STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE USE OF SONG MEDIA IN LEARNING

ENGLISH VOCABULARY

Jesi Suryani Sitorus

Student‟s College at State Islamic University of North Sumatera
jesisitorus.jss@gmail.com

Abstract: This study is entitled student perceptions about the use of song media in
learning English vocabulary. The purpose of this research is to find out how students
think about the use of songs as a medium used in learning English vocabulary. The
method used in this study is a qualitative method in which researchers use three
instruments as a tool to collect data, namely observation, questionnaires, and
interviews. Data obtained from the three instruments are presented in tables and
diagrams. Participants involved in this study were 22 participants in which all
participants were students from the North Sumatra State Islamic University (UIN-SU)
taken randomly without considering the background of the participants. So the results
obtained that the participants agreed that the use of media songs can be applied in
learning English vocabulary and can improve student vocabulary. Furthermore, the
results of the questionnaire found that as many as 90% of participants choose neutral,
as many as 70% of participants choose very agree, as much as 57.5% of participants
choose to agree, and as many as 5% of participants choose to disagree from all the
answers given by researchers in filling out the questionnaire.

Keywords: Vocabulary, Song, and Perception

INTRODUCTION
Language is one of the most important things in this world. Humans cannot live
without language, because as social beings, humans need to communicate with each other
and language makes communication easier. One of the languages most widely used
throughout the world is English. According to Richards & Rodgers (cited in Saun Lolong,
2019: 2) English is a universal language that is used by all people to communicate around the
world and English has become the most studied foreign language in the world. Being able to
use English is a necessity in the current era of globalization and communication. Therefore
mastering English is emphasized with the hope that students can become capable individuals
who are ready to face global competition later. One way that can be used to learn English is
to use songs. Claerr and Gargan (cited in Saun Lolong, 2019: 2) say that with some
imagination, songs can be used to teach all aspects of a foreign language. Indirectly, the song
can guide the listener to learn English, lead the listener to listen carefully to what is the
meaning of the song and guide the listener to know every meaning of the words contained in
the song. Automatically, when the listener tries to listen to a foreign language song, the
listener has tried to learn several aspects of English, namely listening and vocabulary. When
listening to a foreign language song, the listener is stimulated to find out what vocabulary is
in the song, so that it can increase the audience's knowledge of the new vocabulary they find.
According to Brinton (2005) stated that the media can help teachers to motivate students by
bringing a slice of real life in the classroom and by presenting language in its more complete
communicative context. Because of this, researchers try to find out the relationship between
the use of song media in learning English, especially in the vocabulary aspects. But it does
not stop there, researchers try to find out and also analyze students' perceptions in this case
students about the use of songs in learning English vocabulary. Perception is something that
they see as a reality for them and something they believe will happen, regardless of whether it
is true or not. Students' perception of English songs can be the key to answering this research
question.

In this case, researchers have found several studies related to published research, the
first being the title "Use of Songs in Teaching English Vocabulary" by Indri Wirahmi Bay. In
this journal, the researchers tried to find out whether the song could be used to help students
use English. After trying to do research, the researchers found that the use of songs was the
best method applied to students in English, especially in vocabulary learning. Furthermore,
researchers say that the direction of teaching English using songs to students is proof that the
song is still useful as a teaching medium, especially for vocabulary teaching. The enthusiasm
of students in the English Learning Process is shown through the cheerfulness of the
classroom situation when they participate in class activities but they remain focused on
following the lessons. The second study found research with the title "improving the
vocabulary mastery of young students using English songs" by Cicih Kurnia, explaining how
the technique of using songs is implemented through teaching and learning activities in two
studies examining the class. The results of the first cycle received an average posttest score
that was very low so that it produced the best post researchers and got a high posttest score.
Helping researchers improve the recognition of English songs can help improve vocabulary
mastery of young students.
 This research has previously been studied by several people as described in the
literature review, then why researchers took this title to be reexamined the reason is very
simple because in previous studies only conveyed how to use song media in learning English
vocabulary. Now on this occasion, the researchers wanted to further examine how students'
perceptions, in this case, were students about how to use song media in learning English
vocabulary. Why researchers take students as the subject of their research because students
are considered to know more about how the media of songs can affect one's learning interest
and besides students are also considered more critical and more competent in responding to
this problem.

