CRITICAL REVIEW

THE EFFECT OF USING ENGLISH SONGS ON STUDENTS’ LEARNING

MOTIVATION AND LANGUAGE SKILLS
From Article Sources
English Songs as Means of Aiding Students’ Proficiency Development

By:

Devi Mufidah Juhriyah

NPM. 21921073120

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITAS ISLAM MALANG
MALANG
2020
 Today, in this era, teaching English to the students’ need to consider the social
and cognitive development and it should be giving the students a chance to be
involved with the learning and feeling enjoy with what their activities in the class.
Therefore the teaching conventional method of teaching should be improve. The
teacher can find the other solution to improve the learning process. This also include
with designing the atmosphere to be natural to decrease the anxiety of the students.
The kind anxiety such as the feeling of embarrassing, worrying, fearful, and so on. If
the teacher can decrease a kind of anxiety feeling from the students, the learning
process will be very interactive, and the skills of the students will be improve.
Therefore, one of the solution is using songs. Songs will be a kind of fun activities
tools using for learning language, also do not giving pressure on students. Music or
songs can be the essential part to growing the learning and to improve the main
English skills from the students.

In the article English Songs as Means of Aiding Students’ Proficiency

Development , Roszainora et al (2012), identified that English songs can be the way
for the students to mastery English skill and improve the learning process. Songs is
one of the best way for mastery English skill because songs can be aurally and orally
transmitted, containing phonetic, syntactic and semantic components, which is all the
parts are related with the language skill. So that, it is related with the discussion of
this article which is entitled the effect of using English songs on the students
motivation learning and their language skills which is based on the article English
songs as means of Aid Students’ Proficiency Development. However, the research in
the article “English songs as means of Aid Students’ Proficiency Development” was
conducted in Malaysia, therefore in this chapter, it will be discuss the use of English
songs to help the students increase their learning motivation and improve their
language skill.
ENGLISH SONGS TO AID STUDENT’S PROFICIENCY DEVELOPMENT
In this chapter, the teaching method mostly influence the learning process.
Especially for children, children need an attractive and interesting learning
processsing order to make them involve and active during the learning process.
Therefore, as the teacher, it should finding an appropriate method that can help the
learning process for the children or young learners. Songs can help through this
problems. Songs can be a tool to make the learning process become more active and
interesting. Songs is one of the authentic material which can be used to increase the
students’ level of task behavior (Peacock, 1997). Therefore, Roszainora et al (2012)
stated that the use of songs to expose their target language will be very effective
especially in facilitating their learning. The purpose of this study are to investigate the
effectiveness of using songs to enhance students’ motivation in learning English in
primary school students and to examine whether songs can create positive attitudes
among students during a language lesson.
From the literature used by Roszainora et al (2012), explained that the use of
music as the tool of learning to the students will help the EFL/ESL students being
success in learning English. According with the Roszainora et all (2012), a songs can
make the class more lively, because the students will be very enjoying when doing
the activities of the learning, whether in the form of discussion and also in the form of
individual assignment. The use of songs is expected to also introducing the primary
students with a kind of sounds, rhythms and new vocabulary. It also give affects to
the students in memorizing the new words from the sentences, because as we know in
the songs there are eight distinct intelligent exists in human. Such as
1. Musical, spatial, logical-mathematical,
2. Linguistic,
3. Bodily kinesthetic (movement), interpersonal (understanding other) and
intrapersonal (understanding self) and naturalist (observing and
understanding natural and human made patterns and systems).
THE ENGLISH SONGS EFFECT TO THE LEARNING PROCESS

The learning process, according with research findings by the article,

Roszainora et al (2012) done the research with using quantitative data collected. The
article using a survey questionnaire, this data collected conducted because to seek the
students’ details background and how they learned about English. It also can be the
way for the teacher to observe the students attitude. This research is taken into the six
sections from the detailed A until F questions. Each of the questions containing with
the some questions. The detailed of the questionnaire are; sections A is focusing in
the demographic data. B until F is focused on the learning development by the
students . The participants of this research were 61 students from a private Islamic
school in Dugun, Malaysia. The students class is from year 4 until year 6. Therefore,
all the questionnaire answer will be measure using Likert Scale with using the level
of agreement and disagreement in the range of 5 point level. Then, the data will be
analyzed using SPSS Program

