Here is a research paper ‘Music: A Pedagogical Treat in ELT Classroom’ by Milind M. Ahire published in the latest issue of ELT Voices.
Music soothes, relaxes, motivates irrespective of age. We listen to music for pleasure among other reasons. It creates a refreshing effect. Nonetheless, it is rarely exploited as a learning tool by teachers and students. Conversely, it occupies a larger portion of student and teacher interests. The use of music serves a dual purpose; it motivates and consequently helps to enrich learning as an enjoyable affair. Music/songs may be used through three levels. It would mark the gradual development of learning using music. First, using music as an element of entertainment, moving on to use it to state the interface between music and learning, and concluding with using music to learn specific language skills and linguistic units. I wish to quote Shakespeare and apologize for using his lines (Twelfth Night Act 1 Scene 1) in a context not necessarily his own. He says, “If music is the food of love, play on. I intend to replace the word in italics with learning, teaching, classroom instruction, etc., and say play on, on, and on…
The present article is an abridged version of a classroom -based action research yet to be fully materialized. Here, I would talk about how to use songs/music to teach language skills or structural units of the English language. The article focuses on devising classroom activities
whereby students would get help to learn components of English.