Using songs to enhance L2 vocabulary acquisition in preschool children

This article looks at the effects of a teaching sequence of song-based activities on the L2 vocabulary acquisition of a group of five-year-old Spanish child EFL learners. Twenty-five preschool children received three 30-minute lessons organized around the presentation and practice of a well-known children’s song. Vocabulary picture tests were administered to each child immediately before and after the teaching sessions, followed by a delayed post-test five weeks later. The findings of this small piece of research seem to provide some evidence to show that teaching new language through a song can lead to the development of children’s receptive knowledge of vocabulary. However, exposure to the song input was insufficient to develop productive knowledge in the majority of the children. Some implications for learning English in preschool are discussed.