Investigating Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Effectiveness of Using Songs in Enhancing Students’ Listening Ability

Abstract

The present dissertation attempts to shed light on both teachers’ and, more importantly, students’ beliefs and attitudes towards the effectiveness of using songs in enhancing their listening ability. English songs are often used as audio materials that help learners to gain mastery over the listening competency which is heavily relied on as determinant factor in language learning success. This study is carried out through a qualitative methodology which relies on both the questionnaire and the interview as data collection tools. The questionnaire was distributed to a sample of second (2nd) year LMD students at the department of English in Mila University Centre. As far as the interview is concerned, it was held with three oral expression teachers at the same department. The results of both the questionnaire and the interview seem to corroborate the hypothesis in the sense that both students and teachers hold positive attitudes towards the usefulness and feasibility of listening to songs in fostering foreign language (FL) students’ listening abilities. At such, the hypothesis set at the outset of the study turns out to be confirmed.