In this study, we will try to discuss answers to questions about how students'
perceptions about the use of songs in learning English vocabulary. The answer to this
question is their opinion about the use of songs in learning English vocabulary in the form of
negative or positive opinions or the strengths and weaknesses of the song's media. To find
this answer, researchers tried to interview several participants who were randomly drawn.

The benefits of this study can be felt by everyone, especially for researchers and for
other researchers to increase knowledge and as reference material to find out whether the use
of songs media is useful for learning English vocabulary. In particular, this research will be
very useful for school teachers to know that the use of song media is able to attract students'
learning interest in the learning process. Besides this research is also useful for students to
increase their knowledge about the benefits of song media.

LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Vocabulary
Vocabulary plays an important role in everyday human life. As said by Ismawati, (in
Rahmat Ari Wiboyo, 2018: 5) that vocabulary is a very important language element because
a person's mind can only be clearly understood by others if expressed using vocabulary.
Vocabulary takes such as fundamental role in mastering English as foreign language well.
There are some definitions of vocabulary proposed by some experts. Hornby (cited in
Damara Khadijah 2015: 4) states that vocabulary as the total number of words in language
and vocabulary as a list of words their meanings. Thornbury (cited in Satuna Indah 2015:
132) states that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing
can be conveyed”. Hatch and Brown (1995: 1) argue that the term vocabulary refers to a list
or set of words for a particular language or words that individual speakers of language might
use. Burns and Broman (1975: 295) define vocabulary as the stock of words that used by
person, class, or profession. The meaning is clear enough that in almost cases of human life,
they use set of words. The use of the words itself differentiated according to the field, class,
person, of profession. It means the beggar use set of words to ask for some money to rich
people, a teacher also use set of words to explain material to the students, a father use set of
words to talk to his child and there are many other examples that show us in most of humans
waking time they use set of words to do the activity. However, the use of set of words are
different between one person and another peson, therefore Burns and Broman emphasized on
the three area of using stock words namely person, class, and profession.
Today, students claim it is very difficult to remember some vocabulary. This is the
reason why students now find it very difficult to understand the meaning of sentences.
Vocabulary problems are caused by a lack of similarity between lexical terms in various
languages. In addition, the core failure to master a foreign language is mainly determined by
the limited stock of words, which will form the meaning of oral or written forms. According
to Harmer (quoted in Damara Khadijah 2015: 13), there are some problems that are indirectly
faced by students in learning vocabulary such as in pronunciation, spelling, memorization,
and using words in sentences or in oral communication. The following is a brief description:
a. Pronounciation problem
The following are aspect which cause problems in pronounciation:
1. Similar sound in the two words which have different varians
2. Sequences of sound in one word
3. Classification of sound.
b. Spelling problem
Besides learning pronounciation, learning spelling is important as well as because it
can improve the learner‟s ability of the language skills especially writing and reading.
In learning English vocabulary, Indonesian learners have some spelling problems as
follow:
1. Misunderstanding between speaker and hearer.
2. The students do not know the spelling of a word.
c. Memorizing problem
There are some memorizing problems, e.g.:
1. The students have low motivation tolearn vocabulary
2. The students are reluctant to memorize the new words.
 3. The students do not always use the words: they have known to communication
in daily activities. The longers they meet the words, the faster they forget
them.
d. Meaning problem
It is rasionable that Indonesia learners are difficult to understand the meaning
of English words. Sometimes the meaning of the words changes because of its
function sentences, whether it is a noun, verb, adverb or adjective. Therefore, a word
may have more than one meaning.
Based on the explanation above, actually teaching vocabulary for the beginner
needs many right ways. Teacher has to know how far their competence and what the
right technique is. Reviewing and maintaining the known words should be made, so
the students will understand the contrast.
Therefore, the researchers finally tried to summarize the best ways to learn
vocabulary, one of which was to use song media. Song media is considered capable of
helping students to add vocabulary to their foreign languages, in this case, English.
B. Songs
Songs are short music with the words you sing. Songs can be used to teach grammar
because in song lyrics there are several forms of words, the teacher can choose songs that
correspond to the form of words to be taught. Songs can be used to teach grammar because in
song lyrics there are several types of tenses, besides that the teacher can choose songs that are
in accordance with the tenses to be taught. Nurhayati (in Rahmat Ari Wiboyo, 2018: 5),
stated that song is a versatile medium for language learning. All features in the song support
the learning process. All language skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking) can be
taught using songs. Songs are alternative media to facilitate language learning, activists in the
language field. Suwartono (in Rahmat Ari Wibowoo, 2018: 5) also believes that the rhythm
and authenticity of songs can be used for language learning. Rhythm and tone bring pleasure.
As authentic material, this song motivates people who listen to it to imitate the lyrics of the
text, either in whole or in part. Based on expert opinion, it can be said that the song can make
students more enjoy learning courses so that they are encouraged to participate actively.
Songs that have advantages such as rhythm that gives the effect of feeling happy and relaxed,
the authenticity of the text that can arouse interest in learning, and the content of the text that
can be used as a source of learning is very appropriate to be used in facilitating learning
English.
 C. Learning English Vocabulary using Songs Media
Vocabulary learning is a process for mastering or understanding new words into
words that we can use to communicate both verbally and in writing. According to Kurnia (in
Indri Wiratmi Bay, 2016: 417) that the biological growth of early childhood is in the form of
physical activities. Therefore he stated that teaching English for children is expected to use
the techniques of games and songs. By using songs students can be more relaxed in accepting
subject matter but remain focused on the process of learning English.
Suyanto (in Indri Wiratmi Bay, 2016: 417) also explained that several things that must be
considered in choosing songs as a medium for learning English, namely:
1. Choose a song that is appropriate to the characteristics of the student and the level of
language development.
2. Song lyrics don't be too proud so it's not difficult to memorize.
3. Songs should be interesting, dynamic, and cheerful.
4. For certain purposes, for example, the teacher wants to teach certain language items
then use songs that contain certain language items.
5. When choosing a song, choose words that are simple and easy to pronounce.
6. Short songs with simple words and happy words are easier for students to memorize.
Referring to this opinion, the use of song media is considered capable of becoming a medium
that can attract student learning interest and be able to improve students' English vocabulary
learning.

