A review of research on the effects of music upon second language acquisition

Abstract

Music and songs have been long used as an attractive approach to enhance the skills in second language learning. While the majority of the existing research has been focused mainly on the value of using music to acquire language skills, researchers have recently started to delve into its prospective within the educating development. The qualitative synthesis consists of qualitative and quantitative research targeted to address the gaps observed in the literature regarding the integration of music into pedagogical strategies. There were six main findings materialized: (a) a fluctuation trend shown in using music in the pedagogical strategies; (b) the theoretical and conceptual perspectives of using music to enhance the skills of the second language; (c) the variation of perceptions, attitudes and usage patterns; (d) the effects on integrating music in the pedagogical strategies; (e) the identified challenges were listed out; and (f) proven affordances support in using music to second language learners. The findings were interpreted to determine the implications on music developments upon second language learners in the teaching area including the direction progress for the integration and study.