luận văn developing listening skills through songs in teaching english a case study at tran van on high school

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BINH DUONG PROVINCIAL PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE

<b>THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY </b>

<b>NGUYEN HOAI THANG</b>

<b>DEVELOPING LISTENING SKILLS </b>

<b>THROUGH SONGS IN TEACHING ENGLISH: A CASE STUDY AT </b>

<b>TRAN VAN ON HIGH SCHOOL </b>

<b>MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CODE: 8 22 02 01 </b>

<b>MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE </b>

<b>BINH DUONG PROVINCE, 2022</b>

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BINH DUONG PROVINCIAL PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE

<b>THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY </b>

<b>NGUYEN HOAI THANG</b>

<b>DEVELOPING LISTENING SKILLS </b>

<b>THROUGH SONGS IN TEACHING ENGLISH: A CASE STUDY AT </b>

<b>TRAN VAN ON HIGH SCHOOL </b>

<b>MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CODE: 8 22 02 01 </b>

<b>MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE </b>

<b>SUPERVISED BY NGUYEN HUU THE, Ph.D. </b>

<b>BINH DUONG PROVINCE, 2022</b>

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<b>ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS </b>

I would like to thank the following people; without their invaluable instructions, encouragement, and assistance, this project would not have been completed on time.

Firstly, I want to express my great gratitude to my supervisor, Nguyen Huu The, Ph.D, who spent much valuable time giving me instructions, encouragement and comments on my thesis writing.

Secondly, I acknowledge to the staff and all lecturers who are and used to be in charge of the courses at the class CH20AV02 of Thu Dau Mot University (2020-2022).

Thirdly, I am greatly indebted to my colleagues and my classmates for their valuable supports and contributions to the research. I also thank the principal, the vice-principal, leader and member of English group at Tran Van On high school, and all members in class 11A1 and 11A11 (2021-2022) for their co-operation.

Finally, I would like to send my greatest gratitude to my family. They supported and sacrificed for me during the time to do the research.

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<b>STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY </b>

I certify that this thesis entitled “Developing listening skills through songs in teaching English: A case study at Tran Van On high school” is my own work.

This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes.

I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged.

Binh Duong, September 5^th, 2022

<b>NGUYEN HOAI THANG </b>

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<b>RETENTION OF USE </b>

I hereby state that, Nguyen Hoai Thang, being a candidate for the degree of Master accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library.

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses.

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1.1. Background to the study ... 1

1.2. Aim(s) of the study ... 3

1.3. Significance of the study ... 3

1.3.1. Theoretically ... 3

1.3.2. Practically ... 4

1.4. Scope of the study ... 4

1.5. Definitions of key terms ... 4

<b>CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ... 6</b>

2.1. Listening Skill ... 6

2.1.1. The general concept of listening ... 6

2.1.2. Types of listening ... 7

2.1.3. Motivation and listening skills ... 8

2.1.4. Importance of listening skills in language learning and teaching .... 9

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2.1.5. The principles of teaching listening ... 10

2.1.6. The procedure of teaching listening skills ... 11

2.2. Songs ... 12

2.2.1. Definition of music and song ... 12

2.2.2. Elements of songs ... 13

2.2.3. Importance of songs in teaching and learning foreign language ... 13

2.2.4. Motivation and songs ... 14

2.2.5. The criteria for selecting songs in language teaching ... 15

2.2.6. Activities through the utilization of songs ... 16

<b>2.3.The benefits of using music and songs in Foreign Language Acquisition ... 18</b>

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4.2.3. Student interviews ... 53

4.2.4. Hypotheses ... 55

<b>CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ... 58</b>

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5.1. Conclusion ... 58

5.2. Suggestions ... 60

5.3. Limitation of the study ... 61

5.4. Recommendation for further study ... 61

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<b>LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS </b>

<b>Abbreviations Description </b>

CLT Communicative Language Teaching EFL English as a Foreign Language ESL English as a Second Language

