Pop songs on the development of oral English fluency in high school students

Abstract

Introduction: Ecuadorian high school students exhibit limitations in their oral fluency in English due to traditional grammar-focused methodologies, lack of motivation, and insufficient attention to classroom diversity. Materials and methods: An exploratory-descriptive study with a mixed-methods approach was conducted at the "Cinco de Mayo" Educational Unit in the Chone canton. The population consisted of 120 students, with a sample of 40 first-year high school students and 3 English teachers. Semi-structured interviews were administered, along with a pretest to diagnose initial oral fluency levels through role-plays and oral reports. A posttest was administered after an intervention based on the systematic integration of pop songs selected according to student preferences and pedagogical criteria (rhythm, vocabulary, message, and linguistic level). Results: The pretest showed that only 15% of the students achieved a high level of oral performance, while 50% were at low or very low levels. Following the intervention, the post-test revealed a significant improvement: 45% reached a high level, and only 5% remained at a very low level. Students improved in pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, fluency, and confidence. 87.5% felt that pop songs helped them learn English, and 82.5% felt more confident speaking after the intervention. Discussion: These findings are consistent with previous studies demonstrating that pop songs reduce anxiety, increase motivation, and facilitate language retention through rhythmic repetition, in addition to catering to predominant learning styles. Conclusions: The systematic integration of pop songs, combined with tasks such as role-plays and oral reports, is an effective strategy for developing oral fluency in English, provided that the diversity of learning styles is considered and songs appropriate to the students' level and context are selected.