Songs as a Resource for the Teaching of English Lexical Items to Speakers of Gĩkũyũ in a Multilingual Environment

Abstract

Knowledge of lexical items is fundamental to the development of language proficiency. In order to appeal to young learners to comprehend the meaning of lexical items and enhance language proficiency, songs can be effective tools for the teaching of English lexical items. Songs are not just for fun; they are a valuable educational tool that aids language acquisition as well as the whole learner’s physical and mental development. The focus of this paper, therefore, is to demonstrate the applicability of songs as a resource for the teaching of English lexical items. The study used 12 adult respondents who had learnt English as a second language using Gĩkũyũ songs with English lexical terms. The paper explains with the use of three Gĩkũyũ / English songs, purposively sampled, to illustrate how songs were applied and can still be applied in the teaching of English lexical items. The study notes that songs employ tactile-kinesthetic activities in which language is intentionally manipulated to facilitate lexical items acquisition in a multilingual context. This paper concludes that songs are an important resource in the teaching of second languages as they make teaching and learning enjoyable and instructional. The findings of this study are significant as they add a new learning paradigm intended to provide to language instructors, learners and curriculum developers with insights into the value of songs for vocabulary acquisition.