Data analysis

Juan A. Constante

Angélica C. Maldonado

Lía K. Rosado

Universidad Del Atlántico.

Research and practices

José I. Lobo

14th February 2021

DATA ANALYSIS

This study is guided by the question:

How does applied neuroscience in music help the learning processes of the

English language in students?

In this research that we used some tools such as platforms, questionnaires, book

“wider world”. They were implemented with 6 young adults of 5th level of English at

“Universidad Del Atlántico, CLE”. The students achieved the activity successfully and

This observation took place when the students were in the fifth level, until the

end of the semester; it was observed the environment and development of the class. It is

necessary to mention that the activities and presentations were successful; however,

some students do not participate as much as they were asked for. In order to take all the

evidences a field notes were used in order to write everything about the classes each

Saturday, from the beginning until the end: the activities used by the teacher, student’s

behavior and motivation, how the students spoke, etc.

In order to develop this activity we asked the teacher one week previous the day

of the class. We explained the methodology and showed him the questions and texts.

During the class he gave us space to work with six students (2 students per researcher).

Group number one and group number two worked with songs, on the other hand, group

number three worked in silence. The purpose of this was to make a comparison between

how students reacted to the different rhythms during a reading a text and also to

demonstrate that it is possible to learn and memorize information during exposure to

music.

After the activity students responded how they felt during the activity
 Finally, this experiment was applied, which includes listening skills, reading

skills, and a few speaking skills with a subject that students feel familiar with. Music

during this experiment was used to observe the behavior of the students when they were

developing the activity, and to compare with the third group of students who did not

have music. Then, during the monitoring of this activity with music, it can be noted that

the students did not present discomfort when using the English language to read and

understand while listening to a melody. In the end, the students showed a feeling of

comfort when doing the activity in English with music as well as familiarization with

the vocabulary of the subject in question.

CODES CATEGORIES

 Comfort zone Classroom environment

 Attentiveness

 Enough English knowledge

 Distracted.
 Lack of dedication Lack of academic strategies

 Lack of practice

 Lack of interest

 Personal life problems that affect

student’s motivation
 Anxiety Feeling related to L2

 Shyness

 Nervousness
 Good comprehension Academic performance
  Good speech management

Figure 1. Taken from field notes

FINDINGS

1st Category: classroom environment:

The first category of our research work was to observe the observation of

classroom environment. In this process, learners were observed during the class. We

observed that some students have enough English knowledge, even though they got

distracted easily due to the conditions of the pandemic such as noise, problems at home,

internet, etc.

Subsequently we asked teacher’s permission to do an activity related to music

with 6 students to our surprise they show attentiveness and there were 6 volunteered,

then during the activity talking about music boosted them to participate and get out of

their comfort zone.

Name Fluency accuracy pronunciation confidence music

Student 1 7 8 6 9 With
Student 2 9 9 9 10 With
Student 3 7 8 8 7 With
Student 4 7 7 7 6 With
Student 5 8 8 9 7 Without
Student 6 6 5 7 8 Without

Figure 2: rubric oral evaluation sample

As we can see in the chart, students were scored in their fluency because of their

level they were 5th level of English so they must speak fluently, accuracy to check
vocabulary and how they pronounce some words. Moreover we scored confidence to

know if they felt comfortable talking in English.

Goal: perceive students’ reaction being exposed to music and if they managed to

retain the information more easily and compare with the group who worked without

music (Data taken from the field).

Score 1/10 where number 10 is the highest and 1 is the lowest.

Each of the practicing teachers started with some questions to introduce the

principal subject such as “what is your favorite instrument?” we did this to analyze their

speaking skills, then we survey their reading skills by doing them an article named

“why do we play instruments”. The activity was dynamic. They answered positively

every single answer although once in a while they forgot some grammar rules. For

example: I “does”not know at the beginning.

Data from taken from the field

2nd Category: students’ strategies

During the explanation of the activity, the students asked questions about the

material and vocabulary they would find, which could quickly notice part of the lexicon,

also being clear with the communication of their ideas. And they perceived with

pleasure the idea of working with music and were very communicative when using

speech.

3rd Category: feelings:

To answer the research question, we interrogated the students in order to know

how they felt during the activity. As we told before, we use music to make the
experiment. It is important to analyze students' reactions and attitudes when they are

exposed to a specific rhythm. We had enough time to do the interview in English. At the

beginning we asked some questions like “what kinds of music do you like”? Or how

many instruments do you know?

In the final stage of our activity, students answered questions like “what did you

feel during this activity?” We focused on feelings because this is one of the principal

characteristics of our research project. At the beginning they were nervous, but as they

responded to the questions, they felt more comfortable and they were sure of their

abilities.

Some students spoke faster than others because of their knowledge in vocabulary

and also their good pronunciation.

4th Category: regular grades:

In the last category, we are going to describe the general achievement of the

students in this process. Usually, they have good grades in exams and other activities

such as oral presentations and homework.

During the whole learning process, all the skills were evaluated, and students

showed excellent results. Despite that, some students presented difficulties during their

learning process, especially in speaking skills. That is something that they can improve

with practice and dedication and not learning topics by heart.

Triangulation:
 Music as a useful tool for learning English was a comfortable idea for us

because, in our daily routine, we often use the listening part to learn English as songs,

also remembering rumors. For example, when children listen to music during their

growth, they can develop cognitive skills more efficiently, which are often heard in

parents' conversations. We began to think about the possible role of music in the process

of learning English as a foreign language beyond a simple warm-up activity, about the

positive stimuli for learning, and the possibility of improving the environment in the

classroom. Personally, it is didactic and comfortable to do activities with music because

you can relax and at the same time you are working with the language that is your goal

in your learning process, it is also motivating to be able to identify vocabulary in songs.