Exploring Music to Learn Languages from an Intercultural Perspective

Theoretical discussion

Intercultural language teaching

Recently, the Colombian academy has included in its agenda the need to address the ID of language learning (LL) (Álvarez-Valencia, 2014; Henao et al., 2019; Meadows, 2016). The advocates of this perspective suggest that ILL thrives for facing real-time communication while dealing with intercultural misunderstanding, interpreting cultural meanings, and adopting constructive positions towards social phenomena (Byram, 1997; Wagner & Byram, 2017; Ware & Kramsch, 2005). Therefore, ILL is a view of LL in which culture receives a paramount place given the close relationship between language and culture, and intercultural mediation is one of the key goals (Ho, 2009).

ILL defines culture as a changing (Byram et al., 2002; Hinkel, 1999; Nieto, 2002), multifaceted (Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013; Morán, 2001) and social phenomenon (Álvarez-Valencia & Fernández, 2019; Kramsch, 1998). Culture includes some elements -ideas, perspectives, attitudes, meanings, symbols, practices, behaviors, and conducts- (Liddicoat et al., 2003; Morán, 2001) shared by communities within specific chronological, geographical and political contexts (Geertz, 1973; Nieto, 2002). Bonilla-Tenesaca et al. (2016) conceive culture as an ability to interpret the world as classifications and representations which are materialized through experiences, symbols, and behaviors. Liddicoat and Scarino (2013) propose that culture is the individuals' reference framework to interpret and respond to social/cultural actions which determine people's relationships.

Culture in EFL

Given the relationship language-culture, including the ID is a must for ELT (Agudelo, 2007; Kramsch, 2003). First, communicative abilities are not enough to establish successful interactions with people from different cultures (Byram, 1997; Liddicoat, 2008). Second, communication is not limited to the linguistic realm, other dimensions (multimodal/semiotic elements) require active exploration and interpretation (Álvarez-Valencia & Fernández, 2019). Viewing culture as an open and changing ensemble of tangible/intangible semiotic resources that are created through social interaction is complementary to Álvarez-Valencias (2018) notion of language as a delocalized, fluid and evolving semiotic resource that establishes complementary interrelationships with other semiotic systems. These multimodal and semiotic dimensions of communication highlight the relationship of ELT with the ID because the semiotic resources present in cross-cultural interactions make sense through the interpretation of their cultural nature and features. Interpreting cultural meanings is difficult under a verbocentric perspective of LL (Álvarez-Valencia, 2018; Block, 2014; Kress, 2000; Liddicoat, 2008). In LL, students must deal with situations coming from different cultural contexts and perspectives, therefore interpreting only linguistic elements leaves aside various meanings that are paramount to grasp whole messages (Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013). Third, a more diverse set of skills is necessary to understand the nuances that emerge in interactions. Some models aiming to explain the ID of communication have agreed on the role that affective, cognitive and behavioral factors play (Spitzberg & Changnon, 2009). Among these models, Byram's (1997) is highlighted due to its connection with ELT and its definition of specific descriptors for its skills.

Intercultural Communicative Competence

Byram's Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) model focuses on the skills that allow learners to establish and maintain interactions with speakers of other languages/cultures. He presents three key areas: attitudes, knowledge and skills. Attitudes mean the affective elements that learners demonstrate in real-time situations (interest, curiosity and eagerness to discover other perspectives). Knowledge describes the factual information that learners require when interacting with people, documents or situations in diverse cultural contexts. Skills are divided in three categories: skills of interpreting/relating, discovery/interaction and critical cultural awareness. These categories are related to the abilities to understand and contextualize information, situations and products from diverse cultures (savoir comprendre); use previous skills, knowledge and attitudes to discover new perspectives (savoir faire); and take personal/ critical positions towards cultural manifestations (savoir s'engager).

ICC encourages intercultural speakers with the capacity to understand the multilayered relationships among cultures/languages without leaving aside their own culture (Byram, 1997; 2003).

Music in language learning and culture

Music has been explored as a catalyst for meaningful LL (López et al., 2021). Due to the conception of music as the universal language (Mora et al., 2011), its emotional meanings (Griffee, 1995), complex structure -similar to language- (Adorno, 2000; Patel, 2003; Fubini, 2004) and close cultural relationships (Murphey, 1992), the role of music in ELT has received attention (Xi, 2021). The potential of music in LL appears in certain areas: phonology (Bidelman et al., 2013; Hallam, 2010), motivation (Mishan, 2005) and cognitive factors (Murphey, 1992; Medina, 1993). The cultural dimension of music in ELT is recognized because it portraits other people's perspectives (Mora et al., 2011) and displays one's own culture (Murphey, 1992).

