Effectiveness of Pop Songs in Enhancing ESL Learners' Intrinsic Motivation

Background & Motivation

Pop songs had been officially incorporated into Hong Kong's English language curriculum since 2007, yet research on their effectiveness in local classrooms remained sparse — only two relevant studies had been conducted in Hong Kong (Chow, 2014; Lam, 2012), and neither focused on secondary school learners.

The broader research literature pointed to a persistent problem: most ESL learners in Hong Kong possessed only extrinsic motivation — studying English for economic advancement or exam performance, rather than for genuine interest in the language or its culture (Cheung, 2001). This exam-oriented culture, combined with limited authentic exposure to English outside the classroom, made it difficult for learners to develop intrinsic motivation. Pop songs — which students were already listening to voluntarily — offered a potential bridge.

Research in other contexts had documented that songs create a relaxing classroom atmosphere, reduce learning anxiety, promote participation, and are intrinsically more interesting than artificial textbook materials (García & Juan, 2015; Millington, 2011; Al-Azri & Al-Rashdi, 2014). This study set out to test whether those effects would hold for Hong Kong secondary school students.

Research Questions & Hypotheses

1. What are the students' perceptions of pop songs?
2. How does the use of pop songs in English lessons influence students' intrinsic motivation in learning English?

The study tested two hypotheses: (1) participants find pop songs intrinsically interesting and enjoyable, and (2) pop songs are effective in enhancing Hong Kong secondary school ESL learners' intrinsic motivation.

Methodology

Participants & Setting

25 Secondary 3 students (approximately Grade 9) studying in a Chinese-medium-of-instruction (CMI) school in Hong Kong. CMI schools serve students whose primary language of instruction is Cantonese, making English proficiency development a particular challenge.

Instructional Materials

Data Collection

Data were collected at four time points: a pre-questionnaire before any instruction, and post-questionnaires immediately after each lesson. Questionnaires were adapted from You and Dörnyei's (2016) motivation scale and measured intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, instrumental orientation, and integrative orientation on a 7-point Likert scale. Eight participants (S1–S8) were selected for follow-up semi-structured interviews, and the researcher kept field notes on student engagement during the trial lessons.

Findings

1. Students' Perceptions of Pop Songs

Students rated pop songs as intrinsically interesting (pre-mean: 5.32) and enjoyable (pre-mean: 5.32) even before the study began — confirming that the genre had inherent appeal. About half already had the habit of listening to English pop songs in their leisure time, and more than half reported doing so regularly in interviews. This voluntary listening behavior itself indicated baseline intrinsic interest.

Across the three lessons, Post 3 (Taylor Swift's "Love Story") produced the highest ratings for both interest (5.96) and enjoyment (5.64), while Post 1 (Dolly Parton's "9 to 5") produced the lowest. Five of eight interviewees said "9 to 5" was "too old" — pointing to the importance of song currency and cultural relevance. Taylor Swift was mentioned five times in the pre-questionnaire as a favorite artist, and all eight interviewees named "Love Story" as their top song from the study. The lesson design implication is clear: aligning song selection with students' existing interests significantly amplifies the motivational effect.

On perceived difficulty: students' initial concerns about lyrics being too hard or songs being too fast dropped over the course of the study. Seven of eight interviewees said pop songs were easy to listen to, and students developed their own strategies for managing challenging material — looking up words, using Chinese translations, repeated listening, and watching music videos.

2. Change in Intrinsic Motivation

The central finding was a significant and sustained increase in intrinsic motivation across all three lessons:

All three increases were statistically significant. Extrinsic motivation, instrumental orientation, and integrative orientation showed smaller or non-significant changes, suggesting that pop songs specifically targeted the intrinsic dimension of motivation rather than producing a general enthusiasm effect.

Qualitatively, students described English as feeling "less difficult," "more interesting," "less boring," "more relaxing," and "more enjoyable" after the lessons. Two particularly revealing interview responses: S5 noted that learning new vocabulary from song lyrics gave her a sense of achievement, which then yielded enjoyment — illustrating how small cognitive wins within an engaging context can compound into intrinsic motivation. S8 reflected that the experience showed him English learning doesn't have to involve rote memorization and that there are other ways to be exposed to the language.

Limits and Nuance

The effect was not universal. S6 still found English too difficult after the lessons; S7 still disliked learning English. This points to an important finding: a learner's original level of motivation mediates how much pop songs can shift that motivation. Students with very low baseline motivation may need additional scaffolding beyond engaging materials alone.

Conclusion & Implications

Both hypotheses were confirmed: pop songs are intrinsically interesting and enjoyable to Hong Kong secondary school ESL learners, and they are effective in enhancing intrinsic motivation in learning English. The study offers strong empirical support for incorporating pop music into the ESL classroom as a motivation-building tool.

Three new contributions emerged beyond the original hypotheses: the importance of song selection and cultural relevance; the role of pop songs as an alternative pathway into English learning that bypasses the anxiety of formal study; and the moderating effect of students' pre-existing motivation levels on the magnitude of change.

Directions for Future Research

• Does using pop songs in class lead students to listen to more English music voluntarily outside school?
• Do students start using vocabulary learned from songs as functioning vocabulary in their own speech and writing?
• Is the motivational boost greater with more regular or longer-term use of pop songs across a semester?