Humanising Language Teaching
Year 1; Issue 6; October 1999
"Music at the International Center for Accelerative Learning"
Music for ESL. EFL and Language Courses
Libyan Labiosa and Chris Driscoll
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A glance at a watch is simply a sign that the students have arrived at slight anxiety. It is a brief stay as the teachers voice is soon to come. When teachers advance through the intermediate and advanced levels, their classes take on a seamless appearance and the pauses associated with slips into entropy disappear. When teachers have reached this level they are invoking the power of music as a co-teacher. Music provides the link similar to the passing of a baton in a relay race. Whether the teacher is transitioning from one activity to another, or from herself to a co-teacher, proper use of music hands the students attention off from one flow structure to another, without missing a BEAT!
Positive reinforcement is the language of the ICAL classroom. Using music as a timer replaces controlling statements like, “Stop working and come back to the group,” and “Quiet down.” Instead, the order of events seems natural to the students because the music has enabled them to “resonate with the schedule”. Inherent order and rhythm are established by the end of the first half-day. Thereafter, the intention associated with the music selected for various functions, has its affect immediately. For example, when the teacher finishes preluding an activity and the activity music is turned on, the students immediately head for the art tables to collect their supplies for the activity. Throughout the activity-preparation phase the music plays. When the allocated time has passed, the teacher lowers the music and begins the decode without having to usher everyone back together. Instead, the lowering of the music cues everyone and the group re-forms.
The music played to start and end sections has a similar effect. The opening piece is upbeat and it welcomes the students back to the “party”. The same type of music is played at the end of the day to provide closure and escort the students out the door. ICAL encourages students to take a 30-minute break every 90 minutes. Optimally, the students spend this time outside of the classroom. This gives them the opportunity to refuel and reflect. If, on the other hand, students spent their break in the classroom, the tendency would be toward the living-room effect. This effect occurs when students use the classroom as a break-room and begin to lounge about. In order to maintain the suggestion of the environment as a lively and creative space, breaks are taken out of the room. Still, it's tricky to “invite” a student to leave the safe environment. So again, music does the inviting. The volume of break music is slightly higher than at any other time. This resonates with the students and literally ushers them out. It's not so loud that the students are chased out. It's only slightly louder so the result is a suggestion.
Break, entrance, and exit music make use of the lyrics in songs for foreshadowing and review. ICAL's library includes music from a wide variety of international artists. We take approximately 300 CD's to every project because no song, or piece of music, is played twice. The wide array of artists have at least one thing in common, all have produced songs with a positive outlook. Two good examples of the singers heard during foreshadowing and review are Desiree and Van Morrison. Desiree's song “Gotta be” is played as students return from break for a section which includes self esteem activities. Lyrics like “Ya gotta be bold,” and “Ya gotta stick together,” foreshadow the section and suggest a perspective to the students. When the self esteem activities are presented to the students, they are subconsciously expecting them. They explore the content of the activity freely and with greater depth because the music has helped to open the door.
The same section on self esteem ends with Van Morrison's “Did you get healed” or “Till we get the healing done”. Each of these songs contains lyrics that address the ever evolving self. When played as the students exit after the personal reflection activities, students take their discoveries with them because the music provides a melodic review of what they've recently explored.
We were recently conducting our intensive Vision Quest tutorial with a CEO in Europe. The activities brought the student through the history of his organization and asked him to feel the organization's evolution and his role in it. The Vision Quest experience focuses on the individual's role in the company, their company's role in the world, and the resulting effect on everything else. It's a day of deep searching resulting in extraordinary insights. At the close of this day, we played “Good Riddance, time of your life” by Green Day. The song opens with the lyrics, “Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road,” and moves to “So make the best of this test..” Sitting across from the CEO we could see in his eyes that the music had provided a perfect review and foreshadowing. He exited as Green Day provided our parting words, “I hope you had the time of your life.”
- Libyan Labiosa is CEO of the International Center for Accelerative Learning
- Chris Driscoll is COO/CFO of the International Center for Accelerative Learning
