which show that ESL students feel
more motivated in class when songs and music were included in different moments of the
lesson and that through songs students can learn vocabulary, they can practice
pronunciation and grammar can be reviewed and taught, etc.

To include songs as a part of my lessons and to conduct this research, I asked the school
authorities for permission. I informed them about its purpose.

By the end of this study, the participants answered a survey which consisted in five
questions which are included in this paper in the appendix section. In the survey, students
had to choose from three options for each statement and also for each statement they had
to give a reason. For the survey, students were given the necessary time to reflect their
answers.

The study lasted four weeks: from June 4th to June 29th. 2012. with a total of 12 hours.

The purpose of this action research was to demonstrate that listening to music and songs
 in English lessons can contribute to students' motivation to when it is planned
adequately.

They can also learn English by feeling more comfortable and relaxed in the classroom
and at the same time improving other language areas that were not intended in this
research but they for sure were profitable from this attitude change towards the class.
This research was conducted without problems.

LITERATURE REVIEW

MacKay, S. (1998) makes a reflection about the benefits of doing research, she
mentions that the primary reason is because research is to become more effective
teachers, and this does not mean that research offers definitive answers to pedagogical
questions, but rather it provides new insights into the teaching and learning process. As
Johnson (1992) puts it,

“The importance of researching is not so much that it supplies definitive answers

to questions such as “What is the best way to learn a language?” Or “Which is the most
effective method of L2 teaching?” It does not. Rather, research can help us gain a richer
understanding of the many interrelated factors involved in learning. It can help us to see
how the ways we organize learning environment can promote or inhibit growth. (p.5)”

Mackay, S (1998) also points out that action research is viewed as one of the most
effective research methods for producing sound L2 teaching practices. This is because
by definition action research, involves a systematic inquiry into the issues and problems
that teachers face when searching the improvement of pedagogical practices.

Unfortunately for one thing many teachers have not been trained to undertake research.
Often teacher education programs focus primarily on how to teach, examining how to
specify learning objectives, design lessons and assess learning. Little or no attention has
not been given to training teachers to investigate L2 classrooms. Among the causes that
discourages teachers from doing are the heavy teaching load or lack of support from
administrators, Woodward (2001), she states that your teaching will be affected by the
type of institution you work in, whether it’s a primary or secondary school, an after-
school language club, a private language school or university, a secondary or vocational
school. More important than the type of institution though will be its “organisational
culture” that is, its normal practices and attitudes. This organizational also called by the
author as one of our freedom constraints besides the number of students, if the class is
heterogeneous.

When the problem is not the institution, according to Woodward (2001) Starter teachers
need to build a bank of language learning activities to draw on in the classroom. More
experienced teachers need to pick up new activities and vary old ones to keep
themselves and their students motivated.

Brindley (2005) “No good teacher sets out to discourage and demoralize his or her
pupils, concentrating on their mistakes to the exclusion of all else”. As I mentioned at
the beginning if this paper, teachers often concentrate more on students' mistakes rather
than the activities they like or motivate them.

The task of the teacher is not to discourage students, the teacher's task is to motivate
them to learn, of course many characteristics can influence the success of language
learning. Obviously, some factors are innate. Aptitude is another factor that may be
relative fixed Ruben (1875:42)

Motivation and positive attitude have also been correlated with language acquisition
Gardener (1985 in Lightbown and Spada 1999:56).

But what is motivation?

The term motivation originated from the Latin word “moveo-movere” the meaning of
which is “to move” in English. In Psychology, the term is understood as a forces that
move our behavior or the sources, reasons of our behavior.

According to Homoloa, (1972:11)“The word motivation is the common name for all
impulses that lead to behavior, or as the case may be, certain behavior.”
Types of motives:
Motives are inner reasons for a certain activity or behavior. They can be divided as the
conscious and unconscious ones. Motives can be also classified according to their
stability, extent, origin, etc.
Conscious motives are those motives which a man is aware of how he acts and why he
acts in a particular way- he knows the motive. Sometimes, however, a man does not the
sources of his behavior. In fact, people realize only dominant motives and they cannot
be aware of all the motives that appear in the particular moment,

Ortiz (1991) points out that Motivation can be studied from different points of view.
Without getting involved in “Byzantine discussions” about if it is more correct to say
“motivation” or “incentivation”, it is a fact there is a phenomenon that arises a great
desire and need for learning and that the teacher plays an important role. When someone
wants to have an influence over another person it is important to considerate that at the
beginning there is an initial motivation a natural product of a relationship between
teacher and student. Enthusiasm is easily contagious.

