The Future of Education

Singing to learn vocabulary has been deemed an alternative way to relieve learners' anxiety and help them to attain the goal of learning a second language. However, few studies have been conducted to explore whether singing to learn vocabulary works for both male and female students. This study was to compare the effect of singing on learning vocabulary by male and female learners. Fifty 7th-graders from two classes participated in this study. One class consisted of 25 female underachievers while the other, 25 male underachievers. The research procedure consisted of pretesting, treatment, and posttesting. After pretesting, both classes were exposed to 4 vocabulary categories: colors, days of a week, weather, and months. Both classes received instruction on the two of the categories, but only the female underachievers learned to sing English songs containing the target vocabulary words. In addition, both classes received instruction on the other two categories, but only the male underachievers were taught to sing English songs containing the target vocabulary words. Then, both classes received posttests. As the results showed, both classes made progress from pre- to posttests. Singing significantly helped female underachievers to learn vocabulary; however, it did not work for male ones. It is possible that singing reduced the anxiety level of female underachievers, but had less to do with male participants' anxiety.