Songs and Grammar Retention

In the previous section, studies of songs as a mnemonic device for text recall were reviewed. These experiments suggested that songs—in particular ones with familiar tunes—could also serve as a mnemonic device for the target grammar structure. In this vein, Abbott (2002) declared that the repetitive nature of songs provided recurrent grammatical structures; therefore, songs can be used as good material for grammar learning. Jolly (1975) also suggested that teachers could select songs which included target grammar structures as teaching material for grammar learning. Nevertheless, few empirical experiments were implemented to establish the effectiveness of songs on grammar learning and retention. In the following section, reviews of two studies that focused on the effect of songs on grammar learning and retention will be presented.

To investigate students’ grammar learning and retention, Lin (2011) conducted an experiment in which the participants were provided with grammar practice through

drills as well as English songs. In this eleven-week treatment, the teacher covered five lessons in the textbook and provided each group with explicit grammar instruction.

After each lesson, the participants in the control group practiced target grammar points through drills while the participants in the experimental group not only practiced target grammar points through drills but also listened to songs with target grammar points. After the fifteen-minute activities, students took an immediate posttest and then a delayed posttest after one month.

The results showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in both grammar learning and retention of grammar points. That is to say, songs facilitated the learning and the retention of the target structures in an explicit learning context. However, in such an explicit learning context, songs only served as supplementary material in the grammar instruction. This study suggested that songs made grammar instruction more effective and could serve as indirect evidence of the effectiveness of songs on grammar learning and retention. Therefore, to examine the effect of songs, a study that is conducted without grammar instruction (i.e., in an implicit learning context) is required.

Lee (2013) conducted a study that investigated the effect of songs on the learning and retention of the grammar structure in an implicit learning context. The participants in this study were 76 ninth graders in a junior high school. The participants were randomly assigned into three groups: the Experimental Group A (the sung group), the Experimental Group B (the spoken group), and the Control Group. In this four-week treatment, the control group and the two experimental groups read the song lyrics of four English pop songs with the same grammar structure. All of the groups read the same text (the song lyrics) and were instructed to

learn the vocabulary and the meaning of the songs through identical activities during the learning sessions.

Although all the participants read the same text, the song lyrics were presented in different ways to the three groups. A pretest of the target structure (the past subjunctive mood) was employed to ensure that the target structure was novel to the participants, and a posttest was conducted to see the effect after the treatment. The control group listened to the song only once with no additional auditory input. The spoken group listened to the song only once and then listened to the spoken recording, and practiced the song lyrics by reading aloud. The sung group listened to the song several times in each class session and practiced the song lyrics by singing.

The results showed that pop music failed to facilitate the participants’ learning and retention of the target structure. Lee argued that the ineffectiveness of learning the target grammar structure might have resulted from the low motivation among the control and experimental groups. First, the participants were students who already had received admission to their ideal senior high schools; therefore, they may have lower extrinsic motivation for learning. Furthermore, some of the songs selected in the study were regarded as old-fashioned so that the participants seemed to pay less attention to these songs.

Despite the overall ineffectiveness of songs in the learning process, there were some noteworthy details that implied songs might still serve as effective materials in an implicit learning context. First, many sung group participants claimed they learned the target structure even though the posttest result did not support the claim. Lee argued this discrepancy might suggest the participants’ partial mastery of the target structure. In other words, the participants might have acquired some knowledge or awareness of the target structure due to the music treatment but might need more

practice to achieve mastery. Second, several participants from the sung group also demonstrated implicit learning and seemed able to distinguish the right form of the target structure (the past tense that required the subjunctive mood) even without explicit learning.

Based on the preceding studies, pop songs can potentially become a beneficial mnemonic device for text recall when learners are familiar with the melody of the songs. Pop songs may also serve as a mnemonic device for grammar learning and retention in an implicit learning context with a more systematic selection of the songs.

That is to say, high motivation may lead to better learning and retention of the target grammar structure.