Effectiveness of using songs in teaching tenses for Thai upper secondary students

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effectiveness of utilizing deductive songs in teaching tenses to Thai upper secondary students versus inductive songs, and to examine Thai upper secondary students' attitudes towards using songs to teach tenses. The participants were sixty grade eleven pupils who were randomly allocated to one of two groups. As a result, there were 30 students in the group that used deductive songs (songs performed by the researcher using the deductive approach), and 30 students in the group that used inductive songs (instructional songs with lyrics referring to the tenses that the students would learn). To analyze the data, the mean post-test scores (in both groups) were compared using independent samples, whilst the mean pre-test and post-test scores in each group were compared using a paired-sample t-test with the SPSS program. The tests consist of a gap-filling test, an error identification test, and short paragraph writing. In addition, the participants’ attitudes towards using songs in teaching tenses questionnaire were analyzed by comparing the frequency of each statement, in addition to the participants’ answers to open-ended questions and their comments and the responses in the interview part. The results showed that 1) the effectiveness and grammatical knowledge towards tenses of both groups equally improved; and 2) Thai secondary students have positive attitudes towards learning tenses through songs. Using songs (both deductive and inductive songs) in teaching tenses thus appears to be a useful method which can help enhance students’ grammatical knowledge. In addition, the majority of participants in both groups have positive attitudes towards learning tenses through songs.