Jazz Chants to Motivate Language Learning among Sarawakian Primary Pupils Towards Positive School Climate: An Inquiry on Teachers’ Perspectives

Since music and language are deeply related where musical training is able to stimulate the same part of the brain that is also associated with understanding language, using Jazz Chants in English language learning possess a remarkable potential at maximizing language learning, especially at creating fun and significant lessons. Nonetheless, its potential remains under-researched, especially on the implementation of Jazz Chants in Malaysian language classrooms towards creating a safe learning climate. Until language learning are given more alternatives, English language classrooms are viewed as flat, thus situating the purpose of this paper. Therefore, this research explored the possibility of using Jazz Chants to investigate teachers’ perceptions on employing Jazz Chants in Malaysian English learning classrooms. To do so, five experienced teachers from Sarawak were selected for a semi-structured interview. The interview questions were validated by experts before the interviews were carried out. A thematic analysis was employed to analyse the interview data in three predetermined themes which are ‘benefits’, ‘challenges’ and ‘suggestions’. In cr eating fun and meaningful learning that may harness towards (re)creating a positive school climate, as aspired by the MoE, this research provides a narrative on teachers’ perspectives within the three discussed themes.


Introduction
As Malaysia moves towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 Quality Education, its Ministry of Education (MoE) is committed at creating inclusive learning, especially in the English language education where marginalized learners (i.e. low-income students, students with disabilities) are now given more attention through the national initiatives, funding and policies efforts in creating positive school learning climate. The 2022 Budget allocated a total of RM450 million for education sector, especially at improving its physical setting (New Straits Times, 2021). Yet, the absence of motivation in learning a second language within the Malaysia context might dampens such learning journey since motivation serves as a major role to drive pupils to learn the English language. This is because attitudes and motivation among the rural pupils are the key aspects that contributed to low proficiency in the English language in schools (Thang et al., 2011). As English is only practiced during lessons, pupils tend to disregard its importance within the practical aspect. Living in the rural area, these young learners are not presented with the opportunity of using the language in their immediate community, thus making it difficult to keep a positive outlook of learning the language (Zulkefly & Razali, 2018). Motivation can act as a catalyst in shifting pupils' perspective of learning English into a fun and meaningful experience. Non-meaningful and daunting English learning experiences can deeply affect them, to a point of psychologically impaired. As acquiring a new language expects the pupils to be mindful at avoiding misconceptions in the interpretations of their ideas onto the written and oral products, this demanding skill can create writing and speaking anxiety within them. Tan (2006) argued that having poor proficiency in English can manifest anxiety within the pupils thus obstructing effective communication. They will develop wariness as they are afraid of making mistakes in the process of acquiring the language, hence affecting their ability to express well in writing and speaking. Pupils experiencing discouraging English learning experiences can result in their becoming lesser motivated which ultimately diminishes their limited interest for the language.
Being proficient in English is essential in order to embark in today's society since English is considered as a lingua franca. Music is deeply rooted in human nature as it serves as a central and basic role. In light of this, Bokiev et. al (2018) suggested employing music as a creative approach to promote English literacy. Romaniuk (2018) implied that through implementation of music in language learning (e.g. incorporating songs), English classes have been deemed to be more efficient and productive where it is observed that pupils' vocabulary mastery are more enriched, besides having improved their pronunciation and English grammar. Moreover, pupils can enhance their memory retention through music (George & Coch, 2011). Employing musical activities such as using songs, chanting and poems requires the pupils to memorise the lyrics, rhythms, pitch and intonation throughout the course of using songs, chants or poems in the class. Through musical activities as well, pupils are able to connect through social-emotional learning (SEL) that give them the opportunities to gain skills such as self-awareness, social awareness and responsible decision making that can be applied beyond the classroom (Nevra, 2015). Children learn best through fun and meaningful activities thus substantiating the importance to incorporate various activities in language learning so to keep them excited to learn. Therefore, it was highlighted in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in education that children's domains of development should be heightened through various creative approaches by employing diverse resources (Buyong & Othman, 2018). One of the ways to be in line with the aims of the National Education Development Plan (2013) to empower English as the nation's second language where pupils are engaged through rhythmic techniques as it has proven to improve children's language mastery (Bahri & Yunus, 2021). Rhythmic techniques encompass activities based on rhythms, sounds, melodies and movements whether with or without music. Those activities are, namely, singing, percussion rhythmic speech or jazz chants activities (Jones, 2018). This would require teachers to come up with creative, fun and meaningful English lessons where they should experiment with various teaching methods and identify the ones favoured by the pupils. Through the process of understanding the pupils' needs, teachers will be able to easily create interesting English lessons in order to captivate their concentration, achieve their expectations as well as motivation and encourage them to learn (Singh & Hashim, 2020). Jazz Chant is a rhythmic presentation of natural language that comprises simple and easy chants. Teachers and young learners can perform this activity without the need of having musical knowledge. It has been employed in native and second language countries where English is taught to young learners and have been deemed effective (Lumintu, 2015). In order to identify the possibilities underlying Jazz Chants as a teaching approach in cultivating motivation among Sarawakian rural primary pupils and in the teaching and learning of English where this paper specifically explored teachers' perspectives on using Jazz Chants to cultivate Sarawakian primary pupils' motivation in language learning.