L1 First Language/ native language

PET Preliminary English Test

SPSS Statistics Package for the Social Sciences Std Standard

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<b>LIST OF TABLES </b>

Table 4.2.1.1. Medians for pre-motivation questionnaire between control and

experimental group ... 36

Table 4.2.2.1. The statistics of pre-test total ... 39

Table 4.2.2.2. The frequency of pre-test total ... 39

Table 4.2.2.3. The statistics of post-test total ... 41

Table 4.2.2.4. The frequency of post-test total ... 41

Table 4.2.2.5. Paired Samples Statistics ... 43

Table 4.2.2.6. Paired Samples Test ... 43

Table 4.3.1.1. The statistics of pre- and post-test in control group ... 47

Table 4.3.1.2. The frequency of pre- and post-test in control group ... 47

Table 4.3.1.3. The statistics of pre- and post-test in experimental group ... 48

Table 4.3.1.4. The frequency of pre- and post-test in experimental group ... 49

Table 4.3.2.1. Medians for pre- and post-motivational questionnaire ... 51

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<b>LIST OF FIGURES </b>

Figure 2.5.1. Conceptual framework ... 22

Figure 4.2.1. The most difficult language skills ... 33

Figure 4.2.2. Favorite learning method ... 33

Figure 4.2.3. Aspects of pronunciation that having difficulty ... 34

Figure 4.2.4. Favorite kind of music ... 34

Figure 4.2.5. Importance of learning English ... 35

Figure 4.2.6. Students liked learning English language ... 37

Figure 4.2.7. Students liked learning English by songs ... 38

Figure 4.2.8. Pre-test total ... 38

Figure 4.2.9. Post-test total ... 40

Figure 4.2.10. The results of pre- and post-test totals ... 42

Figure 4.2.11. Students liked listening in English class... 44

Figure 4.2.12. Listening English songs in leisure time ... 45

Figure 4.3.1. Pre- and post-test total of control group ... 46

Figure 4.3.2. Pre-test and post-test total of experimental group ... 48

Figure 4.3.3. Pre-test total ... 50

Figure 4.3.4. Comparison of pre- and post-test totals ... 50

Figure 4.3.5. Students’ interest in learning English language ... 52

Figure 4.3.6. Frequency of doing students’ homework ... 53

Figure 4.3.7. Medians of pre- and post-motivational questionnaire ... 56

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<b>ABSTRACT </b>

The current research concentrates on listening, one of the four language skills. According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR, 2001), listening is frequently overlooked, and students struggle to learn through it. This study’s goal is to evaluate the influence of songs on students’ listening skills and motivation. This study comprised two groups of 11th grade students from Tran Van On high school in Binh Duong province, who learn English as a foreign language. Interviews and questionnaires were utilized to acquire qualitative and quantitative data. In addition, a pre- and post-test, as well as a motivational questionnaire, were prepared to assess how far the students progressed after implementing the study project. At the end of this study, the average post-test score was greater than the pre-test score (Ma 5.15 < Mb 6.10) in experimental group and students’ motivation increased obviously in learning English.

<b>Keywords: </b>

<i>English as a foreign language, listening skills, songs, motivation, paired sample test </i>

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<b>t-CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION </b>

<b>1.1. Background to the study </b>

Learning a new language promotes understanding among individuals from various countries and backgrounds, as well as aids in the preservation of linguistic and cultural variety. Many experts claim that bilingualism has become vitally important as the world shifts to a global paradigm in which communities, economics, and cultures are merging and linking in ways that were not before imaginable. As a result, learning several languages has become essential in order to avoid falling behind.

Critical economic and political transformations have occurred all across the world in the last 30 years. As a result, global relationships have reached new heights, eradicating physical and geographical boundaries (Spolsky, 2009; Zakaria, 2011). These developments have also influenced language education policies and practices, since multilingualism has become a global phenomenon. With the advent of globalization, the English language has continued to flourish as a second or third language in many regions of the world.

English is a universal language that is used in almost all countries and is a foreign language that is used as the language of instruction for international communication. Educational and linguistic policy decisions made outside of the learning and teaching institutions of nursery, pre-primary, and primary school have a substantial impact on the framework circumstances controlling early foreign language learning. The amount of money set aside for language acquisition is heavily influenced by the country’s political, economic, cultural, and sociological character, as well as its international connections and level of participation in regional and global networks (Ammon, 2003).

Listening is the most essential language skill and a component of communication since it allows us to communicate our thoughts with others. According to Brown (2001), “Listening is the major component in language learning and teaching because in the classroom learners do more listening than speaking.” It means that listening is an important thing in daily life.

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Although students are aware that listening comprehension is difficult to master, they frequently disregard it. In the area of education, this becomes a problem, particularly for students. The ability to comprehend the meaning of what is heard is known as listening abilities. Students will be able to comprehend or reply to what has been asked or said through the listening process. Without successfully listening to messages that are readily misconstrued, all effective communication would fail.

The appropriate learning approach for an English teacher is essential. Learning and teaching using songs is one of the effective learning media. Creative instructors may also utilize songs to teach English through songs. Hidayat (2013) expresses that songs give a break from the textbook and workbook. For them, it is fresh and exciting. Songs may also boost your mood and increase your brain's cognitive capabilities, particularly your memory. Campbell (2003) explains that music can help a child’s academic abilities, emotional expression, and social connection to family, society, and culture. Furthermore, the teacher benefits from using songs in teaching and learning activities. Through songs, students are also content since they are learning something new.

In the context of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Vietnam, we often wonder why the majority of undergraduate students are unable to listen to English precisely, particularly in real-life settings with international speakers. Before enrolling in a university or college, the majority of Vietnamese undergraduate students have studied English for about 7-10 years.

At present, many students in Vietnam generally and Tran Van On High school in particular study English as a requirement. Therefore, they mainly concentrate on grammar, writing and reading which do not cover the full of the English language skills. Students’ level is not equal, so they are not able to learn effectively. They lack of confidence when listening English. Consequently, there are some problems about English listening of students.

Songs will inspire students to pay attention while also improving their listening abilities. Students will listen attentively and cheerfully since they are

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hearing something familiar from their daily lives. As an example (Miller, 2002), Dennis Bricault, a professor at North Park College in Chicago, Illinois, and William Bickerdike, a professor at the British Council in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, both recommended utilizing songs to help teach listening in the classroom. Their goal is to make it interesting for students to listen in class. Despite the fact that the song levels are long and the singer’s speaking ability varies, students may still enjoy the songs they are familiar with.

Furthermore, the instructor benefits from employing songs in teaching and learning activities. Through songs, the instructor can teach students about vocabulary, language, culture, social habits, and other topics. Students are also pleased since they are learning something new. Students should not always listen to their teacher's voice, which may be limited or even uninteresting.

From the background, the writer is interested in researching songs as media

<i>to teach a listening skill. By title “Developing listening skills through songs in </i>

<i>teaching English: A case study at Tran Van On high school”. </i>

<b>1.2. Aim(s) of the study </b>

The main purpose of this study was to explore ways of enhancing the listening skills of eleventh-grade EFL students at Tran Van On high school. To achieve this aim, the study employed non-traditional teaching materials such as songs to test their effects on students.

Besides, this study indicated using songs in teaching and learning in EFL classrooms affected the students’ motivation for learning English effectively by using qualitative and quantitative methods.

<b>1.3. Significance of the study </b>

Through this research, the writer hopes this research can be beneficial theoretically and practically.

