Novel opportunities for intercultural music education: Integrating singing and a language-aware approach in Learn-Finnish-by-Singing choirs

The first phase of the analysis: Emerging hybrid musical practice

In the first phase of the analysis, I use my experience of over two decades conducting different kinds of choirs, from children’s to senior choirs, and working as a music teacher for immigrants in multiple contexts ranging from integration training to once-a-month open LFBS workshops for second language teachers and classes of all ages and language levels. This also includes conducting LFBS choirs and collaborating with second language teachers. In addition, diverse contemporary initiatives from international workshops, such as Choir improvisation, “Singen ohne Noten” (Singing without sheet music), and Global Choir Leadership, have influenced the planning. Earlier research on phonetics and Finnish as a second language have contributed to the linguistic orientation focusing on pronunciation and phonetic aspects (Aho et al., 2016; Virkkunen & Toivola, 2020); the courage to use the language (Mustonen, 2015; Tammelin-Laine, 2014); and spoken language (e.g., Lehtonen, 2015; Ruuska, 2020) through embodied approaches (e.g., Eilola, 2020; Lilja et al., 2020). Furthermore, studies in linguistics that discuss the benefits of visual facilitation for second language learning (e.g., Gaboury & Lessard, 2020; Smotrova, 2017) and the contributions of active language use in language ownership (Lehtonen, 2015; Ruuska, 2020) have served as references for the language approach.

Altogether, these experiences and dialogues, crossing disciplinary boundaries and working with different groups of participants and social networks, have resulted in a set of underlying pedagogical principles that have supported the construction of the hybrid musical practice. I have called this set a metaplan, which has provided a mediating tool (an artifact) for crossing the boundaries. Appropriating the definition of boundary object as indicating how tools and signs can “fulfill a specific function in bridging intersecting practices” (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011, p. 134), the metaplan can be considered as a boundary object for developing LFBS choir activity, while also being constantly further developed in the processes of choir activity. Boundary objects (Star & Griesemer, 1989) such as diverse technologies, drawings and models (Kimble et al., 2010), or teaching methods (Loughland & Nguyen, 2018) have the potential to overcome discontinuities, thus enabling boundary crossing as a process of establishing continuity of meaning making in a situation of multivoicedness and intersecting practices (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011).

Within the framework of a boundary object, I divide the metaplan into six fields of action in which the diverse ways of musical and linguistic actions become meaningfully integrated. These actions are voiced, embodied, and material in nature, producing a dynamic and flexible boundary object (Star, 2010) that can be used as a tool for facing complexity and unfamiliarity in interdisciplinary domains and work, and overcoming the difficulties of dealing with hybrid situations. Here, I provide a condensed view of these fields of action (see a more detailed table in Appendix 1):

(1) Warm-ups aim at the holistic opening of the voice, body, and mind for singing and language use in creative ways, by playing with musical sounds and language through holistic expression while focusing on the challenging sounds of the Finnish language. (2) Collaborative improvisations aspire to an interactive and “mistake-is-a-gift” approach to music and language production, with the emphasis on various ways and modes of communication. (3) Singing songs in different genres and themes, which forms the core field wherein all of the other action fields are connected, aims at encouraging the active, embodied, and multisensory use of language through singing in collaboration with others in a safe and supportive environment, while simultaneously focusing on the multiple intertwinings of music and language such as articulation, hearing, rhythm, and the cultural content embedded in the songs. (4) Creating new lyrics strives to support language production in both oral and written forms by involving co-creation and re-creation of the song lyrics while encouraging intercultural dialogue and the use of spoken utterances. (5) Immersing in the stumbling blocks of Finnish with “Funny Finnish language songs” aims at memorizing and recalling the most challenging aspects of the Finnish language, such as its phonetic features and difficult grammatical rules, as well as everyday proverbs in Finnish, with the help of gripping melodies and lyrics that follow the rhythm of the spoken language and emphasize a relaxed and humorous approach to both language learning and singing. (6) Familiarizing with songs brought by the choir participants and translated into Finnish aims to open up a dialogue between the native languages of the choir participants and Finnish, as well as between the musical and linguistic features of the songs from which the translations arise.

