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CREC Student Research Papers Archive Paper No: 2014/012

*This piece of academic practitioner research was submitted in part fulfilment of the award of MA Dissertation at

Birmingham City University. It is made freely available with the express permission of the author as part of CREC’s commitment to support, promote and develop practitioner research in the field of early years.

Can songs increase the English vocabulary learning of a group of mixed first language children attending an international school in Germany?

Diana Lim-Kemper To cite this article: Lim-Kemper, D. (2014) Can songs increase the English vocabulary learning of a group of mixed first language children attending an international school in Germany?. MA Dissertation. Birmingham City University. Available at: http://www.crec.co.uk/research-paper-archive/ [Accessed date] To link to this article: http://www.crec.co.uk/research-paper-archive/2014-012.pdf

Abstract

The research aims to explore whether the use of songs can increase the uptake of English vocabulary among a small group of children in an international school in Germany. Other studies suggested that certain cognitive processes might connect singing with language learning, that there is an improvement in comparison with non-singing approaches. The research methodology implemented was quantitative: measurement of children’s increased learning as a result of a music intervention using a pre and post-test design. To ensure that all children received the same ‘potential’ benefit, equal opportunities were given to all three groups of children. At the end of the study, they swapped activities. Singing generally contributed to the vocabulary uptake of children, especially using the ‘listen-and-repeat singing’ method, implying that there is a link between music and memory. Although the findings from this study were small -scale, nevertheless they were different and valuable enough for my own professional practice and also to the wider field of ECME. Keywords: vocabulary, singing songs, reciting songs, preschool children, cognitive development.

Title of project:

Can songs increase the English vocabulary learning of a group of mixed first

language children attending an international school in Germany?

Name: Diana Geak Lai Lim-Kemper

Student No: 11761780

Year of submission: July 2014

‘Research in Professional Practice/Dissertation

submitted in part fulfilment of the award of MA Education (Early Years)

at Birmingham City University’.

Word count: 15,476


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Table of Contents

1.0. Abstract .................................................................................................. 1

2.0. Introduction ............................................................................................ 2

3.0. Review of Relevant Literature ............................................................... 5 3.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 5 3.2. Defining vocabulary ........................................................................................... 6 3.3. Ways to teach English vocabulary to young children ......................................... 7 3.4. Language learning through reciting and singing (song) approaches .................10 3.5. Singing, cognitive development and language learning ....................................13

4.0. Research Design and Methodology ................................................... 17 4.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................17 4.2. Research design and methodology ..................................................................17 4.3. Research strategy ............................................................................................19 4.4. Data Collection: Choice of instruments ...........................................................20 4.5. Reliability ..........................................................................................................20 4.6. Methods ...........................................................................................................21 4.7. Ethics ..............................................................................................................24 4.8. Conclusion ......................................................................................................26

5.0. The Investigation ................................................................................. 28 5.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................28 5.2. Pre-test.............................................................................................................29

5.2.1. Groupings .................................................................................................34 5.3. The teaching sessions ......................................................................................36 5.3.1. Recitation with Group 1 ............................................................................38 5.3.2. Singing with Group 2 ................................................................................42 5.4. Post-test ...........................................................................................................46 5.5. Problems encountered .....................................................................................47

6.0. Discussion of results .......................................................................... 50 6.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................50 6.2. Data analysis ...................................................................................................50 6.3. Comparison between the three main groups ....................................................52 6.4. Comparison of groups according to performance level .....................................53

7.0. Conclusions ......................................................................................... 60 7.1. Findings from study .........................................................................................60 7.2. Implications to professional practice ................................................................62 7.3. Further research ...............................................................................................63 7.4. Limitations and validity of results ......................................................................64 7.5. Reflection and evaluation of results ..................................................................66

Bibliography ................................................................................................ 72


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Appendices: Appendix A – Permission Form: ELC Facilitator and EL1 Homeroom Teacher

.....................................................................................................................82

Appendix B – Permission Form: Parents or Guardians ................................84

Appendix C – List of poems / songs .............................................................86

Appendix D – Percentage of children’s development in vocabulary uptake ...91


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List of Figures Figure 1: Stages of data collection and research procedure .....................................27 Figure 2: List of words used for the pre and post-tests ...........................................29 Figure 3: Pre-test results ........................................................................................32

Figure 4: The word ambulance in German .............................................................34 Figure 5: The three groupings ................................................................................35 Figure 6: Teaching timetable ..................................................................................36

Figure 7: Post-test results ........................................................................................47

Figure 8: Recitation .................................................................................................50

Figure 9: Singing .....................................................................................................51

Figure 10: Control ...................................................................................................51

Figure 11: Data comparison in percentage ..............................................................52

Figure 12: Number of children in each group, based on performance level ............54

Figure 13: Development of children’s vocabulary uptake, based on performance

level .......................................................................................................55


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Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to thank Dr Susan Young for her guidance and support during

the process of my research work and writing. Your constructive advice is greatly

appreciated. Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to the parents from Early

Learning 1 (2013/14) for granting me permission to work with their children, for my

study. Your children have been very co-operative and I truly enjoyed working with

them. I also take this opportunity to thank my colleagues from the Early Learning

Centre, especially the Homeroom Teacher of Early Learning 1, for granting me all the

extra time needed to carry out my research work. Thank you, Mrs Shekhar. For the

times that I’ve been away from school to work on my research, I would like to thank

Mrs Gienke and the ELC team for their understanding. To my Director Mr Davis, I

would also like to express my gratitude. Thank you for the opportunity to grow

professionally. To my friend Doerthe, thank you for your help in going through my

writing and making improvements. To the wonderful people at CREC, your friendship

and the support that we give one another will never be forgotten. To my husband

Jens, ‘Danke’ for your continuous encouragement throughout the process of my

work. Last but not least, a big thank you to all the Early Learning 1 children, whose

participation and contribution have made this study possible.


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Chapter 1

Abstract

This research project concentrates on the English vocabulary uptake of a

small group of fifteen 3 – 4-year-old pre-school children with mixed first

language in an international school in Germany. The project uses two different

learning and teaching methods i.e. recitation of songs and singing songs, in

order to investigate the children’s vocabulary uptake. The results of the study,

measured using a pre and post-test system, indicated that children in the

singing group fared slightly better than the children in the recitation group. As

a result, this study also attempts to link its findings with other studies that may

contribute to a strengthening of the hypothesis that song singing can support

vocabulary learning for all children, in general. As a conclusion, the outcome

of this study has met the aims of the researcher and the literature reviewed.

Although the findings from this study were specific to this group of children,

the findings nevertheless suggest some very useful pedagogical strategies

with real implications to support children’s vocabulary learning through

recitation and singing.


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Chapter 2

Introduction

Do you still remember the songs you learnt in your early childhood? Most

people do, because lyrics combined with music are easier to learn (Lozanov,

1978; Campbell, 1997; Brewer and Campbell, 1998). I too, still remember

most of the songs that I sung during my childhood and believe that these

songs (learnt and sung in different languages) may have played a role in my

language learning. Hence, I chose to research on teaching English vocabulary

through singing songs. Furthermore, this topic is also significant to my work

with different groups of mixed first language children attending an

international school in Germany. Besides that, teaching language through

music (singing songs) was also chosen, because of its relevance to my own

professional development. In addition to doing music with the children at the

Early Learning Centre, I am also involved in helping the children to develop

their reading and writing skills. Therefore, I find this area of study to be

interesting and worth exploring. Furthermore, this study is not just valuable for

me personally and in my work, it is also valuable to the wider field of Early

Childhood Music Education (ECME). Since many teachers work now with

groups of children who have diverse home languages but must learn another

language in school, studies of this kind therefore have wider relevance.

Hence, research in this area is of wide and general importance.


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This research was conducted in an Early Learning classroom consisting of

fifteen children, from at least ten different nationalities. More than half of these

children have very little or no English at all. Therefore, it was also my interest

to look for ways and find solutions to help these children increase their

English vocabulary uptake, so that they are able to follow and take part in the

daily routine of the classroom activities easily.

Being based in the same classroom with this group of children provided me

with many advantages. The many hours spent with them allowed me to see

that they possess a great enthusiasm towards singing. They hum to

background music as they get their snacks, sing ‘cleaning up’ songs as they

tidy up and sing ‘transition songs’ when moving from one activity to another.

They also appeared to be picking up songs (in different languages) quite

easily during music and drama classes. All of these gave me the impression

that these young children really like music and are having fun with music.

Therefore, I found it sensible to explore on learning English through music

(singing songs), because learning should be fun. The more fun it is to learn a

language, the more a child will want to stay with it. According to Jensen

(1994); Dryden and Vos (1997); Dryden and Rose (1995), learning while

playing is the best way to learn because it creates emotional attachments,

and emotion is the door to learning. Hence, having fun is important because

‘fun’ and ‘music’ affect the different centres in our brain (Wilkins, 2011).

Therefore, as I was conducting the recitation and singing sessions in small

groups, I also had the objective to consider if certain cognitive processes may


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connect singing with language learning in such a way, that there is an

improvement in comparison with non-singing approaches (i.e. recitation of

poems / songs). This then could perhaps help to justify if music (song singing)

can contribute to the English vocabulary learning among this group of children

of mixed first language.


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Chapter 3

Review of relevant literature

3.1. INTRODUCTION

The use of music and song in the English language-learning classroom does

not appear to be something new, since examples of literature to argue and

also to promote the relationship between music and language existed since

as early as 1962. Scholars such as Bartle (1962), Richards (1969) and Jolly

(1975), have been arguing for the use of music in a language acquisition

context for both its linguistic benefits and for the motivational interest it

generates in language learners.

Before launching into this study, I found it necessary to read and be informed

about topics of study that are intertwined in the field of foreign language

acquisition. Several topics relating to my field of research were identified.

These topics included child development and language acquisition, brain

research and memory, approaches and theories of language acquisition and

the history of Total Physical Response (TPR) and songs/chants. However,

some of the studies found were carried out with slightly older children,

children between five and seven years old. My study involved children

between three and four years old and it appears that there is a shortage of

relevant literature, pertaining to my research area within this age group.

Therefore, I have decided to use the literature that I have found for a slightly

different age group, mainly children between five and seven years old, as a

link to my own study. This slight difference in age, in my opinion, would not


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make a crucial difference in the area that I am researching on. According to

Reilly and Ward (1997), children between three and seven years old are

usually still categorised as very young learners. Since there was a rather large

amount of literature within this age group, I have narrowed down the scope of

this literature review into four areas (topics) that are most relevant to my

research.

3.2. DEFINING VOCABULARY

Jalongo and Sobolak (2011) in their article on ‘Supporting Young Children’s

Vocabulary Growth’ divided vocabulary into two groups - receptive vocabulary

and expressive vocabulary. According to them, receptive language relies on

interpreting language that is heard or read and expressive language refers to

producing language through speech or writing. They explained about the

uniqueness of young children’s language development by pointing out that the

receptive vocabulary of young children is often four times greater than their

expressive vocabulary. Then they wrote about the forms of vocabulary that

most teachers are familiar with – listening, reading, speaking and writing.

They further pointed out the less familiar — and particular helpful form — the

three-tier conceptualisation of vocabulary (Beck, McKeown and Kucan, 2005).

