The Role of English Songs in Enhancing the Speaking Skill, Vocabulary, and Cultural Awareness of Iranian Undergraduate TEFL Students

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Foreign Languages, West Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of English Language, Nour Branch, Islamic Azad University, Nour, Iran

3 Department of Foreign Languages, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Urban contemporary music has gained remarkable popularity among individuals all over the world. This genre has significant effects on educational fields like English language learning. By incorporating cultural awareness, it enriches the learning experience. Bearing this fact in mind, the present study attempted to explore the relationship between the speaking skill and cultural awareness of Iranian undergraduate students through this genre of music. For this purpose, 124 TEFL students were selected to join the study. By adopting exploratory sequential mixed methods design in the qualitative phase, five students were invited to participate in the sessions of semi-structured or unstructured interviews for a thematic data analysis procedure. Although the results revealed a positive connection among English urban music, participants’ speaking skill, and vocabulary mastery, the participants were found tending to avoid using them in public, workplaces, and educational/professional contexts, except among close friends. In other words, listening to these songs led students to the ambivalent use of their terms. Furthermore, the cultural findings suggested that students’ favorite urban music stars’ background profiles were important to their knowledge of target language culture. The analysis in this part provided critical data for developing a well-formed questionnaire to measure the effect of English urban music on students’ speaking skill and cultural awareness in practice. Therefore, in the quantitative phase, the researchers tried to develop a 99-item questionnaire.

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References

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Journal of Studies in Language Learning and Teaching
Volume 1, Issue 2
July 2024
Pages 395-413

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History

  • Receive Date: 12 September 2024
  • Revise Date: 15 November 2024
  • Accept Date: 08 January 2025

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