Music and ESL Learning: Effects of Songs on Language Recall
This paper reviews Salcedo's (2010) study examining the effects of songs on language recall in foreign language classrooms. The review covers the study's literature base — including anthropological, physiological, and cognitive arguments for music in education — and its experimental design comparing students who listened to songs, read song lyrics as text, or received no additional instruction. Key findings include significantly enhanced immediate text recall and higher rates of involuntary mental rehearsal among music-exposed students. The review concludes by considering the broader implications of music-based instruction for ESL teachers who must accelerate language acquisition, as well as music's potential role in easing cultural transitions for non-native English speakers.
- Introduction: ESL challenges and music as solution
- Literature on Music in Education: Cross-disciplinary evidence supporting music in learning
- Study Purpose and Theoretical Framework: Multiple intelligences and phonemic learning theory
- Study Design and Findings: Three-group experiment and recall results
- Implications for ESL Teaching: Music's role in accelerating ESL acquisition
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What makes this paper effective
- The review moves logically from the broader research literature to the specific study, giving readers the context they need before evaluating the findings.
- Direct quotations from the source article are used strategically to anchor claims and demonstrate close engagement with the primary text.
- The conclusion extends the discussion beyond the article itself, connecting the findings to a real classroom concern — the cultural adjustment of ESL learners — without overreaching the evidence.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective article review structure: it summarizes the source's argument and methodology faithfully while also offering evaluative commentary. The writer contextualizes the study's limitations (e.g., short duration preventing long-term memory retention) rather than simply restating results, showing critical reading rather than passive reporting.
Structure breakdown
The review opens with a framing problem (the difficulty of ESL instruction), introduces the article as a proposed solution, surveys its literature review section, explains its theoretical grounding, describes its experimental design and findings, and closes with a reflection on practical implications. This five-part arc is typical of well-organized undergraduate article reviews.
Introduction
One of the goals of teaching any foreign language is making words seem fluid, easy, and natural to the new speaker — as natural as his or her own native dialect. However, this can be a challenging task for ESL teachers, particularly given the multitasking they are forced to perform on a daily basis and the additional academic demands under which they operate. Teaching English to a non-native speaker, and then attempting to help that student function in a biology or math class — whether the subject matter is presented in simplified English or the student's first language — can sometimes seem like an insurmountable challenge.
However, the 2010 article The Effects of Songs in the Foreign Language Classroom on Text Recall, Delayed Text Recall and Involuntary Mental Rehearsal, published in the Journal of College Teaching and Learning, suggests that music has the potential to facilitate improved linguistic recall for ESL students rather than inhibit it. As Salcedo (2010) writes, "Music represents an integral part of the human culture, and particularly language and communication. Music can be a powerful tool in the learning experience" (p. 19).
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