Exploring Figurative Language Usage in Contemporary Music: Pedagogical Implications for English Language Instruction Çağdaş Müzikte Söz Sanatlarının Kullanımı: İngilizce Dil Eğitimi için Pedagojik Çıkarımlar
Novitas-ROYAL, vol.18, no.2, pp.29-51, 2024 (Scopus, TRDizin)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 18 Issue: 2
- Publication Date: 2024
- Doi Number: 10.5281/zenodo.13860646
- Journal Name: Novitas-ROYAL
- Journal Indexes: Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
- Page Numbers: pp.29-51
- Keywords: Figures of speech, Language teaching, Music, Song
- Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
This research aimed to scrutinize and delineate the figures of speech manifesting in English hit songs. A selection of songs from Spotify’s Top 30 Hit Songs List was chosen as the study material. The study employed a qualitative content analysis approach to classify the type and calculate the frequency of the figures of speech within the corpus of English hit songs. The results of this study revealed 200 figurative speech examples in our small-scale corpus, which comprised 8352 words. This suggests a prevalence of figurative language use within English-language songs. While metaphors and hyperboles were the most frequently used figures of speech, apostrophes, and understatements were the least common. The results underscore the linguistic richness of hit songs, advocating their inclusion in English language teaching (ELT) classrooms, particularly for vocabulary instruction.