The underlying principle is that all six interwoven fields of action are integrated in each choir rehearsal. For example, Creating new lyrics (4) can be embedded in Singing songs in different genres (3), in Collaborative improvisations (2), and in Familiarizing with songs brought by the choir participants (6). Collaborative improvisations (2) can also be integrated with Warm-ups (1), serving as a facilitation when singing songs (3, 5, and 6) or as a break between the different fields. Moreover, LFBS choir practice is constantly developed based on the arising needs, experiences, and suggestions of the participants.

The second phase of analysis: The dual meaning object of LFBS choir activity as an outcome of interacting activity systems

Figure 2 illustrates how two institutionally established activity systems (ordinary choir activity and language learning, second language class activity) can be seen to form the broader social frame of LFBS activity and generate a dual meaning object for this choir activity.

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Figure 2.

The Dual Meaning Object of Learn-Finnish-by-Singing (LFBS) Activity (see Engeström, 2001, p. 136).

The dual meaning object is not merely the sum of two activity systems (see also Westerlund et al., 2019) but turns the focus toward those processes which allow us to recognize the possibilities and contradictions that are potentially marked by new forms of activity and ways to participate in its practices. To take an extreme example, LFBS activity that draws on diversity and the “mistake-is-a-gift” approach differs from choir activity that strives for homogeneity and avoids mistakes. Likewise, constant negotiation and reflecting on choir participants’ here-and-now situational experiences forms a bedrock for constant constructing and re-constructing of LFBS activity, rather than upholding the conventional role of the choir conductor as an authority for predefined choices of repertoire and rehearsal practice. Importantly, LFBS activity involves active and embodied approaches where attention is given to spoken language instead of written language and a sedentary approach (Teräs, 2012), both more typical of teaching activity in a second language class.

The third phase of analysis: LFBS choir practice as an activity system

The activity of this study represents a new joint activity, which is anchored in the prevailing social structures of music and language education. The aim of the third phase of the analysis is to organize the elements of the activity (see Figure 3) in relation to each other from the perspective of my triple role. As a part of a social network with its interrelationships, my triple role performs as the subject of the LFBS activity system. The object of the activity is to produce a novel social context for adult immigrants to allow active second language use in a natural setting. The term “natural” highlights the authentic situation of language use (Lehtonen, 2015, p. 297) through singing. The mediating artifacts include all musical and linguistic repertoire utilized during the rehearsals, the Powerpoint presentations with pictures and lyrics of the songs projected on the wall during the rehearsals, the accompanying musical instruments, and the technical devices such as a computer, bluetooth speaker, and smart board system that facilitate the activity. In addition, the metaplan functions as an intermediate tool for restructuring not only the choir practice but also its epistemological basis, by positioning LFBS choir practice within thinking that happens “in the middle of things, in a state of in-between-ness” (Jackson & Mazzei, 2017, p. 721). In Engeström’s (1999) terms, the outcome of an activity system consists of “societally important new objectified meanings and relatively lasting patterns of interaction” (p. 31). In the LFBS choir, the outcome extends to enhancing second language learning. The element of community refers to the choir itself as a social entity, including the choir participants, the assisting second language teacher, accompanists, as well as other affiliates participating in LFBS activity occasionally through concert performances and other projects, visiting student-teachers, and the cooperative staff of the public organizations. The rules cover aspects such as translanguaging, which acknowledges the versatile use of linguistic, embodied, multimodal, and spatial resources for communication; diversity as a guiding principle for LFBS choirs, which are characterized by linguistic, cultural, and age-related multiplicity; and open access (i.e., no requirement of earlier experiences in music or Finnish). The division of labor in the system includes the tasks of the choir conductor (conducting, music and language teaching, researching); language teaching by the Finnish as a second language teacher; the collaborative work of the choir conductor and language teachers; the constant negotiation with choir participants; occasional accompaniment; and the work of the administration, such as in advertising, registration, and organizing concerts.

