“The Song of Words”: Teaching Multi-Word Units with Songs

Abstract

The need to integrate songs into English Language Teaching (ELT) has been recognized on numerous occasions. Song lyrics host multi-word units which learners can reuse as building blocks in their English, thereby reducing language processing time and effort, and improving their fluency as well as idiomaticity, thus bringing them closer to the native speaker norm. We report on two studies into the effectiveness of using songs for teaching multi-word units to high-school Polish learners of English. The same items were taught to two groups of EFL learners, but only one of the groups heard them in a song. Learners' vocabulary recall was measured at three points in time relative to the teaching: before, immediately after, and a week after. The group taught with songs showed a significant recall advantage over the other group, especially when tested a week from teaching. The results suggest that songs can be an effective vehicle for teaching English multi-word units.

Vocabulary Learning Autonomy through Incorporation of English Songs: Indonesian EFL Students' Perspectives

“…Not only helping learners acquire new vocabulary, learning through songs also indirectly rehearse their newly learnt vocabulary while they are listening to the songs. Songs usually use repetitive words and expressions which enable learners to practice new words and their structure (Tomczak & Lew, 2019). This finding resonates Borisai and Dennis' (2016) findings with Thai students which showed that the students who learnt through pop songs were more motivated in learning vocabulary as they learnt vocabulary in a relaxing and fun atmosphere.…”

“…Richards and Rodgers in Macancela, Valerina, Acosta, and Stagg (2016) also pointed out that songs can be used to enhance motivation, to promote learning acquisition, and to enhance listening skills and pronunciation. Through the depiction of real-life experiences and representations of emotions (Tomczak & Lew, 2019) English songs offer to learners, songs enable learners to have long-lasting vocabulary mastery since the words they acquired through songs are contextual (Vishnevskaia & Zhou, 2019). Tomczak & Lew's study also revealed that contexts that songs' lyrics provide enable learners to have long-term memory to the acquired vocabulary.…”

“…Numerous studies on the incorporation of songs in ESL and EFL context in various countries have been conducted in the past decades. Experimental studies conducted in Persian (Javadi-Safa, 2018), Chinese (Luo, 2019), and Polish (Tomczak & Lew, 2019) contexts showed the effectiveness of the use of songs for students' English learning. Besides different contexts, studies on different groups of participants were also carried out.…”

“…Besides different contexts, studies on different groups of participants were also carried out. The groups varied from young learners (Roohani & Akbarpour, 2016;Yılmaz, 2018), secondary school students (Borisai & Dennis, 2016;Luo, 2019;Tomczak & Lew, 2019), higher education students (Javadi-Safa, 2018), and Turkish' EFL teachers and primary elementary school students (Kömür, Saraç, & Seker, 2011). The latter stressed the contribution of songs to vocabulary teaching and learning.…”

The Perception of MSU TESL Practicum Students Towards the Idea of Using English Songs with Written Lyrics in Teaching Vocabulary.

“…I believe that English songs with written lyrics could provide repetition such as 4. 16 words or rhythms which results in vocabulary recall and retention. 9.…”