RAFFINI, J. (1996) states that very often, punishments and rewordings are the only
tools used by teachers to motivate students. Both tactics are worn to control many
students' behavior, its indiscriminate use can weaken the student's intrinsic motivation
for studying. Several are the reasons for students to learn, but the more punishments and
rewards to manipulate learning.

A good way to motivate students is to involve them in the teaching and learning
process, by asking them what activities they would like to be included in the lesson plan
or to use activities they like. Sibarah, N. L. (1999) “Learners of a foreign language must
participate throughout the learning process.”

Based on constructivist theory (mintzes et al. 1998, von Glaserfield 1998), students take
an active role in constructing new knowledge. It is important to keep in mind that when
students perceive valuable and meaningful learning tasks, they will actively engage in
the learning tasks, using active learning strategies to integrate their existing knowledge
with the new experience, on the other hand, when students do not perceive the value of
learning tasks, they use surface learning strategies (such as memorization) to learn
(Pitrich and Shunk 1996). Von Glassersfeld (1998) also illustrated the importance of the
students’ learning goal in motivating to construct their scientific knowledge based on
learning value and learning strategies. Guzman F. (2010)

I also mentioned in my introduction that learning a language is not only a hard process
for the teacher but for the learner as well. Traditional education was based on the
transmission of knowledge in a natural and simple manner, while today we have
techniques and strategies that make the transmission enjoyable for the teacher and
interesting for the students, this reinforces what Sibarah, N. L. (1999) mentioned about
encouraging an active participation of students which makes the transmission of
knowledge a successful and a motivating learning process.

The lack of interest and the insufficient use of educational resources, and the
monotonous character in the teaching of some teachers can contribute to see the
learning process rather boring. Resources promote students’ interest and connect them
with the real world.
Music is an attractive source that can enhance learning because of the importance in our
lives today, and it is usually best to work it from every dimension, since not only is
limited to the study of music in itself, but its appropriate time, but as well it’s an
appropriate approach to promote and enjoy the musical process, which can be
globalized in other different areas of learning that occur in the classroom.

Murphey (1992) states “that music is everywhere and all the students have musical
tastes”. The advantage of musical materials is that they are so readily available to the
teacher, and so immediately motivational to some students.

We learned songs by heart in about a dozen languages that we did not speak. However,
we were incapable of using the language in the songs for communication.

This does not mean we did not learned something of the sound system might have
helped us later has we studied the language.

In other words, of themselves, songs can be immensely valuable for developing certain
capacities, but they can be more times more valuable if we exploit them creatively to
bridge the gap between the pleasurable experience of listening / singing and the
communicate use of language.

The use of music and song in the classroom can stimulate very positive associations to
the study of a language, which otherwise may only be seen as a laborious task, entailing
exams, frustration, and corrections.

Jalongo & Bromley, 1984; McCarthey, 1985, Martin, 1983, Mitchell, 1983; Jolly, 1975,
argue that the music in the language classroom serves to incorporate new vocabulary
and grammar, improve spelling and develop language skills (reading, writing , speaking
and listening). Besides the abilities before mentioned, “automacity” Gatbonton and
Segalowits (1988), can be developed through music,

Using music in your ESL/ within the affective components, motivation is important
because students’ motivation plays an important role in their conceptual change
processes (Lee 1989, Lee and Brophy 1996, Pintrich et al. 1993)

The importance of music and songs in language learning

Murphey (1992) explains that many of us have experienced with amazement how quick
students are at learning songs. It is also a common experience to forget nearly
everything we learn in another language except the few songs that we learned.

For a variety of reasons, songs stick in our minds and become part for us, and lend
themselves easily to exploitation in the classroom.

In other words, songs can be many times more valuable if we exploit them creatively to
bridge the gap between the pleasure experience of listening / singing and the
communicative use of the language.

Songs alone, however, will not teach anyone to use the language no matter how great
their memorability, how much fun it Is to sing and listen to them, or how energizing the
change of pace might be, just listening to and singing songs will not make students able
to communicate in another language.

In our time, it is hard to escape music and songs as it occupies ever more of the world
around us: in operating theaters (for heart transplants and childbirth) restaurants and
cafés, shopping malls (muzac), at sports events, in our cars, and literally everywhere for
those tuned in a Walkman. It would seem that the only place music and song is slow to
catch on is in schools.