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Figure 3.

Generating Learn-Finnish-by-Singing (LFBS) Choir Practice as an Activity System (see Engeström, 1999, p. 31).

The activity system highlights that “the internal tensions and contradictions of such a system are the force of change and development” (Engeström & Miettinen, 1999, p. 9). In LFBS activity, these tensions do not refer to problems or conflicts but to “historically accumulating structural tensions” (Engeström, 2001, p. 137); they denote the challenges that LFBS activity faces as a new orientation when intersecting with and transforming accustomed practices, pedagogical approaches, and institutional structures. These tensions are illustrated with bolded arrows in Figure 3. The first relationship between the subject and the object involves the need for the choir conductor to expand their professional thinking and acting toward new insights and novel perspectives when integrating the language orientation meaningfully into musical activities. The second relationship between mediating artifacts and the object refers to the need to engender a new practice that is based on the entanglements of music and language learning and use, and on the constant negotiation with choir participants’ needs and wishes. The third relationship between the division of labor and the object signifies the challenges related to transforming accustomed and different habits of teaching and learning music and language into an integrated LFBS choir practice. This relationship also manifests silos between disciplines (music and language education) at the institutional level, where the required interdisciplinary collaboration lacks structures and resources.

Equal and reciprocal focus on music and language expression: From playing with challenging sounds to pronouncing song lyrics

LFBS choir practice, as a form of collaborative musical practice, manifests a particular form of social language use where simultaneous hearing, listening, and sensitizing oneself to music, to language, and to others—here called “sensitised hearing”—is constantly fostered. Against this specific framework, the first reflection, Equal and reciprocal focus on music and language expression, highlights articulation as an equal aspect with music in singing. This emphasis on articulation, which is usually subordinated to music in an ordinary choir, is comparable to phonetic awareness (e.g., Bolduc, 2009; Gaboury & Lessard, 2020) and pronunciation in LFBS choirs. Following the notion that practising pronunciation “should start with spoken language, not the written form” (Virkkunen & Toivola, 2020, p. 38), the phonetical orientation in LFBS choirs begins with “playing with spoken sounds.” In the Warm-ups, even the smallest units of language, such as single phonemes and challenging phoneme combinations like vowels, diphthongs (two different vowels in one syllable), and double consonants (typical in the Finnish language), are embedded in musical activity such as vocalization and breathing exercises. For instance, in “The most difficult word of the week” warm-up, choir participants suggest challenging words they have encountered. Starting with the difficult sounds of the word using the Call-and-Response approach, then rhythmically “playing” with them and exaggerating mouth and lip movements, the exercise stretches toward longer units until the whole word is sung or rapped with a simple repeating ostinato (a short repeating musical idea). Examples of such typically difficult words are: äiti (mother) [æiti], löyly (heat in a sauna) [løyly], or hyvää yötä (good night) [hyvæ: yøtæ].

The phonetical orientation is extended when focusing on the articulation of song lyrics. This involves approaching pronunciation in longer phonetic structures such as sentences, phrases, and verses that are embedded in the melody and phrasing of the music. In addition, attention to pronunciation while singing allows LFBS choir participants to implement word stress (always on the first syllabus in Finnish), the perception of long words, and words with endings that are typical to Finnish, without prepositions (Aho et al., 2016). Along with “sensitized hearing,” the articulation is facilitated in diverse ways, for example, with the help of rhythmics, embodiment, and emotional expression.

