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Using Songs in Teaching Pronunciation to Young EFL Learners

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 PASAA
Volume 62
July December 2021

Using Songs in Teaching Pronunciation

to Young EFL Learners

Gizem Saldıraner
MA, English Language Teaching Department, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep,
Turkey, gmeric.1111@gmail.com

Emrah Cinkara
Faculty Member, English Language Teaching Department, Gaziantep
University, Gaziantep, Turkey, emrahcinkara@gmail.com

Abstract
Pronunciation in a foreign language does not have
to be native-like. However, intelligible and comprehensible
pronunciation is required for understandable
communication. How to teach pronunciation in a foreign
language classroom matters because the effectiveness of
the activities determines the learners’ success. The use of
songs in teaching has lots of benefits from motivation to
recalling learned items more effectively. In this study, the
efficiency of using songs in order to teach young learners
pronunciation was investigated in an experimental
research design. The experimental group (n=37) was
taught using six different songs and the control group
(n=35) received texts for pronunciation teaching. All
participants’ pronunciations were graded before and after
teaching sessions by two native speaker raters. The
results of the ANCOVA analysis showed that the
experimental group’s post-test scores improved
significantly more than those of the control group. The
results suggest that the use of songs in pronunciation
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teaching has a positive effect on young learners’

pronunciation.

Key Words: Pronunciation teaching, Songs in ELT

classroom, Young learners

Introduction
Pronunciation is important for clear and understandable
communication in the target language. The use of songs is a
traditional language teaching tool that makes it easier for learners to
grasp target vocabulary, grammar structures, and pronunciation.
Songs can also be selected to model lexical, structural, and cultural
elements in the target language. More importantly, songs can help
learners acquire the pronunciation of new words (Ulate, 2008) in a
stress-free environment which makes learners more receptive to new
information (Lee & Lin, 2015). There are a variety of methods used to
teach students pronunciation, yet, the use of songs should be among
teachers’ first choices to enthuse learners whilst lowering their
affective filter (Gürbüz, 2010). Moreover, music has beneficial effects
on the brain, and it helps us learn and remember things more easily
(Murphy, 1990). Therefore, it is pedagogically desirable for language
teachers to use songs in young learners’ language classes.

Literature Review
Pronunciation Teaching in Language Classrooms
Pronunciation teaching has been referred to as the ‘Cinderella’
of ELT for many years because it is usually a neglected part of ESL
and EFL teaching (Seidlhofer, 2009). Another factor hindering
pronunciation teaching is what Kelly (2004) calls the “paradox”. He
talks about teachers’ hesitation in teaching pronunciation and their
unwillingness to teach it. He states that experienced teachers usually
feel a personal lack of knowledge about pronunciation and
pronunciation teaching theories while trainees and new teachers are
more enthusiastic about pronunciation teaching, hence, the tendency
of the former to give more priority to grammar and vocabulary.

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Some language teachers do not feel confident in teaching

pronunciation, and so neglect this skill in their lessons. Indeed, Foote
et al. (2011) found that many teachers were unsatisfied with their
teaching of the segmental and prosodic features of pronunciation. The
majority of them also wished they had been better trained in
pronunciation teaching.
Nonetheless, there have been some changes to how
pronunciation is taught in speaking classes. For example, songs have
been used to teach pronunciation in ELT classes. This approach is
supported by research that shows that music improves memory and
concentration, creates a fun learning environment, removes stress,
fosters a sense of community, and improves motivation (Farmand &
Pourgharib, 2013, p. 841).

Advantages of songs
Krashen’s affective filter hypothesis suggests that learners
should have lower levels of stress and anxiety to learn more effectively
and songs are a way of achieving this and increasing the motivation
of language learners. Lee and Lin (2015) stated that music had a
positive effect on increasing young learners’ motivation and their
attention time. Furthermore, it created a chance for shy students to
participate in the lessons, and helped young learners to be more
creative and independent. Their study also suggested that songs can
be especially useful in foreign language lessons for young learners
because they feature repetition and this eased young learners’
language learning.
Murphy (1990) describes a situation called the ‘song-stuck-in-
my-head (SSIMH) phenomenon’ that everybody experiences in their
daily lives when they hear a song somewhere repeatedly. This is an
important facilitator of learning and memory. It is therefore obvious
that students can learn target grammar, vocabulary, and
pronunciation more effectively through songs.
The use of songs for educational purposes does not only
increase young learners’ motivation but also has some beneficial
effects on brain development. Schlaug et al. (1995) explain that a

