Abstract
How can English Language Teaching be made enjoyable and effective? One possible pedagogical application is to integrate English songs into English Language Teaching. Song, a combination of music and lyrics, possesses many intrinsic merits, such as kaleidoscope of culture, expressiveness, recitability and therapeutic functions, which render it an invaluable source for language teaching. This paper provides theoretical arguments and practical support for using English songs in English Language Teaching.
Language is a treasure that enriches my mind.
Music is a treasure that enriches my soul.
Teaching enriches my spirit.
–Veronika Rosova
Introduction
English Language Teaching (ELT) in India has for a quite long time followed the traditional path-teaching vocabulary and grammar textbooks, cramming students with a considerable amount of exercises and then evaluating their accomplishments through consecutive exams. It is no surprise that EFL learners view English language learning as insipid and an unconquerable obstacle. In fact, ELT can be implemented in a relaxed and enjoyable way by using English songs in EFL classes.
Songs have been an amusing companion for human beings for as long as or even longer than we can speak. As an integral part of our language experience, it can be of great value to foreign language teaching. Using songs in teaching English is unquestionably very natural, very scientific. No one can deny that, as humans, we have a special ear for music. Try teaching alphabets to a child and you will realize that the child picks them up faster and memorises them better if you sing out for him/her. This is the precise reason that rhymes and verses are the chief modes of teaching the basics-both numerical lessons and the linguistic lessons- to a child in the early years of life. Actually, the melody echoes in the child’s mind and the child soon grows familiar with the accompanying word or number. Seen from that angle, ELT programmes are cashing in on this human fondness for music and using songs in teaching English. Besides, songs are generally a real source of authentic language and since a large fraction of the world populace listens to English songs; it will be more fun than hard work for the learners to acquire mastery in English. As teachers, we can try using songs in teaching English to enrich students’ English vocabulary, to improve their grammar and accents. And the many-faceted merit songs possess may enrich and activate our foreign language class. Suggestopaedia, a teaching methodology developed by Dr. Georgi Lozanev in Bulgaria, claims to produce hypermnesia- an excellent memory. The idea behind using music is apparently to relax students’ defenses and to open up their minds to the language. Besides music, the lyrics of the songs serve as a direct genuine source of teaching materials in ELT classes.
Confucius said that “music produces a kind of pleasure which human being cannot do without”.
“No one knows why songs are powerful but everyone knows from a personal point of view they are”, wrote Dale Griffee (p.4).
There have been abundant researches abroad on songs as an authentic teaching resource in language teaching (Gaston, 1968; Enright & Mc Closkey, 1988; Curtain & Pesola, 1994; Eken, 1996; Orlova, 1997; Maley, 1997; Chiaili & Meilo, 1998; Geoff, 2003) to name just a few, but a paucity of such studies is reported in India. This paper endeavours to demonstrate the value of English songs in ELT and meanwhile reports some teaching activities as attempts to work it out in EFL classrooms.
Songs should be used in ELT for their own merits
According to BPS Research Digest, a psychology magazine (May 2008 edition), the answer to the age old question of learning a language, “might lie in a song…The researchers concluded that we find it easier to remember words if they’re set to music, partly because it’s more emotionally engaging, and partly because the words are structured in such a way that makes it easier for us to ‘segment’ the information and store it in our memories”. Being a combination of music and language, songs have innumerable virtues that deserve our attention. Their richness in culture and themes, their idiomatic and poetic expressions, their therapeutic functions and so on make them an impeccable tool for language learning.
A kaleidoscope of culture
“Language expresses, embodies and symbolizes cultural equality” (Kramsch, 2000, p.3). Language and music are interwoven in songs to communicate cultural reality in a very unique way. English songs endow the English native speakers with an opportunity to put across their own culture. Black American’s call for equality and respect, the legends of the American West, celebration of western festivals and people’s attitudes towards love, friendship and marriage all find expression in the lines and rhythmic melodies of the songs.
Expressiveness
Songs are highly expressive. Some convey love and emotions; some tell a memorable and moving story; some embody one’s dreams and ideals; and some reminisce about the golden past. Songs are abundant in themes and expressions which will echo in the learner’s heart. “Acquisition of automatic language skills depend on rich, meaningful, repeated exposure to comprehensible input without awareness.”(Bolitho et. al., 2003, p.253).