Here, music is considered as a cultural product and semiotic resource. Given the cultural nature, influences and meanings that are constructed around music (Cunin, 2003; Márquez & Valdés, 2006; Mosquera & Provansal, 2000; Xi, 2021), this research stresses the cultural value of music from a multimodal view in which sounds, rhythm and lyrics constitute diverse modes of communication of a semiotic ensemble (The New London Group, 1996). Music constitutes one of the cultural products of human communities, therefore, this cultural product/symbol is a source of semiotic meanings that are communicated through social action because some elements of cultures include products, perspectives, and practices. Since music encompasses all these elements in their lyrics, messages, ideas, and shared practices (dancing, singing), it is seen here as a cultural manifestation.

Design

Qualitative research was selected because of the detailed exploration of the participants' ideas, conceptions and voices under a naturalistic approach (Blanchet & Chardenet, 2011; Hernández-Sampieri et al., 2014). Action-research was adopted and conceived as "a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out" (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988, p. 1). Action-research is participant-focused, reflective, collaborative, transformative, and contextualized (McDonough & McDonough, 1997).

This experience centered on the students' reflection of the cultural connection between music and culture and the presence of culture in LL. The focus was placed on the students. This study was reflective, it invited learners to collaborate, to get a better view of their social realities, and to contribute alternatives for ILL, which reflects the key features of action research.

Data analysis

Thematic analysis was implemented because it facilitates identification, exploration and report of patterns in qualitative data through detailed description and organization which allow discovering different dimensions (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Braun and Clarke's (2006) steps were followed:

• Data reconnaissance

• Generation of preliminary codes

• Identification of general topics

• Topic revisions

• Definition of dominant topics

• Final report production

Data were organized in a spreadsheet where key findings were highlighted and classified. Validation was achieved through several cycles of revision and comparison. This process was developed with information from each instrument and triangulation allowed to compare data from each source and identify main categories and illustrative excerpts.

The students' voices were gathered in Spanish and here they are presented in English. A code is used to show the students' commentaries. Their names were changed by a letter (P=participant) and a number. The first letter represents the instrument: O=observations, S=survey, W=workshop, FG=focus group. Then, the number of question=Q or session=S, appears. For observations, the code only includes the letter O and the number of session=O-S3. For workshops, the number of session and participant are added=W3-P9.

Didactic proposal

This proposal was developed in six sessions, each focusing on a cultural topic related to an R&B song (Table 1). Three out of the five selected songs are from Beyoncé because of their social messages in the lyrics, the importance of this artist in pop culture and the appealing videos discussing sensitive topics/ social issues (obesity, self-esteem, gender violence, discrimination).

Table 1: Topics/songs discussed

Source: Author's own elaboration.

In the activities students sang, talked about the topics of the songs, worked on communicative elements of English and reflected about intercultural elements. Students composed a song based on their reflections and performed it in class. Lessons included four stages:

• Warm up: students listened to the song to work in class, vocabulary and social topics were introduced.

• Introduction: a song was explored with guiding questions about social issues and opinions.

• Practice: the students presented their views about the song and the social topics in workshops.

• Wrap up: final reflections were drawn.

R&B and culture

R&B's cultural nature. Students identified R&B as a manifestation of cultural elements. Some students said: "Its rhythm is very important in the United States" (S-Q9-P3), "It's a very important rhythm in English-speaking cultures" (S-Q9-P5), "[...] in some songs the culture is noticeable so many times, and in other songs not." (S-Q9-P19), "I liked that some songs talked about society, others about problems in other countries, sometimes about ancient times when people fell in love [...], then, I can say that those songs were very important, [and] interesting too" (FG-Q1-P7). These opinions show that students recognized in the lyrics some elements related to American culture. Learners noticed the relevance of R&B in some Anglophone countries, and some features of American people such as social behaviors, issues and love relationships.

Understanding the relationship between R&B and its cultural manifestations is part of Byram's (1997) skill of knowledge. This skill implies knowing about: "the processes of social interaction in one's interlocutor's country" (p. 51), which relates to social behaviors and activities such as the ones connected with music. Music, as a cultural element, is key to fathom social practices and its relationship with local cultures stresses the symbolic role that music plays in social cohesion and meaning making (Campbell et al., 2007; Murphey, 1992; Xi, 2021). In the data, this relationship is understood and the connections between music and culture were identified showing how learners conceived this link culture-music. Liddicoat and Scarino (2013) maintain that a need to comprehend the nature of culture is the recognition of cultural symbolic elements and the social processes behind them.

