Using musical intelligence based techniques to coach young ESL learners in acquiring grammar

Abstract

Despite the facilities provided by the Sri Lankan Government, the students in most of the rural schools are not motivated to learn English due to various reasons. On the basis of this premise, this research explored the effectiveness of using techniques using Musical Intelligence, a component of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory, to teach past passive forms to a group of 30 students in H/ Janananda K/Vidyalaya, Ridiyagama. The methodology of this action research involved tools of collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data: a pre-test, post-test, questionnaire (multiple intelligence test) and informal interviews conducted with a selected group of students. The pre-test was conducted to measure the students' existing proficiency in using simple past passive forms in writing sentences. All the 30 students scored 0 marks in the pre-test, so they were considered as beginners of learning passive forms. Thereafter, a questionnaire was distributed to identify the levels of musical intelligence of the students. After they were taught past passive forms using two activities based on Musical Intelligence, a post-test was conducted to measure the students'' achievement. The results appeared positive in many respects. The informal interviews conducted with the selected students revealed that they enjoyed learning passive forms while singing and acting out the given song. Thereby it could be established that using activities that are applicable to students' visual and spatial intelligence was effective in making a stress-free environment in the classroom. It also motivated the students to engage in the activities with fun. Further, they also practiced the target language forms in a meaningful context. The future researchers can further study its effectiveness in teaching other language forms of English.