Literature Review Second Language Acquisition
Poor proficiency in English language is most prominent in the pupils of rural schools in Malaysia (Zulkefly & Razali, 2019). This is quite an astonishing fact when Malaysian pupils in public rural and urban schools undergo the same curricula in schools. The current scenario does not seem to rectify various efforts that have been executed in upholding the English proficiency in the nation over the years. In 2017, an achievement gap between urban and rural schools in the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) by the end of Year 6 was still definite as it held a 0.25 national average grade difference (MoE, 2017). Among the subjects, English has proven to be a challenging subject among pupils, especially in rural schools because of its writing component. Fatt (2007) mentioned that the limited time allocated for English language learning prior to the launch of the New Standard Curriculum is argued as a factor contributing to poor English proficiency among Malaysian pupils. With the growing awareness of the changing world, there are some clear shifts in the education system in Malaysia. Education now focuses on pupil-centred learning by implementing 21st century learning strategies that integrate elements of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and values and ethical applications (MoE, 2013). In implementing the 21st century learning skills, the curriculum, pedagogical methods and assessments are fundamentally intertwined to generate competent, knowledgeable and charismatic pupils at the end of their schooling experience. Employing musical activities in English language class has managed to generate effective results. Abidin et al (2011) emphasized the significant role of songs in language learning. Utilising songs in the language classrooms can motivate passive pupils to become active listeners and participants thus improving their lack of motivation to learn English. This is echoed by Kumar and Sandaran (2018) who identified the potential of employing songs in language classrooms that makes learning fun and meaningful, especially in teaching listening skills. Furthermore, studies have showcased that music enables primary pupils to gain positive impacts, thus reiterating its advantageous point in enhancing literacy development (e.g. Fisher, 2001). As musical activities tend to leave memorable and positive impacts on pupils, they will obtain the confidence to learn as they manage to understand the activities prepared. Also, teaching vocabulary through music has significantly increased the pupils' achievements in English vocabulary learning, as well as their attitude toward learning vocabulary (Köksal et al., 2013). All in all, employing music in young learners' English language classroom is suitable as they are active and curious all the time. Young learners enjoy adventures and learning new things, henceforth employing musical activities can keep them active but controlled and promote meaningful and fun learning that will keep them motivated to learn the English language.