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musician’ corpus callosum is larger, which causes stronger

relationships between the two hemispheres of the brain. This is
important because the stronger the connections between the two
hemispheres of the brain are, the more successful individuals are in
using their brain. Apart from having influences on our brain, music is
also related to language. Patel (2003) asserts that there is some
neuroimaging research that illustrates the mutual activation of brain
areas responsible for music and language.

Songs and Young Learners in Language Classrooms

The term “young learners” includes learners between the age of
3 and 15, although it can be divided into categories according to the
learners’ developmental stages (Nunan, 2011) during which according
to Çakır (2004) motivation is important for learning and can be
increased by providing gratifying and attractive activities. However,
young learners are usually energetic and much more eager to learn
than adults. Nevertheless, they are also more susceptible to
discouragement than older learners during lessons. Hence,
instructors need to be particularly mindful of their behavior and how
they speak to young learners to avoid demotivating them (pp.
135150). As Gürbüz (2010) underlines young learners’ classrooms
should therefore be fun, creative, motivating, and interesting and
cater to their shorter attention spans than adults. Young learners’
innate love of songs can be utilised to make lessons fun for them as
well as teach them essential aspects of the target language and is
keeping them motivated. In fact, chants and songs are essential for
young learners to learn the oral skills of the language such as
intonation, pronunciation, and speech rhythm (Forster, 2006).

Songs and Language Learning

Using songs and music as a tool for language learning has
several positive effects. Firstly, it makes learners more engaged in
language learning activities in the classroom (Boothe & West, 2015).
Indeed, in their research studies, Farmand and Pourgharib (2013)
point out that music:
• Improves memory,

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• Improves concentration,
• Causes learning English to be fun,
• Removes stress,
• Improves a sense of community to a group,
• Improves motivation. (p. 841)
Since just about everybody enjoys music, whether by listening
to it, singing, or playing an instrument, it is undeniable that music is
beneficial to all no matter what age. However, when it comes to
language learning, a particular benefit is students can reduce their
stress by learning with music. There is also an established
relationship between music and sustaining motivation. Indeed,
according to the results of a survey answered by 36 intermediate and
advanced learners of English in Japan, Jones (2010) concluded that
all learners liked listening to music. In fact, 86% of them reported
that they listen to music while studying. The reasons learners gave to
explain why they preferred listening to music while studying were to
feel motivated, to focus on their material, to relax, and to feel good.
This supports our observation that unmotivated young learners with
poorer attention spans can be motivated through the use of music as
it creates a positive environment for them to be more focused. It is
also recognized that music helps us retain words and expressions
much more effectively.
Jones also investigated what effects students think music has
on their learning and found that most students believe music
improves their mood. Secondly, students mentioned that music has
an effect on how they recalled English vocabulary and they exhibited
better language skills due to music. However, the proportion of
learners who liked listening to music in the classroom was a bit lower
than those who liked listening to music whilst studying. With 69.4%
of them enjoying music in the classroom.
Tegge (2018) states in her survey that most teachers believe
that songs are useful language teaching tools in classes and that they
use them in their lessons: 69% reported using songs to teach
vocabulary, 56% when teaching pronunciation/prosody and more
than half reported teaching grammar through songs. Since students

