HEEDING TO ENGLISH MUSIC AND SONGS ENHANCES LISTENING SKILLS
HEEDING TO ENGLISH MUSIC AND SONGS ENHANCES LISTENING SKILLS

Summary/Abstract: Undeniably, teaching English listening is challenging. These challenges did not only involve teach-ing proper pronunciation, articulation, accent, dialectal variation but also the lack of modern lis-tening devices and equipment. This qualitative research determined whether heeding to English music and songs could improve the listening skills of the students. Using focus groups, the research-ers obtained the information through indepth interviews among 16 musically inclined freshmen English major students. Findings revealed that the participants were not genre oriented; they lis-tened to English music and songs was a self-decision or influenced by peers; they benefitted from listening to English music and songs like making them emotionally stable, sharpening their mental and language abilities; they were able to keenly distinguish properly enunciated English words; they became linguistically aware of dialectal variations; and they were able to differentiate hearing and listening to music. Moreover, they listened to English music and songs as those were part and parcel of their lives. It implies that music and songs may be used in learning English in schools to facilitate psychological and linguistics faculties of students.

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