Krashen (1993) has suggested that this involuntary repetition may be a manifestation of
Chomsky’s language acquisition device. It seems our brains have a natural propensity to
repeat what we hear in our environment in order to make sense of it. It certainly seems
to do so with children, who learn songs almost effortlessly.

Songs in general also use simple, conversational language with a lot of repetition, which
is just what many language teachers look for in simple tests.
Most importantly, perhaps, songs are relaxing. They provide variety and fun, and
encourage harmony within oneself and within a group. Little wonder they are important
tools in sustaining cultures, religious, patriotism, and yes, even revolutions.

Not only administrators and principals disagree with the inclusion of music and songs in
the classroom, many teachers will no use them. Here I present a list from Murphey
expressing the teachers concerns:

1. A teachers / students do not take music and song seriously.

2. It disturbs neighboring classes.

3. Some students get too excited.

4. It takes away from the normal syllabus. Time is lost.

5. Students disagree about songs, and have different musical tastes.

6. Pop songs have poor vocabulary. Too much slang and bad grammar.

7. How do you exploit the material usefully? What is the goal?

8. It is hard to find lyrics-sources of “old” recorded material are no longer

available.

9. Students just want to listen, not to work.

10. Poor quality cassette / video recorder.

11. Lack of technical equipment due to cost.

12. Teachers do not like to sing or are not musical.

13. Many songs are not intelligible.

14. EFL songs are boring.

15. Students will not sing.

16. Many songs express violence and sexism.

17. What to do when students bring music which teachers hate?

18. Songs go out of date very quickly.

After reading the teachers' concerns here is another list with all the activities that can be
used with music and songs.

1. Listen

2. Talk about the music

3. Talk about the lyrics

4. Talk about the singer of the group

5. Talk about the video clips

6. Use songs and music to set or change an atmosphere or mood, as background

furnishing

7. Read about the production, performance, effect, authors, producers, audiences of

music and song

8. Write songs

9. Perform songs

10. Make video clips

11. Do interviews

12. Write articles

13. Do surveys, make hit lists

14. Study grammar

15. Practice selective listening comprehension

16. Read songs, articles, boos for linguistic purposes

17. Translate songs

18. Write dialogs using the words of a song

19. Dictate a song

20. Use a song for gap-filling, cloze, or for correction

21. Energize or relax classes mentally

22. Practice pronunciation, intonation and stress

23. Break the routine

24. Do choral repetition

 25. Teach vocabulary

26. Teach culture

27. Lear about your students and from your students, letting them choose and
explain their music

28. Have fun

However, we have to be careful not to kill the material by doing too much of serious
work.

Ward, S. (1991) explains that many teachers cannot see the point of teaching songs and
they tend to think of it as a frivolous activity suitable only for five minutes on Friday
afternoons.

Here are some of the valid reasons for teaching them.

 Authentic activity: Many of us spend a fair amount of our spare time listening to
songs and many people, especially youngsters, enjoy joining in, so by using
songs in the language class we are getting the students to do something that they
would do in real life. Many of our young students may never have the
opportunity to visit an English speaking-country but they are very much
involved with British and American pop music.

 Authentic language: Most English songs we hear on the radio or television have
not been produced for EFL learners and have not been recorded who people with
Received Pronunciation, so they are a good way of exposing our students to
authentic language.

 Motivation: As people tend to find songs enjoyable we can liven up the language
class by using them to stimulate the students’ interest.

 Repetition: Repetition can be very boring for students but they will happily
repeat the same structure over and over again if it is contained in a song.

 Rhythm and stress: As songs have a very marked rhythm, we can help our
students to use the correct rhythm and stress by reciting and singing songs,

 New vocabulary: Songs provide a means of learning new vocabulary in context,

and words learnt this way are rarely forgotten. Most of us can probably still
 remember words from songs learnt in our foreign language class when we were
at secondary school.

 Group activity: Singing a song is a good way of unifying the group. We can see
this from the way songs are used in politics, at football matches, etc. It can be
foster co-operation among students and give the shyer ones a chance to join in.
Students who have more difficulties than others will have an opportunity to
make a contribution to the corporate effort without worrying about getting it
wrong, and may increase self-confidence.

 Practicing alone: Other students may have few opportunities to speak English to
other people outside the classroom, but they can always sing a song when they
are alone. No one will take much notice if you walk down the road singing to
yourself, but if they hear you talking to yourself they may think there is
something wrong with you! Thus songs are a means of oral reinforcement
outside the class.

Bearing all these reasons in mind, it is a pity that so many teachers either relegate
songs to a five-minute slot on Friday afternoon, or even worse, do not exploit them
at all. In my opinion, songs should be an integral part of any language program.