<i><b>1.3.1. Theoretically </b></i>

The findings of this study can be utilized as a model for other researchers working on the similar issue of teaching listening skills through songs.

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<i><b>1.3.2. Practically </b></i>

<i><b>* For the teachers: The writer believes that this study will inspire teachers </b></i>

to apply songs in teaching English, particularly when teaching listening.

<i><b>* For the students: Students can improve their listening skills by songs and </b></i>

determine learning strategies properly.

<b>1.4. Scope of the study </b>

Based on the identification above, the writer focused on the use of pop songs to mastery listening skills. This study was primarily focused on the US-UK songs of the 2010s. The writer aimed to indicate the characteristics, and qualities of songs used in L2 classroom for their listening development.

This research was designed to have a thorough knowledge of using songs in teaching English for the 11^th graders at Tran Van On High school to develop their listening skill in the academic year 2021/2022.

<b>1.5. Definitions of key terms </b>

<b>- Second language (L2): a language learned by a person after his or her </b>

native language, especially as a resident of an area where it is in general use. (Dictionary.com, 2018)

<b>- English as a Foreign Language (EFL): “is the term used to describe the </b>

study of English by non-native speakers in countries where English is not the dominant language” (Nordquist, Richard, 2020).

<b>- Listening: “is the active process of receiving and responding to spoken </b>

(and sometimes unspoken) messages.” (Nordquist, Richard, 2019).

<b>- Listening skill: “is key to receiving messages effectively. It is a </b>

combination of hearing what another person says and psychological involvement with the person who is talking” (Vishwanath Bite, 2013)

<b>- Music: The science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in </b>

combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity (Merriam-Webster, 2015).

<b>- Language Acquisition: To learn a language without studying it, just by </b>

hearing and/or reading and then using it. This is the way we all learn our first

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language (University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, Teaching knowledge Glossary).

This chapter takes the overview context and the reasons why the writer conducted this study. The chapter discussed the background of the study and the problems of students’ skill in listening as well as the effectiveness of using songs in teaching and learning English. This chapter includes the background to the study, the aims of the study, the significance of the study, the scope of the study and the definitions of key terms.

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<b>CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW </b>

This chapter reviews the literature related to the research. It includes five main parts. Part one and two show the review of theoretical literature on Listening skill ans Songs. Part three is the benefits of using music and songs in Foreign Language Acquisition. Part four is some previous study. Part five is conceptual framework. The first part is described as follows

<b>2.1. Listening Skill </b>

<i><b>2.1.1. The general concept of listening </b></i>

In a resources book or on the internet, there are several listening definitions. Listening, in Howatt and Dakin’s study (1974), is the ability to recognize and comprehend what others are saying. It’s a procedure that entails comprehending the speaker’s accent or pronunciation, as well as the speaker’s grammar and vocabulary. In language instruction, the phrase “listening” refers to a multi-step process that allows us to comprehend spoken language. In Ronald Carter’s view (2001), listening entails not just identifying sounds but also comprehending their meaning. Students must also understand the role of the sentence when it is used in real-life communication.

Listening is a receptive skill. Mukmiatun (2009) believes that listening is a mental activity that is difficult to define since it is undetectable. Listeners must be able to differentiate between sounds, comprehend language and grammatical structures, and interpret this information both in the immediate and wider socio-cultural setting of the speech.

Listening is defined by Fransiska Ika (2003) as the process through which spoken language is translated to meaning in the mind. He says that listening includes three steps:

<i>- Hearing: A physiological process that comprises auditory acuity (hearing </i>

capacity) and auditory perception (the capacity to distinguish between sounds, mix sounds, and remember sound sequences).

<i>- Listening: Focusing, being aware, and picking clues from the environment </i>

are all examples of perceptual acts.

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<i>- Auding: Getting meaning from what is heard, linking sounds to something </i>

previously understood, organizing, envisioning, and enjoying are all acts of comprehension that begin with hearing and listening.

- The second form of listening is listening to comprehend, which aims to develop and practice students' understanding. The most common method for this sort of listening is to offer students a listening material and ask them to answer questions in order to complete a task based on the information provided in the listening material.

- Listening to communicate is the third form of listening; this activity focuses on improving students' communication skills and their capacity to speak effectively and meaningfully. This is accomplished by the integration of all language abilities and the development of the skills of anticipating inquiries, comprehending questions, taking notes, and practicing pronunciation.

Rost (2011) claims there are six forms of listening that students must be aware of. The six forms of listening are as follows:

<i>- Intensive: The student concentrates intently on what is being stated. </i>

Teacher's comments on accuracy.

<i>- Selective: The learner tries to extract important information and create or </i>

use it in a meaningful way. During the task, the teacher will intervene and provide comments.

<i>- Interactive: In collaborative assignments, the learner engages orally with </i>

others to acquire knowledge or negotiate solutions. Teacher feedback on the interaction’s form and outcome.

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<i>- Extensive: The learner hears lengthier excerpts and completes </i>

meaning-oriented activities. Teacher-directed training on comprehension methods; provided global feedback.

<i>teacher-- Responsive: The learner looks for opportunities to reply and express her </i>

own thoughts and views. A learner's production is pushed by the teacher.

<i>- Autonomous: The learner chooses its own extracts and tasks, keeps track </i>

of his or her progress, and determines his or her own patterns of engagement with others. On a learning route, the teacher provides global feedback.

<i><b>2.1.3. Motivation and listening skills </b></i>

The foundation for improving various skills in foreign language acquisition is good listening comprehension. It is, however, the most difficult of all linguistic skills for a beginner to acquire. When listening to a native speaker, a foreign language student may struggle to grasp or record his or her words (Shen, 2009).