Actively embodied and multisensory approaches: Communication in holistic ways

In LFBS choirs, embodied actions such as mimicry, gestures, and movements, as well as the use of multiple senses, are constantly integrated into the communication and musical and linguistic activity. Hence, actively embodied and multisensory approaches manifest the second reflection, embracing embodied learning “as a systemic and holistic process that takes place within the entire human being and between human beings, and in connection with the social and physical reality” (Anttila, 2018, p. 3). The human body is thus understood as a holistic instrument for music and language production. For instance, musical expression and the meaning of lyrics are facilitated and coupled with embodied expressions. Likewise, rhythmic challenges in music and language production are constantly reciprocally facilitated through bodily engagement such as body percussion and putting “groove in the body” to emphasize the rhythm and intonation of spoken words being linked with syncopated rhythm in music, as is typical, for instance, in Finnish pop songs.

Embodied orientation also engages the active use of learning space. For example, “Follow-and-Interrupt” collaborative improvisation draws on moving freely around the space and communicating with bodily, vocal and spatial initiatives made by someone and then followed by the others. That is, the use of diverse modes and ways of communication—or holistic communication—is encouraged, highlighting that the point is “not merely that language serves communicative purposes but rather that language is part of a much broader set of semiotic possibilities” (Pennycook, 2016, p. 455).

The multisensory approach manifests the active use of various senses throughout LFBS choir practice. For instance, all music is learned without notation, emphasizing the active use of Call-and-Response and repetition. Visual facilitation is supported by projecting pictures and lyrics of the songs on the wall while singing, enabling the combination of pictures and written words with audible utterance (e.g., Gaboury & Lessard, 2020). Aligning with Toohey’s (2019) description, where language “may be understood as a song, but deaf communication research reminds us that it is also more or less dance” (p. 944), the visual facilitation also manifests showing-in-front approaches that allow choir participants to see and imitate the production of music and language through embodied actions made by the choir conductor and the second language teacher. Imitation denotes creative and interactive negotiation instead of mere copying. Sense of touch refers to the intentional sensing and feeling of how music and language, such as different pitches and vowel sounds, resonate in the body. Bodily sensing is also connected to how emotional states are emphasized as a natural part of musical and embodied expression throughout LFBS choir activity.

Creative and playful orientation: With humor, enjoyment, and tolerance of mistakes

The third reflection encompasses the intertwining of music and language through creative and playful orientation as a general mindset in LFBS choir activity. It stems from the “mistake-is-a-gift” perspective. A creative and playful orientation, where humor and enjoyment are related to music and language production, acknowledges learning as a process where “actions do not need to be intentional in order to evoke learning processes” (Van Oers, 2009, p. 6; see also Reber, 1993). For instance, in Funny language songs, traditionally “serious” language content is turned “upside down” with gripping melodies that follow the humorous lyrics in various genres, indicating that language learning through singing can be accomplished in alternative (holistic) ways, in contrast to the conventional “cognitivist view” (Atkinson, 2010). These language songs are made in interprofessional collaboration with the choir conductor (music) and the second language teacher (lyrics) and act as mediating tools for memorizing and recalling essential challenges such as the grammatical rules and phonetic peculiarities of Finnish. Each song conveys a specific character of music and language.

For the most part, the creative and mistake-tolerant mindset is emphasized by encouraging choir participants to create and recreate new lyrics to familiar melodies and collaborative improvisations, to support language production, a feeling of language ownership (Lehtonen, 2015; Ruuska, 2020), and the expression of one’s own thoughts. In this case, the melodic and rhythmic structure of a song generates a motivating base for the active language use. The lyrics are created in small groups and written down so that they can also be seen in visual forms. Individual spoken utterances are created in whole verses, or by just replacing some words. New lyrics are generated for all kinds of songs, but for the most part for folk tunes where the lyrics include difficult dialects and old-fashioned Finnish that are simultaneously translated to a more usable form.