There are five data collected from the article, the first data is discussed on the
use of songs in making English learning enjoyable. The result shows that the use of
songs to make learning enjoyable is significance, because the mean score (20.41) is
higher than the middle point value (18). The second data discussed about the use of
songs in Improving students; range of vocabulary, the result also shows significantly
different, it provides with the mean score (21.95) higher than the middle point score
(18). Then, the third data collecting the relationship of types of songs and students;
excitement in learning English, the results also shows significant with the different
mean and middle point value which score (17.59) and (15). This provide that students
likely to listen to the songs which are have the simple lyrics and simple language,
because it will influence the students; excitement. The fourth data is measure th use
of songs in improving students pronunciation. The results show the mean point
(19.92) is higher than the middle point value (15), it means that the students
pronunciation was improved. The last point, is discussed the usage of songs in
boosting students’ confidence. From the analysis using SPSS, it also shows that the
mean point (30.39) is higher than the middle point (24).

Therefore, according with the analysis of the data collection, it shows that all
the students have an excitement and positive perception of using songs as the way to
help the learning process becomes more effective. From that article, it can be
conclude that the use of English songs can aid the students’ proficiency development.
Thus, the English songs could probably influence the students motivation and the
language skill of the students, that will be explained the detail as below.

STUDENTS’ LEARNING MOTIVATION

In the Roszainora et al article, it stated that English songs can aid the students’
proficiency development. It is include with the students’ self-esteem or confident and
also excitement. Therefore, the use of English songs should be impact the whole of
the students’ motivation in learning English. According to Dzanic et al (2016), it
stated that songs can help the young learners learn their new language. Also, as stated
by Maess et. al. (2001), musical and language processing occur in the same area of
the brain, and there appear to be parallels in how musical and linguistic syntax are
processed. Some researcher also agree (Jolly, 1975: 14; Shin, J.K., 2006) that songs
can raise and maintain students’ motivation, especially in cases when they are catchy
and supported with colorful visuals, realia (objects from real life used in classroom
instruction), and movement. Therefore, Eken (2016), English songs can be a
refelexive tool, it can be an addition activities for ice breaking or warm up to the
students. Prayitno (1999) suggested that no matter how great the students’ potential
and how complete the learning tools are, if there is no motivation to improve
learning, then the learning process will not take place optimally.

Motivation itself has been research by Dzanic et al (2016), the result provide
that songs have a positive influence on vocabulary retention of young learners..
Whatever setting is used, aural or aural/visual, the results prove that songs are
suitable for different learning styles, they encourage positive learning experience and
enhance their knowledge. Therefore, the use of songs will automatically increase the
students motivation. It shows that the motivation plays a role of the learning process
to be active.

STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILL

English has four major skills that should be taught to the students. The skills
are reading, speaking, listening and writing. Therefore, students should mastered the
skills to ease them to learn. From the explanation above, the interesting way to
attract the students is needed. Those findings have serious consequences for students
in learning English, for the language skill and students achievements in English.
Regarding of thus, the interesting strategy that can use for improve language skills is
through English song from You Tube, Spotify, SoundCloud, Joox or any others
music media.

According to Aksnes (1996), learning will be improve if using different

stimuli, so that an English songs will enhance the linguistic competence and
performance but also perception. The language skill that include to e improve using
songs is all the main language skill in English such as listening, speaking, reading,
and writing. Regarding from that article, in the discussion about the influence on
students’ motivation implies some language skill to be improved. For example the
study of the listening skill by (Bowers, Hussain, Procci, Florida, & Technologies,
2014) , explained the results that through this research, people who will learn English
language, especially people who will improve the listening skill can choose the
suitable way to do it and the way is not difficult, so the learner can learn English
language especially in listening skill easily. So that If people have mastered listening
skill, they will learn English language fluently.