Thanasoulas (2002) explains most adult foreign language learners have an accent that stems in part from phonological and phonetic variances between their first and second languages. Misunderstandings occur as a result of poor pronunciation. Listening should be the primary focus of foreign language instruction. A student should listen first, much like a real kid, who initially learns to listen to his or her parents before attempting to talk. Reading and writing can follow.

Keihaniyan (2013) states that listening requires complicated interpretative processes in face-to-face interactions. To identify the meaning of a communication, a sophisticated network of environmental circumstances interacts. When processing meaning, filling in gaps and synthesizing what is heard with existing knowledge are important. When communicating in a foreign language, this multifaceted processing becomes more difficult. The many cognitive and external contextual elements that impact reception, interpretation, and response creation are impossible to account for in theoretical models that aim to reflect the intricate structure of the listening process. To summarize, remembering a complicated action such as listening into a single concept has proven challenging.

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However, all models that have been proposed have one basic assumption: listening is more than just a receptive act; various physiological and cognitive processes are engaged at the same time.

Instead of asking questions, teachers increasingly promote active dialogues with others. This process of mutual meaning negotiation between speakers stimulates the cognitive and sociocognitive processes required for language development.

<i><b>2.1.4. Importance of listening skills in language learning and teaching </b></i>

Learning requires good listening abilities. In reality, language acquisition occurs mostly via hearing, and students who are good listeners are also good learners. Cameron (2001) claims that listening is the receptive use of language, and as the purpose is to make sense of speech, the attention is on meaning rather than language. Sevik (2012) says that listening is how spoken language becomes input for students. As a result, it is the initial step of learning a new language. This occurs in the classroom via listening to the teacher, real materials, or other students. It is the process of deciphering signals from many sources.

The first stage of first and second language learning is listening. Sharpe (2001) believes that improving children’s speaking and listening abilities is at the foundation of good learning. As a result, teachers who teach English as a foreign language must prioritize the development of children’s listening abilities and provide them with the finest listening tactics. Linse (2005) thinks that training listening skills is equally essential for the development of other language abilities. Teachers, on the other hand, must be mindful that any type of listening comprehension exercise must be effectively directed and have specific goals.

Teachers must determine how much processing occurs outside of the classroom as a result of the listening activity. Therefore, it seems logical to give “listen and do” tasks to complement oral instructions and to provide an auditory skimming task to accompany real content. The trick is to make the assignment as relevant to the content as feasible, while keeping real-world processing requirements in mind.

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<i><b>2.1.5. The principles of teaching listening </b></i>

Listening strategies are methods or activities that directly contribute to understanding. The way the listener analyzes the input may be used to classify listening methods. When a teacher wishes to teach the listening skill, there are several principles that must be addressed. Nunan (2003) offered the following principles:

- Students should be exposed to a variety of information processing systems: The bottom-up and top-down processing systems are the two types of information processing systems. Bottom-up processing begins with linguistic components such as words, syntax, and so on. Top-down processing, on the other hand, begins with the student’s background knowledge, which might take the shape of a content schema (generic information based on past learning and life experience) or a textual schema. The most efficient method to assist is to combine these two ways. Through a pre-listening brainstorming, students are taught English especially in Listening. The top-down and bottom-up processes will collaborate to produce a more integrated approach to data processing.

- Students should be exposed to a variety of listening situations: Students will be able to concentrate their attention on the listening materials dependent on the goal of the hearing if they are exposed to various forms of listening. Nunan (2003) described two forms of listening. The first is particular listening, in which students must listen to a text and then strive to find specific information within it. The second sort of hearing is global listening, in which students attempt to extract more basic information from a source, such as the order of events, the primary concept, and other major data.

- Teacher should teach a wide range of activities: Setting up the listening exercises assignment might be as difficult as selecting the material. The listening assignment activities should take into account the students' condition. Given the nature of the majority of listening activities, it is unlikely that they would necessitate excessive output. For example, if a newcomer listens a narrative and is required to write a summary of it, the assignment may be difficult simply because

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the student lacks the capacity to write a summary. Tasks that demand too much output cannot be completed in real time, and if a student gives the incorrect response, the instructor will have a difficult time determining whether the student did not comprehend the listening or just failed to convey their comprehension.

Steven Brown (2006) believes listening in another language is difficult, but we can make it easier by using what we know about activating prior knowledge, assisting students in organizing their learning by considering their listening purposes, and, if speaking is also a goal of the classroom, using well-structured speaking tasks informed by research. There are four principles in teaching listening:

- Activation of prior knowledge for improved listening comprehension. - Systematic presentation of listening for main ideas, listening for details, and listening and making inferences.

- Stimulating integration of real-world cultural information for students to know and share.

- Presentation of extensive listening tasks leading to personalized speaking.

<i><b>2.1.6. The procedure of teaching listening skills </b></i>

Brown (2006) states there are three procedures for teaching listening skills:

<i>- Pre-listening activities: </i>

People hardly listen to something without some previous knowledge in life circumstances. As a result, while asking students to perform listening practice, teachers should give relevant information that will help students understand what they are hearing. This is accomplished through pre-listening activities. They aid in the establishment of context, the arousal of student attention, and the activation of students' present prior knowledge on the subject. A pre-listening activity, in Brown’s views (2006), should be divided into two sections. Students should be given the opportunity to acquire new vocabulary or sentence structures from the listening material, as well as the opportunity to apply their existing knowledge.

<i>real-- Whilereal--listening activities: </i>

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While-listening activities are often used to assist students improve their ability to extract meanings from spoken language.

<i>- Post-listening activities: </i>

Post-listening activities can be used for assessing understanding. The comprehension assessment is either linked to pre-listening tasks like forecasting, or it expands on the topic and helps students recall new terminology.

