Jazz Chants, at secondary level - but whose?
Mario Rinvolucri
Mario Rinvolucri, Pilgrims, UK. Teacher, teacher trainer, author of numerous resource books. Recently published 'Using the Mother Tongue' with Sheelagh Deller, 'Multiple Intelligences in EFL' with Herbert Puchta, "Unlocking Self-expression through NLP' with Judi Baker. More books in preparation.
Menu
Background
The Leaving School Rap
Comments
Background
When you hear the term "jazz chant" you may well find your mind's ear filling with simple clear lines with a strong definite rhythm: e.g.
Big trees, tall trees
Big trees, tall trees
Big, tall, trees.
The coast of California is beautiful with big trees, tall trees
Big, tall, trees.
( Carolyn Graham )
The excellence of this text lies in its clarity, its brevity and its ease of performance. It is not by chance that it was written by a vital, creative jazz musician, born with the beat.
I have used this and many other of Graham's jazz chants to the delight of my elementary classes - they are superbly linguistically useful for learners from non - stress - timed languages like French or Japanese.
But raps and jazz chants don't have to be good. Here is an example from an OUP course book of one that should never have been published:
The leaving School Rap.
Mr Anderson: OK, Victor, let's start with you.
When you leave school, what are you going to do?
V : I'm going to leave when I'm 18. That's my plan.
I'm going to go to film school if I can.
I'm going to make films, and they're going to be good.
And then I'm going to move to Hollywood.
Mr A: OK, Steve, now what about you?
When you leave school, what are you going to do?
Steve: Going to film school. That sounds cool.
I think I'll do that when I leave school.
Mr A: Right. Now Karen, what about you?
What have you decided? What are you going to do?
Karen: I'm 16 at the end of this year
and I'm leaving school but then my future's not clear.
I might do some odd jobs - like gardening,
Babysitting, cleaning - that sort of thing.
Steve: Doing odd jobs. That sounds cool.
I think I'll do that when I leave school.
Mr A: Debbie, it's your turn. What about you?
When you leave school, what are you going to do?
Debbie: I'm going to stay at school as long as i can.
I'm going to get good A-levels. That's my plan.
I'm going to study maths at university.
I'm going to work hard and get a good degree.
Mr A: OK, Steve. What's wrong with you?
Do you want to change your mind about what to do?
Steve: Going to university. That sounds cool.
I think I'll do that when I leave school.
Comments
Six reasons why the above text is infelicitous:
1. No teenager would say " I'm going to make films and they're going to be good." This is cardboard rubbish.
2. No one of this age would say: " But my future is not clear".
Debbie" is a yukky goodie- goodie, but I guess her type does exist.
3. The portrayal of dithering "Steve" is really hard to believe.
All these kids are figments of a teacher's comfort zone fantasising.
4. The chant is way too long.
5. Some lines are really hard to say rhythmically.
6. How can the authors in their widest dreams have imagined that these sentiments would appeal to healthy, self-assertive teenage classes?
Why fill coursebooks with third rate pieces of writing when the best texts will be created by the students themselves? Even if you do excellent raps with your classes, like Graham's, the time comes when you need to let your students create their own. They will create chants of their own, with themes of their own, rhythms of their own and an ethos of their own.
I could have chosen any other text type found in EFL course books to have a smack at but the rap/ jazz chant category is a sensitive one if you are teaching teenagers. For this age group, songs, raps and chants are areas of English they feel belong to them and so to dare to present them with drivel is a less than intelligent move.
In this text area all the students need is a good model and a brief one after which you can turn the art form over to them.
It is a wonder of the 21st Century that we feel we need to buy acres of mediocre text to place before our learners even though the one thing humans love to produce is text,
especially if a given text type suits them, stimulates them and appeals to them.
A course book can, though, be very useful if the teacher's table has one leg shorter than the other three.
Please check the Methodology and Language for Primary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Secondary Teaching course at Pilgrims website.
|