Music to discover other cultures. Recognizing the relationship R&B-culture allowed students to reflect about the use of songs to discover other cultures. Most students answered that music is a tool to explore Anglophone cultures:

Question 8. Do you consider that songs are a good strategy to know the Anglophone culture? Why?

"Yes, because they speak about stereotypes." (FG-Q8-P11)

"Yes, because the songs always have a lesson." (FG-Q8-P1)

"Yes, we can learn about other cultures." (FG-Q8-P12)

These answers show that some of the cultural elements highlighted were stereotypes, moral lessons and facts about other cultures. Examining these dimensions is relevant to identify different social groups and their cultural markers. Discussing stereotypes implies talking about the other and the self and the recognition of differences -behaviors such as stereotype threat (Shapiro & Neuberg, 2007), positive stereotype validation (Clark et al., 2017) or self-validation (Petty et al., 2002) illustrate this phenomenon-. Identifying and examining stereotypes may lead to think about values and notice potential ethnocentric perspectives/misunderstandings, which is part of Byram's (1997) skills of interpreting/relating.

Although no other commentary about stereotypes or their manifestations was found, the presence of this element in an answer may indicate that reflecting about other people paved the way to address the ethical/moral nature of this project, something that was stressed by another student: "What I liked most was the way each song taught us a lesson. You [author two] looked for a different way to teach English, it wasn't just writing on the board, reading in our notebooks, it was more dynamic" (FG-Q8-P5). Music was not only seen as a source for cultural learning, it was also conceived as a catalyst for meaningful reflection and life lessons. This element makes reference to the affective dimension of intercultural competence. Since the ID does not only thrive for developing communicative or cognitive skills, under this view, learning encompasses developing attitudes of acceptance, empathy and openness towards other people (Byram, 1997; Spitzberg & Changnon, 2009; Kramsch, 1998).

The following answers portray how some students identified the affordances of music to discover other cultures:

Question 9. What does music represent for you?

"A way to express culture." (FG-Q8-P5)

"Music represents the freedom we deserve. Music can change bad situations and it is the rhythm of life." (FG-Q8-P15)

"It is a way to express and know other people." (FG-Q8-P17)

In these commentaries, students recognize the role of music as a means to express cultural meanings, represent values and establish links with different people. Hence, the participants' experience in this study helped them to explore how music, from a pedagogic perspective, can build bridges between cultural views. P15's words remark on music's affective power in the way people see the world. These findings show the connection: music-culture and how this bond leads individuals to reflect about feelings, emotions and values such as freedom. These reflections tell that the potential to link the EFL classroom with other cultures can be achieved through the examination of music to facilitate respect, and understanding (García & Juan, 2015; Gillespie et al., 2014).

Culture in the EFL classroom

Students' conception of culture. This project offered students a path to think about the importance of culture in LL. One of the steps to acknowledge the role of music in the promotion of intercultural skills is reflecting about the understanding of culture. Students conceptualized culture as follows: "Culture is what represents people and each person can build their identity through different cultures because I can learn a little from all of them" (FG-Q1-P6). "[Culture] is what characterizes a specific group, its music, customs, dialects" (FG-Q1-P7). "[Culture is] what represents a place like joy, foods and folklore" (FG-Q1-P10). These samples show how students, after exploring some cultural manifestations in R&B, identified that culture is paramount to define people's identity and it manifests through several ways.

Learners acknowledged that culture is important in the identity of a community, individuals or places. In the songs written by the students, we observe the multiplicity of elements behind the conception of culture and people's cultural identity:

• What is Colombia?

• Country of love and happiness

• Factured [Featured] in sports such as skating, soccer, dishes like chontaduro and Sancocho (Students' song #1)

In the answers above, students highlight dimensions of Colombian culture such as perspectives (love and happiness), practices (sports) and products (foods). These components, besides showing different edges of Colombian cultural identity, manifest the students' idea of culture as a set of several interconnected and related dimensions. This relationship has a social dimension that stresses certain behaviors and meanings which determine people's reactions, practices and perspectives (Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013; McLaren, 2003; Ramírez-Lizcano & Cabrera-Tovar, 2020).

