Using English Songs to Enhance Linking Sound’s Awareness

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of using English songs to enhance the awareness of linking sound in terms of consonant-to-vowel linking and views of ninth-grade students toward the use of songs in the EFL classroom in Bangkok, Thailand. The study was designed as quasi-experimental research. Thirty participants studying in ninth grade (Mattayomsuksa 3) were selected through the purposive sampling method in the experiment. The research instruments were English songs selected from a survey conducted from a pilot study of ninth-grade students, a listening pre-test and post-test for linking sounds, lesson plans, and interview questions, which were confirmed for reliability and validity by three experts. The quantitative data were collected through the pre-test and post-test, and the scores were analyzed through dependent T-test. Moreover, the qualitative data were collected through interviews with open-ended questions. The study results showed that the achievement of the post-test’s scores was higher than the pre-test’s scores, indicating that English songs could improve students’ awareness of consonant-to-vowel linking. In addition, most students reported that songs could help them recognize the linking sounds since the songs provided authentic English and several samples of linking sounds, making language learning attractive. Moreover, students preferred to learn through songs because songs offered an entertaining and relaxing atmosphere in class and were more interesting than other materials. In addition, songs are conveniently applied to students when practicing listening skills for linking sound.