Recitability
Lyrics are characterized by the use of rhythms, conversational speech and poetic expressions. Learners are likely to be attracted by these beautiful and poetic, or colloquial and lucid lyrics, which will be easily recited and long remembered. Singing a song by heart is more delightful and meaningful than rote learning. Many people cannot help recalling the songs learned in their early years, even when they only vaguely remember the old melodies and some fragments of the lyrics.
Therapeutic functions
In general, the foremost function of songs is to provide relaxation and recreation. It is quite common that when people are tired, they will sit back and listen to a piece of music. Music has the power to soothe people’s emotions, refresh their minds and to unlock their creativity. Gaston (1968) has pointed out that music has several therapeutic functions, such as promoting self-esteem through increased self-satisfaction in musical performance and using the unique potential of rhythm to energise and bring order.
Here is a list of advantages of teaching English through songs:
Music motivates to learn
Listening to song lyrics improves Comprehension skills
Singing songs develops good pronunciation
Singing songs increases vocabulary and speech pattern
Music aids memory
Music brings culture alive
Music acts like a stress buster
Music saves time
How can English songs facilitate English Language learning?
Stimulation of Linguistic Learning by songs
Using English songs in EFL classrooms can successfully bring about linguistic learning by:
Enlarging the vocabulary background of students
Developing pupil’s listening and speaking skills
Introducing and familiarizing students with the target language culture
Improving students’ pronunciation
Teaching various language functions
Recalling grammatical points
Developing auditory discrimination
Stimulation of Affective Learning by songs
Using English songs in EFL classrooms can successfully bring about affective learning by:
Adding fun to learning
Motivating students to participate-even the shy ones
Helping teachers to get close to their students
Stimulating students’ interest in the target language
Creating a lively atmosphere in the language classroom
As a result, the students will regard English songs as part of entertainment rather than work and thus find learning English through songs amusing and relaxed. Many English songs, especially pop songs are quite popular among the Indian youth, such as Jingle Bells, Yesterday Once More, My Heart Will Go On and Big Big World. Firstly, these English songs employ the themes that appeal to young people like holiday celebration, memories of childhood, love and friendship, and secondly, many students desire to learn these English songs, because they want to model themselves on the Hollywood stars and singers to improve their status among the peers. The greater their desire is, the faster they learn. When they are learning fast and continuously making progress, they will be more confident, highly motivated and devoted to the learning task.
Effects of Affective Learning
Affective learning is also effective learning. In the light of psycholinguistics, affective engagement with language can “stimulate a fuller use of the resources of the brain” and deepen the multidimensional processing of language (Bolitho et. al, 2003, p.256). Through affective learning, the learner’s capacity for learning will be expanded and whereby unexpected results will be produced.
Songs can promote language awareness
Language awareness is “a means of helping learners to help themselves”. The result of raising language awareness “will not just be language use, but also language use which is more sensitive to issues of culture, identity and equity” (ibid, p.254).
Songs serve as the very source of such target language use that helps to promote students’ language awareness in learning English as a foreign language. As for the students who are earnest to learn or sing English songs, listening to English songs can prompt them to ask questions about the language. They have to grab the skills of speaking the English language before they can sing the songs on their own. Hence, they are encouraged to probe how every sound is pronounced and how all the sounds are chained together, thereby attaining growing insights into the way English language functions to convey meaning. In addition, although most students regard listening to as well as learning English songs as entertainment, they are also learning implicitly and unconsciously, which is more pleasant and efficient way to promote language awareness than mechanically memorizing tedious course-books of vocabulary and grammar. “Language awareness is not taught by the teacher or by the course-book; it is developed by the learner. Language awareness is an integral, gradual, realization of the realities of language use”. (Bolitho et. al., 2003, p.252).
Choice of songs
Choose songs that are good to listen to- not a loud, earsplitting background score, rather soft renderings with each word, each syllable being clearly articulated. Equal emphasis should be laid on the theme also. We should go for plain, simple language. It is also helpful if the words of the songs are highly repetitive and they have a refrain: a repeated stanza between verses of the song.