Jazz Chants in Language Learning
Teachers need to be aware of the different levels of abilities that students possess which at times, are inevitably difficult to cater to simultaneously (Rachel & Maslawati, 2019). This is because students' different levels of abilities will need teachers' agility to employ different approaches at tackling the former's learning engagement. One of the 21st century traits that teachers should cultivate within themselves is to be risk takers in teaching (Baird, 2018). With the endless options of teaching approaches, they should be bold to explore these approaches within their own teaching space in order to investigate its effectiveness on their pupils. Findings have shown how teachers are unable to carry out fun improvisation in the classroom because of the structured curriculum and demands (Sawyer, 2019). Since most educators and learners are likely to agree that English writing skill is a challenging language skill to master (Reynolds & Teng, 2021), this necessitates English teachers to be sensitive of their scope of responsibilities in guiding and aiding the pupils' English learning experience. Teachers do no only play an important role in shaping the pupils as a whole but also at keeping pace in a long run. As role models, they directly affect how learning takes shape, what is learnt, how much is learnt and the dynamics that are involved (be it at micro or macro level) (Stronge, 2017). Therefore, rural teachers should highlight the advantages of language learning experience to their pupils, such as school achievements, positive attitude towards learning, and developing interest in gaining knowledge, besides becoming proficient in English writing. In general, teachers still maintain traditional pedagogical methods in their classrooms, especially those in the rural areas who have limited access to technology. Tee et al. (2018) carried out a survey on 140 teachers that were selected from 24 public secondary schools in Malaysia stated that 80.7% of the teachers were found to be at the "unsatisfactory' level of practice based on the questioning dimension. Not only that, 50.7% of the teachers showed to be at the "unsatisfactory" level for the engagement dimension together with assessment of instruction dimension with 75.0% of the teachers deemed to be "unsatisfactory". Through Jazz Chants, teachers can promote 21 st century learning skills among their pupils. Jazz Chants is a rhythmic expression of natural language which connects the rhythms of spoken American English to the rhythms of traditional American Jazz (Graham, 2006). The music employed in Jazz Chants are often taken from traditional English songs so that the pupils can relate to the music easily as they are already familiar with the songs. There are various types of Jazz Chants depending on the teachers' preferences and teaching purpose. Since young learners enjoy repetition, employing songs in language lessons can be a great tool to teach a new skill. This is because Jazz Chants requires them to practise stress (/) and rhythms through highly motivating as well as encouraging role playing, pair activities and group work. Pupils are presented with authentic problems that they are familiar, which cultivates their ability to solve problems (Yuliati et. al., 2018). Through Jazz Chants, pupils are provided with topics that require them to come up with words based on the selected topics. Then, pupils will focus on the rhythm, intonation and stress (either in groups or pairs), which indirectly promote collaborative learning as one of the 21 st century learning skills. Employing Jazz Chants can strengthen pupils' language structures and their ability to speak English daily. This is because learning chants is simple; pupils mainly use specific and repetitive words, which is necessary for young learners. Chants are suitable for all ages; however, teachers must choose the appropriate accompanying activities.