<b>2.2. Songs </b>

<i><b>2.2.1. Definition of music and song </b></i>

It is difficult to define a single definition for this phrase since the notion of “music” is very subjective and can vary from location to place, from time to time, and even from person to person depending on their mood. Music, as defined by San Martin (2013), is “the structuring of sound and silence into forms that contain culturally given meaning”, and “music is everything one listens to with the aim of listening to music”.

Dictionary.com (2018) has seven entries for the term music. One of the entries says, “music is an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color”. The concept stresses music’s role in describing emotions, identifying four basic characteristics that define it. Music, according to another definition, is “the tones or sounds employed, occurring in a single line (melody) or multiple lines (harmony), and sounded or to be sounded by one or more voices or instruments, or both” (Dictionary.com, 2018).

It is obvious from the above definitions that music shapes emotions. It alters perceptions and moves sentiments. Songs, in particular, serve this job well since the lyrics give music meaning. This is incredibly pertinent and advantageous to language acquisition. In reality, a song may be an excellent language package, combining culture, vocabulary, listening, grammar, and a variety of other language abilities in only a few syllables. It can also give a casual lesson and serve as the foundation for many more classes.

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<i><b>2.2.2. Elements of songs </b></i>

Before teaching the song, the teacher must be familiar with its aspects, which include melody, rhythm, harmony, and lyrics. Shofiyah (2015) declares that the song contains three elements:

<i>- Melody: </i>

Melody is defined as beautiful music, tunefulness, and the arranging of notes in a musically expressive sequence. In music, a melody is a sequence of linear occurrences or a succession that occur sequentially rather than simultaneously, as in a chord. This sequence, however, must include some form of variation and be recognized as a single thing known as melody. The three primary components of melody are duration, pitch, and quality (timbre, texture, and loudness). The melody is made up of one or more musical phrases or motifs that are frequently repeated in various versions throughout a song or work.

<i>- Rhythm: </i>

Rhythm, which derives from the Greek words for "any regular recurring motion, symmetry," is a "movement distinguished by the controlled succession of strong and weak parts, or of opposed or contrasting situations." Simply put, rhythm is the timing of musical sounds and silences. While rhythm is most frequently associated with sounds like music and spoken language, it may also apply to visual display as “timed movement across space.”

<i>- Lyrics: </i>

Lyrics are merely the words of a song; the lyric of songtext serves not only as a complement to the song but also as an integral part of the musical elements that form the topic, character, and goal of the song.

<i><b>2.2.3. Importance of songs in teaching and learning foreign language </b></i>

Music and songs not only help to increase and reinforce vocabulary, understanding, listening, speaking, and writing skills, but they also improve the whole learning experience. Songs, as aural stimuli, increase brain activity and inventiveness in addition to linguistic differences. Learning English through music and songs requires students to play complicated interactive roles that drive them

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to participate and learn. Action research backs up the link between language and song, as well as songs’ proclivity to actively involve learners in interesting activities and exploration (Booth & West, 2015).

Music studies are beneficial to language learners. Music, Harmer (2000) says, is a great stimulant for student involvement since it speaks directly to the student’s emotions while allowing the brain to examine it. In the Art Education Partnership’s study (2011), music influences young students’ capacity to acquire important skills in academic disciplines and may have an impact on future learning processes. It sharpens attention and prepares students for success. According to the paper, “musical instruction increases the part of the brain responsible for verbal memory, recall, and retention of spoken words, serving as a foundation for remembering information in all academic courses”.

The emotional component of music makes language acquisition fun for both children and adults (Sundqvist, 2009). Sundqvist (2009) explores the effect of music listening on English learning in a web-based learning environment. The findings indicated that regular listening to a song boosts motivation to study English and has a beneficial influence on learning outcomes.

<i><b>2.2.4. Motivation and songs </b></i>

Motivation is essential for learning a foreign language. As the views of Woolfolk, Hughes, and Walkup's (2008) definition of motivation as “an internal state that arouses, guides, and maintains action,” such a state may be attained when a music listener becomes engaged in the meaning of the lyrics and digs deep into the song. If the music is in a foreign language, the student should be familiar with key terms, meanings, pronunciation, idioms, and grammar (Batluk, 2015).

Foreign language students sometimes complain about tedious English lessons. Adding songs and music to class is an excellent way to make English courses more vibrant and encouraging. There is much empirical data that supports the use of songs in the English language classroom. An increasing corpus of studies also confirms that music may be used to teach other languages (Schon, Boyer, Moreno, Besson, Peretz, and Kolinsky, 2008).

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There are further reasons why teachers use songs in the classroom. Ghanbari and Hashemian (2014) claims that “singing is undoubtedly one of the activities that produces the most passion and is a pleasant and exciting approach to foreign people's culture”. Foreign language learners may feel more proficient singing along to a song than speaking a foreign language, which boosts their confidence. Songs may also be used to introduce informal language and diverse dialects. Furthermore, most learners will be intrigued to understand the lyrics, thus consistent practice may enhance prediction and comprehension abilities.

Townsend (2011) explores there are four types of values: intrinsic value, which is defined as "enjoyment experienced while performing a task," attainment value, which is defined as performance progress, utility value, which defines potential benefits in other tasks, and cost belief, which considers possible loss of effort or time while performing the task. Thus, believing in these values influences motivation and desire to study and comprehend a song's meaning. Furthermore, emotions experienced before, during, and after the work have an important influence in motivation. Anxiety, loss of interest in the subject, and decreased motivation can all be caused by negative emotions, and vice versa (Batluk, 2015).

