In the first session of the fifth week, the posttest of the target structure (see appendix I) was conducted. The goal of the posttest was to check whether the participants had subconsciously learned the target structure after the whole learning sessions. The methodology of making the posttest and counting the scores were the same as the previous test of the target structure.
Data Analysis
The data collected in this study were analyzed quantitatively. After the one-month learning sessions, the data collected in the study included the scores of the text recall pretests and posttests, and the scores of the target structure tests.
After the treatment, the mean scores of the text recall and target structure tests were calculated to examine whether the sung group performed better than the other two groups. Moreover, the teacher’s classroom observation and a questionnaire (see appendix J) were also included in the current study to further explain or explore the unique aspects that could not be revealed by the participants’ mean scores.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether the chosen English pop songs could facilitate EFL junior high school students’ text recall performance and their learning of the past subjunctive mood. There was one text recall task right after each song instruction, and the words which the participants recalled were individually recorded by the researcher.
Results of the Text Recall Tasks
The mean scores of the participants’ text recall tasks and their target structure tasks (i.e. the listening tests on the past subjunctive mood) were calculated to analyze the text recall performance and their learning of the target structure among the three groups. The analysis of the collected data in this study will be presented and discussed in the following sections of this chapter to answer the proposed research questions.
Numbers of Words in Each Song lyrics
There were four English pop songs adopted during the learning sessions. Each song was taught for a week, and right after the final class of each song, the text recall task was conducted. The numbers of words recalled by each participant were counted and recorded by the researcher in the text recall posttests. The total number of words in Because I Love You is 119 words, 116 words in Tears in Heaven, 146 words in One of Us, and 253 words in If I Were A Boy.
The Text Recall Tasks: The Posttests
In order to test and compare the participants’ text recall performance in different
learning groups (i.e. the sung, the spoken, and the control groups), their mean scores on the text recall posttests were calculated and presented in Table 1 below. The scores were calculated by numbers of words the participants recalled. As shown in Table 1, the mean scores of the three groups in Because I Love You were 8.2 words (the sung group), 17.4 words (the spoken group), and 12 words (the control group). Obviously at the beginning, the participants in the sung group recalled the fewest words among the three groups and those in the spoken group recalled the most words.
Table 1. Numbers of Words Recalled in Each song Because I
Love You
Tears in Heaven
One of Us If I Were A Boy
Control 12 10.1 15.2 23.9
Spoken 17.4 1.4 18.4 33.9
Sung 8.2 0.8 22.2 37.8
In the second recall task, the mean scores of the three groups were 0.8 words (the sung group), 1.4 words (the spoken group), and 10.1 words (the control group). The words recalled in the sung group and the spoken group were surprisingly fewer than the control group. The possible reasons for this outcome would be discussed in the discussion section.
In the third recall task, the mean scores of the three groups were 22.2 words (the sung group), 18.4 words (the spoken group), and 15.2 words (the control group).
Based on this result, it was surprising that, for the first time, the participants in the sung group performed better than those in the other two groups.
In the fourth recall task, the mean scores of the three groups were 37.8 words (the sung group), 33.9 words (the spoken group), and 23.9 words (the control group).
Again, the words the participants in the sung group recalled were more than those in the other two groups.
In summary, the overall results of the text recall mean scores showed that English pop music could facilitate EFL junior high school students’ text recall performance. The reason is that except the second text recall task, the participants in the sung group made steady and continuous progress during the learning sessions and the average words the participants in the sung group recalled exceeded those in the control group and the spoken one in the last two tasks (As can be seen Figure Three
below).
Figure 3. Mean Scores on the Four Text Recall Posttests
Discussions about the Text Recall Tasks
In the previous sections, the results of the text recall tasks were presented.
However, some inherent noteworthy features could not be observed or explained only by the scores. Therefore, certain impressive and significant aspects in the learning
sessions were provided in the following sections.
An Overall Observation and Reflection
1. Melody does facilitate recall.
Based on the recall performance data collected from the participants in the sung group, the researcher’s observation, and the participants’ feedback, it is important to note that during the third and fourth recall tasks, the participants recalled the song lyrics by the sequence of the melody. Take the song One of Us for example, those more capable participants could almost recall the chorus part “Yeah, yeah, God is good. Yeah, Yeah, God is great. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.” Those who could recall this part completely read out the lyrics word by word, including all the “yeahs”
without one word missed. They also did it by following the rhythm of the song. In addition, some could even recall “What if God was one of us, just a slob like one of us, just a stranger on the bus, trying to make his way home.” After each participant finished their recall task, the researcher asked how they memorized the words. Most of them responded that they did it because of the melody. With the flow of the melody, they could read out the lyrics without missing any words.