How to utilize English songs in EFL classrooms
Here are some specific practices adopted by the researcher, which are recommended as initial attempts to integrate English songs into teaching various aspects of language skills-listening, speaking, vocabulary, grammar and writing in college English teaching.
LISTENING
The principle condition of working with songs lies and depends on listening, which represents here the medium of receiving information. The pupils, students, learners of a language usually say that speaking is the most important skill to master. But hardly anyone is aware of the fact that before speaking we usually have to listen to be able to react then. And even if speaking precedes listening in the form of asking or saying something, in most cases this act involves expectation of response which is again listening.
Listening tasks
1 These are the first four lines of a song Let It Be by Beatles. Work on your own and complete the lines by putting the first word with verb+ing. E.g. Sitting, playing
1 _______ words of wisdom, let it be.
2 She is _______ right in front of me.
After the exercise is over, let the song be played in the class so that the students listen to the song and cross check their blank words with their other class-mates and also from the song being played. This activity kindles enthusiasm and interest among students.
2 The words in the next few lines have been jumbled up. Put them in the right order in the space given below each line. Listen to the song and cross check it.
1 Myself trouble I in when times of find.
2 Wisdom let of speaking words be it.
3 Hour and my darkness of in.
3 Fill in the missing words in the next few lines:
1 Mother Mary ______ to me.
2 And when the ______ people living in the world agree.
3 There will be an ______ let it be.
SPEAKING
Speaking skill involves enriching pronunciation, vocabulary and fluency. Songs can be used to teach natural pronunciation efficiently. Native singers’ pronunciation provides a model for EFL learners. We can easily find songs sung by either American, British, Canadian or Australian singers and let learners choose which pronunciation they would like to imitate. By repeatedly listening to and learning these songs, students will gradually correct their errors and achieve more native-like pronunciation. It is also felt that students who always listen to English songs pay more deliberate attention to pronunciation, phonological rules, stress and intonation than the other and thus pronounce more correctly and speak English more fluently.
Speaking tasks
Activity 1
Teacher should select a song and play it twice without providing lyrics to the students. After that, teacher should show the lyrics either through LCD or by writing in the blackboard. Then let the students see the lyrics. Finally let all the students sing together. Attention can be drawn to different varieties of English dialects, and accents from various English speaking countries such as America, Canada, Australia, Ireland etc.
Activity 2
Identify the content words in the selected songs and ask the students to write synonyms and antonyms to the given words. Using the dictionary in connection with the song lyrics is worth doing. You can make it a competitive quiz. In the first stage, pupils choose any word from the lyrics and try to invent 3-4 definitions as options. In the second stage, they read out the options for other groups who are supposed to guess the correct word. In the final stage, there should be a final check and then appointing the winner.
Activity 3
Giving practice to word form is important. So ask students, questions about the word forms in the song like
Which word ends in –z?
Which word starts with a vowel letter?
Which word has the most syllables?
Which is the best idiomatic expression?
Activity 4
Teacher can assign innovative projects on music by instructing students to collect songs according to themes such as songs about inspiration, friendship, war, racial discrimination, nature, love, motivation, life, religion, sports, military etc.
Here is a list of some other suggested speaking activities:
Reading aloud
Recitation of a song exposes to the rhythmic aspect of language i.e. Stress, intonation, accent, and pronunciation
Students give their thoughts on the theme of the song, assigned by the teacher
Students listen to their classmates’ thoughts and respond
Oral diary
Picture description
Role play
Story- telling and chained story- telling
READING
In Memorising Vocabulary, Structure and Grammar
When coming across an impressive song, most learners are eager to take a further step- to understand what the singers are expressing and to sing it by themselves. With such a motivation, learners will feel surprised they can remember all the words that appear in the lyrics, even difficult ones. The nature of songs is fairly repetitive and consistent. This repetition will activate the students to get a lot of pattern drills automatically without realizing it. The songs offer a lot of practice for students to link the sounds of phrases or sentences naturally as they listen and sing, following the tape, so that they can improve their pronunciation and the use of natural reductions of English without noticing it.
