The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of musicalization on the improvement of English proficiency and affective domain of primary school students. Musicalization was implemented by using key expressions from the English textbook. On the basis of this theoretical study, communicative competence of students, attitudes towards English learning, and musical understanding & applicability on English classes were researched. Then the English curriculum of 5th grade was reorganized and procedures and models of instruction for musicalization were formulated and practiced. For this study, the experiment was conducted in three regular 5th grade English classes for 8 months. English musicalization was designed to 25 periods consisting of 'understanding musicar', 'organizing script', 'casting', 'setting up music and choreography', 'acting exercise', 'designing costumes and props', 'rehearsal', and 'performing presentation and assessment'.
For this study, a pre-test and a post-test on academic achievement about four skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing were implemented. A pre-survey and a post-survey on an affective domain were conducted and the students' activity logs and the teacher's observation logs for a qualitative research were drawn up. The results of the experiment were analyzed by an independent sample T-test. The findings of this study are as follows:
First, the musicalization activities using key expressions increased students' interest, self-confidence, and participation towards English learning. This shows that the musicalization activities have a positive influence on students' affective domain towards English learning.
Second, four linguistic skills were significantly enhanced from the pre-test to the post-test. Students' linguistic abilities of listening, speaking, reading, and writing were evaluated statistically regarding a meaningful improvement. Students' speaking abilities in accuracy and fluency were also significantly improved.
Finally, upon self-evaluation and essays, students reported positively on their growth or experience through English musicalization activities, and their participation was reviewed with the impressive and positive attitude on the teacher's observation. That is, students' interest and participation positively increased.
In conclusion, English musicalization activities have contributed to the improvement of elementary school students' English proficiency and have positively influenced students' affective domain. Therefore, musicalization activities are an effective way to apply the integrated curriculum of primary English education.
The results of this study suggest that the incorporation of musicalization into elementary students' English study should be a great benefit to developing their English skills. Thus, the method of musicalization should be included into teacher training programs for new teachers and should be encouraged as well for experienced teachers.