Moreover, the participants who could recall more than one hundred words in the fourth song If I Were A Boy (253 words in total) recalled the lyrics almost from the beginning of the song by silently humming the melody. The frequently-recalled lyrics included, for example, “If I were a boy, even just for a day, I’d roll out of bed in the morning and throw on what I wanted and go. Drink beer with the guys and chase after girls” and “If I were a boy, I think I could understand how it feels to love a girl. I swear I’d be a better man. I’d listen to her ’cause I know how it hurts. When you lose the one you wanted ’cause he’s taking you for granted, and everything you had got
destroyed.” These parts of lyrics, to the participants, were those considered the repetitive and catchy melodies and hence greatly facilitated the recall process.
Furthermore, according to the received questionnaires, the participants in the sung group agreed that the melody of a song facilitated the recall process and served as a beneficial mnemonic device for memorizing the lyrics. One participant in the spoken group even suggested that he would like to listen to the songs more times so that he could better recall the lyrics. By writing this opinion, he wanted to let the researcher know that the more familiar the melody was to him, the more memorable the lyrics would be.
2. Mutual trust between the teacher and the students is significant in language classrooms.
During the whole experimental duration, due to the unfamiliarity between the teacher and the students, the first two song instructions were going rather difficult.
The reason for this condition was that almost all of the students were not from the teacher’s original classes. It was observed that those who were familiar with the teacher did actively participate in the activities and tasks, while those who were not originally in the teacher’s classes, tended to be more passive during the learning sessions. Such passive behaviors were even more serious when the second pop song was instructed, as can be seen in Table One. Two possible reasons could help to explain such results. First, the chosen pop song Tears In Heaven was not interesting to the participants. Second, the teacher was unable to hold the participants’ attention for the music instructions. More specifically, the participants seemed to doubt the teacher’s intention to teach pop songs and distrust the teacher’s teaching materials and methods.
In order to change the students’ indifferent attitude in class, the teacher talked
individually with the students at the end of the second week. She patiently asked how the students felt about the music instructions. She did it in order that she could learn more about the students’ feelings, tried to modify and give them more appropriate teaching method in class. At the same time, she also encouraged the students to participate in the classroom activities and showed them her enthusiasm for English teaching. Surprisingly, things started to change after the third song started. It was possible that the students had already learned that the teacher did care about them, and they had become more familiar with the teacher, so they were more willing to involve themselves in the class activities and tasks without feeling defensive, embarrassed, or shy. Therefore, based on the teacher’s classroom observation, the students worked hardest and performed best during the last learning session--the phase at which the students and the teacher had established a firmer relationship with each other.
3. Pop music is NOT always popular with everyone.
Pop music has different definitions. According to Macmillan English Dictionary (2007), pop music is defined as “a type of music, usually played on electronic instruments, that is popular with many people because it consists of short songs with a strong beat and simple tunes that are easy to remember (p. 1151-1152).” Based on Campbell (2005, p. 15), two of the definitions of popular music are: “Popular music appeals to a large percentage of the population” and “popular music is familiar and widely heard.” However, in the opinions of the participants in this study, pop songs are considered to be those which are close to their lives, that is, they should be recently released, or at least, they should be heard by the young generation. As a result, the chosen pop songs Because I Love You and Tears In Heaven were viewed as old-fashioned songs and hence were less popular among the participants. However, the last two songs, One Of Us and If I Were A Boy, were more popular with the
teenagers, which made the participants pay a lot more attention to the song instructions.
4. Intrinsic motivation is important.
During the four-week learning sessions, it was observed that during the first and second weeks, the participants seemed to lack in motivation to learn anything in class.
They usually appeared to be sleepy, inactive, and aimless in class. One possible reason was that they had already had the admissions from senior high schools or the vocational ones. There seemed to be no purposes for the participants to study for, because in Taiwan, English is a foreign language and they have no opportunities to practically use it in daily lives. Therefore, when there no longer existed any reasons for learning except for tests, the participants ceased to learn the language.
Furthermore, another possible reason for the participants’ lack of motivation was that the pop songs Because I Love You was too old and unexciting, and Tears In Heaven was too miserable and sorrowful for teenagers. According to the received
questionnaires, the participants favored and were more interested in One Of US and If I Were A Boy than the previous two songs. Therefore, based on the students’ reactions
in class and feedback, if the chosen pop songs can be more appealing to the participants (i.e. the composing music style sounds more modern or the latest albums released by the famous artists recently), it is more possible that their intrinsic motivations should be enhanced.
5. Pop music instructions can enhance low-proficient learners’ motivation for language learning.
Before the beginning of the experiment, it was made sure that the participants’
English proficiency level in the three groups was comparable to one another.