Beck and her colleagues have conceptualised vocabulary as three different

levels, or tiers. Common words that are widely understood and less common

words that can be quickly comprehended through an illustration are

categorised as tier 1 words. These known words or pictured words include

words such as door, table, computer and hippopotamus. Beck and her


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colleagues further explained that vocabulary instructional time is minimal for

these words. Therefore, to conclude this section, there are advantages in

using tier 1 words in my own study. Apart from saving instructional time, in my

study, these words are also appropriate and beneficial for the group of very

young learners with mixed first languages.

3.3. WAYS TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO YOUNG CHILDREN

In 2011, Hernández and Gómez conducted a study on the learning of English

(English as a Foreign Language / EFL) vocabulary among a group of children

between five and seven years old, mostly female in a public school in Mexico.

This study was conducted for a research project at Veracruzana University.

Therefore, at the time of conducting this (my) research, the results and report

from the study had not gone through any kind of peer review process, hence

was probably not vetted by academics through the usual process of

publication in a journal. However, I found the study to be useful for my

research, because the study analysed the different techniques that facilitated

children’s English vocabulary learning. Some of these techniques were

implemented in conducting my research. Age, as explained in the

‘Introduction’ section, was not an important factor here, as the children in the

studies were categorised as very young learners and similar techniques were

used to facilitate their vocabulary learning.

According to Hernández and Gómez (n.d.), vocabulary is not only the single

words in a language, but it also includes phrases. When children learn

vocabulary, they learn single words such as cat, table, classroom, etc., as well


8

as phrases such as greetings, idioms, collocations, etc. Hernández and

Gómez also pointed out that children between two to seven years old, based

on Piaget’s stages of cognitive development chart (Baker, 2013) are in a

preoperational age. In this stage, children are able to use symbols (such as

words or pictures) to represent objects, once they have acquired language.

This, in my opinion, conforms to the set of tier 1 words suggested by Beck

and her colleagues (Beck et al. 2005) in section 3.2.

Hernández and Gómez continued to write about the children in the

preoperational age. According to them, preoperational age children begin to

familiarise with the world and need to use language to socialize with their

peers. Hence, it is important that they learn a wide range of vocabulary to

communicate with others in context. In order to contextualize the vocabulary,

different ways to teach it need to be used. Therefore, Hernández and Gómez

referred to Gairns and Redman (1986), Phillips (1993) and Kwiatkowska

(2007) for some of the more common ways to teach vocabulary. These

included translation, real things (realia), actions (gesture), pictures

(illustrations, posters), use of synonymy and definition, songs, storytelling,

games, using readings, etc. However, not all of these ways to teach

vocabulary are adequate for very young learners. Therefore, Hernández and

Gómez focused their study on realia, pictures, songs, storytelling and games,

which in their opinion was very useful for teaching vocabulary during their

research. Their study was a qualitative piece of research whose main purpose

was to identify the most popular and effective techniques in facilitating

children’s English vocabulary learning. The following results were found,


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starting from the most popular and effective technique:

1. Realia

2. Playing games

3. Songs (in combination with the TPR approach (Asher, 1996))

4. Storytelling

5. Pictures

In the article from Jalongo and Sobolak (2011), Bruner’s combination of the

enactive, iconic and symbolic modes, were mentioned (Bruner, 2004). In this

study from Hernández and Gómez, ‘realia’ and ‘pictures’ conformed to the

iconic mode, as the iconic mode uses concrete objects (e.g., fruit or plastic

replicas of fruit) or pictorial representations of objects (e.g., photographs, clip

art) to support vocabulary growth and make the language that is heard more

understandable. On the other hand, playing games, singing songs and the

TPR approach conformed to Bruner’s enactive mode, which engages children

in actually doing something in order to connect it with language (e.g., reciting

a fingerplay and performing the accompanying motions).

The authors (Hernández and Gómez) concluded their study by suggesting

that children preferred activities that involved the use of all their senses

(realia) and their movements (especially in games and songs). Through the

techniques used, it was observed that children of this age enjoyed moving,

singing, touching, seeing and interacting with other children of the same

gender. Hence, the children can gradually begin to connect the symbolic

mode (e.g., letters, words, numbers, and other abstract symbols) with the


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enactive and iconic modes (Bruner, 2004). However, Hernández and Gómez

reminded that the techniques mentioned in this section facilitated the

vocabulary learning of these pupils (in their study) and results will probably

vary depending on different groups of children. As a conclusion to this section,

I find the techniques useful for my own study. According to Bruner (2004), in

order to differentiate in a diverse classroom, teachers need to combine the

enactive, iconic, and symbolic modes to maximize comprehension. In my own

study too, some techniques are used in combination with others, for helping

and engaging the children in meaningful ways in which they can learn new

words.

3.4. LANGUAGE LEARNING THROUGH RECITING AND SINGING

(SONG) APPROACHES

The above study has suggested that children preferred activities that involved

the use of all their senses (realia) and their movements (especially in games

and songs) in language learning. Since the main focus of my research is to

explore and measure children’s uptake of English vocabulary through two

different teaching methods, I have therefore chosen to focus the third part of

my literature review on language learning through:

1. The reciting (song) approach.

2. The singing (song) approach.

The Oxford Dictionary (2014) defines the following:

1. Recite as ‘repeat aloud or declaim (a poem or passage) from memory


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before an audience’.

2. Singing as ‘make musical sounds with the voice, especially words with a

set tune’.

In his research paper on ‘Songs and Rhymes in Teaching English at Primary

Schools’, Geyer (2001) supports the notion that the process of learning a

song or a poem is the same. According to Geyer (2001), the order and ways

of teaching a poem and a song is the same repetition. Geyer also wrote that

all types of short rhythmic texts or even word groups are suitable to be

transferred into a chant. ‘A chant is like a song without music or a poem with a

very marked rhythm’ (Phillips 1993:100). Hence, when we add music to the

poem, the poem becomes a song. Geyer also suggested that ‘quite

unmusical’ teachers should transfer new texts into well-known melodies to

facilitate their teaching.

Other studies have also been conducted to investigate the implementation of

the use of songs for teaching vocabulary to kindergarten students (Apsari,

2012; Joyce, 2011; Yuliana, 2004). With English increasingly becoming a tool

for international communication (Reilly and Ward, 1997), some of these

studies have taken place in kindergartens and schools where English is

taught as a foreign / second language and also as one of the main subjects.

In 2011, Apsari employed a descriptive qualitative research method to

investigate the implementation of the use of songs for teaching English

vocabulary to fifteen five to six year old children in a kindergarten in West


12

Java, Indonesia. In this topic, age played a slightly more important role in

children’s vocabulary learning. According to the vocabulary development chart

generated by Loraine (2008), vocabulary development grows over the first six

years of a child’s life. Therefore, five and six year old children (from Apsari’s

study) would possess more items of vocabulary than the three and four year

old children (in my study). However, setting aside the age factor, the findings

from this study (Apsari, 2012) revealed that songs could be used effectively to

improve students’ English vocabulary through several ways:

Songs as warming up activities.

Songs should be repeated.

Follow-up activities (such as Total Physical Response (TPR)) after singing

songs.

Conveying the meaning of songs through media.

To sum up this section, Apsari (2012) mentioned the importance of songs.

Songs provided and used for language teaching and learning ought to be

suitable to the children’s need and interest and relevant to the topic of the

lesson. She also referred to a proposal by Payne (1990, in Harmer, 2003) that

songs should be simple, repetitive and interesting to attract student’s

attention. Apsari’s findings showed that songs brought a positive atmosphere

to the learning process. The classroom environment became more active and

children were motivated to participate in the class. This, in my opinion, is an

important factor for conducting my study. It is important that the children have

fun while learning.


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3.5. SINGING, COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

The above study (from Apsari, 2012), suggested that the use of songs is an

effective teaching method. The study also suggested that when songs are

combined with Total Physical Response (TPR), they could become more

effective in aiding young children in learning vocabulary. This is in agreement

with other studies that have suggested that certain cognitive processes may

connect singing with language learning in such a way, that there is an

improvement in comparison with non-singing approaches (Schön, Peretz,

Besson, Boyer, Kolinsky and Moreno, 2008; Joyce, 2011; Moyeda, Gomez

and Flores, 2006; Ludke, Ferreira and Overy, 2013). Hence, the last part of

this literature review explores and explains the connection between singing,

cognitive development and language learning.

According to Gleitman (1981), cognitive development is defined as the

intellectual growth that begins at birth and continues through adulthood.

Children begin learning from the moment they are born by looking, listening,

and interacting with people and objects (Gleitman, 1981). Therefore, cognitive

development is the development of the learning structures and systems in the

brain. Feierabend (1996) wrote that talking, reading, and singing or playing

music to infants and toddlers will foster their cognitive growth. According to

Feierabend (1996), music also stimulates cognitive development in children,

through singing songs and playing music to the children.

A study conducted by Schön and her colleagues (Schön, Peretz, Besson,


14

Boyer, Kolinsky and Moreno, 2008) with 26 native French participants (mean

age 23) offered some evidence on the link between language and music. The

evidence suggested that music played an important role in language, because

similar areas of the brain are activated when listening to or playing music and

speaking or processing language. Furthermore, language and music are both

associated with emotions and similarly, children’s songs may have an emotion

regulation function. According to Schön et al. (2008), songs may contribute to

language acquisition in several ways:

First, the emotional aspects of a song may increase the level of arousal

and attention.

Second, from a perceptual point of view, the presence of pitch contours

may enhance phonological discrimination, since syllable change is often

accompanied by a change in pitch.

Third, the consistent mapping of musical and linguistic structure may

optimize the operation of learning mechanisms.

Joyce (2011) in her doctoral theses on ‘Vocabulary acquisition with

kindergarten children using song picture books’ wrote that children with

developmental delays who participated in singing songs improved their

vocabulary significantly, as measured by the Peabody Vocabulary Test

(Hoskins, 1988). In her theses, she also mentioned a study conducted by

Moyeda, Gomez and Flores (2006) on preschool children’s vocabulary

development, after a musical programme was implemented with some of the

children. The results from this study showed significant increases in receptive


15

vocabulary only for the group exposed to the programme with musical

activities. Hence, the songs of preschool children, in particular, are considered

as providing children with fluency of oral expression and good diction, as well

as helping them learn to form phrases, use words correctly, understand the

meaning of words, and even to enjoy the poetic quality of children's rhymes

(Aquino, 1991).

As an addition, another study conducted by Ludke, Ferreira and Overy (2013)

with a group of 60 self-selecting adult students (30 male, 30 female), between

the age of 18 to 29 years (with a mean age of 21.7 years), provided the first

experimental evidence that a listen-and-repeat singing method can support

foreign language learning. According to their study, singing in a foreign

language can significantly improve learning how to speak it. Researchers in

the study found that adults who listened to short Hungarian phrases and then

sang them back performed better than those who spoke the phrases. People

who sang the phrases back also fared better than those who repeated the

phrases by speaking them rhythmically. These results suggested that a

‘listen-and-sing’ learning method can facilitate verbatim memory for spoken

foreign language phrases and that there is a strong link between music and

memory. This finding is in accordance to Chan, Ho and Cheung (1998); Ho,

Cheung and Chan (2003), who mentioned that, if those who received musical

instruction at an early age have greater verbal memory, it could be expected

that they would also have a greater vocabulary.

