Using artistic chants in the Astonished learning environment: Building children’s English vocabulary

Abstract

Children's vocabulary in the English language can be enhanced through a learning environment that provides an artistic space and engaging activities where children connect the word introduced through artistic chants that elicit oral production and association of meaning. This study selected the “Astonished” learning environment as the space where artistic chants were introduced weekly to reinforce vocabulary and develop children’s oral production. The study intends to determine how the components and features of artistic chants build children’s vocabulary. The findings reveal that using artistic chants in the “Astonished” learning environment developed children's language through its components: action songs, realia materials, sensory materials, and flashcards. These components improved their communicative, psychomotor, and participation skills. Further, the summative activities revealed that the artistic chants triggered children’s ability to draw the image of the word introduced and the oral production elicited. The potential of chants as strategic techniques in vocabulary learning is due to four features: repetitive nature, visual support, action-driven activities, and use of senses as the factors that develop children’s vocabulary and promote oral production.