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Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 

RHYTHM AND RESULTS: INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF MUSIC IN ENHANCING 

CHINESE LANGUAGE LEARNING OUTCOMES 

 

Ozioko Emmanuel Chibuzor 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Department of Chinese Studies 

EmailL: 266901256@qq.com 

07030708154 

 

Abstract 

This study examined the effect of using Chinese songs as a motivational factor in learning Chinese 

language. One hundred participants from St Patrick’s College Awka Anambra state was randomly 

selected and assigned to experimental and control groups. Statistical Package for the social sciences 

(SPSS 25) was used for data analysis and the statistics used which was descriptive showed that 

Chinese songs have a motivating effect towards Chinese Language Learning and also that Females are 

more likely to learn Chinese language when music was used as a motivational element. The study 

recommended introduction of strategic Chinese songs at various levels of learning to help the 

students have a better grasp of the language. 

Key words: Chinese songs, Motivational element, learning, Chinese Language 

 

Introduction  

This study aims to examine the extent to which Chinese songs serve as a motivational element in 

learning Chinese language. Before delving in，it is pertinent to examine the nature of Chinese language 

and its dialects. According to Chinese traditionalists, Chinese is a language with several dialects. It 

is understood that Chinese people read and share the same writing system called Hanzi (character-

based), despite speaking in different ways.  

 

Dong (2004), Zhou and Marslen-Wilson (1994) see Chinese as a language that is very complex and 

difficult to understand. There are so many arguments on this issue and various schools of thoughts 

which will not be further explored as it is not the focus of this paper. Summarily, Chinese language is 

usually perceived by their native speakers as dialects of a single monolithic Chinese language, rather 

than separate languages, although this identification is considered inappropriate by some linguists 

and sinologists (Mair, 1991). 

 

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually 

intelligible to varying degrees (Crystal, 1987). Chinese is distinguished by its high level of internal 

diversity, although all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. There are between seven and 

thirteen main regional groups of Chinese (depending on classification scheme), of which the most 

spoken, by far, is Mandarin (about 850 million), followed by Wu (90 million), Cantonese, locally called 

Yue (70 million) and Min (50 million). Of these varieties of Chinese language, Mandarin, also called 

Putonghua or Guoyu and Hanyu is the official language of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and 

Taiwan, as well as one of four official languages of Singapore.  It is one of the six official languages 

of the United Nations. Cantonese is popular in Guangdong Province and Cantonese-speaking overseas 

communities, and one of the official languages of Hong Kong and Macau. Min is widely spoken in 

southern Fujian, in neighboring Taiwan and in Southeast Asian, known as Hokkien in Philippines, 

Singapore and Malaysia. 



 

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Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 

 

In this study we are only interested in Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin is a standardized form of spoken 

Chinese based on Beijing dialect, called Beifanghua. Mandarin is known as Putonghua in Mainland China, 

Guoyu in Taiwan and Hanyu in Singapore. Mandarin Chinese history can be dated back to the 19th 

century, particularly by the upper classes and ministers in Beijing. The English word ‘mandarin’ (from 

Portuguese mandarim, from Malay menteri, from Hindi mantra, from Sanskrit mantrin, minister or 

counsellor), originally meant an official of the Chinese empire. ‘Mandarin’ refers to Standard Chinese, 

which is often simply called ‘Chinese’. In study, Mandarin and Chinese language are used 

interchangeably. Mandarin is now used in education, media, and formal situations both in China and 

Taiwan. It can be spoken intelligibly by younger people in Mainland China and Taiwan, with various 

regional accents.  

 

All spoken Chinese use tones. A few dialects of north China may have as few as three tones, while 

some dialects in south China have up to six or ten tones, depending on how one counts it. One exception 

from this is Shanghainese which has reduced the set of tones to a two-toned pitch accent system 

much like modern Japanese. Mandarin has four major tones with a neutral tone making it five in 

number. A very common example used to illustrate the use of tones in Mandarin are five tones applied 

to the syllable ‘ma’. The tones correspond to these five characters. 