METHODOLOGY
This research applies a case study approach, which is qualitative. Qualitative research
focuses on the phenomenon or events as natural. Cohen (in Viktor Parsaulian Hasibuan,
2013: 2) added that qualitative cannot be applied in a laboratory or any other qualitative do as
usual, but it must be applied in the field. Therefore, it is very common to call him a
naturalistic inquiry or field study. The participants of this study were 20 students (sex not
determined) who were students from the North Sumatra State Islamic University (UIN-SU).
Data were collected using three instruments; (1) questionnaire consisting of 10 simple
questions whose contents lead to students' opinions about the use of song media towards
learning English vocabulary. (2) interviews were conducted with 5 participants from 20
participants taken randomly. And (3) observation. Questionnaires and interviews were
applied to collect data about students' perspectives in the use of song media for learning
English vocabulary. Meanwhile, observations were made to obtain data related to student
participation in answering questionnaires and responding to questions in interviews. Data
collected in this study were analyzed using qualitative methods applied to analyze student
perceptions regarding the use of song media for learning English vocabulary.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Findings
In this study, researchers previously tried to make observations in advance to three
participants who were not researchers included as participants in the filling out of the
questionnaire and interview instruments. In this case, the researcher gave the names of the
three participants as „xx‟, „yy‟, and „zz‟. In its observation, the researcher asked the
participants to choose and listen to a song from some of the researchers provided. There are
three songs that researchers provide, namely "Memories by Maroon 5; Best Part of Me by Ed
Sheeran; and Location Unknown by Honne. Then the researcher asks the question "Why
choose the song?" And tries to understand how the expressions of the participants when
listening to the song then the researcher tries to draw conclusions from this observation. Data
obtained from the results of observations are attached in table form, as follows:

Tabel. 1
Observational Findings
No Name Song Result
1. XX Location Unknown Expression:
Not responding, flat, relaxed-looking when
listening to the song and looks busy looking
for the lyrics of the song.
Reason why choose this song:
I chose this song because I am a famous
song and I often listen to it.
2. YY Location Unknown Expression:
Initially, it looks exited but when listening
to the song it looks like it doesn't and stops
the song before it's finished.
Reason why choose this song:
I chose this song because I often listened to
it from my friends, although I personally
 never listened specifically.
3. ZZ Memmories Expression:
Look excites, monitor, enjoy the song
and look to understand the contents of
the song.
Reason why choose this song:
this is my favorite song, I always listen to
it in my spare time. I like this song.
From the table, it is very clear that the reason someone wants to listen to a foreign
language song is that the song is quite popular and many people listen to it even though they
have never listened to it specifically. Furthermore, another reason why the person wants to
listen to the song is that he likes the song, because this are a lot of people who pay more
attention so he tries to find out the contents of the song and get new vocabulary.