To understand music, brain research and vocabulary development, Joyce


16

(2011) used a research conducted by neuroscientist Diamond (2003). The

research showed that the human brain could change structurally and

functionally as a result of learning and experiencing, both in positive and

negative ways. The brain generates new neural connections and pathways,

when challenged with learning opportunities, thus making it possible to

assimilate information in order to make meaningful choices. Therefore,

according to Diamond (2003), the creative power of the brain is released

when human beings are in environments that are positive, nurturing, and

stimulating and that encourage action and interaction. Research also

indicated that in order to maximise learning, the left and right hemispheres

must work harmoniously and fine arts, according to Walker (1995) has been

one of the long held means of achieving whole brain instruction in schools.

As a conclusion to this literature review, I found the studies (used in the

review) useful to be used in within my own study. Firstly, the literature

explains about the type of vocabulary used in my study and the appropriate

techniques in teaching vocabulary to young children. Secondly, the studies

suggest effective approaches and follow-up activities to enhance young

children’s vocabulary skills. Finally, the studies attempt to demonstrate the

connection between music (singing), cognitive (brain) development and

language learning (vocabulary uptake).


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Chapter 4

Research design and methodology

4.1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the research design, methodology, strategy and

methods used to carry out this research. The chapter also includes an

explanation of the research population, data collection instruments, validity

and reliability of data and ethical considerations.

The main focus of this research is the inclusion of music with language

support, among 3 – 4-year-old children in a school environment. The research

method facilitates the attainment of the following research objectives:

Identify if songs can increase the English vocabulary learning of a group of

mixed first language children attending an international school in

Germany, with English as the main language of instruction.

Establish ways to help and increase the uptake of English vocabulary

among the small group of children, so that they are able to follow and take

part in the daily routine of classroom activities easily.

4.2. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

The function of a research design is to guide the researcher in planning and

implementing the study to achieve the intended goal (Robson, 2011). A

research design helps the researcher to investigate in a logical and


18

systematic way. The control provided by the design increases the probability

that the study results are accurate reflections of the real situations. According

to Burns and Grove (2001:223), a research design is a ‘blueprint for

conducting a study that maximises control over factors that could interfere

with the validity of the findings’.

Research methodology on the other hand, refers to the techniques used to

structure a study. Rajasekar, Philominathan and Chinnathambi (2006)

described that, ‘research methodology is a systematic way to solve a problem.

It is a science of studying how research is to be carried out’. Therefore,

research methodology is made up of orderly and disciplined procedures that

are used to acquire information.

In this study, the research methodology used was quantitative: measurement

of children’s increased learning as a result of a music intervention using a pre

and post-test design. I chose to conduct an experimental and quantitative

study in the category of applied social research, because an applied social

research is typically small in scale and seeks for answers to a current problem

(Robson, 2011). My study was also based on a small group of children in one

particular school. Since English is the language of instruction and more than

half of the children coming to the Early Learning 1 class have very little or no

English at all, I found it important and essential to establish ways and find

solutions to help them increase their uptake of English vocabulary.

This study was an experimental study. It involved me (the researcher),

allocating participants (in this case, the children) to different experimental


19

conditions (Robson, 2011). In this study, the children were allocated to a

recitation, singing and control group. This is explained in detail in Chapter 4.6.

However, I would like to emphasise that although this study adopted an

experimental design, it is still rooted in a ‘normal’ teaching situation. Unlike

experimental studies, which are carried out in laboratories and separate the

children from their everyday context, this study tries to keep the context

familiar and ‘normal’ for the children involved.

4.3. RESEARCH STRATEGY

As defined by Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009, pp. 600), research

strategy is ‘the general plan of how the researcher will go about answering the

research questions’. In this study, the children’s learning of English language

vocabulary was assessed at the start of the intervention and again at the

conclusion. The difference in the children’s learning between the start and

conclusion and between the experimental and control group was then

analysed quantitatively through descriptive statistics i.e. by counting and

comparing numbers. According to Trochim (2006), ‘descriptive statistics are

used to describe the basic features of the data in a study. They provide simple

summaries about the sample and the measures. Together with simple

graphics analysis, they form the basis of virtually every quantitative analysis of

data’.


20

4.4. DATA COLLECTION: CHOICE OF INSTRUMENTS

In this quantitative research, the data collected needed to be measured.

Therefore, baseline data was required to measure the impact of the recitation

and singing sessions. This is explained in depth in Chapter 4.6. Baseline data

is basic information gathered before an intervention begins and relates to the

specific goals and objectives of the researcher’s work-plan. Baseline data is

used to assess impact and results (Liddy, 2012).

There are various ways to acquire baseline data. In this study, an identical

pre-test and post-test was administered before and after the recitation and

singing (teaching) sessions, with the pre-test providing the baseline

measurement.

4.5. RELIABILITY

To promote and increase reliability in this study, the pre and post-tests were

made identical. If they had not been identical, there would not be a certainty

that they were of exact equal difficulty. This could then affect the end results.

However, on the other hand, if the pre and post-tests were identical, there

could also be a possibility that recall may improve the post-test. Therefore, it

was important to take care that the answers to the pre-test were not revealed.

Above all, the main advantage of using a pre and post-test was that the data

was easy to obtain and generally accurate and reliable.

Since the children (in this study) were very young, fewer items of vocabulary

could have been used for the pre and post-test. However, fifty items of


21

vocabulary were still selected, to ensure the accuracy of results at the end of

the study. Extra attention was paid to the control group – Group 3, because

the children from this group may (or may not) through natural classroom

activities pick up vocabulary that may (or may not) match to the ones being

introduced to groups 1 and 2. Therefore, it is in my opinion that the accuracy

of results (of this study) depended on the amount of vocabulary used (in this

study). In short, fewer items of vocabulary would have produced less

accuracy and more items of vocabulary would have promoted more accuracy

and reliability of end results.

4.6. METHODS

The research was targeted at three groups of children i.e. five in each group,

thirteen girls and two boys altogether. These children were then divided into

three groups through a pre-literacy test using fifty picture cues (flashcards).

During the process of writing the research proposal, five different themes

were decided for the pre-test. These themes were themes that the homeroom

teacher would be introducing to the children in her classroom in the next

weeks / months. They included fruits, animals, clothes, plants and

transportation. However, after conducting the pre-test and studying the scores

gained, I (the researcher) decided that the theme on animals should be

removed. This was due to the fact that this theme had been well introduced

and taught to the children at the time the pre-test was conducted. Therefore,

in my opinion, the results gained could affect the reliability and accuracy of the

final results of the study. After some careful thinking, a new set of fifty


22

flashcards was selected again, based on only three themes beginning with

clothes, followed by food and fruits and ending with transportation. Based on

these themes, another pre-test was conducted. Slight changes were noticed

in the scores attained. The scores were slightly lower than the ones attained

from the first pre-test. These scores, in my opinion provided more scope for

observing the difference in the children’s increased learning between the start

and conclusion. The ‘slightly obvious’ difference between the scores also

played a role in promoting better accuracy and reliability of the overall results

of the study. Chapter 5 further explains how the pre-test was conducted and

how the children were selected for the groupings.

In my role as the researcher and teacher, I taught the fifty words in two

different forms over a period of approximately seven weeks:

Group 1 learnt vocabulary only through ‘reciting’ poems.

Group 2 learnt vocabulary only through ‘singing’ the identical poems /

songs as Group 1.

Group 3 was the control group. They did not take part in both of the above

activities. They did not receive the extra opportunity to learn the fifty items

of vocabulary, neither through recitation nor singing. They only had the

opportunity to learn vocabulary introduced through their normal classroom

activities (with the rest of the class), based on the thematic units selected

by the homeroom teacher. During the duration of this study, the themes

covered by the homeroom teacher were animals and the season spring.

For Group 1 and Group 2, the children were introduced to different poems /


23

songs for not longer than 10 minutes a day. The poems / songs were written

on word strips and were taught to the children using the most common model

of saying a nursery rhyme, in which the teacher says a line of a rhyme and the

whole class repeats (Aulakh, 2007). This method allows the children to learn

the text step by step. An example is illustrated in Chapter 5.3.1.

Teaching songs to Group 2 was similar to teaching poems to Group 1. The

only difference was the teacher singing the song once or twice, while the

children only listened. The children were taught the text, using the same

common repetition method as Group 1, after they have absorbed the tune and

the rhythm. In both groups, words that were new to the children were first

explained. Once the children had learnt the text, they were given the

opportunity to sing the song several times, at first supported by the teacher’s

voice and later by themselves, in a group and / or individually. This process is

elaborated in Chapter 5.3.2.

In my research proposal, I had planned to conduct the poem and song

teaching sessions for four days in a week, over the period of eight weeks.

However, a small modification was made when I started my teaching

sessions. I began my teaching sessions in the last week of February 2014

and stopped the sessions just before the spring holidays, in the second week

of April 2014, followed by a post-test on Friday, 11 April 2014. The reason for

concluding the teaching sessions just before the spring holidays was due to

the many children going on extended holidays. Hence, it made more sense to

end the sessions and utilise the spring holidays for organising and examining


24

the collected data. To sum up, I conducted my teaching sessions for

approximately seven weeks, four days in a week, every Monday to Thursday,

in the afternoons. In these twenty seven sessions, the children in Group 1 and

Group 2 learnt approximately twelve pieces of poems / songs, in which all the

fifty words from the pre-test were introduced.

During the seven week period, all three groups continued to receive their

usual literacy and language lessons, as well as music lessons with their

respective homeroom, language and music teachers, in order to keep to the

normality of daily classroom routines and also for ethical reasons. The

research must never disadvantage the children in any way. If one group has

received what turned out to be a less good method of learning, then the group

is in effect disadvantaged in comparison with the other group. However, in

my study, the sessions for my research were extra to the children’s normal

learning routines. This add on sessions could not therefore be detrimental in

any way. The recitation and singing activities, in which words were taught,

were conducted only for the purpose of this research, at a different time. At

the end of the seven weeks research, a post-literacy test using the same

flashcards (from the pre-literacy test) was conducted. The results are

presented and discussed in Chapters 5 and 6.

4.7. ETHICS

Ethical considerations in research with children occur at all stages of the

research process. The following are kinds of ethical issues that have been

considered:


25

Access

Since this research is a school-based research, it was not unusual for the

researcher to get approval from the head teacher and the class teacher

(Homan, 2002). In this case, both the Early Learning Centre Facilitator and

the Early Learning 1 Homeroom Teacher were provided with information

about the nature and purposes of the research. Although they were not

directly involved in the study, they signed a consent form (Appendix A),

allowing the research to take place in the school with the children.

Access to children has also to be negotiated with parents and families, since

the children are very young. Before conducting the study, consent was gained

on behalf of the children by agreement with their parents. Parents were

provided with information about the nature and purposes of the research.

They signed a consent form (Appendix B), giving their approval for research

to be carried out with their children.

Anonymity, confidentiality and safeguarding

The reasons for the anonymising of research participants were explained to

children who wished to have their own names used. Confidentiality was also

explained to children in terms and words that they understand. Before the

commencement of the research, safeguarding issues such as safeguarding of

the data collected (pre and post-test scores) was taken into consideration.