Reading tasks
1 Read a list of phrasal words and idiomatic expressions at random from different songs and ask the students to identify the title of the song and context of the song.
Ask the students to use them in own sentences. This helps the students to think in the target language.
2Have students select a song of their choice and ask them to work on enunciation and the inner meaning of the song, and then have them present their choice in groups to the class. This interactive learning style helps students feel self-directed and can deepen their interest in English.
WRITING
Serious writing may bore EFL learners. So why not occasionally make writing fun in class by inventing something new?
Writing tasks
1 Teacher should select a song and play it in the class. After listening it twice or thrice, ask the students to rewrite the lyrics from the other person’s point of view in reply to him. Let the students sing it using the same tune.
2 What do you think will happen next? Get the students write the next verse.
3 Teacher should select a song and play it in the class. After listening, the students have to answer the questions given. After reading the theme, title and history of the target song, the teacher can set opinion questions which demand effective answers from the students.
Therefore, writing tasks might be an effectual way of digging out EFL learners’ creativity in language. The right song will arouse their empathy, stimulate their inspiration and light their passion to express their experiences and emotions in the same way.
Songs that can be used in ELT classroom for activity
Father and Son by Cat Stevens
Let it Be by Beatles
Yesterday by Beatles
Sailing by Rod Stewards
Nothing Compares to You by Sinead Occonor
Last Night I had by Simon and Garfunkel
Blowing in the Wind by Bob Dylan
Take Me To Your Heart by band Michael Learns to Rock
Conclusion
Use of songs in ESL classroom motivates the students to attend lessons and pay attention in class. Songs are the product of a culture and shared values, commitment, responsibility, love, history, traditions, customs and specific characteristics of spoken language. Songs present new vocabulary and expressions in context. Through songs, students become familiar with the pronunciation of native speakers and they also provide topics for discussion. Most students enjoy listening and analyzing songs because of the fact that music is everywhere and they are always in contact with music.
What speaks in favour of using songs in ELT class is also the fact that according to research results, the students perceived the lessons with songs as interesting, instructive, positive, relaxing and enjoyable. Songs can become “a tool which we can use to animate and facilitate language learning and acquisition” stated Tim Murphy (p.16). Mario Papa with Guiliano Iantorno concisely described this tool saying that “it is an exceptional teaching tool: in fact, students will take songs outside the classroom and will go on performing them long after the lesson has finished purely for their own pleasure.”(p.8) I am convinced of the truthfulness of their statement. They cherish both, a treasure of music that enriches my soul and a treasure of language that enriches my mind.
References
Bolitho, R., Carter, R., Ivanic, R., Masuhara, H., & Tomilson, B. (2003). Ten questions about language awareness, ELT Journal 57/3: 251-259
Carroll, D.W. Psychology of Language. Beijing: Brooks/Cole/Thomson Learning Asia (2000).
Chomsky, N & Halle, M. The Sound Pattern of English, New York: Harper & Row. (1968).
Eken, D.K. Ideas for using pop songs in the English language classroom, English Teaching Forum(1996). 34: 234-41
Gardener,H.(1983), Frames Of Mind. New York: Basic Books.(1983),
Gardener,H Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice.New York: Basic(1983) Books.Gaston,E.T Music in Therapy. New York: Macmillan. (1968)
Geoff,P.SMusic and Mondegreens : extracting meaning from noise. ELT journal 57/2:113-121. (2003).
Tomlinson,B Pragmatic awareness activities. Language Awareness. 3/3:119-129. (1994).
About the author
Dr. Sheila Vijay is an Assistant Professor of English at Govt. College Saraipali, District-Mahasamund, under Govt. of Chhattisgarh. She is M.Phil., Ph.D. in English Literature. She completed her Ph.D. on ‘Feminist Aesthetics and Discourse: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’. She has a total teaching experience of 24 years and her areas of interest include English Language Teaching, Women Writings, Indian Writing in English. She has attended and presented research papers in many State, National and International Seminars/ Conferences/ Workshops. Many of her articles have been published in National/ International journals.
Hello Dr. I would like to know when was this journal written? Because I would like to use it for my research purposes, therefore, I need to know when was it written?