During this week's lecture, Dr. Lina introduced a guest speaker, Mr. Tamim, a lecturer from the Faculty of Creative Multimedia at the Multimedia University. Mr. Tamim's talk focused on the versatile use of music as a potent tool in language education. He highlighted how music enhances engagement, motivation, pronunciation, and memory retention, advocating for its use in teaching strategies. He emphasised creating songs for difficult information, encouraging students to compose their own, and analysing popular songs as effective learning tools.
Mr. Tamim delved into the relationship between music and learning outcomes, particularly how it aids attention and cognitive function. He connected cognitive load theory with the impact of music on working memory, discussing how background music influences cognitive performance, memory, problem-solving, and language processing. Illustrating his points, he conducted a puzzle-solving game, demonstrating how background music significantly decreased the time taken to solve it.
Further, he introduced musical tempos and their applications in different learning contexts. Slow tempos (60-80 beats per minute) are suggested for studying, while moderately fast tempos (80-100 beats per minute) are conducive to brainstorming and group discussions. To engage the class, he concluded his session with a rendition of a Christmas song.
During the subsequent tutorial, Dr. Lina reinforced key learning strategies, such as the questioning circle, guiding students from surface-level understanding to deeper discussions encompassing factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge. She directed students to generate questions encompassing subject matter, personal responses, and the broader external reality, promoting comprehensive understanding. Integrating games and humour, she encouraged participation through lyrics training and joke-telling.
Wrapping up the class, Dr. Lina encouraged questions about rubrics, ensuring clarity and understanding regarding assessment criteria. The session encompassed a diverse array of engagement strategies, from discussions to games and musical elements, aiming to foster comprehensive learning experiences.
The topic of utilising music as a teaching strategy immediately captivated my interest. Discovering the profound impact of music on pronunciation, enunciation, and memory retention left me truly astonished. Learning about how background music influences cognitive functions, problem-solving, and language processing kept me thoroughly engaged throughout the session.
Participating in the puzzle-solving game brought a sense of enjoyment and liveliness to the class. Mr. Tamim's introduction of musical tempos and their varied applications in different learning contexts piqued my curiosity, prompting a desire to explore their potential further in education.
The session itself was an impressive amalgamation of diverse engagement methods. From thought-provoking discussions to interactive games and the incorporation of musical elements, it was all geared towards creating a comprehensive and enriching learning experience. The seamless blend of various strategies was astonishing, showcasing the versatility of approaches in enhancing learning outcomes.
The cognitive load theory, coupled with the influence of music on working memory, underscores the limitations of our working memory in both capacity and duration. It serves as a reminder of the constraints within which our minds operate when processing information.
Engaging in the puzzle-solving game emphasised the importance of focus and completion. The game required us to decipher a logic puzzle or navigate through challenges to advance to more intricate tasks. This experience highlighted the significance of persistence and problem-solving skills in overcoming obstacles.
Reflecting on musical tempo brought back memories of my high school Biology classes. Our teacher often instructed us to record our heart rates, drawing connections between the beats per minute and physiological responses. This practical application of tempo resonated with the study of biological processes, making the subject more tangible and relatable.
The integration of singing and music has been a longstanding method in English language instruction, advocated for by scholars like Bartle (1962), Richards (1969), and Jolly (1975). They emphasise the language benefits and motivational aspects it offers to language learners. Sound, a fundamental form of human expression, is foundational for both language and music communication. From birth, babies engage in listening and producing sounds, unable to differentiate between musical elements and language components (Chen-Hafteck, 1997).
A review of relevant literature (Merriam, 1964; Coe, 1972; Claerr & Gargan, 1984; Wilcox, 1995) examining the nexus of affective filters and the application of song and music in language classrooms reveals that music acts as a tool to lower affective barriers, fostering a more relaxed learning environment. This relaxed state often enhances receptivity to language acquisition. Pop songs, in particular, serve this purpose as corpus analysis indicates their conversational style, repetition, and slower pace compared to spoken language (Murphey, 1992).
The positioning of music as a learning strategy within the language classroom has shown multifaceted benefits. It encourages effective exploration, strengthens cognitive and metacognitive strategies, and renders students more receptive to language inputs (Bancroft, 1978; Lozanov, 1978; Magahay-Johnson, 1984).
Cognitive load theory underscores the significance of schemas in music, describing individuals' inclination to seek patterns in a continuous stream of sounds (Deliège, 2001). Schemas, serving as representations of intricate musical knowledge, offer a framework for interpreting musical information, aiding in understanding and anticipating auditory stimuli (Boltz, 2001; Kessler et al., 1984).
Explaining communication practices, multimodality theory addresses the diverse resources—textual, auditory, linguistic, spatial, and visual—employed in crafting messages. In the realm of music, multimedia theory incorporates various artistic mediums, such as dance, film, and programmed music, alongside songs.
Multisensory theory in music harnesses different senses to improve comprehension and internalisation of musical concepts. Students engage in activities like counting aloud, foot-tapping, and hand-clapping to reinforce rhythm comprehension and internalise underlying musical concepts. This multisensory approach aids in enhancing understanding and retention.
Integrating music into my future teaching endeavours holds significant promise. I envision leveraging music as a powerful teaching tool, acknowledging its potential to yield enduring benefits for students. The session I attended provided an enlightening demonstration of the multifaceted nature of teaching strategies. It wasn't confined to conventional methods; instead, it showcased a blend of innovative tactics. These ranged from engaging discussions that encouraged active participation to interactive games that fostered hands-on learning.