Participatory research practices

Participatory research practices are becoming increasingly common in the

context of an increased awareness about children’s rights and in the light of

increasing ethical concerns about power imbalances in the research process,


26

especially in research with children. In this study, the disadvantages, as well

as advantages of the participatory research method used were considered.

Diversity and equality

In conducting this study, it was essential to understand that every individual

(child) is unique and they ought to be recognised by their individual

differences. For this, I referred to the diversity and equality guidelines for

childcare providers (NCCC, 2006).

Dissemination

Upon completion of this study, the researcher had the challenge to look for

the best ways and formats to disseminate the research results to the children

involved. It was important that research subjects (in this case, the children)

were able to see and understand the results of their investment of time in

participation.

Some of the above issues were encountered during the research process.

How they were addressed and managed in this school-based quantitative

research with children can be read in detail in the next chapters.

4.8. CONCLUSION

The illustration below (Figure 1) simply summarises this chapter by showing

the stages of data collection and research procedure used in this study.


27

Figure 1: Stages of data collection and research procedure

Input (Pre-test = Baseline Data)

Process (Recitation & Singing (Teaching) sessions)

Output (Post-test)

Outcome (Analyse data)

Impact (Compare to study)


28

Chapter 5

The Investigation

5.1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter provides a description of how this research was carried out. It

also talks about the problems encountered during the research and how some

of these problems were resolved.

The first step taken to start this research was to conduct a vocabulary pre-

test. This vocabulary test, as explained in Chapter 4.6, was conducted twice,

as modifications were made to the chosen set of words. Using the finalised

set of words, the second pre-test was conducted and completed in the second

week of February 2014. Below is the list of the words tested. I would like to

point out that some of the words are in British English and some are in

American English. This study is all about children’s vocabulary learning and

uptake. Therefore, the difference between the British and American English

does not play an important role in this study. Moreover, this study is based in

an international school and the usage of both British and American English is

common.


29

Figure 2: List of words used for the pre and post-tests

Clothes

1. scarf 2. shirt 3. shoes 4. shorts 5. skirt

6. socks 7. sweater 8. dress 9. gloves 10. hat

11. jacket 12. pants 13. pyjamas 14. boots

Food and Fruits

15. cake 16. candy 17. carrot 18. cheese 19. cheeseburger

20. chicken 21. egg 22. fish 23. hot dog 24. ice cream

25. onion 26. sandwich 27. toast 28. tomato 29. water

30. corn 31. watermelon 32. pear 33. pineapple 34. cherry

35. strawberry 36. grapes 37. lemon 38. banana

Transportation

39. truck 40. bus 41. train 42. boat 43. helicopter

44. car 45. motorcycle 46. bicycle 47. airplane 48. ambulance

49. fire truck 50. police car

5.2. PRE-TEST

Based on the chosen words in Figure 2, the children were randomly called out

one by one to do the pre-test, during their free playtime so as to not disrupt

any lesson time. The children’s right to participate or not to participate in the

pre-test were also taken into consideration. Therefore, children who were

eager to come with me were asked to do the pre-test first. An explanation as

to what the test is all about and why it has to be done is given to each child

before the vocabulary cards are flipped over, in terms and words that they can

easily understand:


30

Researcher / Teacher asks: I am going to show you some picture word cards.

I would like you to tell me what is on the card in English. Do you think you can

do that?

Child / Participant answers: Yes or no, or nods his / her head to give approval.

No major problems were encountered here. Most of the children completed

the pre-test willingly. Flipping over the fifty vocabulary cards took less than 5

minutes. Most of the children shook their heads when they did not know the

answer. Two common replies from the children were:

‘I don’t know this’.

‘I can only say this in German’.

I assured them that this was not a problem and that these words would be

taught and learned together (in English) in the next weeks.

With regards to ethical concerns, the issue on diversity and equality was

encountered with one or two children, in the process of conducting the pre-

test. In facing this issue, it was essential for me, as a researcher, to

understand that every individual (child) is unique and they ought to be

recognised by their individual differences. While conducting the pre-test, the

following came to my attention:

One or two children looked nervous. They appeared to be uncomfortable

looking at me flipping over the vocabulary cards. Therefore, for these


31

children, I modified the test into the form of a ‘guessing game’. This

encounter corresponds to Grieve (1992), who mentioned that testing

techniques developed for Western children do not always hold the same

meaning for non-western children. The modified ‘guessing game’ took up

more time, but results were gained in the end and the children appeared

not to be stressed out.

Through the ‘guessing game’, I gave the children a sense of control over

the activity / test by allowing them to lay the flashcards down and then turn

the card over one by one by themselves, while at the same time saying the

words aloud. This, in my opinion was an important factor in the light of

increasing ethical concerns about power imbalances in a research

process.

The pre-test was conducted from 10 February 2014 and concluded on 11

February 2014, shortly before the children went on mid-term break. The

results are shown in Figure 3. Issues of anonymity and confidentiality were

addressed by changing the names of participants. Instead of real names, a

code was used.


32

Figure 3: Pre-test results

While conducting the pre-test, the following interesting points were observed:

On the theme ‘clothes’ – Most of the girl participants (children) recognised

words that were connected to them, such as dress and skirt. They did not

recognise clothes that belong to boys, such as shirt, shorts and pants. This

suggests that children pick up words that are related to them quicker,

since they are more often exposed to these ‘related’ words. This action is

also part of active learning, because active learning involves young

children in doing things and thinking about what they are doing (Tomlin,

n.d.).

On the theme ‘food and fruits’ – Most of the children only knew the names

of the food and fruits in German. This, in my opinion is understandable

Participant Pre-test Score (out of 50)

1. CR 23

2. TM 10

3. MX 2

4. EL 25

5. SF 38

6. TS 40

7. RM 25

8. CL 6

9. BJ 38

10. LA 4

11. LY 24

12. CH 13

13. MT 17

14. ML 0

15. JH 8


33

because most of these children hear and receive more German input than

English at home and outside of school. A research conducted by van den

Bogaerde (2000) recommends that, ‘where a child is in contact with more

than one language before the age of five, input can be of additional

importance, amongst other things contributing to the separation of the two

(or more) languages’.

On the theme ‘transportation’ – Most of the children recognised all ‘on the

road’ vehicles as cars. For example, a truck and a bus are recognised as

‘big cars’ or ‘very big cars’. This suggests that children in this age group

assimilate objects to their existing scheme and when the child soon learns

that trucks and busses are not cars, they then fine-tune the category and

exclude trucks and busses in order to accommodate the scheme

(Santrock, 2008).

The ambulance was often recognised as ‘sick car’. It was interesting to

observe how the children (mainly the German speaking ones) used and

made connections between the languages that they were already exposed

to with the language they were now beginning to learn, to form new words.

As suggested by Johnson and de Villiers (2009), children use their

knowledge of the various aspects of their native language as clues. Figure

4 illustrates the observed example:


34

Figure 4: The word ambulance in German

German English

Krank Sick

Wagen Car

Krank + Wagen = Krankenwagen sick + car = sick car

Krankenwagen Ambulance

5.2.1. Groupings

The pre-test results in Figure 3 in Chapter 5.2. indicated that the children’s

scores ranged from 0 – 40. These scores were carefully studied and used to

divide the children into three equal groups, that is by trying to get the same

number of children of high, average and low performance level into every

group. This, in my opinion is important, because this conforms to the reality of

the everyday classroom situation that I work in. In the Early Learning

classrooms, the teachers are challenged to work with mixed groups of high,

average and low performance level children, altogether in one classroom.

After careful analysis of the scores, the groupings were formed. During the

process of forming the groups, the children’s preferences (towards reading

and singing) were also taken into consideration. Children who preferred

singing were placed in the singing group (Group 2) and the readers were

placed in the recitation group (Group 1). The control group (Group 3)

consisted of children who, in my opinion, did not really mind being in either

group. They were the more ‘independent’ type of children. This decision was

also made based on my daily involvement with these children. Being home-


35

based in the same classroom with them provided me with the opportunity to

observe them in almost all of their daily activities in the classroom, hence

giving me a better insight into their personality and preferences. Figure 5

illustrates the groupings.

Figure 5: The three groupings

Per

form

ance

leve

l

Group 1 (Recitation) Group 2 (Singing) Group 3 (Control)

High (H) TS (40) SF (38) BJ (38)

Average (A) LY (24) CR (23) EL (25)

Average (A) RM (25) MT (17) CH (13)

Low (L) ML (0) CL (6) TM (10)

Low (L) MX (2) LA (4) JH (8)

Total Group Scores 91 88 94

To sum up, each group possessed the following norms:

An equal distribution of high, average and low performing children.

Besides conforming to the reality of the classroom situation (as explained

earlier), this distribution also contributed to the equivalence of total group

scores.

Total group scores, as indicated in Figure 5, were almost equivalent in all

three groups. In my opinion, the difference between the total number 91,

88 and 94 was minimum and this would not create a huge impact on the

end results of this study.


36

5.3. THE TEACHING SESSIONS

As explained in Chapter 4.6, the teaching sessions were conducted four times

a week. The first teaching session started on 24 February 2014 and the last

session ended on 9 April 2014. The sessions were conducted in the

afternoons, when the children were either having their free playtime or quiet

rest time. This time was chosen in order not to disrupt with any lesson time.

However, when carrying out the teaching sessions, the children’s free

playtime and quiet rest time were also being considered, by making sure that

the sessions lasted not more than ten minutes. This was to ensure that all

children had the opportunity to make use and take advantage of their

allocated free playtime to play with their peers or enjoy their quiet rest time.

Furthermore, the short attention span of a 3 – 4 year old child was also taken

into consideration. A young child is very active and has a short attention span.

The sessions were kept short in order not to create stress or any emotional

distress for the young children. Figure 6 is a timetable illustrating the usual

teaching sessions.

Figure 6: Teaching timetable

Free playtime / quiet rest time 1:40 pm – 2:20 pm

Group 1 (Recitation) 1:45 pm – 1:55 pm

Group 2 (Singing) 2:00 pm – 2:10 pm

Young children tend to concentrate on other stimuli and become easily

distracted when they are in unfamiliar environments, causing inconsistency in


37

performance. Therefore, the room where the teaching sessions took place

was negotiated with the children. The Early Learning 2 classroom was

decided, since the room was available in the afternoons and some of the

children were familiar with the room.

Regarding the issue on distraction, some points were noticed at the start of

the teaching sessions:

Children who were familiar with the Early Learning 2 classroom were less

distracted and settled down almost immediately. Hence, a consistent

performance could be seen in these children.

Children who were not familiar with the different classroom were very

much distracted, by all the different things around them. They could not

pay attention. In Group 1, ML and MX were totally distracted in the first

and second sessions.

Some children were scared and shy being in a different room. Thus, they

could not take part and perform in the sessions actively. In Group 2, CL

was very quiet and shy. LA was distracted by the different surroundings.

However, I believe that all these distracted and shy children shared one thing

in common. Time was what they needed to assimilate themselves to the new

room and also to the new routine. By the time we entered the fourth teaching

session (for both recitation and singing groups), the following was observed:


38

In Group 1, ML and MX became much less distracted. They started to pay

attention to the sessions. Their concentration skills improved and they

were taking part actively in the sessions.

