A Study on How to Enhancing English Learning through Students Musical Intelligence

Dai Chao-long

摘 要： Chaolong Dai， 56 years old， vice senior tittle. After graduating with an English education degree in 1986， he has been involved in English education and research at Yunnan Vocational College of Finance and Economics.

關键词：foreign language learning， musical intelligence

This paper is going to discuss How English acquisition can be enhanced through students musical intelligence. It is going to introduce the concept of foreign language learning， Gardners Multiple Intelligence Theory， and what psychologist and Medina have found in their researches first. Then discuss how to use music as a vehicle of foreign language learning including how music reflects a countrys culture and social background， how music helps students make quicker progress in phonetic training， acquire vocabulary， and study grammar separately. Next it discusses how to choose suitable music. The last comes to the conclusion of this paper.

1. Introduction

The school and society that are influenced by traditional education views attach more importance on developing students abilities of language and mathematics， because students gain their evaluation mainly from those subjects. It is not difficult to find out， however， that students who are not good at those subjects show their advantages on other subjects， such as music， arts， physical exercise， or natural science. Unfortunately， those students cannot be equally appreciated. They are regarded as somehow disabled in studying by their teachers and parents. Their competence， interest and confidence， in consequence， are strangled and frustrated. Nevertheless， Chinese educators started to realize the significance of emphasizing students difference and the diversity of curriculum. “Senior High School English Curriculum Standards （Experimental）” suggests that according to the schools actual situation it can set up selective courses on a once-a-week basis. English song appreciation course is one of the forms of the curriculum. This article is going to discuss how to take full advantages of students music and rhythm intelligence in teaching， a theory developed by Howard Gardner， which can not only impart knowledge but also raise students interest and enthusiasm in learning English.

2. Literature review

2.1 English acquisition

Formal foreign language learning is a deliberate， conscious attempt to master a language subsequent to ones mother tongue. It takes place in classrooms. For instance， a student in China takes a class in English， a foreign language that not widely used in the learners immediate social context which might be used for future travel or other cross-cultural communication situations， or studied as a curricular requirement or elective in school or college， but with no immediate or necessary practical application.

2.2 Theoretical support for the use of music in teaching English

In 1983， Howard Gardner， a Harvard University professor， developed a theory called Multiple Intelligence. In Gardners theory， if one has ever done things that came easily for him， he is probably drawing on one of his intelligences that is well developed. On the other hand， if one has tried to do things that are very difficult to master or understand， one may be dealing with material that calls on one of his less developed intelligences.① If singing or playing an instrument comes easily to a person， his musical/rhythm intelligence may be very strong. And English teacher can take advantage on students musical/rhythm intelligence in enquiring a foreign language.

2.3 Psychological research on language and music

The ability to memorize is critical to the language acquisition process. Music enhances memorization. Many people experienced this situation that the beautiful melody makes their thoughts dating back to the past. Researchers of Dartmouth College， New Hampshire， US found that helping one recall the melody once heard is the responsibility of the part which is behind the prefrontal cortex in our brain， the part that acts as an important role in peoples learning and responsiveness as well. When various types of verbal information were presented simultaneously with music， memorization was enhanced （Gfeller， 1993. P.179-189）.②

3. How to use music as a vehicle of FL learning

Person who owns strong musical intelligence may have the ability to comprehend and respond to music immediately. Using music to create a study environment and study habits， listening to music that contains the new learned language structure and vocabularies， which are all excellent and vivid English learning ways as students may combine English with some certain scenes to deepen their memory.

3.1 Music reflects a countrys culture and social background

Language learning is not just learn its structural rules， but also learn about the target language speaking countys social and cultural background in order to help the learner understand and use the language with more proficiency. Music usually reflects a countrys cultural and social background taking the Beatles for an example --- the band that is an integral part of the British culture of the 20th century. Its dynamic music catered for the bandwagon of cultural liberation among the new British post-war generation and drove this trend. Its album “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” expresses an attitude of Hippies， the youth who resisted the convention and policy of 1960s and 1970s in Western countries. Sometimes， guiding students learn about the culture and social background of other countries can also give good lessons to their life.

3.2 Music helps students make quicker progress in phonetic training

Students who make quicker progress in phonetic training show more confidence in FL study than other classmates， and will probably turn out to be better FL learners in their classes in subsequent years. Usually it is easier for a person to access the accuracy of pronunciation through music. Like language has intonations music has tonality. A Taiwan singer would not be able to use standard Mandarin in her casual talk， but one can hardly recognize her local accent in her songs. As an English speaker， you can easily develop very inaccurate ideas about the sounds of Chinese if you dont have a systematic visual representation -- pin yin. In the absence of a system， adults tend to create their own representations， mentally spelling out ‘knee how‘for ‘ni hao‘. But it doesnt mean that if one knows nothing about a systematic way to tell the difference between the pronunciations of two languages， one cannot speak in a pleasant way to natives. Songs may help people to solve this problem. A foreigner is probably sing as well as a Chinese singer in mandarin. A Han people can also sing a song in ethnic language. Music helps to avoid fossilization， too. Therefore， foreign language learners can take advantages of music to grasp this prerequisite in language learning.

