CIRCLE SINGING AS A DIDACTIC DEVICE TO ENHANCE VOCAL EXPRESSION WITHIN INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE

Music constitutes a fundamental anthropological practice, present in all known cultures and often regarded as a universal human behaviour. Research across anthropology, archaeology, psychology and biology highlights its adaptive role, particularly with respect to emotional expression and the regulation of affective states. As Aniruddh Patel observes, “human vocal learning may have started as a way to mark ourselves as being members of a group, maybe before we had full-blown language,” suggesting that vocal behaviour played an early role in shaping relational competencies and in establishing group belonging. This view echoes John Dewey’s reflections on music—and singing in particular—as a communicative and aesthetic experience capable of fostering human connection. In the contemporary society marked by postmodern crisis, hyperreality and the emotional detachment fostered by pervasive social-media use, education faces renewed challenges that concern not only disciplinary knowledge but also cultural and affective dimensions. Thus, musical activities offer powerful means of supporting creativity, personal expression and inclusion. Choral practices, moreover, constitute accessible forms of music-making, creating an accessible space where students can explore imagination and emotions, inhabiting the aesthetic dimension. Within this context, the present contribution examines Circle Singing as an inclusive and interdisciplinary pedagogical approach that links vocal improvisation practice with the development of English pronunciation and socio-relational competences. Drawing on evidence-informed education, interdisciplinary methodologies, and international frameworks for inclusive and lifelong learning, Circle Singing integrates music, language and collective laboratory practice. Its interdisciplinary approach employs rhythmic and melodic structures together with selected English lexical items to foster phonological awareness, prosodic sensitivity, and articulatory precision, while providing embodied forms of English learning. Speech is, in fact, an acoustic phenomenon shaped by an integrated, multimodal cognitive, sensory, and praxic network involving place and manner of articulation as well as voicing, all of which shape the acoustic signal into distinctive spectral patterns (formants). Within this framework, the training offered by Circle Singing is hypothesised to heightens phonological awareness and improve articulation and pronunciation within the vocal tract. To investigate these effects, a quasi-experimental study will involve 200 university students at Roma Tre University. An experimental group will participate in a 10-hour Circle Singing workshop, while a control group will not receive any Circle Singing training. Musical perception (melody, tuning, tempo, accent) and phonetic accuracy (vowel and consonant production) will be assessed using validated digital self-assessment instruments—Mini-PROMS and SpeechAce— administered as pre- and post-tests. By embedding the learning of English pronunciation within a collective, dynamic and emotionally engaging vocal practice, Circle Singing encourages participation and nurtures linguistic, musical and socio-emotional competencies. Ultimately, this study aims to propose an adaptable pedagogical methodology that may function as a benchmark model for integrating music and language education within inclusive learning environments.