<i><b>2.2.5. The criteria for selecting songs in language teaching </b></i>

Jensen (2000) claims that some teachers lack basic musical understanding, and teacher-training programs do not include anything about how to use music in language education. Miller (2002) states the limitation of utilizing songs is the inability to slow down the tempo of the song when a linguistically difficult portion is playing, or to speed it up when specific parts are repeated. Some teachers think they are unable to sing. However, using a song in class for this purpose does not necessitate any prior understanding of the subject.

Griffee (1992) identifies four factors to consider when selecting a song for use in the classroom:

- Setting in the classroom (number, age, and interests of students; lesson hours)

- Teacher’s age, musical interests, and intention to utilize the song in class

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- Classroom facilities (lesson plan flexibility, classroom equipment)

- Musical composition (lesson plan and equipment such as the volume, sources of music, board, etc.)

Mizener (2008) presents a wealth of knowledge transferrable to language development in normal classrooms with young children in a survey of literature regarding the use of music in English-as-a-second-language training. The most important guidelines for music teachers relate the selection of song material. Mizener (2008) provides the following principles for selecting music for use in language development:

- The song should be beneficial in teaching at least one of the following language skills: grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, or culture.

- The music should be basic so that you can concentrate on the verbal content. - The music should contain repeating lyrics or an easily remembered refrain. - The lyrics should use standard English phrases and grammar.

- The song may have historical or cultural importance.

- The song’s accents and stresses should match the melody’s accent and meter.

<i><b>2.2.6. MụActivities through the utilization of songs </b></i>

Pre-listening, while-listening, and post-listening activities are three types of tasks that can be used in foreign language lessons. The instructor should consider what a student might do before, while, and after listening. Burdynskaya (2018) declares there are some suggestions for the stages of these activities and the kind of activities a teacher can employ at each stage:

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<i>• While-listening activities </i>

- Gap-filling: Random words are wiped out or blanked out, while particular grammatical points are blanked out;

- Wrong words: Students listen and correct them;

- Added word: Students listen and delete the additional words;

- Choosing from a variety of photos, matching pictures to the song’s theme; - Arranging the images in the order they occur in the music;

- Matching sentence halves before and after listening;

- Assessing comprehension: true/false, multiple choice, grating, etc;

- Pronunciation tasks: Students indicate stressed/weak forms, contractions, reductions, and so on. They practice connecting and rhythm in chants and songs;

- Students listen to basic songs and write down the lyrics (or portions of the songs) that they hear;

- Students play out the song’s activities. Hand/body motions (clap, stamp, click) are used in some songs to assist teachers engage students’ musical or kinesthetic intelligence;

- Scrambled sentences: students listen and place the sentences in the right sequence.

<i>• Post-listening activities </i>

- Singing the song;

- Talking about the theme or the music; - Writing a description of the song; - Creating a dialogue based on the song; - Role-playing conversations/situations;

- Debating/writing about the song's characters, events, and situations. Essentially, teachers must prepare those three parts of the lesson plan. These activities motivate students to accomplish their learning objectives and ensure that the learning process runs smoothly. If the teachers can effectively implement the three steps, the listening learning process will be successful. This implies that both the instructor and the students will attain their learning objectives.

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<b>2.3. The benefits of using music and songs in Foreign Language Acquisition </b>

Degrave (2019) explains music may help in foreign language acquisition in a variety of ways, including particular linguistic abilities (such as vocabulary, listening skills, or pronunciation) as well as more general characteristics such as motivation or attention.

<i><b>2.3.1. Non-linguistic aspects </b></i>

Several elements have been identified as influencing language acquisition, including motivation, anxiety, personality, and so on. Many of these elements may be influenced by music, which in turn influences foreign language acquisition.

Firstly, one non-linguistic benefit of employing music in the classroom involves learning styles (Mora, 2000). People have various intelligences and learn in various ways. The teacher should diversify exercises in this setting to develop the different intelligences. The musical intelligence may be addressed through the use of songs.

Second, listening to music can help with foreign language anxieties. A sensation of uneasiness or apprehension when studying a foreign language has been related to poor foreign language performance. Dolean (2016) investigates the effect of music on foreign language anxiety. He concluded that teaching through songs reduced foreign language anxiety, particularly in students with high levels of anxiety. Engh (2013a) says “music decreases affective barriers and contributes in making students more calm, making them more responsive to language acquisition.”

Third, using music in the classroom can boost motivation. Because “genuine materials are a motivational force for learners” (Gilmore, 2007), music, which is an authentic activity, and songs that employ authentic texts and language of native speakers, can contribute to the motivating component (Mishan, 2005).

Fourth, music can help maintain attention. Wolfe and Noguchi (2009) discovered that participants in their study were more attentive, focused, and engaged when listening to a musical tale vs a spoken story.

Finally, using music and songs in L2 teaching techniques gives cultural

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information of the target language: setting, vocalist, musical style, and so on are culturally rich resources for language learning.

<i><b>2.3.2. Linguistic aspects </b></i>

Another benefit of employing songs in the English classroom is that they include linguistic information such as vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammatical rules. As a result, students gain new knowledge just by listening to music.

<i>- Vocabulary: </i>

De Groot (2006) investigates the impact of background music on word recall. Following L1-L2 word pairings, several vocabulary recall tests are administered. When compared to the silence condition, recall ratings for the musical condition are greater.

Legg (2009) studies the effect of song on text recall by having students participate in an active production in which they had to either rehearse and perform a musical rendition of a poem or answer questions and play memory games. The results reveal that students in the musical condition perform better on a translation assignment than students in the non-musical condition.

<i>- Pronunciation: </i>

Schoepp (2001) states there is a substantial link between rhythm and speech. Students are exposed to the rhythms of the language when music and songs are employed in the classroom. Furthermore, popular songs contain several examples of colloquial speech. In certain songs, for example, the '-ing' ending is commonly shortened from the full '- ing' to merely a 'n' sound. This is the natural and daily language of songs, as opposed to the artificial language found in many course books, and it is an excellent method to infuse living into the classroom.

