Exploring Students’ Understanding of Pronouns and Determiners in Mandarin Using Popular Chinese Songs

Exploring Students' Understanding of Pronouns and Determiners in Mandarin Using Popular Chinese Songs [By:] [Presented To:] [Name of Institution:] [Date] Beginner students in foreign languages often experience difficulties understanding and distinguishing different but key elements of the language. For instance, students trying to learn Mandarin will often struggle with pronouns and determiners in Mandarin. Numerous studies have shown that music is an effective and inspirational tool in teaching languages. Factually, when singing, accents are less pronounced because the focus is on sounds and tones. Similarly, according to (Andrews et al. 2002), there is better assimilation of syntax and enrichment of vocabulary through music. Additionally, in trying to memorize the lyrics of a song, it becomes considerably easier to retain words in the language one is trying to learn. Therefore, this project explores whether listening to Chinese songs can be helpful to students for the understanding of pronouns and determiners in learning Mandarin and to what extent it promotes knowledge of the grammar rules in Mandarin. The more traditional approach in learning a new language has been recordings in either mp3 or mp4 with characters interacting in the said foreign language. Often, students are encouraged to try and recreate those conversations while listening. From my observation in practice, students can connect with real context and authentic material in language through music. Music offers many advantages for learning languages. Scientists have shown that listening to a song and humming along can help with language learning. Particularly, the content of the music sticks with a student through the melody, and they can remember a surprising amount of detail to go with the tune (Moloney et al., 2018). It is of more help if the song has some visuals to accompany it because it makes the content relatable to the song, and thus the ability to associate the object to words is stronger. It, therefore, goes without saying that studying Mandarin through the use of music can be quite an effective tool. It helps develop and learn new vocabulary, enhancing the chances of isolating phrases used in different contexts (Moloney et al., 2018). Learning Mandarin via music is an above-average way to build up a repertoire with relative grammatical accuracy and proper order of phrases. There is a general misconception that understanding a language requires one to know the language. This view is greatly challenged by the work of (Pettit 2002) by showing how understanding can be attained without knowledge. The results reference an example of asking for the meaning of a German word even without prior knowledge of the language and moving forward. One is better laced at recognizing the word even in different contexts. The cognitivist view of language does offer an advantage of understanding when equipped with prior knowledge, but it is generally unnecessary. That is a reprieve for students trying to learn a foreign language because they do not have to know the language to understand it. Often students will shun learning a new language for fear of being bad at it because it is not their first language. Understanding is superior to knowledge because in the learning process, as one begins to understand the language, they begin to learn from words, phrases, and even complex sentences. There are various components of any language, and Mandarin is no different. There are phonological, morphological, grammatic, and semantic aspects to all languages. This makes learning and understanding a language a little complex because all relevant dimensions have to be utilized. To understand words, phrases, or sentences, one must learn the contextual applications of the same for it to be constituted as knowledge of the language (Longworth, 2008). Understanding the model of conception and perception is key in learning a new language because it distinguishes the short- and long-term retention of its basics. This, in many ways, simplifies how students interact with the language. It is not just about learning words and phrases; it becomes about forming sentences and subject-object arrangement. Additionally, tenses, conjugation, and other complexities in a sentence play a key part in this learning. One cannot learn a language without learning these parameters. With learning them, one begins to understand why certain words or phrases take certain forms, thus creating a superior language understanding. In my opinion, understanding is superior to knowledge because one can discern the practical application of words, phrases, or even sentences depending on context. Numerous people know a language but do not understand why the language follows certain guidelines in its application. While learning can come from a place of completely not knowing, it quickly morphs into understanding and thus grows into knowledge. By accepting this general curve, one can easily go through learning stages and retaining a new language fairly quickly. It takes learning a word like 'home' first, pronouncing it, and being aware of it first before you can understand what it means. Once that is comfortably settled in mind, learning its meaning follows. Subsequently, an understanding of the word is created. With this comes the knowledge of its use in different contexts and other words (Mestre-Mestre, 2016). With time one can claim full understanding of the word because they can conceptualize and apply the word adequately in the language learned. Understanding a language is a natural process that consists of possession of knowledge-to understand a word which then translates into knowing its meaning. It is, therefore, quite plausible to suppose that to understand a bit of a language, one must have some knowledge of the meaning of some words to begin forming a basic grasp of the language. In this stage, students begin to realize a pattern. The theoretical threads hold the integrity of a language together. Because the brain can identify a pattern and latch on to the language rules, it creates a strong foundation for the language to be learned. Because to understand a language, one requires to possess at least a basic knowledge of words, phrases, and meanings. It strongly suggests that people who speak a language are at a vantage point and understand it better. This paper seeks to argue that, while this advantage exists, it is not always superior. Prepositional knowledge is not always necessary because one can understand the rules and theories about a language without even learning the actual words. That means that with proper investment in time and energy, a student can endeavor to learn the construct of a language and later be at a vantage point of learning the words, phrases, and meanings of the words knowing how they interact with each other. Knowing a language may fail the students when they are unable to recall words and phrases memorized. However, understanding the language seldom fails and can see the student remember a lot even under pressure (Pettit, 2002). This further proves that knowledge is entirely unnecessary in understanding a language and that students should not lack belief in themselves or be discouraged in their quest to learn a new language. In fact, with understanding, they can easily breach the gap and attain knowledge standards as a native of the foreign language and sometimes even surpass them. Research is a critical aspect of acquiring knowledge by gathering data, facts, relevant investigation, and experience. In researching the validity and relevance of learning a language via songs, students should be aware of the related aspects. To understand, one needs to make decisions based on collected data collected. In this case, listening to music with the pronouns and playing off each other takes root. Repeated listening of the music forms a pattern that the brain can latch on and the collection of data begins For this reason, an understanding of pronouns can help a great deal in translating meaning from facts and using them appropriately, facilitate translating meaning from facts and applying it appropriately. People who a driven to understand are in better positions to derive meaning from the acquired information. Moreover, according to (Mestre-Mestre, 2016) understanding and learning are two critical aspects that are interrelated despite the variation in meaning. Because of this, understanding involves the process of taking any new information and putting it in a clear context, and it allows students to learn new languages faster via music because solid contexts exist. On the other hand, learning usually involves the act of memorizing a set of facts. When students attend school...