The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Master's Projects and Capstones Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects Summer 8-15-2015 Using American pop songs in EFL classrooms MIHEA OH [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone Part of the Educational Methods Commons Recommended Citation OH, MIHEA, "Using American pop songs in EFL classrooms" (2015). Master's Projects and Capstones. 202. https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/202 This Project/Capstone is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Projects and Capstones by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i University of San Francisco Using American pop songs in EFL classrooms A Field Project Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education International and Multicultural Education Department In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language by Mihea Oh May 2015 ii Using American pop songs in EFL classrooms In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS in TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE by Mihea Oh May 2015 UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO Under the guidance and approval of the committee, and approval by all the members, this field project (or thesis) has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree. Approved: ___________________________ _______________________ Instructor/Chairperson Date iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................iv Chapter I—Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................... 2 Purpose of the Project .............................................................................................. 4 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................ 4 Significance of the Project ....................................................................................... 7 Limitations ............................................................................................................... 7 Definition of Terms.................................................................................................. 8 Chapter II—Review of the Literature .................................................................................. 8 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 11 Influence of Using Music on Language Acquisition ............................................. 12 Musical expertise & language learning .................................................................. 15 Musical training ..................................................................................................... 18 Summary ................................................................................................................ 19 Chapter III— The Project and Its Development ............................................................... 22 Description of the Project ...................................................................................... 22 Development of the Project .................................................................................. 22 The Project ............................................................................................................. 24 Chapter IV—Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................ 91 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 92 Recommendations .................................................................................................. 93 Answer key ........................................................................................................................ 81 Appendixes ........................................................................................................................ 75 References .......................................................................................................................... 95 iv Acknowledgement I would like to express my gratitude to all my classmates who have accompanied with me for the entire academic program. I am grateful that you have helped me in every challenging moment that I had. I know that I could not have finished my master’s project without your help. Dr. Popal, your lectures haves helped me to be a professional teacher in the TESOL field. I learned a lot about TESOL theories and methods from you. During the summer class in 2015, you gave a lot of thoughts and advice for me to finish my project. I really appreciate your effort and support. It has also been my pleasure working with Dr. Dixon. Your encouragement and support made me make progress on my field project. Taking Methodology of Educational Research class has prepared me well to do my project. Next, Rita Moran, an ESL instructor at the City College of San Francisco, where I volunteered as a TA, made suggestions to me not only my study but also on my future life plan. Thanks a lot for your consideration and being a role model that I want to be in the future. Lastly, I thank for my family members who always stand by me. Although studying abroad was not easy for me, I could overcome my hardship with your encouragements and prayers. I feel like I am a lucky girl to have such a great family. I would like to dedicate this project to my family. 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem Purpose of the Project Theoretical Framework Significance of the Project Limitations of the Project Definitions of Terms 2 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem Second language acquisition is not an easy task. For adults, it takes longer when they learn a second language, and they would feel more stressful than young children. According to the Critical period hypothesis research by Eric Lenneberg, there is an ideal time to learn language, which is around the age of puberty. Because of this, specialized skills and resources are urgently needed for adult language learners who have passed critical period for language acquisition. Considering the social context of Korea and its globalized status, the importance of having the ability of speaking English as a foreign language is increasing. However, Korean education doesn’t offer effective communicative curriculum for students in class. In fact, many students in Korea feel afraid of having a conversation with foreigners in English when they meet them in the street. Kim (2013) stated “Although they had studied English for many years in Korea, a majority of their English curriculum in school and in afterschool programs was preparation for the grammar and reading-based college entrance exam.” This is due to the fact that they are focused on grammar oriented teaching. Grammar-based curriculum doesn’t fulfill what students want in real life. Therefore, the development of good curriculum by using unique methods is essential for language acquisition. Griffee (2007) stated that although everyone knows that songs are beneficial, people don’t know why using songs are influential. In language teaching, using songs in EFL classrooms can be a valuable tool for two reasons. Firstly, it can make the students comfortable and build Students’ interest. Gardner (1985) considers motivation as a goal directed and defines it as “the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes toward 3 learning the language” (p. 10). Freeman and Holden (1986) also argued that using authentic materials can be a useful way to boost the learners’ motivation since they are more intriguing compared to other artificial materials. Using songs in ESL.EFL classes can make English language lessons fun and creative. In addition, both teachers and students will succeed in achieving their goal and students will have less stress learning second languages. Another reason why Music is a powerful tool as a teaching resource in the class is because music lowers students’ affective filter and enables them to understand oral input. Swaminathan& Gopinath (2013) state, “Like language, musical system are also sometimes thought of as communicative tools. Given the perceptual and functional similarities, and overlap in the cognitive resources required for processing music and language is plausible (P.164) Another similarity of language and music is that both are having acoustic parameter such as pitch and duration. Parker (2000) maintains that understanding of nonnative speakers’ speech can be differentiated through “quasi-musical, prosody features, and intonation. Since languages, especially for speaking parts in English, have intonation and stress, these musical aspects (pitch and duration) can positively affect the process of learning English as a second language. Incorporating music training and second language acquisition is a helpful way to teach English