<i>- Grammatical rules: </i>

Songs may be utilized for both the presentation and practice phases of grammar courses. In a casual classroom setting, they may foster long and deep listening as well as inspire creativity and use of imagination. When choosing a song, the instructor should consider the learners’ age, interests, and the language utilized in the song. It is also important to allow learners to participate in the music

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choosing process to increase learner commitment. Similarly, Martin (2000b) claims that, in terms of children's grammatical development, there is ample evidence that, from the outset, infants can acquire and replicate big 'chunks' of language in the shape of songs and other routines, even if they cannot understand and control them.

<i><b>2.3.3. Other advantages and disadvantages of music and songs in EFL </b></i>

Not only are songs enticing to children, but they are also engaging to teachers. Songs are self-contained recordings, texts, and videos that may be used in a classroom setting. Furthermore, the supply is nearly endless, and there is a diverse choice of titles and genres to pick from. In fact, learning a foreign language through music may be viewed as an informal way of teaching known as “edutainment”. Edutainment includes applications such as games, visual materials, and music. The concept primarily grabs learners' attention, maintains their emotional involvement, and keeps them engaged in the course. This is why using music in the classroom is engaging and delightful, as well as beneficial to learning (Okan, 2003).

Although songs offer numerous benefits for learning English as a second language, there are some issues concerning their use. In Murphey’s views (1992), playing music loudly may disrupt nearby classrooms. Another issue he mentions is that some students might become overly enthused and lose sight of discipline. Another difficulty is that students’ musical choices differ, which can lead to conflicts. More importantly, many songs contain a quick speed or colloquial language that may confound or be difficult to grasp for students. They go on to say that certain songs deal with forbidden subjects like violence and misogyny, and that these songs may confuse or humiliate the students.

<b>2.4. Previous study </b>

There have been many researches on the using of songs in teaching and learning English.

<i>In Mustafa Sevik’s study (2011), Teacher views about using songs in </i>

<i>teaching English to young learners, the major goal of this study was to investigate </i>

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the perspectives of Turkish state primary school EFL instructors on songs and their use in teaching English to young learners. A questionnaire was used to collect the opinions of English language instructors (n = 52), and the findings showed that Turkish EFL teachers had strong convictions about the pedagogical worth of songs and the usefulness of employing songs in teaching EFL to young learners.

The study by Vera, Beatriz Becerra & Luna, Beatriz Becerra (2013) with

<i>the title “Teaching English Through Music: A Proposal of Multimodal Learning </i>

<i>Activities for Primary School Children” explored the use of music and songs in the </i>

teaching of English as a second language to primary school children in Spain. Results showed that music enhances linguistic intelligence when multiple ways of learning were practiced in the classroom. Students’ communicative competence and learning autonomy were improved as they were provided with strategies and techniques to continue learning out of school.

<i>Veronika Jerabkova (2016) conducted the study with the title “Using Songs </i>

<i>in English Language Teaching at Lower Secondary Schools” in the Czech </i>

Republic also proved that songs could be a very suitable tool in language learning and could be very useful in language acquisition. Moreover, the researcher pointed out the enjoyment appreciated by most of the students and the motivation they got, which was simply much more effective than the motivation ordinary exercises in their textbooks could offer.

<i>The research of the journal was from (Manal Hisham Al-Smadi, 2020) “The </i>

<i>Effect of Using Songs on Young English Learners’ Motivation in Jordan”. The </i>

purpose of this article was to look at the usefulness of utilizing songs to motivate young students in Jordan. The participants were divided into two groups from a Jerash private school. Their motivation was explored both with and without the usage of music. A T-test analysis of the data suggested that employing songs in English education for young learners was considerably helpful in increasing their enthusiasm to learn the language.

<i>In Ngoc’s study (2021), A Study on Improving Listening Comprehension </i>

<i>for Students at Ho Chi Minh University of Food Indusrty, the goal of this study </i>

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was to look at the efficacy and perspectives of students at Ho Chi Minh University of Food Industry on enhancing their listening comprehension skills through English songs (n = 120). There was little doubt that hearing was crucial to students, and they regarded listening as both vital and challenging. According to the research findings, students typically believed that music might help them learn. This was seen in the reactions of participants. The students believed that every component of the music might be used to improve their listening skills. In other words, listening to English music had the added benefit of improving listening comprehension.

The use of songs as a listening learning medium was a common theme in the five prior studies and the author’s study. The application of the song in various locations, the methodology, and the age of the students were the differences. Most studies concentrated on primary and secondary school. There were few studies of using songs to enhance listening skills for students at high school. Therefore, the goal of the study was to determine whether or not there are substantial differences in students’ listening abilities at high school when utilizing songs.

<b>2.5. Conceptual framework </b>

The conceptual framework was expressed in the following diagram:

<i>Figure 0.5.1. Conceptual framework </i>

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INPUT : refers to the students’ prior knowledge about listening competence.

PROCESS : to improve all of the students, there is a method of research was applied in this study. The writer used songs in teaching and learning in English lessons.

OUTPUT : refers to the improving of students’ listening skill, they can listen English effectively and enhance their motivation.

This chapter illustrates the theory of listening skill, songs and the benefits of using music and songs in Foreign Language Acquisition. This chapter emphasized the significance, purpose, and advantages of utilizing songs in the EFL classroom. It summarizes the empirical research studies that applied songs to improve students’ performance. Furthermore, music has been discovered to be extremely important in foreign language acquisition since it reduces emotional barriers and enhances learning. The next chapter will describe the research methodology.