In Group 2, CL broke away from her shyness and tried to involve herself

actively in the sessions. LA was now familiar with the classroom and tried

to remain focused in the sessions.

To sum up this section, consistency in performance was observed starting

from the second week of teaching onwards. By this time, the children were

settled down and comfortable with following a new routine.

5.3.1. Recitation with Group 1

According to Aulakh (2007), the most common model of saying a nursery

rhyme is one in which the teacher says a line of a rhyme and the whole class

repeats. However, Aulakh reminds us that this exercise needs to be carefully

structured to avoid it becoming boring, mechanical and tedious for both the

teacher and the learner. Through my teaching experience with young children,

I found this method to be the easiest for young children to follow. Therefore, I

adapted this method to recite poems with the children in Group 1. This

method also allowed me to reinforce the children’s ‘turn taking’ skills. Turn

taking is a challenging, yet an essential skill for children in their daily

interactions (CELL, 2010). The following is an example of how the method

was used to teach the poem ‘Lemons are falling’ (Appendix C, song no. 5).


39

Teacher (My turn): Lemons are falling

Children (Your turn): Lemons are falling

Teacher (My turn): From the tree

Children (Your turn): From the tree

Teacher (My turn): Pick up all the lemons

Children (Your turn): Pick up all the lemons

Teacher (My turn): One, two, three.

Children (Your turn): One, two, three.

As reminded by Aulakh (2007), if the teacher is not careful, this method of

exercise can become boring, mechanical and tedious for both the teacher and

the learner. As a result, children may loose their motivation and enthusiasm.

Therefore, several implementations were made, as I taught the children to

recite the poems. Some of these implementations were even suggested by

the children themselves. Below is a conversation between TS and I, as TS

explained her idea and suggestion on reciting ‘Lemons are falling’.

Teacher: How can we make ‘reading’ this poem more interesting?

TS: (excitedly raised her hand up) I know, I have an idea!

Teacher: Can you tell us your idea, TS?

TS: We can read it like this. (TS began to read aloud and at the same time


40

moving her hands and body to perform the actions)

Lemons are falling ↓, lemons are falling ↑

From the tree ↓, from the tree ↑

Pick up all the lemons ↓, pick up all the lemons ↑

One, two, three ↓. One, two, three ↑.

Teacher: Thank you, TS. That was a brilliant suggestion!

TS demonstrated an interesting way of reading the taught poem to the other

children in Group 1. As she read, she stressed the underlined (in bold) words

and used high and low intonations (indicated by the arrows) at the end of

each sentence. Placing appropriate intonation and emphasis on words (in

terms of meaning), according to Aulakh (2007), invites the learner’s attention

to significant ideas and emotions, so that he / she can experience them during

recitation of the poem or rhyme. The emotional aspects of a song, as

suggested by Schön et al. (2008), may increase the level of arousal and

attention.

On top of that, TS also demonstrated the actions that went along with the

poem. TS used her hands and arms to indicate lemons falling from the tree,

bent down to pick the lemons and finally counted one, two and three with her

fingers. This coordination of language and physical movement corresponded

with a language teaching method developed by Asher (1996), known as ‘Total

Physical Response’ (TPR). This example also clearly demonstrated Bruner’s


41

(2004) combination of the enactive, iconic and symbolic modes in language

learning.

Some poems were short and some were longer. Some took a shorter time to

learn and some took more time. Longer texts were taught verse by verse, in

the following sessions. Bearing in mind that this study was aimed at a small

group of mixed first language children and not all children have the same level

of understanding and using English, it was therefore important for the teacher

/ researcher to select poems and songs that most children can follow and

understand. At the beginning of each session, definition of words (to new

poems) were explained and discussed with the children. The colourful

flashcards were used to aid the children’s learning and to prevent the

possibility of stress or emotional distress. For example, in the poem ‘Lemons

are falling’, the flashcard ‘lemon’ was used to assist the children in learning

the word ‘lemon’. Gradually, other fruit words (please refer to Figure 2 in

Chapter 5.1.) were taught by replacing the flashcards, using the same poem

or another new poem. The list of poems / songs used to teach in this study

can be found in Appendix C.

After each session, the children were also given the opportunity to recite the

poems in groups and / or alone and perform the actions. The children recited

with a variety of volume, in loud and soft voices. All these were conducted in

order to promote motivation, encourage enthusiasm in participation, and also

to make the recitation class more lively and interesting. With regards to ethical

considerations, these steps were also taken to ensure that all children have


42

received the same ‘potential’ benefit and equal opportunities.

5.3.2. Singing with Group 2

The singing group was introduced to the identical poems as the recitation

group, using the same repetition and ‘turn taking’ method. The only difference

was I (the teacher) singing the lines, instead of reading. In this group too, the

children contributed suggestions to make the singing more interesting. The

following is the song ‘Tomatoes’ (Appendix C, song no. 4), which was sung to

the tune of ‘Are you sleeping?’.

To-ma-toes, to-ma-toes

I eat you, I eat you

You make me grow big and strong.


I like you, I like you.

CR made a suggestion to modify the words of the song. Below is the short

conversation that we had:

CR: Why don’t we change the ‘I eat you’ to ‘I like you’?

Teacher: Why do you want to change it?

CR: It will be easier to remember, because it will be the same as the last line!


43

The words in bold were then replaced, as suggested by CR and all the other

children in the group were happy about this. CR’s reaction corresponded to

the fact that children often create their own songs, melodies and movements.

By doing this, they learn new words and ideas. Furthermore, children are

happier when allowed to interpret and react to music in their own individual,

creative way (The Creativity Institute, 2012).

In another separate conversation, CR suggested the following:

CR: Oh, I have another idea!

Teacher: What other idea do you have, CR?

CR: Maybe we should sing the last line like this, ‘One, two, three. One, two,

three’.

In this example, CR transformed a ‘topic song’ into a ‘counting song’. Geyer

(2001) explained that ‘topic songs’ are songs that support the acquisition of

vocabulary according to a special topic like ‘Food and Fruits’ (please refer to

Figure 2 in Chapter 5.1.). On the other hand, counting songs are songs that

support the learning of numbers and are often connected with using fingers.

Most of the counting songs train the numbers from one to ten. From my

teaching experience, I have observed that children like counting songs.

Counting songs make learning fun and enjoyable. Children not only remember

more, they become more eager to learn.

Finally, the children created, sang and clapped to their new version of the


44

song ‘Tomatoes’:

To-ma-toes, to-ma-toes

I like you, I like you



One, two, three. One, two, three.

Similar to the recitation group, at the beginning of each session, the meaning

of the words in the songs were explained to the children, to make sure that

they understood the content of the songs. After clarifying the content of the

song, the teacher (I) then sang the song once or twice while the children only

listened. Once they have understood and absorbed the tune and the rhythm,

they can start to clap the rhythm or hum the tune. The children then sang the

song several times, at first supported by the teacher’s voice and later by

themselves. With regards to ethical considerations, the teacher / researcher

made sure that melodies chosen were easy enough for everyone to follow, as

not all children have the same musical ability and talent. I noticed that some

children were quicker in picking up the melody of the songs than the others.

On the other hand, some were better at memorising the text of the poem /

song. Every child was different! Just as in Chapter 5.3.1. the teaching was

supported by visual aids - the picture flashcards used in the pre-test. Picture

flashcards are fun, colourful and a creative way to aid in memory and


45

retention of vocabulary words. They bring ‘images of reality into the unnatural

world of the language classroom’ (Hill 1990:1).

In most of the songs that were taught, the children sang with a variety in

volume. They sang in loud and soft voices. This increase or decrease in the

volume of voice, in my opinion prevents the fading away of pupil’s interest and

ensures their motivation in listening and speaking. It also makes them

sensitive to the emotional fabric of the language and creates certain

playfulness in children. This again was important to prevent the possibility of

stress or emotional distress among the children.

An interesting and positive aspect that was observed during the teaching

sessions (both in the recitation and singing groups) was the role of peer group

learning. Weaker children were always encouraged to be more active by the

stronger children. In the recitation group, TS and LY were the active ones,

supporting the rest of the group. In the singing group, SF and CR appeared to

be the drive of the group. The weaker children were seen to be copying what

the stronger ones were doing (in this case, reciting or singing). They were

repeating the words after them. This not only helped them in their vocabulary

learning, it also helped them to be active in the groups. According to

psychologist and author G.C. Davenport (1994), preschoolers learn mainly

through observation and he argues that if a child sees another peer group,

such as his siblings, being polite and sharing their toys, they are likely to copy

that behaviour themselves.


46

In both groups too, children favoured and picked up certain words much

quicker than some others. An example was when they were learning poems

and songs on transportation (Appendix C, songs no. 9 – 12). Almost every

child picked up and remembered words like ‘toot-toot’ and ‘chug-a-chug-a-

choo-choo’ without any problem. This is probably because children enjoy

playing, including playing with sounds. This spontaneous play with the sounds

of language is an extended form of playing known as phonological

awareness. Phonological awareness is highly related to a later success in

reading and writing because when children have opportunities to explore

speech sounds of any language, they build insight about the nature of speech

and carry that insight to a second language (NAEYC, 2009).

5.4. POST-TEST

The post-test was conducted on Friday, 11 April 2014, as mentioned earlier in

Chapter 4.6. The results are shown in Figure 7.


47

Figure 7: Post-test results

Participant Post-test Score (out of 50)

1. CR 46

2. TM 8

3. MX 9

4. EL 30

5. SF 50

6. TS 50

7. RM 43

8. CL 29

9. BJ 47

10. LA 27

11. LY 49

12. CH 18

13. MT 32

14. ML 44

15. JH 13

5.5. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

Some problems were encountered in the course of conducting this

investigation. My first encounter was with the exposure of the fifty selected

words. Children from the control group (Group 3) were not supposed to be

exposed to these words. However, while conducting this study, there was an

occasion when I witnessed a couple of words (intended to be taught only to

Groups 1 and 2) being exposed to the whole class (all three groups) during a

class storytelling session. This unintentional action shows that in a school-

based research (Wilson, 2009), despite the researcher giving his / her best

effort not to interfere with the normal classroom routine, incidents similar to

this cannot be completely avoided. This encounter also suggests that


48

reliability, which in this study can be thought of as consistency, cannot be

completely depended on. As mentioned in Chapter 4.5., it is important to

know that in this study, the children in Group 3 may (or may not) through

natural classroom activities pick up words that may (or may not) match to the

ones being introduced to Groups 1 and 2. Therefore, in my opinion, the

couple of words known / learned (by accident) out of fifty words do not really

give a big impact on the end results of this study, because fifty words were

chosen for the study and not twenty!

The second encountered problem was during one of the poem recitation

sessions. ML refused to recite the sentence in a poem - ‘I like tomatoes’,

because according to her, she does not like tomatoes! This problem was

resolved by changing the sentence to ‘I don’t like tomatoes’. ML was satisfied

and continued participate in the reading activity. This example demonstrates

active learning. Active learning takes place when young children are involved

in doing things and thinking about what they are doing (Tomlin, n.d.).

