Music Integration to Reduce Experiences of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

Music and language are humanity's most powerful auditory symbol systems. They are connected neurologically early in life, develop similarly, and are linked academically. With communal function, similar learning processes, and neurological proximity, could the intersection of music and language each facilitate the other? This chapter explores the benefits of music integration in language learning, particularly to improve classroom affect and reduce students' experiences of foreign language anxiety (FLA). Exploring the benefits of integrative curriculum, music in the classroom, and language learning theory and methodologies, this work offers a theoretical foundation for further research. By illuminating the connection between music integration and positive classroom affect, further opportunities to develop and implement more effective linguistic classroom practices can improving education's impact in early childhood education.