Browsing by Author "Widén, Miia"

This research aimed to study how music education can be used as a support for Finnish as a second language teaching in early childhood education. In particular, a specific project was studied in which music education was emphasized in a kindergarten in Espoo. The effects of music education have been studied internationally but these researches have focused on monitoring for example the development in fonological awareness. This research took a wider perspective on how music education affected second language learning. Such a wider perspective is important in the context of early childhood education where learning happens in every situation. The research material consisted of five interviews and a selected article. Interviews were conducted as theme interviews and transcribed for analysis. The research material for this qualitative research was analysed according to content-driven analysis. Music education supports second language learning in many ways. The repetitive nature of songs helps to memorize words. When pictures are used as a support for the lyrics of the songs, children can easily understand what the lyrics are about and this has a positive effect on both concentration and memorizing of lyrics. Songs that include playful elements act as a form of directed play where the teacher can support equal participation by all the children. It is however essential that these songs with play do not require any language skills for participation so that each child can feel the joy of succeeding in musical play amongst peers. Language learning can start only after child feels safe in the new environment. Safety can easily be created by building every music lesson with the same structure. Lastly it is important to notice how the interaction between adults and children affect second language learning. Sensitive adult can observe and notice even the smallest signs of communication from the children. The interaction between adults and children would be a fruitful research topic for future studies around the topic of music education and second language learning.