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<b>CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY </b>

This chapter describes the study’s design and methodology, as well as the study’s setting, sample selection, data collecting methods and instruments, and participants. Finally, the experimental (lesson) component of this study was developed, including its materials, design and technique, and learning goals, activities, and methods.

<b>3.1. Research design </b>

The writer conducted experimental research in this study. In this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were utilized. The writer wishes to discover data and the results of a test administered by the writer to assess students’ listening ability. As quoted by Arikunto (2013), an experimental study is one of the valuable approaches to evaluate the cause and effect study, in which the writer develops songs for the students who will be tested to answer the listening skill test. The writer utilized two groups in this study (control group and experimental group) and used pre-test and post-test to determine the test findings.

This study employed descriptive statistical analysis to find out the improvement of students’ ability in listening skill. The goal of the study was to compare the scores of students before and after they were taught using songs.

<b>3.2. Research questions and Hypotheses </b>

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2. Participants in experimental group will do better on the post-test than on the pre-test.

3. Participants in experimental group will increase their motivation in learning English through songs.

<b>3.3. Setting and sample data </b>

<i><b>3.3.1. Pedagogical setting </b></i>

This study was done at Tran Van On High school, which is located in December 22<small>nd</small> street, Hoa Lan 2 town, Thuan Giao ward, Thuan An city, Binh Duong province. It was established in 2003 with only 7 classes and 330 students. Academic year 2021-2022, it had 1500 students with 40 classes (13 ones in twelve grade, 11 ones in eleventh and 16 ones in tenth grade). There are 10 groups of subjects in Tran Van On High school. English groups consists of 10 teachers (9 females and 1 male).

Most students at Tran Van On High school come from migrant worker families. Their parents always work at factories in industrial park, who rarely care about their study. Especially, learning English can be considered as the difficult and time-consuming thing because most students do not have many opportunities for practicing. They mostly focus on grammar, writing, or reading, which do not cover the totality of English language abilities. Because students’ levels are not equal, they are unable to learn successfully. They are anxious when listening to English. As a result, there are certain issues with students’ English listening.

This research was carried out over the period of five months during the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year (from 17th January to 31st May). Both groups of participants took part in 20 lessons. In present curriculum, English will be taught in 4 periods (3 compulsory periods and 1 optional period) per week. The research lasted 20 weeks in total and was taken place in the optional lesson. Each English lesson at the participants’ school was 45 minutes long, but because the school used a block schedule, the lessons were often merged into a 90-minute block. Furthermore, English classes were held twice a week.

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<i><b>3.3.2. Participants </b></i>

In order to address the hypothesis, 80 students from two classes of eleventh grade at Tran Van On High School were chosen as the research sample. Students’ level is the same and have difficulties in listening skill. Purposive sampling was used to choose two classes for this study. Each class has forty students. Prior to the experiment, all of the participants stated that they had been studying English for at least 8 years. Furthermore, pre-test and post-test were given to both classes. The experimental group received various treatments over the course of five months.

<i><b>3.3.3. Teaching materials </b></i>

The writer used songs to enhance students’ listening skill. This study was primarily focused on the US-UK songs of the 2010s. Almost songs used in the study were pop songs. Pop songs are both current and traditional tunes. The song was written with the primary purpose of pleasing the audience and achieving economic success in mind. Using pop songs in listening learning made it easier for teachers to teach the material. Students gained language learning characteristics such as vocabulary, structure, pronunciation, intonation, tone, rhymth and pace by listening to pop music. As a result, the songs taught students about culture, history,

<i>and society. (Appendix A) </i>

<i><b>3.3.4. Instruments </b></i>

<i>3.3.4.1. English-language background survey </i>

The goal of this element was to evaluate students’ English-language backgrounds, prior knowledge and experiences, musical backgrounds, challenges in learning English, preferred learning forms and techniques, and perceived value of English both now and in the future.

<i>3.3.4.2. Questionnaires </i>

Rebecca Flores (2018) explains that “A questionnaire is a research tool featuring a series of questions used to collect useful information from respondents. These instruments include either written or oral questions and comprise an interview-style format. Questionnaires may be qualitative or quantitative and can

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be conducted online, by phone, on paper or face-to-face, and questions don’t necessarily have to be administered with a researcher present”.

A questionnaire created by the researcher to investigate the difficulties that students face when listening to music.

<i>3.3.4.3. Tests </i>

The test was designed to assess student completion. In this study instrument, the author applied a listening test. The writer employed the pre-test and post-test or before and after treatment for the test. To assess the students’ knowledge of listening comprehension, a PET-based listening exam was applied. It consisted of 25 questions items that were sent to students as a pilot test. Both groups were given the tests. The pre-test was administered to assess students’ comprehension of listening, and the post-test was given to the experiment group following treatment. It sought to determine whether or not this therapy influenced students’ comprehension of listening.

<i>3.3.4.4. Student interviews </i>

According to Cohen, et al. (2011), the interview questions were organized sequentially from general to more specialized, and this structure was determined by the following factors: the aims of the interviews; the nature of the subject matter; the mix of factual, opinionative, and attitudinal feedback; the participants’ level of education; the specificity and depth anticipated of feedback; an evaluation of the participants’ motivational level; and the amount of the researcher’s own insight int.

<i>3.3.4.5. The procedure of the study </i>

The writer utilized two groups in this study (control group and experimental group) and used pre-test and post-test to determine the test findings. Songs were delivered to the experimental class as a treatment before to administering the post-test. Furthermore, the control class was taught using traditional techniques, whereas the writer taught listening by explaining through a PET-based test and speaking in front of the class. Following that, data from the experimental and control groups were compared and examined to determine their relevance. The

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