Using pop songs in Second Language Acquisition

The theory of establishing SLA via the same pattern as First Language Acquisition is one of the oldest concerns of applied linguistics. One of the possible solutions is learning via pop songs (PS), which is a method originating in Stephen D. Krashen’s theory, that distinguishes subconscious LA from Second Language Learning. According to Krashen, the former is responsible for one’s fluency in SL, while the latter serves as monitor or editor in speech producing.

Murphey observes different theories of subconscious language acquisitions, and based on his findings, he describes the potential of language acquisition via PS. He also emphasizes the role of the instructor in the process, as, just like in the case of Krashen’s theory, for making the Language Acquisition Device to work, one has to provide sufficient and appropriate input.

Lastly, Salcedo refines the ideas of Krashen and Murphy, providing examples of how the music and lyrics of pop songs have a beneficial effect on LA. She also establishes an interesting comparison between the actions that PS provoke in the learners (such as involuntary humming and repeating phrases) and the children’s behavior during the acquirement of their first language. Furthermore, she reports about an experiment that compares the effectiveness of text recall between a group that learned it in spoken form, and another one that learned it through PS.      

The aim of the research is to establish a connection between the involuntary LA and learning via PS, and, by introducing theories such as the (music) din and the SSIMH (song-stuck-in-my-head) phenomenon, find out how language learners can benefit from the latter.

Krashen, S. (1983). The Din in the Head. Input, and the Language Acquisition Device. Foreign Annals, 16, 41-44.

Krashen cites his own Second Language Acquisition Theory which distinguishes subconscious language acquisition from conscious learning. This is the  introduces the theory of the “din”, a phenomenon familiar to many language acquirers, an involuntary rehearsal of second language words, sounds and phrases due to the stimulation of the Language Acquisition Device. According to his “Din Hypothesis”, to experience the din, that is to make acquisition possible, one has to understand and use structures that one didn’t use before, for example, when i is the current stage of development and one proceeds to stage i + 1 via comprehensible input (Input Hypothesis).

According to Krashen, the “din” has two corollaries, first, a sufficient amount of comprehensible input, and second, significant quantities of the acquirer’s i + 1. Current second language acquisition theory as well as case history reports of the “din” are consistent with the hypothesis that the din in the head is a result of stimulation of the language acquisition device and is “set off” when the acquirer receives significant amounts of comprehensible input. The next two articles will show how the carefully chosen PS material can facilitate the din and help acquisition.

Murphey, T. (1990). The song stuck in my head phenomenon: a melodic din in the LAD?. System, 18(1), 53-64.

Murphey refines the idea of the din by describing its similarity to different ideas of early language acquisition. He cites two examples to describe “the language in the crib”, the involuntary language acquisition PS helps to imitate. One of them is Piaget’s egocentric language (which is a child’s involuntary repetition of different speech constituents), which is described as an external manifestation of the din. Vygotsky’s inner speech is a development of the former idea, stating that egocentric language does not disappear at older age, just becoming a kind of verbal thinking. The external repetition becomes an internal vocalization, which helps mediating between thought and speech production.

He introduces the SSIMH-phenomenon (song-stuck-in-my-head), which borrows qualities from all the theories discussed above and acts as kind of a synthesis between them. The musical qualities, that is, the rhythm and the melody help songs to be memorized easily, why the relatively simple language structures and slow pace (in average, a song has half the pace of everyday speech) provides the comprehensible and appropriate input for the din to work. Murphey describes the possibilities of involuntarily acquiring previously unused structures and words, suggesting that these are “tricking” the LAD into operation.

It is the language instructor’s responsibility that the songs are carefully chosen, to provide the adequate input to listeners. Furthermore, Murphey emphasizes that although Krashen predicted that the din takes at least one hour to start up, a song may drastically reduce this time. The simplicity, the affective and dialogic features and the vagueness of pop lyrics make them easily internalized by listeners, which affords great possibilities in pedagogy.

Salcedo, C. S. (2010). The effects of songs in the foreign language classroom on text recall, delayed text recall and involuntary mental rehearsal. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 7(6), 19-30.

Salcedo investigates several aspects of music’s possibilities in language acquisition, but also she delivers the most convincing experiment concerning the topic. She enumerates certain relevant aspects that can ameliorates LA as well. Among them are the listening to classical music, which makes the brain receptive to inputs and thus reduces learning time, the simplicity of pop songs that helps it to retain and recall information and the promotion of involuntarily rehearsal and mental processing of underlying language principles.

She elaborates further on Krashen and Murphey’s theories by creating the term of “musical din”. She also emphasizes the possible interactions that follow the SSIMH, for example humming and extensive repetition, which again is similar to how children acquire language.

Finally, she reports about an experiment that compares recall of a text learned in spoken form with the same text learned through song and the occurrence of the din under such circumstances. Her focus group consisted of 94 persons, 33 male and 61 female students with ages ranging from 17 to 41, participating in beginner level college Spanish classes. The results varied in terms of text recall and it seemed that the choice of songs affects the outcome to a great extent, as the musical class produced significantly better results for 2 out of the 3 songs.

In terms of dim occurrence, there was a significant difference. In the musical class, two third of the students reported experiencing the din, while only one third of the text class reported the same. Participants of the music class also reported on the SSIMH-phenomenon.

The study concluded with the positive effects that the use of PS in the classroom. It proved to be especially useful in promoting the din, the involuntary LA by providing comprehensible and adequately challenging input, nourishing the actions that helps memorizing speech constituents and speeding up the start of the LAD.