Graciela Bilat

Directora Dpto. Inglés

Hans Christian Andersen School

USING SONGS IN THE

ENGLISH CLASSROOM

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 memorizes them better if you sing them out for her.

This is the precise reason that rhymes and verses are the chief modes of teaching the basics - both numerical lessons and 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 music and with the accompanying word or number.

Seen from that angle, English language teaching programs are cashing in on this human fondness for music and using songs in teaching English .

There are yet other, more valid reasons for using songs in teaching English . 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 if, as a teacher, you try using songs in teaching English .

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As said, songs are a powerful means of teaching English and you can use songs as a classroom activity to enrich your students' English vocabulary, to improve their grammar and accents.

Graciela Bilat

Directora Dpto. Inglés

Hans Christian Andersen School

Using songs in teaching English can be very effective, provided you are quite selective with the songs. Choose songs that are good to listen to - not a loud, earsplitting background score overlapping the singer's voice, rather soft renderings with each word, each syllable being clearly articulated.

Equal emphasis should also be laid on the theme of a song. However, choose songs that your students can associate with. Go for plain, simple language; avoid songs that have slang and cultural references or else you'll have a tough time in the classroom. Whilst using songs in teaching English to young learners, stick to songs that involve them both physically and mentally.

Some surefire classroom activities using songs in teaching English are as follows:

• Fill-in-blanks is the most popular classroom activity. However, this is not as simple as handing out worksheets full of gaps to your students. You can omit the rhyming words or adjectives, etc. but whatever you do needs to be properly planned.

• Spotting the mistakes is another game you can involve your students in. Change a few words (not more than 8 to 10) in the lyrics and ask your students to correct them as they listen to the song. Here again, you will have to choose the words sensibly. A nice idea will be providing the antonyms. You can use synonyms in case you are using songs in teaching English to adult learners.

• Changing the order of verses is a real interesting activity for young learners.

• Group discussions, cooking up story lines and dialogues and even video shoots are other interesting pursuits you can plan for your high-grade students. Engage your lower level students in preparing comic strips and pictorial representation of songs.

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