The third problem was encountered when LY from the recitation group asked

if we could turn the poems into songs, so that the poems could be sung,

instead of read. According to LY, reading was boring and singing was more

interesting. This problem was quickly tackled, by explaining to LY the purpose

of the research and the groupings. As mentioned earlier in Chapter 4.7.,

ethical considerations in research with children occur at all stages of the

research process. Therefore, reasons and intentions for conducting this study

must be explained regularly, when needed. In this case, it was important to


49

ensure that LY and also all the children understood that they would receive

the same ‘potential’ benefit and equal opportunities at the end of the study,

when all three groups would swap activities and experience learning English

words through reciting and singing song poems.

Regarding the issue on song selection, Group 2 found one song difficult to

follow. They expressed that it was difficult for them to sing the song

‘Strawberries, bananas, watermelon too!’ (Appendix C, song no. 7) to the tune

of ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’. They also expressed their preference to sing

‘counting songs’ (as explained earlier in Chapter 5.3.2.) such as ‘Sing a song

of fruit’ (Appendix C, song no. 6), which is sung to the tune of ‘Ten little

Indians’. This problem was resolved, by leaving out the ‘difficult’ song.

Instead, the much preferred ‘counting songs’ were used more often to teach

the ‘food and fruits’ words.


50

Chapter 6

Discussion of results

6.1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses about the results gained in this study through

quantitative analysis. Based upon the pre-test – post-test design, the

children’s learning of English language vocabulary was assessed at the start

of the intervention and again at the conclusion. The measurement between

the start and conclusion, and between the experimental and control group,

was done by counting and comparing numbers, also known as descriptive

statistics.

6.2. DATA ANALYSIS

For individual data analysis, the results from the pre and post-tests were,

again, organised into three groups.

Figure 8: Recitation

Per

form

ance

leve

l

Group 1 (Recitation)

Child Pre-test Post-test

High (H) TS 40 50

Average (A) LY 24 49

Average (A) RM 25 43

Low (L) ML 0 44

Low (L) MX 2 9

Total Scores (excluding ML)

91 151


51

In this recitation group, the vocabulary uptake of every child increased.

However, the score from ML (from 0 – 44) in my opinion was inaccurate, as

the increment was rather enormous. Therefore, I have decided not to use

ML’s scores in the calculation of my results. The fact that I am involved with

these children everyday and know them well, it is in my opinion that ML’s

scores were most likely influenced by behavioural issues. It was quite certain

that ML was not happy to participate in the pre-test or was not having a good

day when the pre-test was conducted.

Figure 9: Singing

Per

form

ance

leve

l

Group 2 (Singing)


High (H) SF 38 50

Average (A) CR 23 46

Average (A) MT 17 32

Low (L) CL 6 29

Low (L) LA 4 27

Total Scores 88 184

In the singing group, the vocabulary uptake of every child also showed an

increment.

Figure 10: Control

Per

form

ance

leve

l

Group 3 (Control)


High (H) BJ 38 47

Average (A) EL 25 30

Average (A) CH 13 18

Low (L) TM 10 8

Low (L) JH 8 13 Total Scores 94 116


52

In the control group, most of the children’s vocabulary uptake also indicated

an increase, except for one child, TM. TM’s scores decreased from 10 to 8. In

my opinion, this minimum decrease is again probably caused by an influence

of personality and behavioural issues, as mentioned earlier in the recitation

section. In my opinion too, since the decrease is so minimum, it will not affect

the end results of this whole study. Therefore, TM’s scores will be used in

data calculation.

6.3. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE THREE MAIN GROUPS

Due to the inaccuracy of results from ML in the recitation group (Figure 8), I

had to convert the total obtained scores (in Figure 8, Chapter 6.2.) into the

percentage form, to ensure better accuracy in data comparison between the

three groups. Since ML’s scores were excluded, the recitation group had only

a total of 200 words (50 words x 4 children), instead of 250 (50 words x 5

children) as in the singing and control groups.

Figure 11: Data comparison in percentage

Group Pre-test Post-test Difference

Recitation 91/200 x 100 = 45.5% 151/200 x 100 = 75.5% 30% ↑

Singing 88/250 x 100 = 35.2% 184/250 x 100 = 73.6% 38.4% ↑

Control 94/250 x 100 = 37.6% 116/250 x 100 = 46.4% 8.8% ↑

The above table illustrates that all three groups, after intervention, had an

increment in vocabulary uptake. The singing group came out first with an

increment of 38.4%. The recitation group came out second with an increment

of 30%. The control group made a minimum progress of 8.8%. Singing was


53

indicated as the most effective way in supporting these children’s vocabulary

learning. Although the difference between the singing and the recitation group

was not too large, however the results suggest that singing was more

effective, most probably because singing was more interesting. In line with

Apsari’s (2012) findings, songs brought positive atmosphere to the learning

process, thus children were motivated to participate in the learning. On the

other hand, children in the recitation group had the tendency to become bored

more quickly. Therefore, there was the inclination to make the poem recitation

lively by adding on high and low intonations while reciting, as described in

Chapter 5.3.1. These intonations are in line with the findings of Schön et al.

(2008), which suggested that the presence of pitch contours might enhance

phonological discrimination that may contribute to language acquisition. The

control group, in comparison to the other two groups, appeared to have made

very little and the least progress. This, in my opinion, suggests that children’s

vocabulary learning can be improved, if they were provided with extra support

through activities such as, singing or even poem recitation, enhanced by

intonation.

6.4. COMPARISON OF GROUPS ACCORDING TO PERFORMANCE

LEVEL

In this section, I analysed the accumulated results in groups based on level of

performance i.e. the high (H), average (A) and low (L) groups, as explained

earlier in Chapter 5.2.1. As shown in Figure 5 (in Chapter 5.2.1.), it is quite

clear that the children were not only grouped according to their preference for


54

reciting and singing, they were, however, also categorised based on their pre-

test scores:

High group = scores from 31 – 50

Average group = scores from 11 – 30

Low group = scores from 0 – 10

To promote accuracy in data comparison between the three groups, the

calculation of results (based on the results shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10 in

Chapter 6.2.) were again converted into the percentage form. Based on the

results shown in Appendix D, a graph (Figure 13) was generated to illustrate

the development of the children’s vocabulary uptake.

Although the number of children in each category (recitation, singing and

control) becomes very small once they are grouped according to their level of

performance, it is however still interesting and useful to make an analysis,

based on this small number. Figure 12 points out the small numbers in each

group, while Figure 13 elaborates on the interesting findings.

Figure 12: Number of children in each group, based on performance level

Per

form

ance

leve

l

Groupings & Number of children

Recitation Singing Control

High (H) 1 1 1

Average (A) 2 2 2

Low (L) 2 (1) 2 2


55

Figure 12 indicates the presence of two children in the low performance

category of the recitation group. However, only the result of one child (shown

in bracket) was used for data analysis purposes (please refer to Chapter 6.2.

for the explanation).

Figure 13: Development of children’s vocabulary uptake, based on

performance level

In Figure 13, the results from the children in the low performing group

appeared to be the most obvious to me. Children in this group seemed to

have benefited most from the singing intervention, in comparison with the

other two average and high performing groups. In this group too, the

intervention of recitation did not help the children much in their vocabulary

uptake, in comparison with the average and high performing groups. The

control group in this low category made the least progress, in comparison to

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

High Average Low

Recitation

Singing

Control


56

the high and average groups. This outcome suggests that singing helps

children, especially the ones in the low group, in learning new words. As

mentioned by Hernández and Gómez (n.d.), songs helped them to reinforce

the vocabulary, through repetition. This is also in line with the findings of

Apsari (2012), which revealed that repeated words from songs helped

children to remember the words and singing is a way to memorise

vocabulary.

Although recitation of poems also used the same repetition method, these

children (in the low group), however, found it less interesting to recite

poems. Singing was more appealing, because songs brought positive

atmosphere to the learning process (Apsari, 2012). Apsari’s findings

showed that when classroom environment becomes more active, children

were motivated to participate in the class. Hence, more learning takes

place. When children become bored, less learning takes place. Therefore, it

is clear that the children in this low performing group enjoyed and benefited

from singing rather than reciting. This is also in agreement with the findings

of Joyce (2011), who used a research conducted by neuroscientist Diamond

(2003) to understand music, brain research and vocabulary development.

According to Diamond (2003), the creative power of the brain is released

when human beings are in environments that are positive, nurturing, and

stimulating and that encourage action and interaction. For these children,

learning probably took place, when they felt happy and encouraged through

singing.


57

The intervention of recitation benefited the average and high performing

groups more than the low group. This was probably due to the fact that

children in the average and high groups were able to recite the poems

creatively, by adding in intonations, hence keeping the class environment

positive. This action of transformation also conforms to the study conducted

by Schön and her colleagues (2008) who offered some evidence on the link

between language and music. Schön et al. (2008) mentioned that the

presence of pitch contours in songs might enhance phonological

discrimination that may also contribute to language acquisition. Similarly,

poems recited with high and low intonations by these children also created

pitch contours that may contribute to language acquisition.

However, on the other hand, as mentioned before, researchers in a study

conducted by Ludke, Ferreira and Overy (2013) found that adults who

listened to short Hungarian phrases and then sang them back performed

better than those who spoke the phrases. The study noted that learning via

singing showed a direct transfer to speaking skills, since all participants

were tested on their spoken Hungarian skills and this language was

unfamiliar to all of the participants before the experiment. In my own study

too, the majority of the children had very little spoken English skills before

the experiment. Furthermore, the main finding from Ludke, Ferreira and

Overy’s study showed that singing was more effective as a learning

condition than either speaking or rhythmic speaking, hence suggesting that

a listen-and-repeat singing method using simple, previously unfamiliar


58

melodies could provide a significant memory benefit for foreign language

learning. In conducting my own study too, the listen-and-repeat singing

method was used with the singing group, whereas the common listen-and-

repeat method was used with the recitation group. The study conducted by

Ludke, Ferreira and Overy also appeared to have provided the first

experimental evidence that singing can support second language learning.

It supports the hypothesis that the benefits of a sung presentation of verbal

material in verbal learning are most evident on verbatim recall tasks.

However, it was not clear if the beneficial effects of singing in this listen-

and-repeat foreign language learning paradigm were because of correlated

pitch cues, integrated encoding of lyrics and melodies or other possible

factors (such as increased attention). The design and results of their study

did not allow them to identify the above effects. However, I found this study

to be in relation to my own, because the overall findings from my own study

showed that children who sang fared slightly better than those who recited

rhythmically, whether with or without intonations.

Nevertheless, in Figure 13 too, one can see that in the high group, the

difference in the percentage of vocabulary uptake between the singing,

recitation and control group is minimum. This is probably due to the fact

that, these children, in one-way or another will pick up new words, whether

it is through singing, reading or other activities. However, in the average

performing group of children, one could see that children in the control

group could have benefited from the intervention of singing or recitation


59

activity. In the low performing group, the children in the control group

benefited the least. This clearly suggests that children in the low performing

group could definitely, with the support of singing and recitation activities,

improve their language learning and vocabulary uptake.

To sum up this section, singing generally contributed to the vocabulary

uptake of children in all performance level in this study. Its benefit grew

gradually from the high to average and finally to the low performing group.

This overall benefit supports the notion that singing especially using the

‘listen-and-repeat singing’ method can support language learning, thus also

implying that there is a link between music and memory.