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most probably listen to songs outside the classroom and may have
experienced the “song stuck in my head” phenomenon, we can
deduce that songs help students learn language faster.
When Alisaari and Heikkola (2017) investigated teachers’
beliefs and their practices regarding singing, listening to music, and
reciting poems as teaching techniques in their language classes,
teachers reported that listening to songs is primarily the most
effective teaching technique but others (singing and reciting poems)
were also considered highly effective. Statistically, teachers’ responses
indicated that singing is more effective in aiding word recall than
reciting poems. Unsurprisingly, all teachers who made use of singing
often considered it an appropriate technique for teaching
pronunciation as well as other skills. Overall, teachers thought that
melody, rhythm, and rhymes help students to remember things
easily. Except when it came to comparing teachers’ beliefs and
practices, the researchers found that “singing and reciting poems are
seldom or never used and listening to songs is seldom used or only
used occasionally” (p. 128). On the other hand, most of the teachers
held positive opinions about the benefits of all three techniques. For
instance, they acknowledged that music creates positives feelings for
students and increases their sense of togetherness. All the same, only
half of the teachers who had positive attitudes toward these three
techniques actually used the techniques.
Klimek (2017) investigated the effects of music on vocabulary
learning and more generally on language acquisition for young
learners. Her study included 84 young learners (61 kindergarten and
23 second-grade students). There were two groups: a music group
and a no music group for each grade. She analyzed state-governed
exam results to study whether there were any differences between the
scores of each group. In addition, she conducted interviews with the
teachers and a director. The analysis of the exam results showed that
the use of music does not create any statistical difference between the
scores of the music and the no music group. However, although it
was not apparent that music caused any difference in language

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learning, the teachers and director still felt that music may be
beneficial for young learners in language learning.
Albaladejo et al. (2018) conducted a study to investigate the
effects of vocabulary presentation type on young learners’ vocabulary
learning. They formed three presentation groups namely songs,
stories, and a combination of both. According to the results of the
study, the researchers concluded that the story group was the best
among the three. Moreover, the combination group did better in the
post-test than the song group. There was a statistically significant
difference between the scores of the pre-test, the immediate post-test,
and the delayed post-test of the story and combination groups,
excluding the song group’s scores which did not improve significantly.

Young Learners, Songs, and Pronunciation

Forster (2006) implies that the use of songs and chants with
young learners enables them to be better at rhythm, intonation, and
pronunciation and that they are of vital importance for young
learners to learn oral language skills such as intonation,
pronunciation, and speech rhythm.
Moradi and Shahrokhi (2014) worked with young learners to
research if music affects pronunciation and intonation, along with
stress pattern recognition. They played songs in the experimental
group’s lessons; but just read lyrics and sang songs with students
without music in the control group’s lessons. Their post-test analysis
showed that music had a positive effect on supra-segmentals and the
researchers concluded that students in the experimental group
learned pronunciation better with music.
Ghanbari and Hashemian (2014) conducted a study to find out
if songs affect the listening comprehension and pronunciation of
young learners. They used songs in the experimental groups and
continued with ordinary listening texts in students’ English books in
the control groups. Their experiment sessions lasted for 12 weeks and
the researchers administered a post-test after conducting their
sessions. According to the results, the song groups were more
successful than the control groups in listening comprehension and

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pronunciation suggesting that music can improve learners’ listening

and pronunciation skills.
Shehadeh and Farrah (2016) investigated the effects of songs
on young learners’ vocabulary acquisition and pronunciation. They
also conducted questionnaires with teachers to identify their opinions
about the use of songs. Results showed that the experimental group
did better in all post-tests, which exemplified the positive effect of
songs on young learners’ vocabulary and pronunciation
achievements. Teachers mostly believed that songs increased
motivation and helped students learn but that they cannot be used to
teach sentence structure.
So far, the literature on the role of music in language learning
has mainly focused on the effects of songs on the language
achievements of high school learners or adults. Fewer research
studies on the relation between songs and pronunciation were carried
out with young learners. Accordingly, this study will greatly
contribute to the current literature because its target group is not
very young learners (aged 37) or adult learners but young learners
(aged 812).
Another focal point in this paper is to compare songs-based
lessons with text-based lessons. For although some experimental
research studies have investigated the effectiveness of songs, these
researchers used songs as a motivational tool during some part of the
lessons. Other studies used lyrics for the control group. In the
current study, the teacher taught fully song-based lessons and
researchers also compared songs to texts that were not lyrics in the
control groups. This study examines the importance of music and
songs in language learning, especially with young learners aged 812
and offers strategies for teaching fully song-based lessons in order to
improve the English pronunciation of students.