Importance of choosing the songs.

When choosing a song we must keep in mind our aims and choose one that will help
us to achieve them.

 Structural consolidation:

 Listening comprehension: Teachers should decide which vocabulary they

wish to teach and then choose a suitable song.

 Reading comprehension: The same techniques can be also be used to

practice reading comprehension with the lyrics of songs. This seems less
natural as we are more likely to listen to a song than read it but it does
provide a change from always treating the song as a listening
comprehension.

 Phonology: Pronunciation Try to analyze which sounds your students have

difficulty with and find suitable songs that contain examples of that sound.
 Do not choose a song that is too complex, however, or the whole aim will be
lost.

 Discussion work: This can take place before the listening as a warm-up
session or afterwards in the light of what the students have heard.

 Cultural background: Whereas literature is by and large the product of an

educated elite, songs, especially folk songs and pop songs, are the natural
expression of the people who created them and reflect the life and mentality
of those people.

 Singing for enjoyment: In the mentioning five-minute Friday afternoon slot

at the beginning of this article, I was in no way intending to criticize it.
There are times when students are tired, when they have been subjected to
intense mental activity and they welcome the singing of songs for
enjoyment.

Considering that Lo, R. and H. Chi Fai Li (1998) affirms that teachers and students alike
find singing songs entertaining and relaxing. Songs offer a change from the routine
classroom activities. They are invaluable tools to develop students' abilities in listening,
speaking, reading, and writing, and can be used to teach a variety of language items
such as sentence patterns, vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm, adjectives, and adverbs.
Learning English through songs also provides a nonthreatening atmosphere for students,
who usually are tense when speaking in a formal classroom setting.

These authors also support the statement that music is an enjoyable experience and
pleasurable; not only relax students, it can also be used for(Jalongo and Bromley, 1984,
McCarthey, 1985; Martin, 1983, Mitchell, 1983, Jolly, 1975). Furthermore, by engaging
in a pleasurable experience, learners are relaxed and their inhibitions about acquiring a
second language are lessened. Yet, while they are more relaxed, they are also more
attentive than usual, and therefore, more receptive to learning. Through songs, students
are exposed to “authentic” examples of the second language.

Although the communication approach has become the mainstream in language

teaching, learners are very passive recipients of knowledge and play a minimal role in
the selection of learning materials and teaching methodology. Such under involvement
constitutes a hindrance to successful language learning. To enhance learner
commitment, teachers should allow learners to take part in developing materials for
themselves. Clarke (1989) outlines some advantages in involving learners in materials
development through modifying existing materials. This not only increases
learner commitment but also makes learners become experts in the tasks they designed.

METHODOLOGY AND COLLECTION OF DATA

Murphey (1992) stated that “The use of music and song in the classroom can
stimulate very positive associations to the study of a language,

I chose one of my groups from secondary school to use songs during four weeks.

The school has a secondary and a high school with five classrooms each grade and we
have three computer science classrooms.

There are 20 students in this group and they are in the advanced group according to the
levels we place students. It is a small group and most of the students attend private
English classes or come from primaries where English is offered two hours a day and by
using excellent methods.

All the participants in this activity were 11 females and 10 males (11-13 years of age)
from the secondary English classes are three days a week of fifty minutes each one.

The first class the teacher received the students with music, the excitement was
immediate. Students were happy and they asked me if it would be possible that I could
bring more songs to the classroom. The next class I prepared an activity with a song.

Hits of the moment from American artists were taken from the Internet and taken to the
classroom. The songs were carefully chosen considering that the students were from
secondary school and they have strong musical tastes, most of the songs released before
their time are considered by them as old fashioned, also their context is also important
to bear in mind. Secondary students from a small town do not have the same musical
tastes than they do in big cities or students who have had the opportunity of traveling
the United States for vacation.

During ten classes I included a song activity. The first class, I had not told them
anything about this change; the first class I was waiting for them in the English
classroom while playing some music in the Cd player; their happiness was notorious
and evident, they were amazed by the surprise. They expressed me their interest for
listening to music during all the classes, I proposed them to work during ten classes
with music but creating different activities to take advantage of them, by learning
vocabulary, by practicing the pronunciation, etc.

I chose the first song and I prepared the typical song exercise of completing the song
with the words in a bank of words. Students organized themselves in teams and we
scheduled the classes so that every team could prepare and bring a song to participate in
the “Ceja Music Award”, the next team only got the lyrics of a song and we had to sing
the song, every team prepared the activities and gave us the instructions the other teams
proposed different activities.

