Recent research shows that musical training improves children’s development of oral and aural skills. This study focuses on developing and testing a methodological framework (Music as a Medium of instruction, MMI) in English language teaching (ELT) by contrasting MMI and gamification methodologies with the participation of 22 Spanish children all born in 2008. The differences in progression between participants with and without previous instrumental training are also discussed. Generalized linear model procedures were used for each outcome variable (listening comprehension and oral production skills) to investigate the effect of independent variables (MMI vs. gamification; students with music training vs. learners without music training). Results revealed that students of the MMI group had significantly higher scores than the gamification group in oral production. Significant improvement was traced in listening comprehension in the MMI group. This study provides promising initial evidence that the MMI approach can be at least as beneficial as gamification-based approaches for young learners in the ELT classroom. However, results need to be established on firmer grounds, for instance by using fully randomized experimental designs and by conducting mediation analyses.

最近的研究表明，音乐训练可以提高儿童口语和听觉技能的发展。本研究的重点是开发和测试英语教学 (ELT) 中的方法论框架（音乐作为教学媒介，MMI），通过对比 MMI 和游戏化方法与 22 名出生于 2008 年的西班牙儿童的参与。还讨论了接受过和未接受过乐器培训的参与者。对每个结果变量（听力理解和口语表达技能）使用广义线性模型程序来研究自变量（MMI 与游戏化；接受音乐培训的学生与未接受音乐培训的学习者）的影响。结果显示，MMI组的学生在口语表达上的得分明显高于游戏化组。MMI 组的听力理解有显着改善。这项研究提供了有希望的初步证据，证明 MMI 方法对于 ELT 课堂中的年轻学习者来说至少与基于游戏化的方法一样有益。然而，结果需要建立在更坚实的基础上，例如通过使用完全随机的实验设计和进行中介分析。