Page 178 - Volk, Marina, Štemberger, Tina, Sila, Anita, Kovač, Nives. Ur. 2021. Medpredmetno povezovanje: pot do uresničevanja vzgojno-izobraževalnih ciljev. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem
P. 178
na Paula Gortan-Carlin and Gordana Dobravac
Conclusion
Croatia, as the majority of countries, has been trying to model an education
system that will meet the socio-economical needs of the 21st century. As
a result, a Comprehensive Curriculum Reform has been taking place in the
country. Since the new subject curricula emphasize cross-curricular corre-
lation, cross-curricular themes, and intercultural competence, the new text-
books should reflect these recommendations. The natural link between mu-
sic and language presents an ecological validity for the cross-curricular cor-
relation between the subjects English as foreign language and Musical Edu-
cation since songs are among the favorite methods in early English learning.
The main goal of the current study was to determine whether songs used in
English classes could contribute to foster reform-based content and if they
were age-appropriate for children singing them since this aspect is seldom
discussed. By analyzing the content of the songs, the majority of them (71)
contribute to the development of values and behavioral life patterns recom-
mended by the cross-curricular themes (e.g. healthy diet and activity, polite
behavior, sharing, traffic safety). However, the potential of songs in develop-
ing intercultural competence is unexploited (only 18 of songs contain an
intercultural element). This could stem from the fact that although intercul-
tural competence is a term frequently used in educational literature, there
has been no wide consensus about it or its constituents to date. The analy-
sis of the musical aspects of the songs indicates that the songs are mostly
age-appropriate in terms of mood, tempo and melody, but inappropriate
in terms of range, intonation and tonality. More attention should be given
to the choice of performers, tonality and octaves in order not to exceed the
range possibility of children’s voices.
The role of songs in EFL has shifted from the traditional role of vocabulary
learning and fun activities to means used to develop universal human val-
ues. That proves the growing awareness of the songs’ potential in education.
Nevertheless, only by paying more attention to the musical aspect of songs,
not only to texts, can their full potential, the potential for cross-curricular cor-
relation, be unleashed.
References
Anderson, C. E., J. S. McDougald, and L. Cuesta Medina. 2015. ‘CLIL for Young
Learners.’ In Children Learning English: From Research to Practice, edited by
C. N. Giannikas, L. McLaughlin, G. Fanning, and N. Deutsch Muller, 137–151.
Reading: Garnet.
Arasaratnam, L. 2016. ‘Intercultural Competence.’ In Oxford Research Encyclope-
176
Conclusion
Croatia, as the majority of countries, has been trying to model an education
system that will meet the socio-economical needs of the 21st century. As
a result, a Comprehensive Curriculum Reform has been taking place in the
country. Since the new subject curricula emphasize cross-curricular corre-
lation, cross-curricular themes, and intercultural competence, the new text-
books should reflect these recommendations. The natural link between mu-
sic and language presents an ecological validity for the cross-curricular cor-
relation between the subjects English as foreign language and Musical Edu-
cation since songs are among the favorite methods in early English learning.
The main goal of the current study was to determine whether songs used in
English classes could contribute to foster reform-based content and if they
were age-appropriate for children singing them since this aspect is seldom
discussed. By analyzing the content of the songs, the majority of them (71)
contribute to the development of values and behavioral life patterns recom-
mended by the cross-curricular themes (e.g. healthy diet and activity, polite
behavior, sharing, traffic safety). However, the potential of songs in develop-
ing intercultural competence is unexploited (only 18 of songs contain an
intercultural element). This could stem from the fact that although intercul-
tural competence is a term frequently used in educational literature, there
has been no wide consensus about it or its constituents to date. The analy-
sis of the musical aspects of the songs indicates that the songs are mostly
age-appropriate in terms of mood, tempo and melody, but inappropriate
in terms of range, intonation and tonality. More attention should be given
to the choice of performers, tonality and octaves in order not to exceed the
range possibility of children’s voices.
The role of songs in EFL has shifted from the traditional role of vocabulary
learning and fun activities to means used to develop universal human val-
ues. That proves the growing awareness of the songs’ potential in education.
Nevertheless, only by paying more attention to the musical aspect of songs,
not only to texts, can their full potential, the potential for cross-curricular cor-
relation, be unleashed.
References
Anderson, C. E., J. S. McDougald, and L. Cuesta Medina. 2015. ‘CLIL for Young
Learners.’ In Children Learning English: From Research to Practice, edited by
C. N. Giannikas, L. McLaughlin, G. Fanning, and N. Deutsch Muller, 137–151.
Reading: Garnet.
Arasaratnam, L. 2016. ‘Intercultural Competence.’ In Oxford Research Encyclope-
176
