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Songs in Early English Learning Textbooks: A Cross-Curricular Potential
elements for the targeted analysis, while in chants the rhythm is used only
as the background for words that are being recited. Songs were analyzed on
two levels: musical analysis and content analysis.
Data analysis
Songs: Musical Analysis
In order to determine if the songs included in reform-based EFL textbooks
for the first grade are age-appropriate songs for first-graders, a musical anal-
ysis was conducted. For the purpose of the analysis, the following music el-
ements in each song were assessed: choice of vocal performers, pitch range,
movement of the melody line, tonality, dynamics, rhythm, tempo, mood and
appropriateness with respect to the analyzed variables.
Songs: Content Analysis
To determine if a song contributes to the development of values described
in the cross-curricular themes or intercultural competence, a simple content
analysis was conducted. If a song contains lyrics that teach healthy life pat-
terns, safety, positive attitudes, empathy or increased awareness of our own
feelings, the song would be coded as 1. If the song lyrics foster only vocab-
ulary memorization or a linguistic structure, it would be coded as 0. There-
fore, the code represents the existence of a possible contribution of a song
to the development of values and skills encompassed by the cross-curricular
themes. Such coding allows for both quantitative and qualitative analysis. A
similar coding was done for the existence of concepts related to intercultural-
ism. However, to assess what contributes to interculturalism could be difficult
as the consensus regarding a unique definition of intercultural competence
and its dimensions is still missing (Piršl 2018). Thus, the definition included in
the Curriculum for the subject English language (2019) was adopted for the
assessment. According to the Curriculum, the educational process should of-
fer knowledge about different cultures in order to enable the development of
intercultural competence. Accordingly, if the song lyrics contain an element
that differs or is not present in the Croatian culture, the song would be coded
as 1. If there was no new element, the song was coded as 0. Such coding tried
to quantify the possible contribution of song lyrics to the development of in-
tercultural competence.
Naturally, such content analysis has its limitations since it is difficult to draw
strong conclusions based on the number of analyzed units and findings are
not generalizable. The aim was to try to capture a trend of the attributed roles
to songs in new reform-based textbooks for early English learning.
169
elements for the targeted analysis, while in chants the rhythm is used only
as the background for words that are being recited. Songs were analyzed on
two levels: musical analysis and content analysis.
Data analysis
Songs: Musical Analysis
In order to determine if the songs included in reform-based EFL textbooks
for the first grade are age-appropriate songs for first-graders, a musical anal-
ysis was conducted. For the purpose of the analysis, the following music el-
ements in each song were assessed: choice of vocal performers, pitch range,
movement of the melody line, tonality, dynamics, rhythm, tempo, mood and
appropriateness with respect to the analyzed variables.
Songs: Content Analysis
To determine if a song contributes to the development of values described
in the cross-curricular themes or intercultural competence, a simple content
analysis was conducted. If a song contains lyrics that teach healthy life pat-
terns, safety, positive attitudes, empathy or increased awareness of our own
feelings, the song would be coded as 1. If the song lyrics foster only vocab-
ulary memorization or a linguistic structure, it would be coded as 0. There-
fore, the code represents the existence of a possible contribution of a song
to the development of values and skills encompassed by the cross-curricular
themes. Such coding allows for both quantitative and qualitative analysis. A
similar coding was done for the existence of concepts related to intercultural-
ism. However, to assess what contributes to interculturalism could be difficult
as the consensus regarding a unique definition of intercultural competence
and its dimensions is still missing (Piršl 2018). Thus, the definition included in
the Curriculum for the subject English language (2019) was adopted for the
assessment. According to the Curriculum, the educational process should of-
fer knowledge about different cultures in order to enable the development of
intercultural competence. Accordingly, if the song lyrics contain an element
that differs or is not present in the Croatian culture, the song would be coded
as 1. If there was no new element, the song was coded as 0. Such coding tried
to quantify the possible contribution of song lyrics to the development of in-
tercultural competence.
Naturally, such content analysis has its limitations since it is difficult to draw
strong conclusions based on the number of analyzed units and findings are
not generalizable. The aim was to try to capture a trend of the attributed roles
to songs in new reform-based textbooks for early English learning.
169
