Abstract:

The use of music for learning and teaching languages is rapidly increasing. Many teachers now employ music as part of their language teaching processes while the learners also benefit from music outside the classroom. Factors which positively contributed to the increasing use of music in language learning and teaching include technological advancements, like the internet and smartphones, which have made music more readily available as well as portable. Being able to listen to music at any time and place, in addition to music’s pedagogical benefits and the pleasure it provides to the listeners, has made music activities a popular choice for language learners around the world. The purpose of this study was to investigate Music Assisted Language Learning (MUSICALL) from the point of view of the learners and more specifically from the point of view of English Language Learners (ELLs). Whereas earlier studies have focused on MUSICALL from the teachers’ perspectives, including how they use music in the classroom and to what extent they use it, in this study we focused on MUSICALL from the learners’ perspectives. In order to accomplish the purpose of this study, a questionnaire was administered to students who are attending a private university in Cyprus where the language of instruction is English. The participants were all students whose first language is not English but had reached a satisfactory level of English having passed all the necessary English Language requirements needed to enroll in the University. During their English Language Learning, all students had in some way used Music. The results show that learners find music to be very enjoyable and very helpful for learning the English language. In their opinions, MUSICALL is most helpful for their listening skills since they can listen to music pretty much anywhere including their homes, their jobs, the gym, in the car, while jogging and so on. In addition, they also find MUSICALL to be most helpful for their speaking skills, something which is directly related to their singing along to songs. The learners rate MUSICALL to also be helpful for their reading and writing skills but to a lesser extent than their listening and speaking skills. This is, as they report, due to the fact that many times they just want to enjoy listening to music and nothing more. They practise their reading skills by reading the lyrics of the songs they are listening to and they practise their writing skills by participating in activities like filling in the blanks with the missing lyrics. Further results show that ELLs find MUSICALL to be very helpful for enriching their vocabularies since when they hear new words in the songs they listen to, they many times look up their meaning to better understand the songs. The participating students rated the enjoyment they received from using MUSICALL as extremely high. Their main explanation for this was that they already like music, so it makes learning English fun. In conclusion, MUSICALL is an ideal assistant to learning language. In the opinions of ELLs, and according to the authors, one of the most important advantages of MUSICALL is that many times the learners are not actively trying to learn. They are just enjoying music and “the learning just happens”.

Keywords:

Music, Music Assisted Language Learning (MUSICALL), English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL), English Language Learners (ELLs).