 

 

S/N Tone Mark Meaning Example Character English 

Meaning 

1      -  High level      Mā 妈 Mother 

2      ´ High rising       Má 麻 Numb 

3      ˇ Low falling-

rising 

      Mǎ 马 Horse 

4       ` High falling       Mà 骂 Scold 

5   (no mark) Neutral        Ma 吗 Question 

particle 

 

Bing(2022) emphasized that the positive role of Chinese songs is to help a learner to acquire a sense 

of language: 

1.1 Chinese Songs and Voice Sense 

 First, the relationship between language and music is already very close (Dalia et al.,2022). Wang Li 

(1990), a modern Chinese linguist, pointed out that “the relationship between language and music is 

very close, and there is interoperability between language and music”. As a sound-based tool for 

conveying information and expressing emotions, Marx has also recognized music as “the second 

language of mankind”. The three essential elements of music are pitch, rhythm, and timbre and the 

phonetic characteristics of the Chinese language are precisely in line with these three essential 

elements of music. Meanwhile, Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan languages, and its syllables are 

composed of three parts: consonants, rhymes and tones and the change of tones is also one of the 

characteristics of Chinese. Tone changes include the level tone, the rising tone, the falling-rising tone 

and the falling tone. Its permutations and combinations give the Chinese language a rhythmic sense 

of staccato. This kind of rhythmic sense of Chinese speech with its high and low changes also coincides 



 

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Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 

with the expression form of music. Therefore, while appreciating the rhythm and melody of the songs, 

Chinese songs also help to improve the learners’ ability to recognize sounds and pronounce Chinese. 

Ultimately, the goal is to improve the phonological sense of second language learners. 

 

1.2 Chinese Songs and Sense of Awareness 

According to the affective filtering hypothesis proposed by Stephen D. Krashen, the process of 

second language acquisition will be affected by three affective factors: the learner’s motivation, 

personality, and affective state. Motivation is the intrinsic power that propels an individual to engage 

in a particular behavior. If the learner is strongly motivated and driven, the learning efficiency is 

higher, and the learning effect will be better; the affective state mainly refers to anxiety and 

relaxation; if the learner has a weaker sense of anxiety, a high degree of mental relaxation and a low 

affective barrier, they are prone to get more input. Both are constantly changing under the influence 

of subjective factors of second language learners. Applying Chinese songs in teaching Chinese as a 

foreign language can enliven the classroom atmosphere, reduce the learners’ sense of boredom in 

learning Chinese, enhance their motivation to learn Chinese, reduce their anxiety about second 

language learning, stimulate their interest in learning Chinese, and make them actively participate in 

the process of second language learning. Secondly, from the division of labour between the left and 

right brains, it can be found that the left brain processes language. Still, if the right brain can be 

brought into full play in second language learning, it will be more conducive to the learners ’ language 

learning. Chinese songs are characterized by lively language, and a distinctive sense of rhyme and 

rhythm.  

 

1.3Chinese Songs and Grammatical Sense  

The fact that Chinese grammar does not emphasize the order of words but the meaning of words 

makes grammar learning especially difficult for second language learners. In addition to the 

complexity of Chinese grammar, grammar teaching in Chinese as a Foreign Language classroom often 

needs to be more exciting and acceptable to learners. Even teaching grammar is difficult, not to 

mention cultivating learners’ sense of Chinese grammar. Chinese songs are rich in grammar teaching 

materials; some contain repetitive sentences or chorus parts emphasizing grammatical structures. 

These songs can be used to consolidate grammar points vividly, turning abstraction into something 

concrete and tangible. As a result, applying Chinese songs in teaching Chinese as a foreign language 

can effectively improve the learners’ sense of grammar while changing the classroom atmosphere of 

grammar knowledge explanation from boring to lively and exciting. 

Flow chart of how to improve grammatical sense 

   

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiet Environment 

Chinese Songs 

Short-term memory 

 

Repetition 
Long-term 

memory 



 

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Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 

  

1.4Chinese Songs and Vocabulary Sense 

Chinese songs are rich in themes and all-encompassing, and the vocabulary used in the lyrics is 

primarily daily idioms. Most of the lyrics are straightforward and easy to understand and most of the 

language materials and expressions come from daily life, which is more likely to arouse the learners’ 

interest and enthusiasm and more likely to be accepted by Chinese language learners. Therefore, the 

application of Chinese songs to the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language can not only help 

students better understand the meaning of words and their usage but also help them understand the 

meaning of words in specific contexts, make their memory of words more profound and thus improve 

their sense of the Chinese vocabulary.  

 

 

Motivation, Cognition and Learning Context in Pintrich’s Theoretical Model 

This theory can explain learning process in classroom settings, Pintrich 1994, 2000b, 2003a, pointed 

out three types of elements 

 Motivation elements such as achievement goal/ orientation, expectancies for success and 

failure, self-perceptions of ability and competence (Self-efficacy belief) Control beliefs, 

Task Value and affective and emotional. Chinese songs can affect mood of the learners in 

positive way. 