At the end of the ten classes and the nine songs, the students voted their favorite song,
the songs were included in different moments of the class, at the beginning, in the
middle and at the end.

I prepared a survey previously revised and authorized by my tutor Enriqueta Villa and I
gave it to my students in order to know their points of view and the efficacy of the
implementation of the music and the songs as a part of the class. It was anonymous and
they had enough time to answer it. They still want to keep on using songs in the
classroom and I did not have problems with their parents because of the use of them in
my class.

All the abilities were present during this time. The purpose of this change in class was
to demonstrate that monotony affects and blocks English Learning and a change is
necessary.

EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES AND CONTROLS

 Students' age: The students are from first grade of secondary and as teenagers,
their interest for school in not a priority. They want to have fun, to socialize, to
chat through social networks, etc. That's why the teacher has to look for all the
available activities to attract student's attention.

 Students' musical tastes: For those students who did not express a high interest
for music is because the music we took to the classroom was not of his or her
 likings. Even young students have strong influences by their parents and like
music from the seventies or eighties.

 Student's traditional criteria about education: As some teachers have concerns

about the use of music and songs in the classroom, many parents think that when
the teacher is not working on the book, or makes fun activities is wasting the
students' time. I have met students that prefer to follow the typical order of a
class, and avoid new strategies for considering them not relevant or time killers.
I think this may happen when evaluating the process.

 Students’ sex: Women at school are more disciplined and take learning more
seriously. In fact according to the survey, fifty percent of girls considered that
they learned more English by using music and songs in the class, whereas the
80% of the boys think that they learned more.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

The evidence was collected during this action research the surveys show that students
liked the songs and the music as part of the class because the percentage for the five
items was higher in favor of all of them.

In the appendix 1: the survey Students answered.

In appendix 2: The graphics showing the results.

In appendix 3: Student’s impressions the first time I play music in class.

In appendix 4: A student reporting what she said one of the classes I brought music and
a song activity.

In appendix 5: 4 Student’s surveys answered.

This research offers qualitative results. It is not easy to measure motivation. However,
we can obtain percentages and by analyzing their responses we can figure out their real
perception about the importance to motivate them and to change their attitude about the
learning of a second language represented in numbers to prove that at least this group
enjoy music and songs in the English class and feel motivated to the activities proposed
by the teacher and the attitude is positive to learn.

Their opinions when giving reasons express that they are aware that listening to music
in class is not only pleasant it is also useful. They mention: concentration, learning,
vocabulary, variety of activities, inspiration, etc. These opinions reinforce what Murphy
stated

Students had three options and a line to explain their answer. The options were: Always,
Sometimes and Never. Honestly I expected the option “Always” in all the items but the
first option occupied the majority, in some cases the percentage decreased notoriously
specially in the item about motivation, the percentage is in favor but I felt astonished
when I realized that

1. When they were asked if they liked to practice English with music and
songs from 19 students:

17 said: always and these are the reasons:

 Porque el trabajo divertido o es menos aburrido.

 Porque así aprendo más y no me aburro.

 Porque desarrollo mi inglés

 Porque nos motiva

 Porque me gusta y que cantemos y aprendamos de la música así como la

ortografía de las palabras.

 Porque me relaja y me concentra en mis trabajos de inglés

 Parea facilitar el habla

 Porque aprendo mas vocabulario

2 answered “sometimes” and these are the reasons:

  Porque algunas veces nos salimos de control y también nos ayudan a
aprender más palabras.

 Porque nos ayudan a oír las palabras y su pronunciación.

No one answered “never”

2. When they were asked if they learned more English with music and songs
from 19 students:

13 answered “always” and these are the reasons:

 Porque mientras escuchas aprendes

 Porque agrando mi vocabulario y entendiendo más palabras

 Porque en una canción hay más variación de palabras

 Porque traducimos canciones que nos gustan

 Porque me concentro y le pongo más atención a las letras

 Porque aunque no se califique me ayuda

 Porque antes no tanto

 Porque reconocemos palabras que el maestro nos explica

 Porque es divertido

 Porque me inspiro

6 answered “sometimes” and these are the reasons:

 Hubo veces que no pusé atención

 Porque antes casi no sabia y ahora se más

 Porque aprendí nuevo vocabulario

 No siempre trabajaba

 Con el tipo de canción

 Solo cuando había nuevas palabras

 No one answered “never”

