ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS: USING MUSIC TO ENHANCE THE LISTENING ABILITIES OF GRADE ONES

ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS: USING MUSIC TO ENHANCE THE LISTENING ABILITIES OF GRADE ONES by CATHARINA ALETTA HORN submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION in the subject INCLUSIVE EDUCATION at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF A J HUGO FEBRUARY 2007 PREFACE I have been fortunate in my teaching career to have taught young learners both in learner home language and in a second language in that order. This has led me to realize that home language learners have a great advantage over their second language counterparts in acquiring education in general. This phenomenon instilled in me the inspiration to seek a deeper understanding of the relationship between second language education and learning proficiency also using my background of music education to instill the use of music as a valuable communication medium. One of the earliest written accounts of European encounters with African music may be found in The Periplus of Hanno, by C. Simonedes, which describes a naval expedition down the coast of West Africa by Hanno the Carthaginian in about 500 B.C.: “Having taken in water, we sailed thence straight forwards, until we came to Freater Gulf, which the interpreter said, was called Hespreron Keras (the Horn of the West). By night we saw many fires burning, and heard the sound of flutes and cymbals, and the beating of drums, and an immense shouting” (Petersen,1981:1-2). Hearing this musical message, which Hanno interpreted as hostile, he ordered the fleet to avoid the island. Many circumstances, in which music had and has been used as a tool of communication, have arisen since Hanno’s expedition. The essence of this form of communication is the stimulation of the hearing sense by a sound produced by an instrument specifically created for this purpose. Universal recognition of messages conveyed thus had become possible. ii “Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and a life to everything.” Plato iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would not have been possible without the assistance of following people, and my heartfelt thanks go out to them: ¾ my husband, Chris, for his tireless support and belief in me to complete this research. ¾ Prof AJ Hugo, my supervisor, for her expert guidance and patience throughout this research. ¾ Mrs Helene Muller, Statistical Department of the University of South Africa, for analysing and presenting the research statistics. ¾ Dr JC Huebsch, for the language facilitation and editing of this work. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS: USING MUSIC TO ENHANCE THE LISTENING ABILITIES OF GRADE ONES..........................................................................1 CHAPTER 1..............................................................................1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND METHOD OF INVESTIGATION................1 1.1 Introduction...................................................................................................1 1.1.1 The role of home language proficiency in second language acquisition ............................................................................................5 1.1.2 Music to enhance the learning of a second language...........................8 1.2 Motivation of the research............................................................................9 1.3 Statement of the problem...........................................................................12 1.4 Aims of research.........................................................................................13 1.4.1 Specific aim........................................................................................13 1.4.2 General aims......................................................................................13 1.5 Research methods and design..................................................................14 1.5.1 Literature study...................................................................................14 1.5.2 Quantitative research .........................................................................15 1.5.3 Data collection techniques..................................................................15 1.6 Clarification of concepts ............................................................................17 1.6.1 Home language..................................................................................17 1.6.2 English second language ...................................................................17 1.6.3 English second language learner .......................................................17 1.6.4 Multilingual education.........................................................................17 1.6.5 Music..................................................................................................17 1.6.6 African music......................................................................................18 1.6.7 Hearing...............................................................................................18 1.6.8 Listening skills ....................................................................................18 1.7 Plan of study................................................................................................19 CHAPTER 2............................................................................21 USING ENGLISH AS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION TO TEACH ESL GRADE ONE LEARNERS ....................................................................................................21 v ... - tailieumienphi.vn