Understanding Motivation towards building a positive school climate and fitting in Jazz Chants
The National School Climate Centre (NSCC) identifies school learning climate as divided into different dimensions -safety, teaching and learning, interpersonal relationships and institutional environment. Anderson (1982) viewed school learning climate as possessing a cultural definition. However, LaSalle (2013) perceived the concept as a result between the dynamics of school input resources and school outputs (e.g. student achievement). At one point, some even consider students' socioeconomics also contributes towards the understanding of school learning climate (e.g. Koth et al., 2008). Sheras and Bradshaw (2016) declared that national policies play significant roles at enhancing such learning climate where they found that some demanding policies eventually result positive impact on school learning climate. While its definition escalates between the physical outcomes and cultural association, stepping to the social aspect of individual learners such as their race and financial status, studies on school learning climate is evidently an important aspect to focus, especially within the context of Malaysian education. For one, the learning of English as a second language (ESL) stands as an opportunity to create positive school learning climate through its incorporation of many types of learning, including inclusive learning and collaborative learning. Besides that, the use of literature as one of its components helps promote cultural understanding without leaving home. Maslow's theory on human motivation (1943) is quoted as a general portrayal of humans' need and desire and its significance. In Maslow's theory, an individual is seen as the most important actor, and his/her individual agency supersedes other motivations of action. As a humanistic psychologist, he believed that everyone has a strong desire to realize his full potential, reaching a level of self-actualization. Understanding Maslow's theory helps understand that pupils' inability to acquire satisfactory English proficiency can affect their motivation to learn English, especially those in rural schools since they have limited exposure to the language to begin with. Learning English in a Malaysian context, predominantly in the rural areas of East Malaysia, is intriguing as local pupils consider it as a foreign language (Louis & Melor, 2016). It is challenging to teach and learn English in rural schools due to the limited facilities and unconducive learning setting which results the pupils' passive learning experience (Mustapha, as cited in Halipah & Kamarul, 2020). As a result of this, pupils tend to succumb to maintain their present passive state during language learning. Since there are studies associating between a positive school climate and greater motivation, especially in relation to academic performance (e.g. Fan & Williams, 2018;Scherer & Nilsen, 2016), studies on Jazz Chants within the context ESL learning have been conducted. Its impact is not only observed at expanding students' vocabulary range but also on motivation (Kung, 2013). Students are also observed to be happier (Singh & Hashim, 2020).

Research Design
This qualitative study enabled the researchers to gain deeper contextual understandings of their participants via non-numerical means and direct observations (Creswell, 2015) at answering the identified research question. Qualitative research usually focuses on smaller samplings via interviews for example in order to reveal data such as participants' attitudes, behaviours and hidden factors; insights which guide better designs.

Sampling and Population
A 2012 report by the Sarawak State Planning Unit recorded that Sarawak was populated by a total of 2,471,140 residents. Out of that number, Iban as an ethnic group contributed as the largest population at 713,421 people. Lubok Antu is a district in the Sri Aman division in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. In 2010, Lubok Antu was populated with a total of 27 984 people (Sarawak Government, 2010) where most of the population are of Iban ethnicity. In order to answer the research question of this study, five English teachers from the district of Lubok Antu were interviewed in a semi-structured interview session. These teachers were purposely chosen. They are considered qualified to become participants in this research because they are easily accessible and obtained at least 10 years of experience of teaching English. Therefore, the participants chosen are believed to be suitable as participants for this study, which is to explore teachers' perspectives on using Jazz Chants to cultivate Sarawakian primary pupils' motivation in language learning.

Research Instrument
Semi-structured interviews are frequently employed instruments in qualitative design research. The interview is carried out through dialogues between researchers and participants. There are a total of five questions inquired in order to find out the participants' perceptions of Jazz Chants as part of the teaching and learning of the English language in Malaysian classrooms. The interview questions were validated by three experts for comments and improvements. Amendments were made upon receiving comments to ensure validity. Moreover, member checks were utilised to ensure the validity and reliability of the data collected. Interview transcript were also shared with the participants to ensure the originality of the interview.

Research Analysis Procedure
A thematic analysis was employed to analyse the interview data in which three predetermined themes were utilized, which are 'benefits', 'challenges' and 'suggestions'. A total of six stages took place in doing a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). In the first stage (known as familiarization), the collected data from the interviews were re-read several times in order to grasp any recurring phrases or words. Upon its completion, the following step took place which is the coding step where the collected data were categorised into themes. For example, in this research, when the teachers mentioned 'provide extra training' and 'organise more courses', the code such as 'suggestions' was formed. However, in order to reduce redundancy, the researchers underwent the proceeding phase (searching for themes) where they scrutinized the transcript to eliminate similarities in the data. In order to come up with the themes, the coded data were collected and arranged into suitable themes. The phase of reviewing themes is where the themes determined portray a clear interpretation of the data as to not deviate from the essence of the study. In the fifth stage, defining and naming themes, the themes are to be defined. Lastly, the final stage in which was to write a report from the data extracted in a captivating manner.