Nevertheless, there still exist 18 participants whose average scores were below 60
points (i.e. they failed the graduation requirement of English). It was noteworthy that the most low-proficient participants were in the sung group, and hence it appeared that they might have the least motivation during the learning sessions. However, based on what the teacher observed, it was rather surprising that nearly at the end of the experiment, the low-proficient participants in the sung group were the most motivated ones. They participated most actively in the activities among all the participants, and were the most willing to recall the lyrics, although they might not remember many of the words. Overall, combined with the participants’ opinions on the questionnaires, it was obvious that the pop songs did significantly enhance the low-proficient participants’ motivation. The following are examples of their feedback:
“I learned a lot from the songs,” “I felt happier when learning through songs,” “I reviewed and learned new words through songs. It makes leaning easier and more interesting,” and “Music made me eager to learn English.”
Possible reasons for the poor scores in the second text recall task
Among all the text recall tasks, it was worth noting that the participants performed worst in the second recall task. The average words recalled were 0.8 in the sung group, 1.4 in the spoken one, and 10.1 in the control group. Compared with the other three tasks, in which the average scores were almost more than twenty words, there might be certain possible reasons for this situation. First, according to the participants’ feedback in the control group, the song Tears In Heaven was beautiful but they paid little attention to it because they only wanted to enjoy the melody rather than actively learn the lyrics. On the contrary, the participants in the spoken and sung groups expressed that they did not like the song very much and therefore they just listened to the melody as background music while doing their own things such as
reading novels or resting in class.
Secondly, based on the teacher’s observation and teaching experience, the second week of the experiment was more difficult for the participants due to their aimless mental state. Without any intrinsic motivations (e.g. interests in English or music) or extrinsic ones (e.g. tests or exams), it was quite reasonable that the teacher sensed the participants’ reluctance to continue learning. Therefore, when receiving the text recall task, the participants could hardly remember any lyrics except for the title of the song.
Finally, it was also observed that the most participants fell asleep and were unwilling to participate in the activities during the learning sessions of this song. Nevertheless, after each participant’s recall task, the researcher tried to understand the participants’
feelings about the instructions, and probably, this careful consideration changed the participants’ attitude and the passive dynamics were somehow altered and had faded away after the second week.
Certain concerns about language learning in Taiwan
Among the four-week learning sessions in the experiment, there were certain notable situations observed by the researcher. First of all, it was a serious problem that almost half of the participants in each group had little or no enthusiasm for learning English when there were no extrinsic motivations (e.g., tests or exams). Before receiving the admissions to senior high schools or vocational ones, these participants had to take English midterm and final exams. Most of them studied for the purpose of exams or tests. They did it because they expected to attend better high schools in the future. However, after receiving admissions to high schools, the extrinsic motivation suddenly vanished. They no longer had a goal to work for, so the participants often chose to rest, sleep, or read novels or comic books in class, no matter how eagerly the
teacher encouraged them to participate in the pop music instructions.
Secondly, the researcher’s concern was that some of those who possessed higher proficiency level in English acted even more passively than the others in class. It was assumed that before receiving the admission, they were forced to study English either by their teachers’ or parents’ expectations or by the exams. It is quite common that parents ask their children to study hard for exams. Therefore, when there existed no exams in the near future (at least from April to August), they completely refused to participate in any English-learning activities during the learning sessions.
Finally, it was also observed that another kind of extrinsic motivation (i.e. prizes) was also crucial in this study. As previously mentioned, the participants’ lack of intrinsic motivation was a serious problem during the first two learning sessions.
However, in order to make the experiment progress steadily, the researcher involved food prizes in class. If the participants participated in all the activities for one song, they would have the opportunities to draw lots to win the food prizes. With the assistance of this extrinsic motivation, the participants appeared to be more active in class. Based on such teaching experience, it is suggested that when junior high school teachers encounter any difficulties, like the students’ lack of intrinsic motivations at the beginning learning phases, it is important for the teachers to never give up and try to think of every possible way to motivate their students, so that the students can cultivate their interests in English by the external incentives, and gradually transfer this extrinsic motivation into intrinsic motivation.
The target structure tasks
In order to investigate whether English pop music would facilitate EFL junior high school students’ learning of past subjunctive mood better than the spoken group
or the control group, one pretest and four posttests were conducted during the experiment. The result and the discussion sections are presented as follows.
Results of the target structure tasks
In order to test and compare whether the participants in different learning groups (i.e. the sung, the spoken, and the control groups) could subconsciously learn past subjunctive mood through the exposure of the chosen pop music, their mean scores on the pretest and posttests of the target structure tasks were calculated and presented below in Table 2. Since there were only five test items focused on the target structure out of twenty, the full scores of the pre- and post- tests were five points.
Table 2. Pretest and Posttests of the Target Structure Tasks
pretest Posttest 1 posttest 2 posttest 3 posttest 4
Control 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.6
Spoken 1.3 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8
Sung 1.0 0.6 1.5 2.1 1.3
As listed in Table 2, the mean scores of the pretest and the posttests revealed no apparent differences among the three groups. The range of the mean scores were
As listed in Table 2, the mean scores of the pretest and the posttests revealed no apparent differences among the three groups. The range of the mean scores were