60

Chapter 7

Conclusions

7.1. FINDINGS FROM STUDY

In conclusion, I have found the findings from this study to be useful and

interesting for teachers. Since this research was based on a small group of

children in one particular school, the findings therefore cannot be generalised

out to a wider population. The answer was just to specify the group of

children. However, the findings were linked with other studies that may

contribute to a strengthening of the hypothesis that song singing can support

vocabulary learning for all children, in general.

Although the sample size (the numbers of children) in the study was small and

the findings (end results) showed a relatively small difference of 8.4%

between the recitation and singing groups (please see Figure 11 in Chapter

6.3.), the findings nevertheless suggest some very useful pedagogical

strategies with real implications for strategies to support children’s vocabulary

learning through recitation and singing. Both the recitation and singing groups

shared two common norms:

They both used the most common and effective ‘listen-and-repeat’ method

(Aulakh, 2007) in their vocabulary learning.

They also applied the combination of Bruner’s (2004) enactive, iconic and

symbolic modes in their language learning, by looking at picture flashcards

to clarify difficult words, using different intonations to reveal the emotional


61

aspects of a poem / song and performing fitting actions to illustrate what is

happening in a situation.

However, between the two teaching methods, recitation and singing, singing

turned out to be the more interesting way of learning vocabulary for the

children. This study found out the following reasons:

From all the informal comments gathered from the children during the

recitation and singing sessions, most of the children gave the impression

that singing was more fun than recitation. In the recitation group, it was

observed that the children had the tendency to include intonations to their

poem recitations, thus shifting the recitation activity into a ‘singing-like’

(song) activity, making the activity more lively.

The nature of children that they like to play and have fun while learning.

Singing for them is like playing, because music in the form of songs is a

form of play that children are familiar with (Isenberg, 1993).

This study also identified some evidence that may suggest that certain

cognitive processes may connect singing with language learning in such a

way, that there is an improvement in comparison with non-singing

approaches. The following was observed and illustrates the connection

between singing, cognitive development and language learning:

When the children were playing (in this case, singing) they ‘appeared to be

happy’. The outward signs were shown through their facial expressions

and physical movements, while singing. Happy children tend to be more


62

active in the teaching and learning process. When human beings are in

environments that are positive, nurturing, and stimulating and that

encourage action and interaction, the creative power of the brain is

released (Diamond, 2003).

The happy faces of the children while singing also testified that songs

provided the children with emotional security and active participation. As

mentioned by Schön et al. (2008), the emotional aspects of a song may

increase the level of arousal and attention. Furthermore, songs also

brought a positive atmosphere to the learning process (Apsari, 2012).

Children in the singing group sang the phrases back and these children

fared better than the ones in the recitation group who repeated the

phrases by speaking / reciting them rhythmically with the added

intonations (Ludke, Ferreira and Overy, 2013).

7.2. IMPLICATIONS TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Although the findings from this study were little, nevertheless they were

different and valuable enough for my own professional practice. The findings

revealed some of the following advantageous aspects:

Music, in particular singing, can play an important and positive role in

developing and reinforcing the English vocabulary learning of young

children, especially amongst the children in the Early Learning classrooms,

that I work in.

A clearer awareness of children’s preferences in terms of types songs to

select for teaching i.e. topic songs, counting songs and etc.


63

Generated new ideas and suitable activities to accompany the song /

vocabulary teaching sessions i.e. using pictures, movements and etc.

A better understanding with regards to age and attention span of children.

Young children are easily distracted and become restless. Therefore, I /

teachers needed to be patient and creative to prevent the children from

being distracted. A teacher also needs to consider the things that children

are able to do according to their age. Piaget’s theory of Cognitive

Development (Baker, 2013) should be reviewed more often to know more

about children’s characteristics, so that they can achieve better results

with their lessons.

Group dynamic affects learning. Being in a certain group with children who

are positive and encouraging, helps children to learn. I observed this in the

recitation and singing groups (please see Chapter 5.3.2.). The group

dynamic influenced the results of this study, as the children were not

taught individually and no particular 'treatment' was applied to the teaching

sessions, as one would do in a very strict experimental study.

7.3. FURTHER RESEARCH

This study was based on a small group of children in one particular school.

The findings therefore cannot be generalised out to a wider population, as the

answer was just to specify the group of children. This alone leaves us with

many other possibilities for further research:


64

One could expand the study to work with larger groups of children from

different age groups and also from different schools to obtain a wider

range of results.

A fascinating area to explore would be if singing songs supports children’s

learning in general i.e. in improving their mathematics skills?

The findings from this study only indicated the development of children’s

receptive vocabulary (the interpretation of language that is heard or read)

and not expressive vocabulary (the production of language through

speech and writing). According to Jalongo and Sobolak (2011), receptive

vocabulary of young children is often four times greater than their

expressive vocabulary. Therefore, it would also be interesting to extend

this research to explore the area of expressive vocabulary. It would be

fascinating to find out how and to which extend can singing songs support

children in building vocabulary and comprehension in a written form.

7.4. LIMITATIONS AND VALIDITY OF RESULTS

The results obtained from this study were satisfactory. However, the study

had some limitations:

As mentioned earlier in Chapter 7.3. this study was based only on a small

group of children in one particular school, the findings therefore cannot be

generalised out to a wider population. The answer was just to specify this

group of children.

There were only fifteen children in the study, five in each group. There

were days when one or two children were absent, which then left a group


65

with only three or four children. This resulted in a ‘lifeless’ and ‘uninspiring’

session, especially in the recitation group. It became very difficult to

motivate these children. If there were more children in the groups, the

children could motivate each other, because peer group learning played a

role here. As mentioned by Hartup and Moore (1991), the classroom peer

group provides a uniquely ripe context in which children learn, practice,

and refine the give and take that is essential to competent social

interaction.

The teaching sessions were only conducted in the afternoons, as these

were the only times the children had free playtime or quiet rest time.

Therefore, there were times when one or two children refused to leave the

classroom to join in the recitation or singing sessions, particularly because

they were engrossed in playing or were too tired. Hence, when they came

to the sessions, they were not participating actively. This situation would

have been different or avoided, if there were other time slots available

throughout the day.

The validity of results could not be 100% accurate, although extra attention

was paid to the control group – Group 3. The children from this group may

(or may not) through natural classroom activities i.e. during storytelling

time, pick up words that may (or may not) match to the ones being

introduced to groups 1 and 2, hence affecting the accuracy of results.

In the light of the methodology chosen, every child benefited from the study.

Every child indicated a progress in language / vocabulary uptake, except for


66

one or two children whose results were believed to be inaccurate, because of

the influence of personal behavioural issues. Therefore, there was no need to

modify the chosen methodology. However, on the other hand, experimental

studies are very difficult to manage efficiently in 'real life' settings because of

all the everyday issues, mentioned above i.e. children being absent, having

an 'off' day and so on. In spite of these difficulties, I find it worthwhile setting

out to test a hypothesis in this way because it can provide some stronger

findings to support pedagogical approaches. One small study can contribute

to a growing body of studies and this can be very useful. This study has

proven to be useful for my own work.

7.5. REFLECTION AND EVALUATION OF RESULTS

The advantage of conducting this study was that the study was not replacing

any ‘normal’ curriculum work in the classroom. All the children continued to

have and do their normal work. It was important to affirm that no group will be

disadvantaged in comparison with the others. Therefore, all three groups were

given the opportunity to swap activities, upon the completion of the study, to

experience learning English words through reciting and singing song poems.

Furthermore, the advantages and benefits of participating in this project might

only include the increase of children’s uptake of English vocabulary and this

was demonstrated in the final results of the study.

However, in conducting a research with children, it was important that the

children were able to see and understand the results of their investment of


67

time in participation. Therefore, upon completion of this study and after the

children had swapped activities, I disseminated the results to the children

verbally and spontaneously, during one of my music classes with them.

For reflection and refreshment of memories, we looked at some poems and

songs written on word strips with picture word cards together. The children

were asked to point out the most interesting elements, i.e. pictures, melody

and etc. Evaluation was made by a show of hands through answering some of

these questions:

How many people preferred reciting poems to singing songs?

How many people thought that they have learnt new words through the

poems and songs?

How many people thought that the pictures or the melody of the songs

were important to them and why?

The show of hands from the children (13 out of 15) indicated that singing was

more popular than reciting. Having swapped activities at the end of the study,

LY (from the recitation group) said that she found singing the songs more fun

and singing them made her feel happy. On the other hand, TS (also from the

recitation group) expressed that she found both reciting and singing equally

as good and interesting. With regards to the picture word cards, a majority of

the children expressed that it was easier for them to remember new words by

looking at the pictures. The pictures gave them an idea of what the new word

could be. CR (from the singing group) voiced out her opinion that simple and


68

familiar song melodies help her to sing better. They allow her to sing

repetitively, each time replacing newly learnt words.

From time to time, I managed to exchange some short and casual

conversations about the progress of my study with some keen and interested

parents. Shortly before the completion of writing up this whole study, I sent

out an informal email to all the parents, asking them the following:

Have you noticed your children reading / reciting poems at home?

Have you noticed your children doing more singing at home, in the car

and etc?

Do you think your child’s English vocabulary has increased in the last

months?

Do you think that reciting / singing songs has helped your children in

their English vocabulary learning?

Are you satisfied and happy with the outcome of this research?

Out of fifteen emails sent out, I received eleven responses back. All eleven

parents answered that their children were singing songs at home. Four

parents reported that their children were singing a lot at home i.e. while

playing with their dolls / toys and also during dinnertime. Three parents

indicated that their children were also very often singing along to songs

played in the car or just by themselves, singing songs that they knew and

sometimes creating their own songs according to familiar melodies. Three

parents informed that their children were not just singing - they were


69

sometimes seen to be reciting poems and nursery rhymes. However, all these

parents expressed that the English vocabulary of their children have indeed

increased. One parent also pointed out that besides learning new words, her

child appeared to have picked up phrases from songs and having memorised

the phrases in songs, would use them more confidently. Another parent

expressed that she was fascinated with her child’s memory. According to her,

‘my daughter is spontaneously singing the whole day long and I am really

fascinated with her good memory in recalling and repeating songs without

difficulties!’. Another parent reported that her child besides singing seemed to

be more often looking at pictures in books and trying to read the words, while

another parent reported that her child was using her body language while

singing. In my opinion, each child in one way or another has learnt and gained

something useful from the small recitation and singing group work. However,

above all, all the eleven responses shared one common opinion that singing

songs seemed to have played a positive role in the children’s English

vocabulary learning and that they were all satisfied with this development.

Finally, due to the busy schedule among my fellow colleagues at work (as the

end of the school year approaches), the plan to disseminate my research

results to other interested professionals and adults could not be carried out

completely. At the time of completing the writing up of this study, there has not

been a suitable opportunity for a presentation to be arranged to discuss the

research results and to receive feedback on developing language and literacy

through music, among the children in the Early Learning Centre.