 Cognitive elements, such as cognitive Self-Regulation Strategies, meta-Cognition, activation 

of prior knowledge, etc. The more the songs played repeatedly, the more the activation of 

the prior knowledge of tones, grammar point and vocabulary. 

 Learning Context elements such as task features, classroom context, success perception of 

both the task features and the classroom contexts, goals promoted in the classroom, type of 

work structure, teacher’s behaviour, type of interaction between teachers and students. 

When the learning is going on in a noiseless environment and the teacher is accommodating, 

the students are likely to learn more. 

Pintrich considers motivation a multifactorial construct (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002b) 

According to Pintrich (2003b), integrating cognitive and motivational elements is necessary for 

completing our understanding of learning process in school contexts and for understanding 

difficulties that may appear during the instructional process. When Chinese songs are played students 

know the meaning of the songs, if those songs are subtitled in English and pinyin (spoken Chinese), it 

is more likely to trigger their interest to learn the language. 

This study considers the theory of cognitive development by Piaget (1896-1980) in participant’s 

selection and songs selection in other to add something new to existing knowledge.  This developmental 

psychologist emphasized that for learning to be effective, one has to consider the age and the 

cognitive development of the child. The two songs that the researcher used in this study; the first 

one is talking about the importance of friendship and the second one is talking about importance of 

Mother in the life of a child. 

 

Methodology 

Context and participants 

100 senior students of St Patrick College, Awka within the age range of 15-16 who are studying 

Chinese language were randomly selected for the experimental study. 

Instrument 



 

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Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 

Laptop that is connected with wifi, projector . 

 

Procedure 

The focus was Senior Students of St Patrick College Awka who chose Chinese language as one of the 

foreign languages they prefer to study. Their informed consent was sought and they were randomly 

selected and assigned to Control and Experimental groups. The study was carried out in a controlled 

environment to avoid noise which is an extraneous variable. 

The experimental Group were promised to be taught different Chinese songs and informed about how 

learning them could help in understanding Chinese culture and language.  This information was not 

passed to the control group.  

After the information, a song by Emil Chau Titled (( 朋友)) meanings Friend in English language and a 

Chinese folk song by Kim Friesen Wiens was played with a laptop that is connected  and projected to 

the wall. After playing the Chinese Song which had English, Chinese and pinyin (spoken Chinese) as 

the subtitle, independently and monitored for 30mins for each song, they were presented with the 

print out of the lyrics of the songs mixed with other Chinese characters of the first song, to choose 

the correct option and the second song was used to test their ability to memorize and read correctly. 

 

First song 

-The English Version of the Lyrics 

English version 

All these years, me alone been through wind and walk through rain  

Had tears, had mistakes when had I insist something 

Only the one who had loved will understand, will understand, will be lonely, regret. 

 Still have dream and you in my heart 

 Friends walk together all life time these days won’t come back 

 One sentence, one life time one love, one cup of wine 

Friends are never lonely one-word friend, you will understand 

Still have wounds, still have pain still need to walk, you still have me  

 

Chinese Version 

这些年一个人风也过雨也走 

有过泪有过错还记得坚持甚麽 

真爱过才会懂会寂寞会回首 

终有梦终有你在心中 

朋友一生一起走那些日子不再有 

一句话一辈子一生情一杯酒 

朋友不曾孤单过一声朋友会懂 

还有伤还有痛还要走还有我 

 

Pinyin version 

Zhѐ xiē nián yī gѐ rén fēng yӗ guò yŭ yӗ zōu 

Yŏu guò lѐi Yŏu guò cuò hái jì de jiānchí shén me 

Zhēn ài guò cái huì dŏng huì jì mò huì huí shŏu 

Zhōng Yŏu mѐng Zhōng Yŏu nǐ zài xīn zhōng 

Péngyou yīshēng yī qǐ zōu nà xiē rìzi bù zài Yŏu 



 

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Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 

Yījùhuà Yībѐizi yīshēng qíng yībēijiŭ 

Péngyou bù céng gū dān guò yīshāng Péngyou nǐ huì dŏng 

Hái Yŏu shāng hái Yŏu tòng hái yào zōu hái Yŏu wŏ 

 

The Chinese character version of the lyrics was printed with gaps to fill when the first song was 

stopped to determine their performance: 

这些年一个人风也过雨也走 

_____过泪有过错还记得坚持甚麽（没有 or 有） 

真爱过才会懂会寂寞______回（能 or 会） 

终有梦终有你在心______（理 or 中） 

朋友一生一起走那些日子不在______（有 or 没有） 

一句话一辈子一生情一杯________（水 or 酒） 

_______不曾孤单过一声朋友会懂（妈妈 or 朋友） 

还有伤还有痛还要走还有________(我  or 你) 

 

Second song 

-The English Version of the Lyrics 

Mom is the best in the world. 

