Immediate and Sustained Effects of Song‐Based Language Learning on English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Academic Development, Cognitive Engagement, and Motivation

BACKGROUND: This study examined the immediate and sustained effects of song-based language learning on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' academic development, cognitive engagement, and motivation for learning. The study is primarily grounded in self-determination theory and sociocultural theory and is additionally informed by the input and output hypotheses and multimodal learning theory. METHOD: A quasi-experimental design was employed with 200 elementary-level EFL learners drawn from eight private language institutes in Urmia, Iran. Participants were assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 11 weeks of song-based English instruction, while the control group received traditional instruction. Data were collected at three time points-pretest, immediate posttest, and follow-up-using validated questionnaires measuring academic development, cognitive engagement, and motivation for learning. Repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The results revealed that learners exposed to song-based instruction demonstrated significantly greater gains in academic development, cognitive engagement, and motivation for learning at the immediate posttest compared to those in the control group. Importantly, these gains were largely maintained at the follow-up stage, indicating that the positive effects of song-based instruction were sustained over time. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that integrating songs into EFL instruction can promote not only immediate learning benefits but also enduring improvements in learners' academic development, cognitive engagement, and motivation. The study contributes to the growing body of research on arts-integrated pedagogies in language education and offers important pedagogical implications for EFL teachers and curriculum designers seeking to foster sustained learner engagement and development.