After making an observation, then research uses the next instrument, the questionnaire
instrument. The questionnaire was given to 20 participants (out of the 2 participants in the
observation) who were willing to take the time. The questionnaire contained 8 simple
questions that were presented in Indonesian with the aim that the participants could easily
understand the contents of the questionnaire because the educational background of the
participants did not originate from English Language Education, here are the contents of the
questionnaire distributed to the participants:

Tabel. 2
Reseacrh Questionnaire

NO QUESTIONS SS S N TS
1. Saya suka mendengarkan lagu asing khusunya bahasa
Inggris.
2. Saya selalu mendengarkan lagu asing menggunakan
lirik.
3. Saya selalu kesulitan memahami arti dari lagu tersebut
4. Setelah mendengarkan lagu, saya selalu mendapatkan
kata-kata yang saya tidak pernah ketahui.
5. Mendengarkan lagu mampu membantu saya mengerti
 akan suatu kata yang saya tidak tau.
6. Dari mendengarkan lagu saya mendapat banyak
kosakata bahasa inggris.
7. Kosakata dari lirik lagu tersebut selalu saya gunakan
dalam kehidupan sehari-hari
8. Pengunaan lagu mampu membantu siswa untuk
meningkatkan kosakatanya.
Whereas the result data from filling out this questionnaire will be presented in the
form of a diagram, as follows:

Chart. 1
Datas Results From Questionnaire
20

18

16

14

12
Sangat Setuju
10 Setuju
8 Netral

6 Tidak Setuju

0
Question Question Question Question Question Question Question Question
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The diagram above presents the results of filling out the questionnaire which is based
on a bar diagram showing the number of students who choose to strongly agree, agree,
neutral, and disagree with the questions given. From the diagram above, it appears that in
question 1 there were 10 participants who chose neutral, there were 8 participants who chose
strongly agree and there were 2 participants who agreed to the question. In question 2 there
were 10 participants who chose neutral, there were 4 participants who chose strongly agree,
there were 4 participants who chose to agree, and there were 2 participants who chose not to
agree to the question. In question 3 there were 8 participants who chose to agree, there were 8
participants who chose neutral, there were 2 participants who chose strongly agreed, and
there were 2 participants who chose not to agree to the question. In question 4 there were 12
participants who chose to agree, there were 4 participants who chose to strongly agree, and
there were 4 participants who chose strongly to agree to the question. In question 5 there
were 8 participants who chose to strongly agree, there were 4 participants who chose to
agree, there were 4 participants who chose neutral and as many as 4 participants who chose
not to agree to the question. In question 6 there were 12 participants who chose to agree,
there were 4 participants who strongly agreed and 4 participants who chose neutral over the
question. In question 7 there were 14 participants who chose neutral, 4 participants chose to
agree, and there were 2 participants who voted strongly in favor of the question. In question 8
there were 18 people who chose neutral and the rest chose to agree to the question.

Pie. 1
Datas Results From Questionnaire

Sangat Setuju
Setuju
Netral
Tidak Setuju

The diagram above presents the results of filling out the questionnaire in the form of a
percentage presented in the form of a pie chart. The diagram shows that the highest
percentage is the answer from the "neutral" option with a percentage index of 90%, then the
second percentage is the answer from the "very agree" option with the percentage of 70%,
then the third percentage is the answer from the "agree" option the percentage index is
57.5%, and the smallest is the answer from the option "disagree" with the percentage index of
5% of all available questions.
 Furthermore, the researchers conducted a third instrument, an interview conducted on
5 participants out of 20 participants involved. The selection of 5 participants was not
motivated by anything, participants just chose randomly and asked for the willingness of
participants to conduct interviews. The interview was conducted in Indonesian with the aim
that the interview session looks more relaxed and friendly. The questions asked in the
interview session are as follows:

1. Berdasarkan pengalaman anda, sesering apa anda mendengarkan lagu asing

khusunya bahasa inggris?
2. Terus, kalo mendengarkan lagu bahasa inggris suka bingung gak sama
artinya?
3. Pernah gak ngedengarinnya pakek lirik atau terjemahan?
4. Terus kalo saya bilang, penggunaan media lagu dalam pembelajaran itu sangat
bermanfaat, menurut anda bagaimana?
5. Apakah menurut anda, penggunaan media lagu dapat membantu siswa dalam
pembelajaran bahasa inggris khususnya menambah kosakata siswa?
6. Lalu bagaimana pendapat anda tentang penggunaan media lagu tersebut dalam
pembelajaran?

