The use of music for teaching english as a foreign language

Abstract

This undergraduate degree research project investigates the effects of music in teaching English as a second and foreign language. It also determines how teachers use music in the classroom in public and private schools in Cuenca, Ecuador. The criteria teachers take into account in order to select the appropriate kind of music as well as the time they give to each activity are also discussed in this study. A survey was used to obtain answers from ten teachers from Cuenca, Ecuador. The questionnaire used was developed and applied in a PhD thesis by Tegge (2011) at Victoria University of Wellington. The survey was reduced to twenty-one questions and most of them are multiple-choice. The participants also had the freedom to add extra information that they considered relevant. The five questions that were considered most important were analyzed. Among the most relevant results is the fact that all surveyed teachers agree that music is positive in the EFL classroom. Moreover, we discuss the challenges teachers may face when trying to use music in the classroom, such as the fact that some students do not like to sing, or that it is difficult for teachers to find songs that fit the theme or objective of the class.