Research and Literature

• The Effect of Music on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (FLES):  This article, printed in the FLES Newsletter, summarizes findings from a research investigation which studied the impact of music upon vocabulary acquisition in a group of limited-English-speaking children.
• The Effects of Music Upon Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (ERIC):  This article, listed in the ERIC database, is a more detailed account of the research investigation described in the FLES article above.

Articles on Classroom Application

• Songs + Techniques = Enhanced Language Acquisition:  This article points to the importance of using sound pedagogical practices when taping the resources of music. To illustrate this point, five sample music-ESL strategies are described.
• Sing, Sang, Sung, Singing English Irregular Verbs:  A conference presentation on using music to instruct irregular verbs is described. Handouts distributed to attendees are included. These handouts (1) outline the process the presenter used to instruct English irregular verbs through song and (2) provide the lyrics of an irregular verb song. A tape cassette containing three irregular-verb songs is available for purchase.
• Acquiring Vocabulary Through Story-Songs:  This paper briefly outlines research-based techniques which teachers can use to maximize the effects of music when utilizing story songs in the ESL classroom. This is most relevant to the instruction of English to small children.