Research Questions
The literature review summarized above shows the effects of
songs in terms of affective aspects such as motivation, stress, anxiety,
social factors, and physical factors. Still, to the best of our knowledge,

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there are not many studies on young learners’ pronunciation and

songs. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of songs with
original texts (not lyrics of the songs) with a focus on young learners’
pronunciation of English. Therefore, this study intends to reveal the
value of using songs in young EFL classes to teach pronunciation. In
this respect, the following questions were constructed to guide the
study:

1. Does the way pronunciation is taught (through songs or text)

affect the pronunciation skills of students in a young learners
EFL classroom?
2. Are there any differences between the two groups in terms of
students’ affective and motivational states?

Methodology
Research Design, Context, and Participants
This quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design
was conducted in a state secondary school in south-eastern Turkey.
The participants were selected based on convenience sampling in two
groups: one song based group, and one reading text group. The case
study lasted for 8 weeks. All participants were aged between 10 and
12 years and had similar backgrounds. They had been learning
English since the second grade and their English levels were mostly
similar. The total number of participants was 72, 37 in the song
group (25 male and 12 female students) and 35 in the reading text
group (18 male and 17 female students).

Instruments
Six different texts were used to evaluate students’
pronunciations of the target words and teacher diary notes were used
to record students’ level of motivation in pronunciation lessons.
Researchers used texts to investigate the first research question
(pronunciation) and teacher diary notes to investigate the second
research question (motivation).

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Texts for Pronunciation. These texts included target words that

were selected from the songs used in the case study. Before creating
the assessment texts, the target words were selected from each song.
The target words were unfamiliar to the participants, and the
pronunciations of the target words could not easily be predicted by
learners. Since the participants in this study were not upper-level
students, most of the target words were completely new words for
them.
All songs included 912 target words and different texts were
created that included the vocabulary in each song. All texts were
written originally by the researchers and checked by native speakers.
Students first read the texts as a pre-test, then they read them for the
second time as a post-test when the lessons of each song ended.
Researchers preferred using texts as pre-test and post-test to make
sure that students would see the vocabulary in context rather than in
a vocabulary list in isolation. Voice recordings of the students were
taken to evaluate their pronunciation. Since English teachers in
Turkey have not taught phonetics at that grade, the pronunciations of
the target vocabulary were instead rated by native speakers.

Teacher Diaries for Students’ Motivation. One of the diaries

authors was the teacher of the classes in this case study. The teacher
monitored the students to follow their interest and motivation toward
the classes in each group every week. The teacher kept a diary and
took notes about students’ enthusiasm, motivation, and the names of
the students who participated in the lessons. While students were
completing their exercises on the worksheets, the researcher wrote
her notes. These notes helped researchers to follow changes in
students’ motivations throughout the sessions.

Procedure
Six different pop songs were chosen for the research based on
the student profile. Lyrics, rhythm, and video clips of the songs were
examined carefully for young learners. The list of songs is presented
in Appendix I. Before starting the case study lessons, the teacher took

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recordings of all the students on the same day. Students’ voices were
recorded one by one outside the classroom to prevent students from
feeling nervous and shy in front of their friends. When the pre-
recordings were finished, case study sessions began for both groups.
Two hours a week were dedicated to case study lessons and all
remaining lessons continued according to the national curriculum. In
each case study session, the control group practiced reading texts
and related worksheets (including pre-activity, main activity, and
post-activity) prepared by the researchers, while the experimental
group studied the songs and related worksheets. The control group
listened to the vocalization of the texts by an online voice readout
website and then by the teacher. Similarly, each lesson included a
read-aloud session to match the teaching conditions with the
experimental group because they had songs and they practiced
pronunciations by listening and singing. After each case study
session, the teacher asked students to practice their song/text at
home for a week. The following week, the case study sessions started
with the practice of the text for the control group and with a karaoke
activity for the experimental group followed by post-test recordings.
Sessions continued with a new song/text each week. Pre and post-
test recordings were not taken from all students for each song/text
due to practicality; instead, each song/text had its own case study
group including 6 students. There were two native English-speaking
raters for the assessment of the pronunciation of the keywords. The
raters anonymously listened to recordings of the students and rated
keyword pronunciations between one and ten.

Data Analysis
For the quantitative data analysis, the raters analyzed each
student’s keyword pronunciations in pre and post-test recordings and
rated them between one and ten. These ratings were analyzed using
SPSS v.23.0 software. Mean pre-test and post-test scores for
keywords were calculated for each rater in the song and reading text
groups. Finally, there were two pre-test means and two post-test
means calculated from scores of two raters for each group.

