Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Shilai Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Tai'an Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.
Music is a huge part of our everyday lives. Music connects us to emotions, cultures and people. By using music in the classroom, it allows for student to use songs they are familiar with and unfamiliar with to understand different things related to the language they are learning. There are several benefits to using songs in the classroom. The benefits include introducing the students to a variety of new vocabulary, grammar and cultural aspects can be introduced through songs, lyrics can be used to relate to situations around the world and songs allow the students to have fun while learning (Lynch, n.d). Songs contain a lot of great information. Often times when we are singing a song we know the words, but we do not understand the words. By using songs in the classroom, we are able to take that vocabulary and explain what it means and provide context of how the words are usually used. Often times this could be used when introducing the class to a new topic or a new part of speech. An example of this would the song be Old MacDonald had a Farm. This song introduces different animals, introduces what a farm is, and it introduces sounds that the animals make. To young learners, this song usually resembles a game of some sort, so they tend to not realize that they are learning. I find that using songs is usually beneficial for students because they are interested from the beginning especially if they are familiar with the song and they are a lot more engaged. Grammar and cultural aspects can be introduced through songs. Grammar can be introduced by allowing the students to identify the different parts of speech and possible try to replace the parts of speech with other similar parts of speech that could change or keep the song the same. You may use a song to introduce adjectives and have the students identify all adjectives and replace the adjectives to change the meaning. Songs can be used to introduce people to different cultural aspects or popular sayings used in different cultures. For example, the song It’s Raining Men, without prior knowledge a student can be confused about the meaning of the song. This allows for idioms and metaphors to be introduced to class. It guides them to understand that not all things said are literal and sometime words can be used to help other visualize or have a better understanding of what they are experiencing or what they want the listener to understand. Lastly, songs can be used to relate people to situations around the world and bring awareness to important topics that may be often overlooked. For example, the song We are the World was a song that was written and performed to bring awareness to the famine in Africa. This song was not only recognized worldwide but it was able to unite the world and allow everyone to work together to help an important cause. In the classroom this could be beneficial when introducing different economic situations. In closing, the use of songs in the classroom can bring added benefits for students and the teachers. It allows for use of authentic material and provides access to real world information and situations. Reference: Lynch, L. (n.d.). 9 Reasons Why You Should Use Songs to Teach EFL. Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://www.eslbase.com/teaching/using-songs-to-teach-efl
