Musical looping of lexical chunks: An exploratory study

Kim Rockell

doi:10.29140/jaltcall.v11n3.195

Abstract

This paper reports on the experimental use of a recently developed musical looping app with a class of Japanese university students of English during 2014. Working in groups using shared hand-held devices, students created compositions based on lexical chunks or formulaic sequences selected freely from a fixed text. A scored example of one such group composition is included in the paper. During research, the author acted as instructor and a participant/observer role afforded an intimate view of the educational process. Self-assessment questionnaires prior to and post working with Loopy indicate that students experienced increased confidence in their ability to produce spoken English over a three-month period. The affordances and constraints of using the musical app to learn English are examined and a significant increase in speech rate when reading from a fixed text is also noted.

Highlights

In the search for new and better ways to support language learning through technology, imagination and experimentation help to support continued progress
The musical looping app, Loopy was trialled as a potential vehicle for incorporating music in call with third year Japanese university students enrolled in an advanced English acquisition elective course entitled Music and Language
While scientists continue to probe the music/language nexus (Arbib, 2013), a substantial amount of evidence exists supporting the use of music as a valuable tool for second language acquisition (Ajibade & Ndububa, 2008; Butto, Holsworth, Morikawa, Wakabayashi, & Edelmen, 2014; Engh, 2013; Guglielmino, 1986; Hashim & Abd Rahman, 2010; Hidayat, 2013; Karsenti, 1996; Kristin Lems, 1996; Kristen Lems, 2001; Mashayekh & Hashemi, 2011; Medina, 1990; Mora, 2000; Rockell & Ocampo, 2014; Salcedo, 2010; Setia et al, 2012; Stansell)

Summary

Introduction

In the search for new and better ways to support language learning through technology, imagination and experimentation help to support continued progress. Relevant work to date includes Pinkard’s examination of the use of childhood songs in computer-based learning environments (Pinkard, 2001), Lems’ on music-related topics in computer assignments (Kristin Lems, 2005), work in computational linguistics examining learning word meanings and descriptive parameter spaces from music (Whitman, Roy, & Vercoe, 2003) and a study of the influence of song repetition, likeability and understandability on efl learner outcomes (Beasley & Chuang, 2008). Aside from these examples, little research has been conducted. Reich believed that the “melody and meaning” of real speech sounds could be intensified through repetition and rhythm, and this process facilitated by tape looping (Reich & Hillier, 2002, p. 20)

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Discussion

Conclusion