P6 mentions that everybody can learn from different cultures and recognizes the interconnectedness of cultures and how several cultures interact and forge people's identities. Admitting that learning from other cultures is possible paves the way to strengthen ideas of cooperation, understanding and openness towards other peoples and cultures, those attitudes are necessary ILL (Kramsch, 1998, Liddicoat, 2008). Seeing culture as an element that shapes social identity offers the opportunity to examine similar aspects such as practices, products, and perspectives (Morán, 2001). Recognizing the different dimensions of culture (see song excerpt) is another step to develop knowledge about other cultures and being able to interpret cultural manifestations (Byram, 1997; Byram et al., 2002). Hence, identifying culture beyond facts, traditions and products, provides learners a solid foundation to improve their understanding of cultural phenomena since culture encompasses more than just factual information, it encompasses all expressions of human groups and their views (Poyatos, 1992).

Similarly, the recognition that cultures are more than visible elements can be seen in the students' list of related elements: music, dishes, customs, folklore, dialects, values, sports, joy. Hence, learners saw culture's multidimensional nature and presence in everyday routines. Cultures possess a tangible dimension which coexists with abstract sets of components that are constructed, shaped and materialized, therefore, comprehending culture goes beyond knowing data about traditions, folklore or products and implies developing a nuanced understanding of diverse cultural manifestations (Geertz, 1973; Morán, 2001; Nieto, 2002). Part of this understanding is achieved when learners identify that cultures are dynamic, multilayered and socially-bound. In the excerpts, these features appear when students listed cultural manifestations, when they spoke about the social role of cultures, in the song excerpt and when P6 highlights the social connection between cultures and individuals. Although these definitions of culture cover different areas, still other elements such as deep and critical views about the world or the changing nature of cultures were not widely addressed. Nevertheless, understanding that culture is not a monolithic body of static knowledge is a departure point to fathom how cultures express and operate. Students understood that culture is not only a matter of facts, products and traditions; they comprehended the dynamic and close nature of culture as an entity that defines individuals' choices within a global context.

Culture and language learning. Data revealed how students recognized the importance of culture in EFL. In the survey, students were asked about this topic (Figure 1) and their answers showed that most of them (75%) saw culture as useful and important (46,9%) or very important (28,1%); opposed to those who think that culture is not important (12,5%), not very important (9,4%) or that despite not being very relevant it is mandatory (3,1%). These opinions mean that despite certain opposition to the ID in LL, this research enhanced the students' experience with different cultures through the use of music and showed the need of integrating other cultures in LL. Stressing the importance of the ID in ELT is a step ahead towards a deeper comprehension of the world, better integration with the sociocultural reality and development of critical skills (Fernández, 2019; Quintana-Arias & Bello-Serna, 2020; Wagner & Byram, 2017). Therefore, discovering that most students understand the relevance of culture in LL is necessary to develop intercultural skills and create ways for intercultural communication.

Figure 1: Students' opinions about the importance of culture in EFL

Source: Authors' own elaboration.

These numbers are supported by some of the students' remarks: "If we know other cultures, we can learn to interact with different people" (FG-Q2-P1), or:

Yes [knowing about other cultures in the English class is important] because we are used to learn about our culture, [and] family tradition, and our parents never try to teach us about the United States, Spain, and others. So, I think if we don't learn it at home, we can do it somewhere outside. (FG-Q2-P11)

These answers reveal that some students understood a key element of the relationship culture-LL and identified that successful interactions at intercultural level can be achieved with proper knowledge and skills. P11 remarked that despite being immersed in a context where information about one's own culture is abundant, exposure to other cultural views is scarce. P11 also highlights that although cultural learning is not available at home, it can be reached outside. These ideas and the data in Figure 1 show eagerness to discover other cultures, their national memory and practices; it also demonstrates openness and respect toward other cultures and attitudes of intercultural understanding (Byram, 1997; Liddicoat, 2008). These attitudes are necessary in the development of intercultural skills and competences, they are also a departure point to reach intercultural citizenship (Wagner & Byram, 2017).

Limitations

These results were achieved through the use of R&B in an English class. Nevertheless, students' reflections stayed at the level of attitudes and identification of some L2 cultural elements and its relevance for LL, which is a tiny part of ILL. Even though stereotypes were mentioned, detailed exploration was scarce. Some causes might be the lack of time in class (only eight weeks granted by the school), the omission of the ID in previous courses/levels, and author's two role as a trainee without total control of the lessons. These factors remark the limitations of studies aiming at developing ILL in which time, follow up methodologies and curricular attention are required to promote intercultural competence. These are some of the challenges that language teachers face in the postmodern landscape and through experiences like this one light is shed on potential alternatives to include cultures in LL. This experience contributed to further examination of the field and the design of pedagogical alternatives to promote ILL.