The Effect of Song-Based Instruction on High School Students’ English Pronunciation Skills: A Time-Series Design

This study investigates the effectiveness of using songs as instructional tools to improve the English pronunciation of high school EFL learners. While songs are widely used in language classrooms, their specific impact on pronunciation—particularly on segmental and suprasegmental features—remains underexplored, especially in the context of high school EFL learners in non-English speaking countries. Adopting a time-series design and a mixed-methods approach, the study was conducted over 12 weeks with a group of seven beginner-level EFL students. Song-based lessons were implemented weekly, and students’ pronunciation was assessed at five different points using a standardized pronunciation scale (Cambridge University Press, 2019). In addition to quantitative data, teacher observations provided qualitative insights into students’ progress. The results revealed significant improvement in learners’ segmental pronunciation and overall intelligibility. However, the intervention had a limited impact on suprasegmental features such as intonation and stress. These findings suggest that songs can be effective for enhancing certain aspects of pronunciation in EFL contexts, particularly individual sounds, but may require supplementary strategies to address prosodic features. The study offers practical implications for EFL educators and contributes to the growing literature on music-based language instruction.