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The Shapiro-Wilk test showed that the data were normally

distributed, W (37)=0.98, p=0.78; and for consistency and reliability
of ratings, Pearson product-moment correlations for concordance
between the scores of two raters were calculated with results
suggesting that the ratings for the song and text group were
consistent. The results of the test revealed that there was a
statistically significant correlation between the two raters for pre-test
(r= .76, N=72) and post-test (r= .79, N=72) (r>.05), which showed that
the two raters’ scores were highly correlated with each other.
Since the experimental and control groups of the study were
formed within classes that students already attended, the researchers
were not allowed to change the classes of any students. There was
also a risk that some groups had better pronunciation before
commencement of the study although the English levels of each class
were very similar. Therefore, the pre-test scores of both groups were
used as a covariance, and an analysis of covariance test (ANCOVA)
was carried out to check the intra-group and inter-group effects of
treatment on post-test scores.
For qualitative data analysis, diaries kept by the teacher were
transcribed and qualitatively analyzed by the researchers. The
teachers’ remarks and notes on the students’ affective and
motivational states were noted in the analysis.

Findings
The findings of the study are organized and presented based on
the research questions:

Does the way pronunciation is taught (through songs or reading

text) affect the pronunciation skills of students in a young learners EFL
classroom?
To find out the effectiveness of the songs in teaching lexical
pronunciation two ANCOVA tests were performed. Since there were
some confounding variables related to the original level of the
learners, pre-test means of both groups were controlled and post-test
means were treated as the dependent variable. A Pearson

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correlational test was performed to check whether the two raters

made similar judgments. The results of the test revealed that there
was a statistically significant correlation between the two raters for
both pre-test (r= .76) and post-test (r= .79). The values of correlation
analysis showed that the two raters’ scores were highly correlated
with each other. This is crucial for the study because it means that
both raters gave similar points for each item. The two raters’ scores
were examined. The mean scores of each group were calculated for
pre and post-test, based on all the words pronounced by the
participants. Table 1 gives the descriptive findings pre and post-test
results.

Table 1

Descriptive statistics for mean pre- and post-test of raters

Group M (SD) Minimum Maximum

Song 2.48 (0.80) 1.00 4.18
Pre-test
Story 1.66 (0.32) 1.00 2.27
Rater 1
Song 3.70 (0.87) 2.50 5.00
Post-test
Story 2.46 (0.68) 1.10 3.64
Song 2.86 (0.70) 1.56 4.55
Pre-test Story 2.54 (0.79) 1.00 5.00
Rater 2 Song 3.45 (0.78) 1.55 5.00
Post-test
Story 3.18 (0.71) 2.10 5.00

According to the results of the descriptive statistics, based on

the scores of the second rater, the mean of pre-tests for the
experimental group and the control group consecutively were 2.86
and 2.54 while post-test means were 3.45 for the experimental group
and 3.42 for the control group. The minimum and maximum values
of groups were a bit different in terms of their improvement scores
when compared to those of the first rater, nonetheless, it is not
possible to comment on the significance of this difference by
examining only these values. Minimum values of the experimental
and control group were 1.56 and 1.09 for pre-test, while maximum
values were 4.55 and 5. For the minimum values of post-test, the

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experimental group scored 1.55 while the control group scored 2.10,
which was interesting and different from the first rater situation.
Similarly, maximum values were reported as the same for the two
groups which was 5.09.
To test whether the data set was normally distributed or not, a
Shapiro-Wilk test was implemented for the four groups of data: two
pre-test sets and two post-tests sets from each rater. According to the
results of the test, the data sets were normally distributed except the
post-test score set of the experimental group from the first rater (p >
.005).
After determining the means for tests, an ANCOVA test was
carried out to see whether there was a statistical significance between
the song group and the text group. A statistical analysis was
conducted independently for each rater’s scores to detect if there were
any notable contrasts between the two raters. Table 2 illustrates
ANCOVA results for the difference between pre and post-test mean
scores.

