Music And Learning: How Music Improves the Learning Process.

Course: Learning Styles, Strategies and Mixed Abilities. Professor: Martha Zeballos PhD. Student: Ana Sol Lazo Pinto Jos.

- 2014 -

Introduction.

Over the past years it has been proved that music indeed helps in the process of creation and in the performance of different disciplines. Music not only enables creation, many artists work with the music on, but also stimulates people to move and relax, facilitating interaction between strangers and improving the one existing among peers. Nowadays it doesnt exist a place that relates to human interaction that does not contains music, a waiting room, an elevator, an office, even in the bus. Music is an omnipresent factor in human life. It could separate or united people for ever; it could bring closer from two strangers to millions. Who did not choir shouting the chorus of a song next to family, friends, or people one just met? From a concert to a C.D. music is everywhere. But what happens with music and the learning process? What happens in the classroom?

1.1

Music and the brain.

Scientists use the term neuroplasticity to describe the brains ability to adapt and change as a result of training and experience throughout a persons life. The research, conducted by the Northwestern University, strongly suggests that the neural connections made during musical training also prime the brain for other aspects of human communication.1 An active engagement with musical sounds not only improve neuroplasticity but also allows the nervous system to grant the stable scaffolding of meaningful patterns so important to learning. Professor Nina Kraus states that In a beautiful interrelationship between sensory and cognitive processes, the nervous system makes associations between complex sounds and what they mean. 2 This is particularly important when learning a second language since it will allow the student not only to identify what it is relevant, but also it will help him or her to identify the rhythm and intonation used, thus the meaning given to certain words contemplating not only the actual meaning but as well the intention, either irony, sarcasm etc. Students who are musically educated present a stronger neural activation to pitch variations in speech and have a bigger vocabulary bank and reading skills than students who did not receive musical training. The consequences of such training can be witness on listening, learning, memory, attention and literacy skills3, that as said before is better than in students with no training at all. Music like regular exercising is a

Nina Kraus and Bharath Chandrasekaran, Music training for the development of auditory skills,
th

Nature Reviews Neuroscience, July 20 , 2010.

2 3

Ibid 1. Ibid 1&2.

resource that tones the brain 4 , in this case, for auditory fitness, improving students listening skills. As a result, students become better at the other tree major skills, reading, writing and speaking. Learning with music compromise several parts of the brain, helping the interconnectivity of it, and creating links between all the information contained within the brain, creating associations and patterns facilitating the learning process by stimulating it.

1.2

Music in the classroom.

When exploring the effects of music in the classroom it was found that background music provides the students with an environment of concentration and productivity that stimulate their brains and improve their learning process considerably, making them more efficient and prolific in their activities.

4 5

Ibid1,2 &3. http://www.onlinecolleges.net/ , 12/16/2013, 12:48hs.

Hall (1952) discovered that the performance on reading comprehension tests was considerably enhanced when background music was on. 58% of the 245 8th and 9th graders involved in the study showed an increase in scores. Her research suggested that the greater help given by background music was a raise in accuracy and that those learners who were below average in intelligence and achievement took more advantage from the background music than the ones above average, implying that this could be because these students were more in need of an aid to focus.6 In a smaller size study of four hyperactive students, Scott (1970) found that bringing background music into the classroom atmosphere had a soothing influence. In addition it was discovered that the students sitting in the booths with background music were most productive.7 Recent studies by Savan (1998) revealed improved behavior and a bigger concentration on school work when background music was played throughout the science lessons.8 Giles (1991) also said that most learners work very well with background music on and that the exact music at the exact time can make them less tense, more relaxed, happier and more prolific. She found that the most successful music was the one the

Hall,1952 (cited by Sue Hallam et alter, The effects of background music on learning, performance and behaviour, Institute of Education, University of London, p.1)
7

Scott, 1970(cited by Sue Hallam et alter, The effects of background music on learning, performance and behaviour, Institute of Education, University of London, p.1)
8

Savana, 1998(cited by Sue Hallam et alter The effects of background music on learning, performance and behaviour, Institute of Education, University of London, p.1)

students liked; taking into account that it did not overly excite them,9 in which case music will no longer be an aid but a disruptor of the learning process, causing multiple distractions and occasionally bad behavior episodes. However important music in the learning process prove to be, still today is considered as an unimportant subject and most of the time is cut out of school curricula, and if they decide to keep it, the hours assign to it are not the ones need it or not enough and despite the fact that students actually like it, even them treat it as something complementary and trivial. In some cases in an effort not to lose the subject, music is presented as a workshop outside school hours, depriving students, some of whom really need it, of the benefit that music can bring to their cognitive and learning process. According to Olson (1996), at-risk students generate a dislike to conventional teaching styles, and when attempts are made to remove dispensable subjects, the way many think of music, from the curricula, it only make the problem worse and the distances farther away between the at-risk student and the goal of becoming motivated to do better. 10 Back in the day, 10 to 15 years ago, songs were, if not the main part, a significant part of the class, and it was the most anticipated part for both, students and teachers alike. An English teacher was easy to recognize, look for the one with a cassette or C.D player on. Teachers have a song for everything, the alphabet, vegetables, grammar,

Giles, 1991(cited by Sue Hallam et alter, The effects of background music on learning, performance and behaviour, Institute of Education, University of London, p.1)
10

Olson, 1996(cited by cited by Campello, Nicolette et alter, Music Enhances Learning, St. Xavier University &Skylight Professional Development, Chicago, Illinois, 2002, p.17)

parts of the body, you name it, and theyd have it. The song part of the class was the fun part, where all the students get to stand up and dance to the instructions of the Hokey Poky, or sing out loud the body parts with Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes and by doing this they were reinforcing the knowledge given and assimilating it with a song that, sometimes, they will remember many years later along with the vocabulary in it and its pronunciation. Nowadays however, students are reluctant to sing, whether because they are shy or simply because they do not care, music is being lost in the classroom. Many teachers consider that playing music while their students are working will hindered their performance and create an environment of indiscipline and chaos. But they fail to see the incredible benefit that music will bring to the class. They fail to use music at their advantage, songs as a pedagogical tool. One advantage of using songs in the classroom is
their flexibility. Songs can be used for many reasons and purposes, they can help students enhance their listening skills and pronunciation, therefore prospectively helping them to improve their speaking skills and they can be useful tools in the learning of vocabulary, sentence structures, and sentence patterns.11

11

Murphey, 1992, (cited by Millington, Neil T., Using Songs Effectively to Teach English to Young Learners, Language Education in Asia, Vol. 2, Issue 1, 2011, p.134)

Conclusion. For several years now music has been an active part of the L2 classroom. Songs help students to improve their listening and pronunciation skills, hence prospectively enhance their reading, writing, and speaking skills. Instrumental music has proved to be of great help in the classroom settings regarding concentration and productivity, taking into consideration what kind of music if soft or not. In todays L2 classrooms, on the other hand, music is fading away, losing the teachers one of the most powerful and effective tools there is. Music involves, engages and attracts students, and motivates them to do better. A classroom with music is a fun classroom, thus is a more appealing classroom, where learning is not boring and the learning process take place in an entertaining, efficient way, being the consequences show in the student performance. Performance that display a significant improvement every time that it is tested in a great variety of settings, subjects and students.