3. When they were asked if music and songs help them feel more relaxed in
class:

From 19 students:

18 answered “Always” and these are the reasons:

 Piensas en aprender

 Entendemos mejor la clase

 El ambiente es más feliz

 Me dan más ganas

 Me concentro más

 Están padres las canciones

 Salimos de la rutina

 Ayudan a pensar pero a la vez a divertirme y a relajarme

 Es un buen método

 Cantamos

 Ayuda a las neuronas

 Aprendo más vocabulario

 Me gusta la música

 Motiva a trabajar más bonito

1 answered “Sometimes” and this is the reason:

  Algunos gritan en plena clase y sus gritos se mezclan

4. When they were asked if the music and songs motivate them to learn
English

13 said “always” and these are the reasons:

 Entiendo Mejor

 Es una experiencia muy padre

 Porque a veces es aburrido inglés

 Porque así me relajo y me concentro

 Me gusta cantar

 Porque me ayuda a aprender cosas nuevas

 Porque nos dan hojas de ejercicios

 Ayudan a las neuronas

 Porque me gusta mucho la música

 Porque es motivador

 Porque te relaja

5 answered “Sometimes” and these are the reasons

 Cuando me gustan las canciones

 Porque me gusta aprender con música en inglés

 Porque algunos no toman en serio la música

 Depende si me gustan las canciones

 Porque a veces ya se lo que significan las palabras

One answered “nunca” this is his /her reason:

  No se

5. When they would like that songs and music keep on being part of the class.

18 said “always” and these are the reasons:

 Para estar mejor en ingles

 Ayuda a variar las actividades

 Aprendemos mejor

 Son más divertidas

 Aprendemos con más facilidad

 Para relajarnos y trabajar mejor

 Seria la mejor clase de inglés

 Porque me gusta la música

 Porque me sentí muy bien

 Porque me motiva a aprender más inglés

 Porque es buen método

 Para seguir aprendiendo

1 said “Sometimes” and this is the reason:

 Quiero seguir aprendiendo

For number one, this is the frequency:

Me gusta practicar inglés con canciones como parte de la clase:

Siempre=17 (89.4 %)

Algunas veces= 2 (10.6%)

Nunca= 0 (0%)

For number two, this is the frequency:

Aprendí más inglés con las canciones utilizadas en clase:

Siempre= 13 (68.42)

Algunas veces= 6 (31.58)

Nunca= 0 (0%)

For number three, this is the frequency:

La música y las canciones me ayudan a sentirme más relajado en clase:

Siempre=18 (94.73%)

Algunas veces= 1(5.26%)

Nunca= 0 (0%)

For number four, this is the frequency:

La música y las canciones me motivan a aprender inglés:

Siempre 13= (68.42)

Algunas veces= 5 (26.31%)

Nunca 1(5.26%)

For number five, this is the frequency:

Me gustaría que las canciones y la música sigan siendo parte de la clase:

Siempre=18 (94.73%)

Algunas veces 1(5.26%)

Nunca= 0 (0%)

CONCLUSION
I have been using songs for more than 13 years and the results have always been very
positive, if not in all the cases students increase their English command of the language,
they are fascinated by listening to music and hits of the moment in class, which is an
effective tool to negotiate with them about the class organization. But in this research
what I think or assume does not prove this is true; Dawkins (2003) a professor of
science at Oxford University, wrote the following to his ten-year-old daughter as he
tried to explain to her the basis for scientific inquiry and research.

“Dear Juliet, now that you are ten, I want you to write about something that is important
to me. Have you ever wondered how we know the things we know? How do we know,
for instance, that the stars, which look like tiny pinpricks in the sky, are really huge balls
of fire like the Sun and very far away? And how do we know that the Earth is a smaller
ball whirling round one of the stars, the Sun? The answer to these questions is
evidence”.

Ever since I read this example by the professor I understood that we must provide
evidence, through evidence, we can prove that our assumptions are true. However, also
the evidence can be used to determine if the process can be modified to obtain better
results.

I expected more overwhelming results, because they were happy during those classes
but at the end and after looking over the survey, I discovered that even the percentage
to keep on using the songs is higher I have to analyze why some students marked the
option “sometimes”.

In general they relate music and songs more with relaxation, practice, etc., rather than
learning and this result is logical since the research was intended to provoke a positive
stimulation for learning a second language but at the same time students recognized that
they increased their vocabulary. This research showed the results that I expected but at
the same time, there are aspects that I did not expect.