Table 2

ANCOVA test results for the difference between pre and post-test mean scores

Rater 1
Source SS df MS F P n2
Pronunciation comprehensibility
pre-test (Covariate) 25.51 1 25.51 96.73 0.00 0.58
Post-test 2.46 1 2.46 9.32 0.00 0.11
Error 14.23 69 0.20
Rater 2
Source
SS df MS F P n2
Pronunciation comprehensibility
pre-test (Covariate) 8.28 1 8.28 32.47 0.00 0.69
Post-test 0.87 1 0.87 4.25 0.04 0.05
Error 14.23 69 0.20
a. .073 MS (Group) + .927 MS (Error)
b. MS (Error)

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For Rater 1, an ANCOVA test was carried out and revealed that
the students’ lexical pronunciation in the song group (M = 3.70) was
more improved than those in the text group (M = 2.46), F (1.69) =
9.32, p = .003. The resulting F value indicated that there was a
difference between variables, and it was not very likely to be by
chance, yet with a Partial Eta Squared value of .11 indicating a small
effect of the procedure. For Rater 2, another ANCOVA test was
conducted revealing that as with Rater 1, there was a statistically
significant difference.
This divergence, between the post-test results of students in
the song group and those of students in the reading text group (F
(1.69) = 4.25, p = .043.) with a low effect size (ηp2 = .05 clearly
indicated that there was a statistically notable contrast between the
experimental and the control group (p < .05).

Are there any differences between the two groups in terms of

students’ affective and motivational states?
According to the teacher diaries, students were more motivated
by instruction through songs than texts. From the classroom
observation, more students participated in the lessons in the
experimental group than in the control group. However, there were
fewer students taking part in the activities in the control group. From
the record, only the most hardworking students participated, which
demonstrated that the students’ motivation within the control group
was not simply triggered by the participants’ general interest in
lessons.
The report also showed that the students in the experimental
group kept asking when and which song they would study next until
the “experiment lesson” day. Their enthusiasm was such that no
students wanted to be excluded from the song activities, and that
they were very eager to participate. All these findings revealed that
the use of songs in an EFL classroom of young learners increases
students’ motivation and makes them more eager and receptive to
learning.

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Discussions
The Use of Songs Compared to Texts
Research on the effects of songs has usually investigated the
relationship between songs and vocabulary learning and/ or word
recall. The current study revealed that the use of songs also improves
learners’ pronunciation. The difference between the use of songs and
texts in the “experiment lessons” was indeed noteworthy. Although,
the improvement proportion of students’ pronunciation may have
been small, the time allocated for the “experiment lessons” with songs
was not enough to see a real development of all the students but if
the students had more lessons using songs, their pronunciation could
have improved considerably more. As a result, the improvement ratio
of students’ pronunciation in this study would have been higher.
Similar to this study, some other research on pronunciation and
songs by Forster (2006), Ghanbari and Hashemian (2014), Moradi
and Shahrokhi (2014), Shehadeh and Farrah (2016), and Yusmita
and Angraini (2017) supported the notion that the use of songs has a
positive effect on foreign language learners’ pronunciation. The
current study obtained similar findings to these studies.
Wu and McMahon (2012) explored the effects of the musical
intelligence e-learning approach in pronunciation teaching and
compared it to the traditional way of teaching pronunciation. They
found that teaching pronunciation using a musical approach had a
positive effect on the outcomes of teaching English pronunciation to
Chinese learners. The results of their investigation supported the
correlation between song-based lessons and better pronunciation, as
demonstrated in the present paper. The ANCOVA analysis conducted
in the current evaluation guaranteed that the improvement observed
in the experimental group was a true indicator of the effects of songs.
This ANCOVA inquiry ensured that any confounding variables
between groups was eliminated, since separate groups could not be
constituted in that school setting and as Dörnyei (2007) states,
ANCOVA is useful in studies that try to compare the differences
between pre-test and post-test of groups. Therefore, the researchers
in the current study were able to control the pre-test scores which

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might have been different due to variations in the learners’

backgrounds.
Tegge (2018) asked 398 teachers to take a survey to find out if
they believed songs were useful in language learning and if they used
songs in their lessons. Tegge concluded that songs were useful in
language classes and they facilitated second language learning. She
also stated in the results of her survey that most teachers used songs
in their lessons. Because students often listen to songs outside the
classroom, they come to experience a “song stuck in my head”
phenomenon. In fact, it was reported that the students in the
experimental group were very eager to hear about the new song they
would get to study. Due to the “song stuck in my head” phenomenon,
they ended up singing it after classes too. The current study
confirmed the results of the study conducted by Tegge (2018): songs
helped students to learn the language.