3.3 Music helps students acquire vocabulary

Songs， chants， poems， and raps will improve memory of content facts and details. Medina studied the effects of music upon the acquisition of English vocabulary in a group of 50 second grade limited-English-proficient children. The students were divided into five groups： 1） listening to a sung story； 2） listening to a spoken story without any music； 3） listening to a spoken story with illustrations showing target vocabulary； 4） listening to a spoken story without illustrations； 5） listening to sung story with illustrations. The result turned to be that more target words were acquired when the story was sung out rather than spoken out. "It is currently a common practice to use songs in the classroom to support second language acquisition. The literature abounds with positive statements concerning music as a vehicle for first and second language acquisition."（Medina， 1993， 6（3）， P.1-8）③

Therefore， teacher can select sung stories with both linguistic and extra linguistic support. Begin by stating the topic of the sung story. Have students share their experiences or perspectives on the topic in order to tap their prior knowledge. Next， briefly explain what the song is about instead of summarizing the entire story-line. Finally， read the story while pointing to pictures.

3.4 Music helps students learn grammar

3.4.1 Use music to teach past tense

Take the song Farmer Brown and Farmer Fred for an example. The song sings that farmer Brown got up in the dark before the sun was up. After he drank his coffee， he washed his coffee cup. He put on his pants， watered the plants， and went to town. However， farmer Fred got out of bed after the sun was up. Before he made the coffee， he broke his coffee cup. He tore his pants， tripped on his plants and went back to bed after the sun was up（Lets go. Book Six. 2005. P.34）④. Teacher uses the song to help students learn some new words and phrases： get up in the dark， drink coffee， water the plants， break the coffee cup， and trip on ones pants.

Teacher has students observe illustrations and guess what the song is about first. Illustrations used in this song are communicating words and phrases listed ahead. Then， raise the question “do you get early in the morning？” and “have you ever been all in a fluster？” Next， introduce the song. It is about an industrious farmer and an idle farmer. After that， listen to the song and read the story while pointing to pictures. Ask students pay attention to the past tense： get up → got up， the sun is up → the sun was up， drink ones coffee →drank ones coffee， wash the coffee cup → washed the coffee cup， put on ones pants →put on ones pants， water the plants → watered the plants， go to town → went to town，make the coffee → made the coffee， break the coffee cup → broke the coffee cup， tore the pants →tore the pants and trip on the plants → tripped on the plants.

Several conditions are contained： 1） spelling and pronunciation are different between present and past tense； 2） spelling and pronunciation are the same； 3） add “ed” to change the tense. Ask students to pay attention to the word “trip” [trip] with the pronunciation formed in consonant， vowel and consonant. In this case the last letter of the verb should be doubled before adding the “ed”. Because [p] is a voiceless consonant， “tripped” should be pronounced as [tript]. Whats more， the song contains five adverbial clauses of time with conjunction “before” and “after”. On next class， teacher can hollow all the verbs out and have students take a dictation with the song.

3.4.2 Use music to teach present perfect

Take the song How Long Has She Known Him for an example. The song is about a girl got to know a boy since she was four. She met him in Singapore. They got married in a candy store and had a baby in 1984. Theyve been happy for a long， long time （Lets go. Book Six. 2005. P.8）④. Teacher uses this song to teach present perfect tense.

Teacher has students to observe illustrations and guess what the song is about first. Illustrations used in this song are communicating “playing in childhood”， “marry in a candy store” and “strolling along the seaside with their kid”. Then， raise the question “do you remember how you met your best friend？” and “how long have you been friends？” Next， introduce the song. It is about the life story of a couple. After that， listen to the song and read the story while pointing to pictures. Ask students pay attention to the tense present perfect， momentary verb and continuity verb.

Each of us may have much unforgettable experience with our best friends. Choose some of them to write a song for your best friend using the tense present perfect， and share it with classmates on next class. It is not sufficient to simply sing the routines and patterns which are found in the song's lyrics. Learners must be able to "transfer" this knowledge to new and different contexts. This exercise allows learners the opportunity to generate original utterances using song patterns and routines in different contexts.

4. How to choose suitable music

Picking music is important and can be a lot of fun， either. The fun part of selecting music comes from listening to a lot of music and feel the emotion expressed in music. When a teacher picks the music， he should look at the age， gender， culture and interests of his students. Some trainers offer lists of recommended music and these can be quite valuable as they are generally tried and tested by the trainer. Theme songs with motivational words， pop music that ties into the theme or topic， and cultural or historical songs that reflect some aspect of the content information are highly appropriate for content activities.

5. Conclusion

This article discusses how to take full advantages of students music and rhythm intelligence in teaching， since music help English teaching and learning in many ways. For example， music establishes a positive learning atmosphere， builds a sense of anticipation， focuses concentration， increases attention， improves memory， facilitates a multisensory learning experience， releases tension， enhances imagination， provides inspiration and motivation， adds an element of fun and so on. Educators should feel confident using music to facilitate the language learning process. Clearly， there are numerous benefits associated with using music. Furthermore， it is supported by linguistic and psychological theory and research. The activities above serve to illustrate the many ways in which educators can maximize the effects of music with their foreign language learners.

References

[1]Gardner， H. （1992）. Multiple intelligences： the theory in practice. New York： Basic Books.

[2]Gfeller， K. （1993）. Musical mnemonics as an aid to retention with normal and learning disabled students. Journal of Music Therapy

[3]Medina， S. （1993）. The effect of music on second language vocabulary acquisition.FEES News （National Network for Early Language Learning

[4]Graham， C. （2005）. Lets go. Oxford University Press