MUSIC IN ENGLISH TEACHING

INTRODUCTION

Halina

November 2014

A. Benefits essential to using any music1. High interest high motivation memorable2. Lowered inhibition level3. Reaches learners with right brain strengths4. Reaches learners with auditory strengths5. Helps promote class bonding6. Helps create shared frame of cultural reference also illustration of

grammar in context 7. Rhythmic element helps reinforce English prosody and fluency

B. Some Criteria for choosing songs for classroom use

1.Most importantly: you like the song and want to share it!

2.Words easily comprehensible3.Enough repetition to provide oral practice4.Well-written from a native speaker perspective5.Contains values and themes you want to introduce6.Describes different musical genres

C. For listening comprehension a. Fill in before listening to cultivate guided listening and hypothesis formationb. Fill in during listeningc. Scramble lines of lyrics on large index cards can be ordered as students listend. Mark stress patterns ("beats") on lyric sheet while listeninge. Transcribe entire song while listening, dictation style (or assign small groups one verse each), then check w/ master copy of lyrics

D. For reading comprehensionFor reading comprehension/cultural studies - Gangsta's Paradise is an excellent song. 1. Explain target vocabulary and idioms, then illustrate in context2. Study as literature, examining prosodic and thematic features3. Compare and contrast w/ a related reading 

E. For pronunciation/speaking practice 

1.Sing along with music track only - "karaoke" style 2. Sing/chant song in alternating assigned solo parts

3. Memorize and perform song(s) for class

4. Discuss topic or content of song in large or small groups

5. Have songs sung as part of daily routine

6. Role play the lyrics of pop songs in front of the class 

F. For writing practice

1. Add additional verse to song in small groups 2. Write it as a dialog.3. Write parody or new set of words to known melody

Q & A practicea. Does this song remind you of anything in your own life?b. What do you think happened next, after the story in the song? c. Do you agree with the point of view of the singer? Why or why not?d. Tell what happens in the songe. Think about the relationship between people in the song.

G. For culture-based activities 1. Use with accompanying readings to teach values, history… 2. Use as part of unit on teaching tolerance, or as intro to Cultural Diversity studies 3. Have students prepare 5 minute written reports about their own much loved song 4. Play the songs for the class  

Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio 

This is a reworking of Stevie Wonder's 1976 song „Pastime Paradise." It wasn't Coolio's idea to use Wonder's song; a singer named Larry Sanders - who goes by the stage name L.V. (Large Variety) - started working on it and sent a demo to Collio, who was looking for a song to record for the 1995 movie Dangerous Minds.

Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, the film is about a troubled school and the challenges faced by the students and the idealistic teacher played by Pfeiffer. Coolio wrote a lyric to express the feelings of despair and abandonment felt by the kids at the school,

Gangsta's Paradise

The song first appeared on the Dangerous Minds soundtrack, and when it became the basis for the movie's marketing campaign - heard in trailers and commercials for the film - MCA knew they had a hit on their hands. The song was released as a single, going to #1 in both the US and UK, and included on Coolio's second album, which was titled after the song.

The first line of this song comes from the bible, Psalm 23:4: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me."

"Can music be a poetry?

Gangsta's Paradise by CoolioAs I walk through the valley of the shadow of deathI take a look at my life and realize there's none left'Cause I've been brassing and laughing so long thatEven my mamma thinks that my mind is goneBut I ain't never crossed a man that didn't deserve itMe be treated like a punk, you know that's unheard ofYou better watch how you talking, and where you walkingOr you and your homies might be lined in chalkI really hate to trip but I gotta lopeAs they croak I see myself in the pistal smoke foolI'm the kinda G that little homies want to be likeOn my knees in the night, saying prayers in the street light

They been spending most their lives living in the gangsta's paradiseThey been spending most their lives living in the gangsta's paradiseWe keep spending most our lives living in the gangsta's paradiseWe keep spending most our lives living in the gangsta's paradise

They got the situation, they got me facingI can't live a normal life, I was raised by the stripSo I gotta be down with the hood teamToo much television watching got me chasing dreamsI'm a educated fool with money on my mindGot my ten in my hand and a gleam in my eye

I'm a loped out gangsta set trippin bangerAnd my homies is down so gonna rouse my anger foolDeath aint nothing but a heart beat awayI'm living life do or die, what can I sayI'm twenty three never will I live to see 24The way things is going I don't know

Tell me why are we so blind to seeThat the ones we hurt are you and me.

They been spending most their lives living in the gangsta's paradiseThey been spending most their lives living in the gangsta's paradiseWe keep spending most our lives living in the gangsta's paradiseWe keep spending most our lives living in the gangsta's paradise

Power and the money, money and the powerMinute after minute, hour after hourEverybody's running, but half of them ain't lookingWhat's going on in the kitchen, but I don't know what's cookingThey say I've got to learn but nobody's here to teach meIf they can't understand it, how can they reach meI guess they can'tI guess they won'tI guess they front

"Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio

Exercise1. "I've never crossed a man...” Here "crossed" means...a. made angry or provokedb. crossed to the other side of the streetc. met

2. " Me be treated like a punk". here, "punk" means....a. rebelliousb. prostitutec. wood

That's why I know my life is out of luck fool

They been spending most their lives living in the gangsta's paradiseThey been spending most their lives living in the gangsta's paradiseWe keep spending most our lives living in the gangsta's paradiseWe keep spending most our lives living in the gangsta's paradise

Tell me why are we so blind to seeThat the ones we hurt are you and me.

Tell me why are we so blind to seeThat the ones we hurt are you and me.Writer/s: WONDER, STEVIE/OTHER, WRITERS/RASHEED, DOUGLAS B Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing