Danna ‘Beth Sanchez Cocoa University of Pomona 1. Introduction The purpose of this ethnographic research is to examine and analyze the influence of music in the acquisition of second language vocabulary, and understand the importance of it on the students’ learning process and the teaching process as well. This analysis is essential to acknowledge the outcomes that music can bring to education and to familiarize with a different and motivational way of teaching.
Learning is the acquisition of knowledge through the practice or experience where he teacher is the students’ guide toward the social and personal development. Learning another language can become tedious and the student may lose interest in the subject if a teacher has an inappropriate methodology to convey its knowledge. Therefore students’ grades are reflected. That is why new strategies have been implemented, such as music and didactic games. Human learning may arise as part of educational process, personal improvement, upbringing, or training.
It may be purpose-oriented and guided by motivation. In other words theoretical learning is not enough. The concepts, theories, words, meanings are learned better in a motivated environment. This environment includes didactic games and strategies for a better understanding in a classroom, where students can exchange their own knowledge and learn from their experiences. English is a language that has dominated the society over the years and has emerged as urgency in each of the educational institutions.
Generally speaking, according to Adorn (1956), music and language have features in common, such as pitch, stress tone, volume, rhythm and pauses. Another thing in common is that both of them are learned by measures of exposure. In order to have a fuller language acquisition process is important to use all the abilities including oral or written input. The firsts notions of music comes from Music and second language acquisition By diabetes known as an easy way of memorizing something.
Therefore it should be taking into consideration the following theories, which establish how human learning works and the music as a didactic strategy to learn vocabulary. 2. Theoretical Framework According to Crasher (1989), the best methods to acquire second language vocabulary are those that supply “comprehensible input” in low anxiety situation, intonating messages that students really want to hear. This can only signify that learning must be a natural process, where students’ are not forced to early production.
Students should be allow to produce when they are ‘ready recognizing that improvement comes from utilize communicative and comprehensible input and not from correcting writing production or grammar. Crasher also explains that acquisition is a subconscious process where the individual is not aware and requires meaningful interaction in the target language but focusing on meaning rather that arm; it is difficult to separate learning from acquiring a second language but all comes down to distinguish between form and structure versus meaningful concepts.
The Affective Filter hypothesis studied also by Crasher, is focused on the affective variables including motivation, self-confidence and anxiety can facilitate or delay the English learning process. Have motivated students can make an enormous difference in the process of acquiring a second language. That is why different teaching mechanisms have been used to encourage and aid students to have a better understanding and a meaningful knowledge. According to Grief (1992), music can be used to stimulate second language learning process, exploiting all its elements such as context, lyrics and rhythm to stimulate learners’ imagination.
Also is very common using music to create a comfortable and relaxing learning environment changing negative feelings or psychological barriers into positive ones reducing those barriers. According to what Murphy (1990) referred to as the “song-stuck-in-my-head phenomenon”, some empirical studies have focused on the relationship between music and memory. Songs have repeated lyrics and rhythms which have been examined as possible tools for enhancing learning and memory of vocabulary development and other language competences such as grammatical structures and pronunciation.
It is well known that this is a common process that everybody has experienced and can be very productive in the educational field trying to modify the way students’ learn. The ability to memorize is critical to the language acquisition process, since it would be impossible to acquire language without memory. According to Medina (2002) when various types of verbal information was presented simultaneously with music memorization was enhanced (Speller, 1983) which demonstrate that music has a great influence in the memorization process which turns out to be the key for acquire a second language.
Is a simple equation music works on the memory and memory improves the outcomes for learning a second language. It is crucial to be aware that music knows no boundaries, is the universal language for people all over the world, so anybody at any place on earth can implement this strategy in order to improve the students’ outcomes in the second language learning just by driving your car with the radio on. Music helps people to build new scapulars and affirm the words that were already learnt.
A significant point of music in second language acquisition is that those songs have a story behind that can make the learner understand language from the context point of view and not only by the repetitive process to learn. 3. Methodology Ethnographic research is the study of cultures through close observation, reading, and interpretation. Ethnographic researchers work “in the field,” in the culture which they are studying. The activities they conduct are also often called fieldwork. Ethnographic researchers learn how to recognize traits that make up a culture and owe to describe it to others.
These are the main features that ethnographic research apply and the guidelines to develop this project specifically. This ethnographic research approach has a qualitative method which according to Guest, Name and Mitchell study (as cited Dentin and Lincoln, 2005) qualitative research is an activity that locates the observer in the world and consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that makes the world visible. It transforms the world into a series of representations that can include interviews, field notes, recordings and photographs. 1 Sample Sampling is the process of selecting a group of subjects for a study in such a way that the individuals represent the larger group from which they were selected. The sampling plan for this ethnographic research project is Simple Random Sampling because a sample selected this way, makes possible samples of the same size equally likely to be chosen. The sample chosen was 24 students from Fifth grade in Elementary School. There were 10 boys and 14 girls. The students belonged to San Pablo # 19 School which is located in San Rafael neighborhood, Acute. 3. Context Luis Carols Galvan Sacramento Institution is located in 26 street N # 0-63 San Rafael neighborhood in the city of Cјcut, Norte De Suntanned. It is an official class entity, public nature mixed character, with levels of pre-school, primary and secondary basic. This grades are oriented in the three Journeys and the research paper will be conduct at San Pablo # 19 which is a headquarter. The institution is small and is located in a retired location. The classroom is medium sized. The d©cord is colorful and amenable. The tables and chairs are in good condition.
There are two boards and good lightning. There is a field of basketball outside and the restrooms are in good conditions as well. 3. 3 Data Collection In ethnographic research data is collected through observation, interviews and documents. In this particular case, non-participant observation has been selected to gather data. Observation provides the opportunity to document activities, behavior to respond to questions (Ellen T. 1996). 3. 4 Participants The population studied in this project is conformed by the students of Fifth Grade in San Pablo #19 school, the teacher and the teacher assistant.