The results are not negative, they are positive, they like the use of song and music in the
class, they feel more relax, they feel that variety is necessary in the lessons, not all the
students express a strong motivation when listening to music, because some students do
not like English, it is not their favorite subject. However, the attitude is different, if they
feel relax, and happy, learning will take place easier. When the environment is
threatening, learning is not possible.

Songs and music cannot be used only to motivate students; in my theoretical

background I offer specific activities which the authors enumerate to use songs and
music in class besides the implications that they can produce.

I am happy with the results because I discover certain aspects I have never imagined
and now I want to research to discover though investigation what improvements I can
do to my practice as a teacher and to search for more options trying to be an effective
teacher.
I hope ESL teachers could use research to analyze what evidence shows.

WORKS CITED
Web sites visited

http://americo-languagemusic-motta.blogspot.mx/2008/12/music-is-frequently-used-by-
teachers-to.html

http://www.e-socrates.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=2842&parent=6440&lang=zh_cn
(accessed September 21, 2012) GUZMAN F. (2010) LA MUSICA Y EL APRENDIZAJE

http://www.eslemployment.com/articles/an-idea-for-using-songs-in-the-efl-esl-
classrooms-399.html(Accessed September 21, 2012)

http://www.ntcu.edu.tw/chin/file/29.pdf

http://www.tarbut.edu.ar/joomla/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=568:sing-sing-a-song-&catid=15:noticias-nivel-
inicial&Itemid=53(accessed September 21, 2012)

REFERENCES

Alonso D. (2011) “ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE” Nova Science Publishers

New York.

Bridley S. (2005) TEACHING ENGLISH Taylor & Francis e-library, 2005

Douglas H. (2003) The Good Language Learner- Second Language acquisition

Question PG/03/09 November 15, 2003

Konh, A. (2006) “BEYOND DISCIPLINE” FROM COMPLIANCED COMMUNITY

PUBLISHED BY Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development1703 N.
Beauregard St. • Alexandria, VA 22311-1714 USA.

Krashen S. (1982) Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Pergamon

Press Inc.

Lo, R. and H. Chi Fai Li (1998): Songs Enhance Learner Involvement Forum Vol. 36,
No. 3, July-Sept. 1998 pp. 8-11

MacKay, S. (1998) “RESEARCHING SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS”

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers Mahwah, New Jersey

Medina S. (1990) “The Effects of Music Upon Second Language Acquisition”Center

database, ERIC Document # ED 352-834

Murphey, T. (1992): Music and Songs, Oxford University Press.

Ortiz Guillermo (1991) cápsulas pedagogicas motivacionales pp: 41-46

RAFFINI, J. (1996) “100 MANERAS DE INCREMENTAR LA MOTIVACION EN

CLASE” Chapter one
Richards J. (2006) “Communicative Language Teaching Today” Cambridge University
Press 2006
Ward, S. (1991)”Using songs In”: A. Mathews, M. Spratt and L. Daugerhold (1991): At
the Chalkface. Nelson Ltd., UK.

Woodward, T. (2001) Planning Lessons and Courses Cambridge University Press pp.
162-220

Sibarah, N. L. (1999): Songs as a Magic Tonic Forum Vol. 37, No. 2, April-June. 1999
pp. 14-15

APPENDIX 1

CENTRO ESCOLAR JUANA DE ASBAJE

 SECUNDARIA TECNICA JOSÈ SIXTO VERDUZCO
ENCUESTA PARA LOS ALUMNOS DE I”E” DE SECUNDARIA

SEXO:____________________EDAD:______________ FECHA:_________________

Objetivo: Recabar información acerca del impacto de las canciones como estrategia de enseñanza para motivar a los
alumnos en la clase de inglés.

Instrucciones: Subraya o circula la respuesta que mejor se acerque a tu punto de vista.

1.- Me gusta practicar inglés con canciones como parte de la clase, explica tu respuesta.

a)Siempre

b)Algunas veces

c)Nunca

d)Explica______________________________________________________

2.- Aprendí más ingles con las canciones utilizadas en clase.

a)Siempre

b)Algunas veces

c)Nunca

Explica:_______________________________________________________

3.-La música y las canciones me a ayudan a sentirme más relajado en clase.

a) Siempre

b)Algunas veces

c)Nunca

Explica______________________________________________________

4.- La música y las canciones me motivan a aprender inglés.

a) Siempre

b)Algunas veces

c)Nunca

Explica_____________________________________________________

5.- Me gustaría que las canciones y la música sigan siendo parte de la clase.