Challenges Faced in Implementing Jazz Chants in Malaysian Learning Classrooms
Based on Table 1, all of the participants expressed that they are aware of Jazz Chants as one of the teaching and learning (TnL) strategies in language learning but claimed that they seldom conduct Jazz Chants activities. 40% (n=2) mentioned that they find the activity time consuming, mostly because their pupils are of low proficiency in the English language. Jazz Chants is a strategy that blends musicality into words such as natural phrases and sentences of the English language, considering that the language has a similar rhythm to the musical genre Jazz (Martinez et al., 2017). Therefore, Jazz Chants aids pupils to reproduce words, phrases and sentences musically, respecting their correct pronunciation. Even so, the activity itself would have been simple for native English speakers since they possess less language constraints when it comes to pronunciation, unlike second language speakers. For Malaysian pupils, it takes time to introduce Jazz Chants to them, including introducing its concept, the objectives and the production. Therefore, it is understandable if teachers, especially the ones teaching in a rural school setting, faced challenges to introduce Jazz Chants to the pupils. Teachers play an important role in designing a lesson based on their pupils' proficiencies, followed by executing the lesson in the classroom. Teachers need to be aware of the different levels of abilities that their pupils possess, which at times are inevitably difficult to cater to simultaneously. This is because the range of ability level will need the teachers' wisdom to opt the use of different approaches at ensuring the pupils' engagement entirely. The remaining 60% (n=3) of the teachers interviewed expressed that they were themselves lack of training and exposure to conduct Jazz Chants activities. Teacher A and B both expressed that their lack of understanding on conducting Jazz Chants activities which affected their confidence to carry out the lesson entirely. One of the 21st century traits that teachers should cultivate within themselves is to be risk takers in teaching (Baird, 2018). With the endless option of teaching approaches, teachers should be daring enough to explore each approach in their own classrooms in order to ascertain its effectiveness to their pupils. However, experiencing failure or uneasiness during lessons can create fear in teachers where they may begin to doubt their own teaching competency. In the end, it is logical for some teachers to avoid experiencing such feelings, where they may even avoid implementing new teaching methods or revamping used approaches out of their comfort zone due to their fear of failure. Fear has a tendency to barricade creativity (Spencer, 2019), in line with teachers' reluctance to explore other teaching methods and re-implement revised approaches due to the failure experience on the first try. Overall, this may lead to the lack of exposure to possible learning opportunities for good quality education, particularly the rural pupils who are already deprived of decent facilities.

Benefits of employing Jazz Chants in Malaysian learning classrooms
Based on the interview conducted, 60% (n=3) of the teachers highlighted that through the implementation of Jazz Chants activities that they have carried out before, it is notable that their pupils seemed to be enjoying the lesson thus creating a fun learning environment in the classroom. In addition, Teacher A emphasised that Jazz Chants activities are able to aid pupils to memorise certain grammatical rules, reiterating Ni Nyoman (2018) who highlighted that learners responded positively toward the employment of Jazz Chants during the lessons since the activities are easier to imitate and remember due to the rhythm and stressed used. Teachers' provision of a fun and meaningful learning climate embodies the aspirations intended by the MoE (2015) where in the Primary School Standard Curriculum (KSSR) which spells out clearly for a need of teachers to design and conduct fun and meaningful lessons in the classroom. This is exactly what it meant by keeping up with the evolution of education in order to ensure their lessons are relevant to fulfil their pupils' current needs. The remaining 40% (n=2) of the teachers interviewed shed light on the fact that Jazz Chants activities are able to promote active learning and collaboration among the pupils. Teachers play a strong role in shaping the pupils as a whole and for the long run. Education now focuses on student centred learning by implementing 21 st century learning strategies that blend together the elements of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and values and ethical applications (MoE, 2013). Through Jazz Chants, pupils are to come together in groups as they will present their chants together. Pupils are to help each other out to nail the right tempo or pronunciation or stressed words for the chants. Collaborating together can aid pupils to enhance their understanding of Jazz Chants as they are experiencing the hands-on activity themselves. If movements are involved during Jazz Chants, pupils can work together to come up with creative movements to emphasise the words they are chanting. This is in line with Boss and Larmer (2018) who implied pupils having to navigate mostly on their own in coming out with a solution is able to prepare pupils to think critically, analyse information for reliability, collaborate with diverse colleagues and solve problems creatively in the future.