70

Nevertheless, I had the opportunity to briefly share my results and findings

with the Homeroom Teacher, who in fact was the closest person following the

progress of my research work. After looking at the results and findings, she

expressed that she was delighted with the fact that the children appeared to

be having fun while singing. She also pointed out that this group of children

appeared to be singing much more than the other groups of children she’s

had before. In her opinion too, this group of children appeared to have picked

up the listen-and-repeat method and this too may and could have contributed

to the children’s other areas of learning. In her opinion too, a couple of ‘less

confident’ children seemed to have benefited from the project. These children

appeared to have gained confidence through the small recitation and singing

groups and are seen to be using more English words in their communication.

As a conclusion to this study, I believe that it is important for teachers to

continuously seek new ways to facilitate the teaching of (English) vocabulary

to children. If singing has proven to be a fruitful method in facilitating language

learning, then teachers ought to continue to include singing into their lesson

plans, across the curriculum, because ‘singing is the one of the most

enjoyable verbal activities for all age-groups of learners in acquiring and using

language’ (Aulakh, 2007). Furthermore, the use of songs in language teaching

has a long history and studies have also revealed that music has been found

to stimulate parts of the brain. When we hear a familiar song, we are often

able to recall a moment from our past that is connected to that tune. Hence,

as mentioned by Lucas (2009), favourite songs do tickle our memory in


71

various ways. In this study, I witnessed the group of children whom I worked

with improving in their English vocabulary uptake, in particular the children

who came with the least English, through the intervention of singing.

Therefore, it is in my opinion that singing can support the vocabulary uptake

of children. Hence, children should continuously be motivated in their

language development and learning through singing.


72

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APPENDICES

Appendix A - Permission Form: ELC Facilitator and EL1 Homeroom Teacher

Dear __________________________,

I am currently pursuing my MA in Early Years Music Education at Birmingham City

University, UK. As part of my 3rd year dissertation assignment, I am carrying out a

literacy project, which is designed to explore whether the use of songs can increase

children’s uptake of English vocabulary. The purpose of this letter is to request

permission for the children in Early Learning 1 to participate in this project.

Some children may take part in the literacy activities from February 2014 to April

2014. The activities will include learning English vocabularies through singing songs

and reciting poems. Activities will take place for 10 – 20 minutes per day, four days

per week over the course of approximately eight weeks. All children in Early Learning

1 will take part in a vocabulary pre-test in February 2014 and a vocabulary post-test

in April 2014.

All the additional literacy activities, including the pre and post-tests will be scheduled

such that the children will not miss their usual classroom activities. Benefits of

participating in this project may include the increase of children’s uptake of English

vocabulary.

All information collected during this project will be used for my research purposes

only. The children’s identity and the school they attend will be kept confidential.

Instead of real names, code numbers will be used. No identifying information will be

released. Permission forms will be sent out to parents of the children. Some children

may not take part in this study, if their parents do not want them to. They may

withdraw their child at any time without the impact on school activities or projects and

without comment or penalty.


83

I will be happy to answer any questions or concerns that you may have about this

study. You may speak to me personally or email me at: Diana.Lim-

[email protected].

Since involvement in this research study is voluntary, I will also need the children’s

permission to participate. This will be done verbally. Only if both parent and child give

permission, then only will a child be included in the study. If you agree to the

participation of the Early Learning 1 class and grant me the permission to carry out

my research work with them, please complete and sign this form and return it to me,

as soon as possible.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Yours sincerely,

Diana Lim-Kemper

ELC Music

Postgraduate Student – BCU

Authorisation:

I, _______________________________ give permission for the children of Early

Learning 1 to take part in the research project described above. I understand that the

purpose of this project is to explore whether the use of songs can increase children’s

uptake of English vocabulary and that the children may participate in vocabulary

assessments and activities conducted by the researcher. My signature indicates that

I have received a copy of this consent form.

______________________________

Signature / Date


84

Appendix B - Permission Form: Parents or Guardians

Dear ,

I am currently pursuing my MA in Early Years Music Education at Birmingham City

University, UK. As part of my 3rd year dissertation assignment, I am carrying out a

literacy project, which is designed to explore whether the use of songs can increase

children’s uptake of English vocabulary. The purpose of this letter is to request

permission for your child to participate in this project.

Some children may take part in the literacy activities from February 2014 to April

2014. The activities will include learning English vocabularies through singing songs

and reciting poems. Activities will take place for 10 – 20 minutes per day, four days

per week over the course of approximately eight weeks. All children in Early Learning

1 will take part in a vocabulary pre-test in February 2014 and a vocabulary post-test

in April 2014.

All the additional literacy activities, including the pre and post-tests will be scheduled

such that your child will not miss their usual classroom activities. Benefits of

participating in this project may include the increase of children’s uptake of English

vocabulary.

All information collected during this project will be used for my research purposes

only. Your child’s identity and the school they attend will be kept confidential. Instead

of real names, code numbers will be used. No identifying information will be released.

Your child does not have to take part in this study, if you do not want him / her to.

You may withdraw your child at any time without the impact on school activities or

projects and without comment or penalty.

I will be happy to answer any questions or concerns that you may have about this

study. You may speak to me personally or email me at: Diana.Lim-

[email protected].

Since involvement in this research study is voluntary, I need your permission for your

child to participate. I will also verbally ask your child’s permission to participate. Only


85

if both you and your child give permission, then only will your child be included in the

study. If you agree that your child can participate, please complete and sign this form

and return it to me, as soon as possible.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Yours sincerely,

Diana Lim-Kemper

ELC Music

Postgraduate Student - BCU

*************************************************************************************************

Authorisation:

I am the parent or legal guardian of _______________________________. I give

permission for my child to take part in the research project described above. I

understand that the purpose of this project is to explore whether the use of songs can

increase children’s uptake of English vocabulary and that my child may participate in

vocabulary assessments and activities conducted by the researcher. My signature

indicates that I have received a copy of this consent form.

______________________________

Signature / Date


86

Appendix C – List of poems / songs

Theme: Clothes

1. Dressed in the morning (Sung to: "This is the way")

This is the way we dress ourselves,

Dress ourselves, dress ourselves

This is the way dress ourselves,

Early in the morning.

This is the way we put on our shirt,

Put on our shirt, put on our shirt

This is the way we put on our shirt,

Early in the morning!

(Act out each movement ..... continue adding items of clothing depending on

the weather or season you want to discuss)

Winter: Sweater, jacket, gloves, hat, scarf, boots

Summer: Socks, shoes, shirt, pants, shorts, skirt, dress

In the night:

This is the way we put on our pajamas,

Put on our pajamas, put on our pajamas

This is the way we put on our pajamas,

Before we go bed.

Theme: Food and fruits

2. Harvest time (Sung to: “Twinkle, twinkle little star”)

Harvest time is here again

In the garden we must dig

Carrots, onions, tomatoes too

All so fresh and yummy too.


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Harvest time is here again

In the garden we must dig.

(Other verses: Move the words around – Onions, tomatoes, corns…)

3. Carrot (Sung to: “Are you sleeping?”)

Carrot, carrot, Carrot, carrot

I like you, I like you

Rabbits like to munch, munch, munch.

Rabbits like to munch, munch, munch.

I like to crunch, crunch, crunch!

I like to crunch, crunch, crunch!

4. Tomatoes (Sung to: “Are you sleeping?”)

To-ma-toes, to-ma-toes (O-ni-ons)

I eat you, I eat you



I like you, I like you.

5. Lemons are falling (Sung to: “Frere Jacques”)

Lemons are falling, lemons are falling

From the tree, from the tree

Pick up all the lemons, pick up all the lemons

One, two, three, One, two, three

(Other verses: Cherries, pears)

6. Sing a song of fruit (Sung to: “Ten little Indians”)

One little, two little, three little watermelons;

Four little, five little, six little bananas

Seven little, eight little, nine little pineapples;

Ten little strawberries.


88

Note: (You can vary the kinds of fruits in this song)

7. Strawberries, bananas, watermelon too! (Sung to: "Twinkle, twinkle, little

star")

Strawberries, bananas, watermelon too;

Good for me and good for you!

They are tasty; they are sweet.

All are such a yummy treat.

Strawberries, bananas, watermelon too;

Good for me and good for you!

8. A picnic we will go (Sung to: "The farmer in the dell")

A picnic we will go,

A picnic we will go

With our food and drinks

A picnic we will go.

We’ll have a piece of cake (bread / toast)

We’ll have a piece of cake

And drink some water

To keep us, fit and strong.

We’ll have some sandwiches (cheeseburgers, hotdogs)

We’ll have some sandwiches



We’ll have some eggs and cheese (chicken and fish)

We’ll have some eggs and cheese



We’ll have candies and ice creams


89

We’ll have candies and ice creams

To make us all happy

When we are at the park.

Theme: Transportation

9. The train on the track (Sung to: “Wheels on the bus”)

The train on the track goes

chug, chug, chug,

Chug, chug, chug,

Chug, chug, chug,

The train on the track goes

chug, chug, chug

all day long.

Other verses:

The boat on the water goes toot

The car on the road goes beep

The truck on the road goes honk

The bus on the road goes vroom

The motorcycle on the track goes zoom / vroom

The airplane in the sky goes way up high / zoom

The helicopter in the sky goes way up high

The bicycle on the road goes ring

10. Off we go – A travelling song (Sung to: “Frere Jacques”)

Here’s the train, here’s the train

All aboard, all aboard

Chug-a-chug-a-choo-choo

Chug-a-chug-a-choo-choo

Off we go, off we go

Replace vehicle: airplane (Chug-a-chug-a-zoom-zoom), boat (toot-toot), car (zoom-

zoom / beep-beep), motorcycle (vroom-vroom)


90

11. I am a fire engine (truck) (Sung to: “I'm a little teapot”)

I’m a fire engine, all in red.

I have loud sirens on my head.

I am driving very fast, you can see,

I help to put the fire out for you.

I’m an ambulance, white and red

I have loud sirens on my head

I am driving very fast, you can see,

I bring the sick to the hospital.

I’m a police car, all in white and green

I have loud sirens on my head

I am driving very fast, you can see

I help to make things safe for you.

12. The police car (Sung to: “Mary had a little lamb”)

The police car zooms down the street

Down the street, down the street

The police car zooms down the street

I wonder what is wrong.

The ambulance zooms down the street


The ambulance zooms down the street


The fire engine zooms down the street


The fire engine zooms down the street



91

Appendix D – Percentage of children’s development in vocabulary uptake

Performance Level

Recitation Group

Pre-test Post-test Difference

High (H) 40/50 x 100 = 80% 50/50 x 100 = 100% 20% ↑

Average (A) 49/100 x 100 = 49% 92/100 x 100 = 92% 43% ↑

*Low (L) 2/50 x 100 = 4% 9/50 x 100 = 18% 14% ↑

*ML’s result were excluded (Please refer to Chapter 6.2. Figure 8)

Performance Level

Singing Group


High (H) 38/50 x 100 = 76% 50/50 x 100 = 100% 24% ↑

Average (A) 40/100 x 100 = 40% 78/100 x 100 = 78% 38% ↑

Low (L) 10/100 x 100 = 10% 56/100 x 100 = 56% 46% ↑

Performance Level

Control Group


High (H) 38/50 x 100 = 76% 47/50 x 100 = 94% 18% ↑

Average (A) 38/100 x 100 = 38% 48/100 x 100 = 48% 10% ↑

Low (L) 18/100 x 100 = 18% 21/100 x 100 = 21% 3% ↑

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