Then, the other example is from the speaking skill, the study was conducted
by Lozanov (1979) , he used music as a learning tool for second language teaching
that emphasizes relaxed state of mind for maximum retention of material. He claimed
that the atmosphere created by music enhanced the ability of the students to
remember vocabulary words and shortened the study period of the foreign language.
The result of this study is also in line with a research conducted by Lowe (1998). He
illustrated the impact of songs on second grade French immersion students in New
Brunswick. The researcher concluded that the experimental group outperformed the
control group on vocabulary, grammar, and rhythmic patterns and the students were
motivated by the songs’ inclusion. Based on the previous researches and the present
study, it can be concluded that the role of song and in enhancing students' learning is
meaningful. There was also a research in Indonesia from Sari et al (2019), those study
was conducted in the senior high school using CAR (Classroom Action Research)
method. They were measured the effect of English songs to the vocabulary mastery,
and the results shows that songs have a significant impact on improving students
vocabulary mastery. Therefore, if the songs could impact the vocabulary mastery the
students , it will also giving positive impact to the writing and reading skills by the
students, because the main point of reading and writing skill are using the appropriate
vocabulary. Songs could give many vocabulary references that memorized by the
students who like to listening to the English songs and using it to comprehend a
reading text, also write a text. Therefore, from some conclusion above it can be
conclude that an English songs could be the one way to improve the students
language skills.

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SONGS, STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION,

AND LANGUAGE SKILL

From the explanation above, the article by Setia et al (2012), provide the use
of English songs to help the students increase the proficiency development. It is
provide by using five data collection that were analyzed by the SPSS program. Thus,
of the article results shows that all of the them significantly different from the mean
score with the middle point of the score. The research was done in Malaysia in the
primary level students.

From that cases, in those article did not provide in the detail influence of
songs on the proficiency development. Therefore, the some explanation above
reviewed the influence or effect on the proficiency development in detail like in the
form of increasing the motivation and improve the language skill. Then, the result of
the reviewed of the some statement by the expert and some reviewing researcher
before this study, it means that using a song can give an effect to the students’
motivation learning, thus, if the motivation learning from the students has been
increase, the learning process will be improve optimally from the students activities
and the result assessment. Also in the influence to the English language provide some
good improvement on the students skills and achievement.

Briefly, the use of songs as the learning process will influence the motivation
of the students to learn and their language skills will be improve automatically. Thus,
motivation will leads the student in challenging their self to know more about the
English language skills and being active in the class. If they are excited and having a
self-interest with the learning process, the students will want to know more about
English and resulting better in their assessment. Although Reszeinora et al conducted
this researcher in Malaysia, but many kind of theory discussed about this topic had
been conducted in Indonesia. So that an English songs can be used as the way to
improve students motivation and language skills as well as an interactive learning
between teachers and students’.

CONCLUSION

Regarding of those explanation above, it has been discussed based on the Reszeinora
et al (2012) article “English Songs as Means of Aiding Students’ Proficiency
Development”, that came to the conclusion that English songs have also giving an
positive effect on the students learning motivation and language skill. It is provided
by some researcher before that the students motivation could increase to learning
English. The motivation leads the students learning English optimally. The students
are able to through all kinds of English learning process, if they motivation are high.
In line with the motivation, the fact that using English songs as the method to
increasing the language skill has been provided by the expert even the researcher
before. English songs could improve the vocabulary mastery, reading, writing,
speaking and also listening skill. Even this article is researched in Malaysia, but in
fact this topic has been researched in Indonesia or even in the other countries.
Therefore, the writer trying to provided base on the Reszeinora et al article that
English songs could also having an positive effect in both increasing students’
learning motivation and improving the students language skills.
REFFERENCES

Aksnes, H. (1996). Research on memory related to language, Daros, M.,

Gurney, D. (Eds). Retrieved October 13, 2008, from
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Bowers, C., Hussain, T., Procci, K., Florida, C., & Technologies, R. B. B. N.
(2014). Assessing and Improving listening skills : a test of two theories, 1(4), 61–73.

Dzanic Nihada D & Pejic A (2016). The Effect of Using Songs On Young
Learners and Their Motivation for Learning English. An Interdisciplinary Journal
Volume 1, Issue 2 October 2016 pp. 40-5

Eken, D. K. (1996). Ideas for using songs in the English language classroom.
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Jolly, Y. S. (1975) “The Use of Songs in Teaching Foreign Languages.” The

Modern Language Journal 59 (1‐2): 11-14.

Lowe, R. K. (1998). Extracting information from an animation during

complex visual learning. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 14(2), 225-
244.

Lozanov, G (1979). Suggestology and outlines of suggestology. New York :

Gordon and Breach Sciences Publishers.

Maess B, Koelsch S, Gunter TC., & Friederici AD. (2001). Musical syntax is
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