Suggestions to enhance the employment of Jazz Chants in Malaysian learning classrooms
During the interview, one specific question was inquired to fellow educators to obtain insights on their views, which was 'What should be / can be done by the MoE in order to enhance Jazz Chants as a creative and promising teaching strategy in the Malaysian ESL classroom'. 100% (n=5) of the participants had a similar idea which was to implore that the MoE to provide extra training to fellow educators in regards to Jazz Chants. Professional development is crucial for teachers as it is a key element that enables the evolution of the nation's education system as it involves transforming teachers' knowledge into practice in order to benefit the pupils. Teachers need to be lifelong learners and growing teachers, hence where teachers' professional development (TPD) comes in. Findings in Tai et al (2022) agrees that TPD plays an important role in exposing certain skills to fellow educators if it is carried out in real-life or authentic learning situations that derived from their daily lifestyles in schools. TPD should not be regarded as an isolated training consisting of long talks on theories and flaunting the idea of extra workload for teachers to deal with. The training provided by the MoE typically compresses heavy information, conducted in a full day for a few days. A study done by Hermann in the 1880s stated that information tends to be forgotten where roughly 56% of the information attainable can be forgotten in an hour (Youki, 2017). Therefore, TPD should focus on enriching teachers' teaching experience. This is also mentioned by Insulander, Brehmer and Ryve (2019), where they believe that such experience can affect teachers' perspectives in order for them to possess the drive towards authentic professional learning goals which will generate internal teacher growth and enable educational changes.

Conclusion
This study highlights the teachers' perceptions on the employment of Jazz Chants in Malaysian learning classrooms and how it affects their motivation to acquire the language. Most studies strongly agree that employing Jazz Chants in language learning creates a fun and impactful learning especially among young learners. In order to do so, teachers play a vital role in designing and implementing the lesson successfully. Teachers should always strive to incorporate fun and current trends in their lessons to cater to the needs of their pupils. This is due to the 21st century skills gaining more spotlight in the education field which promotes a meaningful approach that can engage pupils, hence, improving their understanding, retention of knowledge, critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills. Active learning is one of the central features of 21st century learning which in turn, emphasizes a pupil-centred approach. Today's generation needs to be catered to the globally competent world where they will need to be able to collaborate in creative and effective manners to form solutions. Findings also highlighted challenges faced by Malaysian teachers when it comes to employing Jazz Chants activities in the classroom. Time constraint and lack of exposure to the teaching strategy impede their confidence in utilising the strategy as a whole. Hence, findings managed to highlight other stakeholders to discuss their endeavours to provide training for teachers to intensify teachers' competencies and knowledge to be relevant in the current education setting. Jazz Chants is a relatively new strategy to Malaysian teachers which seems to be underresearched in Malaysian ESL classrooms settings. This paper indicates a potential teaching strategy that can be further mastered. These findings pathed ways for future researchers in the Malaysian context to attempt further studies on certain targeted language items by employing Jazz Chants. The focus of this study was on the teachers' perceptions and limited to a few numbers of teachers, future researchers may want to get insights from the pupils' perspectives in order to dissect the extent of Jazz Chants activities to English language learning in Malaysian classrooms. In creating fun and meaningful learning, it is also an attempt at recreating a positive school climate, which is aspired by the MoE.