A child with a mother is like a precious gem.  

Throw yourself into your mother’s arms and you will find happiness. 

Mom is the best in the world.  

A child without a mom is like a blade of grass. 

Away from your mother’s arms  

Where will you find happiness?  

 

Pinyin version 

Shì shàng zhǐ yǒu mā mā hǎo 

yǒu mā de hái zì xiàng kuài bǎo  

tóu jìn mā mā de huái bào  

xìng fú xiǎng bù liǎo 

shì shàng zhǐ yǒu mā mā hǎo 

méi mā dè hái zì xiàng gēn cǎo 

lí kāi mā mā dè huái bào  

xìng fú nǎ lǐ zhǎ 

 

Chinese Version 
世上只有妈妈好 

有妈的孩⼦像块宝 

投进妈妈的怀抱 
幸福享不了 
世上只有妈妈好 

没妈的孩⼦像根草 

离开妈妈的怀抱 

幸福那⾥ 



 

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Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 

Data Analysis 

Table 1 

 

Variable                    Frequency                                                              Percent 

Gender    Male 5050 

 Female 50            50 

Age         16yrs                                         17   83 

 15yrs  83  17 

Group     Experimental 50  50 

               Control                                      50                                                                         50 

Class      SS1                                            50       50 

               SS2                                           50                                                                         50 

 

The above table 1 shows the descriptive statistics of the participants; 100 Male (50%) and female 

(50%) Senior Students were randomly selected from SS1 (50%) and SS2 (50%) with the age range 

15-16 and they were randomly assigned to control (50%) and experimental group (50%)  

 

 

Table 2 

                                Performance                                                                                                                            

              Excellent      Poor Total    

Gender Male      24                 26     50 

Female   27                  23                                                                      50 

Total                  51                  49    100 

 

 

The above table 2, shows that females in the experimental (27) group performed better than the 

males (24) in the experimental group 

The result shows that Chinese songs can be used as a motivational element in learning Chinese 

language. This study also shows that females are more motivated to learn when songs are used as a 

learning tool. 

 

Conclusion 

The researcher discovered that the 27 females in the experimental group performed well in the song 

test. They showed interest in the study because they were promised to be taught Chinese songs 

stressing the importance of Chinese songs in learning Chinese language. This shows that Chinese songs 

can be used as a motivational element in learning Chinese language, especially SS1 and SS2 of St 

Patrick’s College Awka. The result of this study also shows that females can learn more when Chinese 

songs are used for teaching. 

Generally, the results of the findings in this study strongly agree with the Bing (2023), assumptions 

on the role of Chinese songs in learning Chinese language. Based on the above findings, the researcher 

therefore makes the following recommendations.  

 

 



 

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Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol 17 June 2024 

Recommendations 

Opportunities for inter-secondary school Chinese songs competition should be made available. This 

will enable the senior secondary students to learn and speak Chinese language while they put in efforts 

in winning the prizes. This would motivate them to learn more Chinese vocabulary, pinyin (spoken 

Chinese) and hanzi (Chinese character). 

Chinese language teachers should play a pivotal role in secondary schools by employing Chinese songs 

effectively in teaching Chinese language. They should be selective in their choice of Chinese songs 

picking songs that are interesting with moral lessons, idioms and sub-titled in English, Chinese 

Character (hanzi) and pinyin (spoken Chinese). They should ensure a conducive learning environment 

by ensuring they are free from noise. 

Most importantly, the Chinese language teachers in St Patrick’s College Awka should be empowered 

to put more effort in the discharge of their duties. Since learning and teaching Chinese language is 

especially difficulty for a non-native of China, the effort of the Chinese teachers should be rewarded 

with good salaries and various incentives. When the efforts of the Chinese language teachers are 

generously rewarded, it will boost their morale and increase their zeal to provide effective teaching. 

 

References 

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Crystal, D. (1987). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge 

University Press. 

Dalia .B., María Elena.G & Cristina A .(2022) . The Relationship between Music and Second 

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