a)Siempre

b)Algunas veces

c)Nunca

Explica _________________________________________________________

Appendix 2 Graphics showing results

Appendix 3 Sample songs used in Complete the song. Use these words.
class There are six extra words which are
not part of the song.
Hometown Glory Lyrics
– Adele
I’ve been walking in the same way as I 1. Opaque
did
_______________ out the 2. Constitution
____________ in the
_______________ 3. Cracks
And tutting my heel and strutting my
feet 4. Fresh
“Is there anything I can do for you dear?
Is there ____________ I can call?” 5. Car
“No and thank you, please Madam. I
ain’t lost, just _____________” 6. Collide
Round my hometown 7. Different
Memories are _____________
_____________ hometown 8. United
Ooh the people I’ve met
Are the wonders of my world 9. Calendar
Are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of this world 10. Execute
Are the wonders of my world
11. Hometown
I like it in the city ______________ the
air is so thick and __________ 12. Anyone
I love to see ____________ in short
skirts, shorts and ____________ 13. Mop
I like it in the city when two worlds
_____________ 14. Everybody
You get the people and the
______________ 15. Wandering
Everybody taking ____________ sides
16. Shades
Shows that we ain’t gonna stand shit
Shows that we are ____________ 17. Box
Shows that we ain’t gonna take it
Shows that we ain’t gonna stand shit 18. Pavement
Shows that we are united
19. Government
Round my hometown
Memories are fresh 20. When
______________ my ____________
Ooh the people I’ve met 21. Round
Are the wonders of my world (4x)
22. Memory

DIRECTIONS: 23. Missing

 CENTRO ESCOLAR JUANA DE ASBAJE And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
“Iris” Performed by Goo Goo Dolls
I just want you to know who I am
Write the words where they correspond as you
I just want you to know who I am
listen to the song.
I just want you to know who I am
Writer: RZEZNIK, JOHN

And I'd give up forever to touch _________

1. understand
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
2. broken
And I don't want to go home right _______

3. lies
And all I can taste is this __________
And all I can breathe is your __________
And sooner or later it's over 4. now
I just don't wanna miss you __________
5. you
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd __________ 6. alive
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am 7. moment

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming 8. movies
Or the moment of truth in your __________
When everything feels like the __________
Yeah you bleed just to know you're _______ 9. life

And I don't want the world to see me 10. tonight

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be _________
I just want you to know who I am
Activity prepared by Francisco Ramírez García
And I don't want the world to see me
CEJA 2012 Zamora Mich.
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
Rihanna Umbrella Lyrics [CHORUS]
[VERSE 1] When the sun Shine
You had my heart, and we'll never We shine Together
be worlds apart Told you i'll be here Forever
Maybe in magazines, but you'll still Said I'll always be your friend
be my star Took an oath i’m a stick it out till
Baby cause in the Dark, You can't the end
see shiny Cars Now that it's raining more than
And that's when you need me ever
there Know that we'll still have each
With you i'll always share other
Because You can stand under my Umbrella

[CHORUS] You can stand under my Umbrella

When the sun Shine (Ella ella eh eh eh)
We’ll shine Together Under my umbrella
Told you i'll be here Forever (ella ella eh eh eh)
Said I'll always be your friend Under my umbrella
Took an oath i’m a stick it out till (ella ella eh eh eh)
the end Under my umbrella
Now that it's raining more than (ella ella eh eh eh)
ever
Know that we'll still have each [BRIDGE]
other You can run into my Arms
You can stand under my Umbrella It's Okay don't be alarmed
You can stand under my Umbrella (Come into Me)
(Ella ella eh eh eh) (There's no distance in between
Under my umbrella our love)
(ella ella eh eh eh) So Go on and let the Rain pour
Under my umbrella I'll be all you need and more
(ella ella eh eh eh) Because
Under my umbrella [CHORUS]
(ella ella eh eh eh) When the sun Shine
[VERSE 2] We shine Together
These fancy things, Can't come in Told you i'll be here Forever
between Said I'll always be your friend
You're part of my entity, Here for Took an oath i’m a stick it out till
Infinity the end
When the war has took it's part Now that it's raining more than
When the world has dealt it's cards ever
If the hand is Hard, Together we'll Know that we'll still have each
mend your heart other
Because You can stand under my Umbrella
You can stand under my Umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
Appendix 4

Some students’ impressions when

they entered the classroom and
listened to music in class.
Appendix 5 One of the students reporting the activities in a lesson with songs and
music
Appendix 6 student’s surveys