From interviews, it was found that the reason not everyone took the time to listen to
songs. That is evident from several statements of participants who stated:

“jarang sih ngedengerin lagu. Saya kalau mendengarkan lagu itu tergantung suasana hati,
kalau lagi bosen, kalau lagi galau, atau kalau mendengar lagu yang enak aja. Lain dari hal
itu gak pernah”

“saya kalo ngedengerin lagu itu kalo lagi bosen aja. Nah kalo gak bosen ya gak dengerin
lagu. Semakin sering saya bosen, semakin seringla saya mendengarkan lagu”

In addition, participants also confessed that sometimes they like to get confused when
listening to a song and more often need help from the lyrics of the song. This is evident from
the following statement:

“iya kadang suka bingung gitu sama artinya, jadi yaa liat liriklah. Terus kalo di youtube ada
tuh lirik sama terjemahannya dibawah, jadiya bisa diliat-liat jugala arti setiap kata dari lagu
itu”
“ya pastila pakai lirik, kalo gk pakek lirik ya gak ngerti isi lagunya apa. Itupun
ngedengerinnya pakek terjemahan, kalo gk pakek terjemahan ya gak bakal bisa menikmati
lagu karna gaktau kan isinya apa”

In addition, the participants agreed that indeed song media was very useful in learning
English especially song media which could be added to students' vocabulary, this was
evidenced by their statement:

“setuju, sangat setuju sih. Karena kan anak sekolah sekarang itu suka mudah bosan sama
pelajaran apalagi bahasa inggris. Nah kalo diberikan media lagu sebagai media
pembelajaran mungkin mereka bakal lebih tertarik dalam belajar dan bakal lebih mudah
mengingat kata”

“menurut aku sih sangat penambah kosakata kalo kita mendengarkan lagu. Karnakan kita
dengerin nih pastikan adatuh kata yang kita gak tau nah garagara mendengarkan lagu pakek
lirik dan terjemahan yang tadinya gaktau arti katanya jadi tau”

Discsussion

The results of all these findings revealed that the participants had the same thoughts
about using song media. The participants thought that the use of song media was very useful
if it was applied as a medium in learning English. In addition, the participants also agreed that
the use of song media was very capable of helping students improve their vocabulary. This is
evidenced by the findings that researchers found during this study, such as:

1. A statement stating that from listening to a song someone will get a lot of English
vocabulary.
2. A statement stating that the use of song media is very useful for students and can
increase students' vocabulary.
3. A statement stating that it will be able to attract students' interest in learning
especially in learning English.

In addition to these statements, the researcher also found a very strong statement from
the opinions of the participants about the use of songs as a medium in learning English
vocabulary, namely:
 The use of song media is very useful for students, besides everyone likes songs, this
media is also able to attract students' interest to learn and be able to provide a
pleasant student learning experience. In addition, the use of this media is also able to
increase student vocabulary from the songs he listens to. But the use of song media
must also be accompanied by appropriate strategies in learning.

The statement complements all the perceptions given by the participants from all the
instruments used by the researcher. In addition, researchers also gave her responses about the
use of this song media in learning English vocabulary, which is as follows:

The use of song media can improve memory and understand vocabulary more
effectively. With songs, the students can also develop other skills such as
pronunciation and speaking. In addition, students will more easily like learning
English because with this media English learning seems more fun, easy to understand
and not boring. But even like that, still, the use of song media must be monitored by
the teacher or their parents.

CONCLUSION
This research was conducted to see whether the use of song media benefits the
learning of English vocabulary based on students' perceptions. In this study, it was found that
as many as 90% of participants stated neutral, as many as 70% of participants strongly
agreed, 57.5% of participants agreed and 5% of participants who disagreed. This data was
taken based on a questionnaire distributed to 20 willing participants. And based on this
research also found that it is true that the use of song media can improve students' vocabulary
in learning English vocabulary. This data was obtained from the results of interviews
conducted with 5 participants involved and concluded by researchers.

REFERENCES