An investigation on the effects of music on foreign language retention and learning attitude using story scripts

Former researches showed that story reading enhances the literacy skill, reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge of children (Lockett, 1992; Isbell, Sobol, Lindauer & Lowrance, 2004; Cliatt & Shaw, 1988). Meanwhile, music fosters the construction of vocabulary knowledge in children (Collins, 2013; Rainey & Larsen, 2002). While the rhythmic nature of nursery rhymes or chants facilitates memorization, singing enhances pronunciation and intonation. Music is also considered as an effective motivator in language learning. As both story reading and the use of music facilitate language learning in positive ways and are compatible, it might be more beneficial and influential to the learning of children if they are combined together. However, inclusion of music is rarely seen in applied linguistics and education research (Paquette & Rieg, 2008). Accordingly, drawing on research on both music and story reading, this study aims to investigate the potential impacts of music on language retention and attitude to language learning using story scripts on English-as-a-foreign-language beginners.

 

Charlotte is a student in Master of Applied Linguistics. She is also a certified Early Childhood teacher in Hong Kong. She is particularly interested in investigating on and advancing the language teaching pedagogy with music and children books