Date of Graduation

Winter 12-14-2018

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

College/School

School of Education

Department/Program

International and Multicultural Education (IME)

First Advisor

Luz Navarette Garcia

Abstract

English Language Learners are disproportionately underrepresented in secondary music classes in the United States. They are systematically excluded due to overly restrictive schedules, high emphasis on test scores and academic remediation, real and perceived cost of participation, and the types of courses that are offered at most secondary schools. At the same time, musical intervention research has revealed that musical ability is linked to literacy, pronunciation, and vocabulary retention, all aspects of second language acquisition. By excluding English Language Learners from music education, we could be denying them a tool that could positively impact their language acquisition. However, most of the stakeholders who determine whether English Language Learners enroll in music are unaware of the connections between music and language. The purpose of this project is to recruit English Language Learners to music programs by providing music teachers with a toolkit to educate students, parents, school administration, school counselors, and school board members on the benefits of music for language learning. By empowering educators and families with this knowledge, music teachers might find more English Language Learners in their classrooms and English Language Learners might find that the process of producing music improves their English language acquisition.

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