The effects of music field trips in a high school music appreciation curriculum on cognitive music learning, including language acquisition and music attitudes

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of field trips in a high school music appreciation curriculum on cognitive music learning including language acquisition and music attitudes, with an emphasis on ESL/LEP students who were mainstreamed into the classes. Subjects were 128 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students in a metropolitan inner city school enrolled in music appreciation classes for one semester who were divided into experimental (with music field trips) and control (the same curriculum without music field trips) groups; groups were approximately matched; the study spanned two semesters for 2 years. Instruments for this quasi-experimental study were Zorn's Music Appreciation Inventory and Music Interest Inventory amended as pretest and posttest. A pilot study indicated the need for a change in timing the posttesting. For analysis with NOVA, the groups were subdivided into non-ESL/LEP and ESL/LEP. It was hypothesized that there would be no difference on either of the test instruments between those participating in the field trips and those not participating even with the students categorized as ESL/LEP. An interrelated research question highlights the issue of whether or not music field trips provide a speech environment conducive to second language acquisition. The research lends credence to the belief that language can become more comprehensible to second language learners in an environment offering a low affective filter and comprehensible input which is often found in music classes, particularly when students participate in activities such as educational music field trips. No significant difference was found in the pretest and posttest scores of non-ESL students in either the control group or the experimental group. Positive effects were evidenced in students who experienced the music field trips, particularly the ESL students who were mainstreamed into the classes. ESL/LEP students who received the field trip treatment made gains in the MII, whereas the scores on the MII of the ESL students who did not attend the field trips were lower.