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3 Each word must be pronounced clearly and the vocabularies must be varied
and rich. The clear pronunciation will avoid the students from the confusion. Moreover, the students’ vocabulary will be enriched through songs.
4 Songs should have an appropriate theme. Songs with any type of negative
theme should be avoided. 5
Use cheerful or humorous songs. It will bring fun atmosphere to the class and it also makes the students more enthusiastic to learn.
6 The songs must carry some message or interesting story. If it is interesting,
the students will pay more attention to it. Through songs, the students can learn something from the lyrics or the
words appear in the songs. Therefore, in order to make songs more meaningful in the teaching and learning activity, the teachers should pay attention on the songs
criteria above so they can select the songs carefully and appropriately.
5. Previous Research on Related Fields
There are many examples of successful research about the use of music or songs in language learning. For example, McAdams from College of Saint Mary
in Nebraska conducted a research in 2009 to know the perceptions of pre-nursing and beginning level nursing students of using music as learning enhancement. The
findings of this research show that the nurse students’ perception on the use of music as learning enhancement was positive. They enjoyed the use of music in
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their study. Music could enhance their mood and concentration. In addition, they had more pleasant study session
Another finding, Pat Abicare from Commission’s Los Angeles forum reports that the use of music and other arts enables students to build self-
confidence through their ability to develop creativity and to find their freedom of expression. Furthermore, there was a study that was sponsored by Yamaha in the
Downey, California Unified School District. This study was about the effect of music instruction programs associated with remarkable achievement in reading. It
showed that the reading level of first-grade students with a single year of music was nearly one grade higher than their peers Schlitz, 1991.
Based on the researches above, it can be summarized that the use of music or songs in learning process brings positive effects for the students. The skills of
listening, reading, speaking and writing can be improved through songs. It means that songs influence learning achievement. Besides, songs also give relaxed
atmosphere in class so the students become enthusiastic to learn.
B. Theoretical Framework
Perception is important because it influences someone’s motivation and behavior. The successful learning is also affected by perception. Students’
perception plays an important role in learning process. Through their perception, they will have motivation to learn and to encourage themselves in order to achieve
the goal of learning.
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This research focuses on students’ perception on the use of songs in listening class. Besides, it attempts to discover the advantages and disadvantages
of using songs in listening activity. Therefore, in this research the researcher uses four major theories, namely theory of perception, theory of motivation, theory of
listening, and theory of learning through song. Those theories are employed in order to dig out students’ perception on the use of songs in listening class.
The researcher uses the theory of perception in order to know the exact perception of the students toward the use of songs in listening class. Based on
Robbins’ theory, the result of students’ perception can be positive or negative. Moreover, perception can influence students’ motivation in learning, so the theory
of motivation is also used in this research. The theory of motivation is useful to find the importance of motivation in learning and the relation between perception
and motivation. The theory of listening and theory of learning through songs are also
employed in this research. The theory of listening is used to find students’ listening difficulties, whereas the theory of learning through songs can be a guide
to select the appropriate songs to be used in listening class. These theories also help the researcher to find out whether the use of songs in listening class can
fulfill the students’ needs or not. Moreover, the researcher can recognize the advantages and disadvantages of using songs through the theories.
This research tries to figure out what students’ feeling, attitudes, and beliefs when they are taught using song. The students can also give their opinion
