The teaching and learning of English vocabulary through songs: a survey of teachers' views

Abstract

This descriptive research aims to examine teachers’ perceptions of the teaching and learning of English vocabulary through the use of songs and their contribution to EFL learners apprenticeship improvement. The study was conducted by both quantitative and qualitative research methods and it is based on the concepts of Thornbury (2006) on the function of short-term, working and long-term memory and its implications for vocabulary teaching and learning, as well as some benefits of using songs in class raised by Kuśnierek (2016) and Engh (2013) such as: Motivation, Classroom Atmosphere, Cultural Context, and Memory Retention of Vocabulary Items. To obtain the data, a questionnaire was answered by six teachers of English from different levels of education who teach at the Núcleo de Línguas e Cultura (NLC), a Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) extension project that offers language courses. The response rate for the questionnaire was 100% of the research participants using songs with adequate frequency, for different purposes, including teaching vocabulary, with a variety of activities. The findings have shown that, according to the informants’ experiences, songs may have positive effects on vocabulary learning due to their motivational, playful and repetitive nature, significant context and exposure to target culture. Still, the results also indicated that there are some difficulties, such as the students' learning preferences and different English proficiency levels, a shortage of resources in educational settings, and the bothering that might result from overuse.