An Action Research of English Songwriting Implementation in Teaching English as a Second Language for University Students

This research aimed to investigate whether the implementation of “English Songwriting” as a teaching activity could increase students’ learning attitudes. The researcher noted the challenges while the research was carried out and provided solutions for the study. Action research was conducted with 110 students from a private university in Taiwan as participants. It spanned for two semesters with two instances of English songwriting activities.[1] Data collection instruments included both the students’ reflections and their levels of satisfaction toward the English songwriting activities before, during, and after teaching. Qualitative methodology was used to analyze whether English songwriting was able to improve the students’ attitudes on English learning through their opinions, feedback, interviews and satisfaction questionnaires. The findings showed that all of the students completed the task of English Songwriting, and most of the students did the work in a joyful and serious manner. Results showed that this activity increased students’ English vocabulary and motivation for learning. Other abilities also developed such as teamwork, communication, appreciation of peers’ talents in writing lyrics and songs, brainstorming, creativity and research work. The contents of the songwriting could also be a first step to have a better understanding of students’ psychological and emotional status. The researcher provided suggestions for English teaching and recommendations for future studies based on the results.