Intercultural dialogue: Reflecting cultural contents

The Intercultural dialogue that emerges in various ways and situations during the choir rehearsals generates the fourth reflection, addressing both musical and linguistic aspects. That is, cultural content and meanings associated with the musical and linguistic repertoire are constantly discussed and co-reflected based on the choir participants’ linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds and previous and current experiences in living and learning (second language Finnish) in Finland. The creation and re-creation of song lyrics highlights the expression of one’s own thoughts. Singing the songs that were brought and then translated into Finnish by choir participants themselves opens up a dialogue between their native languages and Finnish, diverse music cultures, and the ways in which different languages influence the musical features in songs. In this sense, the activities forge what Marsh (2012) describes as “new connections within the host culture while maintaining links with the home culture” (p. 108). Importantly, critical reflection reveals cultural assumptions in Finnish songs that, through discussions and co-constructions, can enhance cultural understanding (e.g., Ilari et al., 2013).

A polyphony of repetitions: From strange to normal

A natural way to become immersed in a piece of music, like a song, is through repetition. In LFBS choirs, the importance of musical repetition is emphasized by approaching the music without notation. However, musical repetition has multiple other meanings aside from merely facilitating the memorization of a song. Immersing individuals in a song in LFBS choirs manifests how both music and second language are mutually transformed from strange to normal. A polyphony of repetitions (the fifth reflection) highlights this process, which reciprocally supports both musical and linguistic expression and the choir participants’ different needs and wishes.

While the repetition of songs helps with becoming familiar with challenges in music from multiple perspectives related to musical elements, it also mutually facilitates familiarity with difficult sounds and other aspects of pronunciation, providing mnemonic material for new vocabulary, “ready-made” sentences (e.g., Gaboury & Lessard, 2020; McCormack & Klopper, 2015), and grammar rules (Busse et al., 2021). Repetition also demonstrates the joy of singing songs already learned, as seen in the request raised by choir participants to repeat “old” songs and to finish every rehearsal with a “favourite” song. That is, repetition carried out from diverse perspectives nurtures not only aspects of learning but also well-being and communality. At the same time, it also allows choir members to become familiar with more challenging musical material in different musical genres, not only focusing on “songs with very simple melodies, as lyrics paired with complex or unfamiliar melodies are less likely to be remembered” (Busse et al., 2021, p. 9; see also Tamminen et al., 2017), as is often suggested in research that focuses on short-term interventions in language classrooms. The music educational environment enables the use of a wide range of songs, from children’s songs to canons, circle songs, folk tunes, pop songs, rap, and songs brought or wished for by the choir participants, as well as language songs made by the choir conductor and second language teacher. Songs are also improvised and sometimes collaboratively composed. Importantly, the choices of repertoire are constantly discussed and reflected upon in relation to choir participants’ experiences and wishes. Accordingly, musical (e.g., rhythmic and melodic) and linguistic (e.g., articulative) challenges are reciprocally facilitated to support each other and to manifest the close intertwining of music and language in songs. Linguistically and ethically appropriate songs are also arranged to best reflect the situated and local circumstances, so that they can be sung in unison or with up to four voices (female and male), but always with accompanying lyrics and pictures rather than sheet music.

Heteroglossia (Bakhtin, 1981) through songs: In different genres and sublanguages

By singing Finnish songs in different genres, different sublanguages such as the spoken language in pop songs, dialects and old Finnish in traditional music, or the plain language in children’s songs can be focused upon. The sixth reflection, Heteroglossia (Bakhtin, 1981), manifests the intertwining of musical genres and sublanguages in the Finnish songs. Heteroglossia involves the stratification of language into sublanguages or “social languages” (Bakhtin, 1981, p. 356), in contrast to “unitary language as an abstract entity often presupposed in linguistics” (Moro, 1999, p. 170). Unitary language refers to the written Finnish language being focused on in second language classes. However, it is not spoken as such (e.g., Lehtonen, 2015), so the emphasis in LFBS choirs is on the use of spoken language. Furthermore, singing songs in different genres enables one to encounter language more broadly. This allows familiarization with the specific features of sublanguages, their relationships and differences (such as those between spoken and written language), as well as their correspondent use in music. For instance, the lyrics of traditional music often include sounds, syllables, and particle-like words without meaning, serving as approachable ways to focus on phonemic peculiarities of dialects in relation to the specific rhythmic and melodic characteristics of a folk tune.