Lessons with Music
Sandra Vida, Slovenia
Sandra Vida teaches at a secondary school in Lendava, Slovenia. She is also the current vice president of IATEFL Slovenia, and of course an active member. She has finished her MA in TESOL and EdTech at the University of Manchester. She has a passion for music and teaching and she is the author of lessonswithmusic.com. E-mail: sandra.vida@iatefl.si
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Introduction
The lesson
Suggestions for further reading
I am assuming that if you are reading this I do not need to persuade you that songs can provide a great learning opportunity and a source of real language. This is not a new idea at all. A huge amount of research has been conducted, proving the benefits for everybody involved (I include a list of just a tiny part at the end). What I would like to add to the many is something that is all too often overlooked, namely that using songs in classroom should and does go much farther than merely the obvious vocabulary practice or grammatical gap fill.
Most of the songs popular at present, or those who have survived the pressure of time and remained popular despite it, have something to say. They contain a message that makes them memorable or a phrase that is witty or surprising or anything else, which, accompanied with music, sticks in our minds and makes it pleasant to listen to them over and over again.
Being a teacher often means we do not ever switch off and as a rule, we go through life looking for resources and ideas. In this sense, I always observe the world around me and think of things I could potentially use in classes to make them more interesting for my teenage and young adult students. Therefore, when I hear a song on the radio that I like, I often ask myself how I could use it. For example, just recently, I listened to this song on the radio: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGoCtJzPHkU
It is a well-known song and most of my students will have heard it before, but I cannot but wonder if they get all the little nuances in it. Moreover, I ask myself what exactly the song is about and what led to it being written. I believe that everything creative that comes out of people surely needs a reason, an event, something behind it that triggers it and it will inevitably portray the world we live in. Wondering about it, with scarce background information that I usually have, my imagination flies. Most of the time, this is what I want my students to do as well: wonder, think, rethink, invent and adapt. With this particular song, regardless of what structures and words it contains, I would propose a lesson similar to this (there will always be variations depending on the group and similar circumstances).
Step 1
I play the song as the students are entering the classroom and are not yet focusing on lesson, the song or me. This is a good time to see how many of the students know or even like the song and depending on what I see, I decide how far I need to go into the lyrics. For the purpose of this lesson, they will only need to understand the lyrics of the chorus anyway, so if I see the students singing along at this part, it should be ok.
Step 2
At the beginning of the actual lesson, without replaying the song, I ask them if they know it and what it is about. This is a good speaking practice for those who know the song and at the same time a good listening practice for those who do not. If I see that they do not know the song well enough or have troubles understanding the words, I play the chorus of the song with on screen lyrics. Something like this:
http://viewrz.com/video/titanium-chorus
Step 3
Most of my students (including me when I first read it) will not know the word ricochet. I let them search for the definition through their phones or computers and those who are faster in this task always like to explain it to the rest. Then we talk about how they can understand the lyrics and the fact that they do not need to only consider the obvious literal meaning.
I invite them to share some situations for which the chorus would be appropriate.
Step 4
I put the students into groups of 3 to 5 and have groups come up with a story that ends with a character singing this song at the end of it.
They share the stories either orally or in writing, depending on what they need to practice more. If I have access to a computer for each group, I have them write the stories in a Gdoc, so that they can do the reading for homework and we can share the stories online as well.
This lesson is easily adaptable to the different levels, it draws on students' experiences and imagination and in my experience, almost everybody will be included and active during such a class. The use of technology is optional and again depending on what is available and how skilled the students are in using the resources available. I monitor and help wherever needed, either pointing out problem areas or encouraging them to find better vocabulary in dictionaries or online or use the structures we covered earlier.
Almost any song can be used in a similar way. If you monitor your own thoughts while listening to a song and notice the ideas it gives you and the questions it raises, you will be able to find the most natural ways to use it. In this respect it is probably better if you are a non native speaker teacher, as you probably have many more questions while listening – be it not catching all the words while listening or not understanding a part of the lyrics or getting all meanings of the words used.
If you are interested in more, you can find a collection of similar lessons on my website http://lessonswithmusic.com. If you find it useful, feel free to comment as well, I appreciate any feedback.
Kanel, K. (1997). Teaching with Music: A Comparison of Conventional Listening Exercises with Pop Song Gap-fill Exercises, JALT Journal, 19, 217–234. Retrieved 6.8.2013 from http://jalt-publications.org/jj/articles/
Kramer, D. J. (2001). A blueprint for teaching foreign languages and cultures through music in the classroom and on the Web. ADFL Bulletin, 33(1), 29-35.
Ludke, K. M., Ferreira F., Overy K. (2013). Singing can facilitate foreign language learning. Memory & Cognition, DOI: 10.3758/s13421-013-0342-5
Medina, S.L. (2002), Using Music to Enhance Second Language Acquisition: From Theory to Practice, as appeared in Lalas, J. & Lee, S. (2002). Language, Literacy,and Academic Development for English language Learners. PearsonEducational Publishing retrieved 7.8. 2013 from
www.scribd.com/doc/48535797/
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http://hdl.handle.net/1808/8026
Murphey, T. (1992). The Discourse of Pop Songs. TESOL Quarterly, 26(4), 770-774.
Retrieved 15.7.2013 from http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3586887
Orlova, N. (2003). Helping Prospective EFL Teachers Learn How to Use Songs in Teaching ConversationClasses. The Internet TESL Journal, IX(3). Retrieved 05.06.2013 from
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Orlova-Songs.html
Sun, S.W. & Lull, J. (1986), The Adolescent Audience for Music Videos and Why They Watch. Journal of Communication, 36: 115–125. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1986.tb03043.x
Stansell, J. W. (2005). The Use of Music for Learning Languages: A Review of the Literature. retrieved 15.8.2013 from
http://mste.illinois.edu/courses/ci407su02/students/stansell/Literature%20Review%201.htm
Whittaker, F. (1981). Singing in ESL with songs for the grammar class. Honolulu, ERIC Clearinghouse
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Methodology & Language for Secondary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Teaching Advanced Students course at Pilgrims website.
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