Moreover, the incorporation of musical elements added an entirely new dimension to the educational experience, making it dynamic and multifaceted. These varied and comprehensive approaches aimed not just to convey information but to immerse students in a holistic learning environment, fostering deeper understanding and long-term retention of the material.
References
Bancroft, W. (1978). The lozanov method and its American adaptations. The Modern Language
Journal, 62(4), 167-175. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/324351
Bartle, G. (1962). Music in the language classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 11-14.
https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.19.1.11
Boltz, M. G. (2001). Musical soundtracks as a schematic influence on the cognitive processing
of filmed events. Music Perception, 18(4), 427-454. https://doi-org.unm-
ezproxy.idm.oclc.org/10.1525/mp.2001.18.4.427
Chen-Hafteck, L. (1997). Music and language development in early childhood: Integrating past
research in the two domains. Early Child Development and Care, 130(1), 85-97.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0300443971300109
Claerr, T., & Gargan, R. (1984). The role of songs in the foreign language classroom. OMLTA
Journal, 28-32. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED254104.pdf
Coe, N. (1972). What use are songs in FL teaching?. International Review of Applied Linguistics
in Language Teaching, 10(4), 357-360.
Deliège, I. (2001). Introduction: Similarity perception ↔ categorization ↔ cue abstraction. Music
Perception, 18(3), 233-243. https://doi-org.unm-
ezproxy.idm.oclc.org/10.1525/mp.2001.18.3.233
Jolly, Y. (1975). The use of songs in teaching foreign languages. The Modern Language Journal,
59(1), 11-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/325440
Kessler, E. J., Hansen, C., & Shepard, R. N. (1984). Tonal schemata in the perception of music
in Bali and in the West. Music Perception, 2(2), 131-165. https://doi-org.unm-
ezproxy.idm.oclc.org/10.2307/40285289
Lozanov, G. (1978). Suggestology and outlines of suggestopedia. Gordon and Breach
Publishing. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-1-1-2
Magahay-Johnson, W. (1984). Music hath charms: Music and student-created stories in the ESL
classroom. TESL Canada Journal, 1(1), 81-82. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v1i1.426
Merriam, A. (1964). The anthropology of music. Northwestern University Press.
https://posgrado.unam.mx/musica/lecturas/etno/complementarias/Merriam%20Alan-
The_Anthropology_of_Music-1.pdf
Murphey, T. (1992). The discourse of pop songs. TESOL Quarterly, 26(4), 770-774.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3586887
Richards, J. (1969). Songs in language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 3(2), 161-174.
https://doi.org/10.2307/3586103
Wilcox, W. B. (1995). Music cues from classroom singing for second language acquisition:
Prosodic memory for pronunciation of target vocabulary by adult non-native English speakers
(Publication No. 9544866) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Kansas]. ProQuest
Dissertations Publishing. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/music-cues-
classroom-singing-second-language/docview/304204084/se-2
3 comments:
Dear Xuanqing
Thanks for another well reported reflection.
"Engaging in the puzzle-solving game emphasized the importance of focus and completion. The game required us to decipher a logic puzzle or navigate through challenges to advance to more intricate tasks. This experience highlighted the significance of persistence and problem-solving skills in overcoming obstacles."
In this session, you reported that the puzzle game activity was conducted by Mr. Tamim, aiming to demonstrate how background music aids deep focus on learning. I hold a conservative viewpoint on this matter and would like to pose a question using the question circle for you to consider:
Subject knowledge: Cognitive Load Theory, Multisensory Theory, and Learning Engagement.
Personal response: When using music as a background during learning.
External environment: School teaching or tertiary teaching.
My question is: After engaging in the puzzle game in two rounds, there were differences in completing the puzzles among different groups, based on the multisensory principle that people learn better when they hear, smell, touch, see, etc., to engage different channels of the brain and maximize learning capacity. However, we also noticed that increased effectiveness by using less time has a condition - the second round of each group is the second time playing the game, which is a variable that was overlooked. How do you think the game is validated to provide evidence for background music aiding learning, and how would you design the game to increase the validity of the results, demonstrating the effect of the music and game with your students?
Thanks
Marked.
Lina
Dear Dr. Lina,
Thank you for your thought-provoking question regarding the validation of using background music for learning during the puzzle game activity. You have raised an essential point about the potential variable of familiarity with the game impacting the results.
To enhance the validity of the game's results in showcasing the effect of background music on learning, several considerations could be integrated into the design. Firstly, to address the issue of familiarity, designing variations or multiple versions of the game that are comparable in difficulty but different in content could be beneficial. This way, participants in different groups encounter new challenges, eliminating the potential impact of prior experience on their performance.
Moreover, employing a control group that experiences the same game without background music would offer a comparative basis. This group can help assess whether any improvements in completion time or problem-solving skills are specifically attributable to the presence of background music or simply to repeated exposure to the game.
Additionally, ensuring that the background music used aligns with the principles of the Multisensory Theory would be crucial. Different genres or styles of music might have varying effects on cognitive processes, so experimenting with music types that engage various cognitive pathways could provide deeper insights into their impact on learning during the game.
In a classroom setting, conducting a similar experiment with students could involve implementing these design considerations. Randomizing groups, providing different game versions, incorporating control groups, and varying the types of background music can help gauge the effectiveness of music on learning outcomes.
This approach could lead to a more robust understanding of how background music influences learning during problem-solving activities, providing valuable insights for educators aiming to optimize learning environments.
Thank you for initiating this discussion and presenting a valuable perspective on refining the methodology to better elucidate the effects of background music on learning during educational activities.
Best Regards,
Xuan Qing
VERY WELL DONE, XuanQing. Marked.
Post a Comment