The Motivation of Learners in Song-Based Lessons

Notes in the teacher diary indicated that the motivation and
participation levels were higher in the experimental group than in the
control group. In reality, students from the control group did not
show any obvious interest for the “experiment lessons” in comparison
with their ordinary teaching sessions.
The results of this study confirm the findings of other studies
on the effects of songs on motivation. In conclusion, this investigation
highlighted that using songs and singing in the classroom increases
motivation, lowers anxiety, and creates a relaxing atmosphere.
Farmand and Pourgharib (2013) explained in their review that
students thought that music helped them to learn and increased their
motivation during the lesson. The researchers drew similar
conclusions after reading the comments of the learners from the
experimental group. The students described the fun they had during
the song based lessons and how songs increased their motivation to
produce the target language in class. Those learners gave an account
about how music brought some enjoyment to the classroom and how
songs helped them learn effortlessly. Similarly, Dzanic and Pejic

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(2016) pointed out that students liked songs in English classes

because songs were fun and interesting.
Although limited in number, some studies imply that songs do
not have any positive pedagogical value; but instead, affect the
learning process negatively. It was concluded in one of those studies
that songs might prevent learners from focusing on the teaching point
(Azadi 2015, p. 236). Opposing results of studies can be due to how
songs are used. For instance, the choice of songs may affect the
outcomes of the lessons. If songs or activities based on these songs
are not appealing enough to learners, they may feel lost in the lesson.
As a result, learners may have difficulty focusing on the target
language. Nonetheless, most of the studies in the literature, including
the current study, show that songs motivate learners; and create a
stress-free and relaxed learning environment which maximizes the
final attainment of learners in a variety of skills. This study
demonstrated that students in the experimental group had a great
deal of motivation and interest toward songs and classes.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusion of the Study
The statistical analyses of the data indicated that the use of
songs in pronunciation teaching for young learners had a statistically
significant difference compared to the use of texts for the same
purposes. The current study suggested the use of songs can be an
efficient way to teach pronunciation to young EFL learners. Research
studies conducted to identify the effects of songs usually investigated
the relation between songs and vocabulary learning and/or word
recall. These studies included some controversial results related to
the positive effects of songs on vocabulary learning. However, songs
are generally thought to affect the pronunciation of learners
positively. Studies on pronunciation and songs are quite limited in
number compared to studies on grammar and vocabulary acquisition.
Therefore, this study complements other studies on the effects of
songs on young learners’ pronunciation and motivation.

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Recommendations for Further Studies

This study included a small sample, so it is not possible to
generalize the results to all young learners in secondary schools.
Follow-up studies should therefore consider using larger samples.
Instead of a secondary school, this study could be replicated in a
primary school to compare results among young learners and very
young learners. Further studies could be designed to investigate the
effect of teaching with songs on certain sub-skills of pronunciation
such as stress, voicing, aspiration, linking, intonation, clusters, and
some problematic individual sounds for learners. It would be a good
alternative for this study to add a delayed post-test after a longer
period to see if the song effect remains. Although it may have some
generalizability limitations, a longitudinal study could also reveal
more about students’ pronunciation learning process through songs.

About the Authors

Gizem Saldıraner has been teaching English for 8 years in
Turkey. She is currently working in a secondary school in southern
Turkey. She completed her M.A. in English Language Teaching at
Gaziantep University. Her interests are foreign language teaching,
young learners, and ICT tools in language teaching.
Dr. Emrah Cinkara is an associate professor at the English
Language Teaching program at Gaziantep University, Turkey. His
research interests include but not limited to professional development
of teachers and test writers, test writing processes, teacher identity
development, and transnational teacher identity. He is currently the
Director of the School of Foreign Languages at Gaziantep University.

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APPENDIX I. LIST OF SONGS

1. Lemon Tree by Fool’s Garden

2. Fairy Tale by Alexander Rybak
3. Englishman In New York by Cris Cab
4. Big Big World by Emilia
5. You Will Be Mine by Lenka
6. Everything at Once by Lenka

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