TEFL Langfang

My research article assignment will be on teaching esl students songs in the classroom and show if it is a creative tool for learning a new language, or just another random exercise that we use in the classroom to fill in time. My first question would be is listening to popular music a good way to learn english as a second language? This question was asked to me by an intermediate student of mine a few years ago. She obviously enjoyed listening to music and needed to know what my answer was on this matter. At that very moment I was afraid to give her my personal view because students often look for credible information and I felt that at that moment I was not prepared to give her my answer due to lack of experience and no evidence to back whatever statements I would have made. Before I give you my clear answer to what I told her, this question puzzled me enough that I began to use songs in my classroom in search of a mystery that needed to be solved. I’ve read that songs are an important part of people’s everyday life. Who doesn’t enjoy music at home, while traveling or studying, or even at work? Language teachers can use songs to open or close their lessons, to illustrate themes and topics, to add variety or a change of pace, present new vocabulary or recycle known language. But how do songs actually benefit your students? One writer asks; well for some teachers using songs in the classroom reinforces grammar points or helps to teach students vocabulary and expressions. In Shelly Vernon’s article “young learners” she wrote how many english songs require too large a vocabulary to be suitable for beginner esl students and also that some songs may have inappropriate content for children (some cultural consideration would be sought in these cases). Regarding these two obstacles you have to look at the speed at which the song is normally played and how complex the melody is. These are songs that can be used to practice particular grammar points. Some text books spend enormous amount of time on particular topics and creating new activities may become challenging so songs are something you can turn to. Using songs in esl classes has become quite common. For instance, when teaching the present perfect tense, songs such as U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and Queen’s “We Are the Champions” may be appropriate. Students are unlikely to grasp the entire meaning of the song, but giving a brief summary or including the translation would be beneficial. When using songs, it is common to have a worksheet where students must fill in certain words. For this present perfect lesson, you can remove the present perfect verbs altogether and have students try to fill in the blanks with appropriate words. If this is too challenging, including the present tense of each verb will assist students immensely. Teaching songs can also be useful in class discussion. This type of activity would be suitable for more advanced learners. You can use a song such as “Summer of 69” by Bryan Adams for this purpose. Initially, have students listen to the song and complete a fill in the blank exercise. Listening to the song several times would be needed, but once the answers have been checked, have the students read the lyrics trying to understand the meaning of the song. teachers can ask general questions to test comprehension. If you are not exactly sure what kinds of questions will be suitable you can start off with very simple ones such as “Is this a happy song?” If they say ‘No’ ask them why not? This can lead into a discussion about people’s indifference. There are several benefits in using english songs for children learning esl; - It enhances language skills - Language in context - Repetition without the tedious work - Fluency and natural english - Multiple Intelligence - Enjoyment is always motivating! - esl songs are non-threatening and confidence building Other advantages; - Songs promote listening exercise-practices through different specific tasks. - They are a nice way to introduce a topic, grammar structures. - They are useful to reinforce studied linguistic functions. - They promote the practice of pronunciation, intonation and stress. - They are a good way to introduce, practice, and review vocabulary. - They are useful to practice writing. - They enrich the knowledge of cultural features. - They are a way of developing language skills. Here are a few disadvantages to expect when teaching songs to students in english. - Students might consider this type of experiences as “not being serious”. - Students disagree about which songs to use. - Can be disturbing to other classes. - Some students do not like to sing/can be embarrassing doing it in front of their classmates. - Students just want to listen, not learn. - Lack of equipment or malfunctioning. In the past 3 years I have often used music as a part of my teaching philosophy. I found that students, including myself, have such a great time with this form of activity and plus we learn from each other about our singing capabilities, teamwork, and a sense of gathering information on songs and their lyrics. Using music in my classroom-- What we did: I chose songs with lyrics sung at a moderate rate. Students listened to the song for overall understanding. I asked the students what the overall meaning was. I gave the students the song lyrics in cloze format (some words were left out and replaced by blank spaces). Students listened to the song again, filling in the missing words. We went over new vocabulary. We discussed grammatical elements within the song. We looked at non standard words in the song. What the students discovered: - Had some trouble listening to pop music. - Popular music is sometimes ungrammatical. Therefore, by singing along students may be practicing incorrect grammar. - Pop music uses some non standard forms (gonna, wanna, ain’t, kinda, etc…) that should not be used in formal or business interactions. With having acknowledged all this, I still found that students saw pop music to be very amusing, interesting and uplifting. They too said it was an enjoyable way to learn english. In conclusion, the final answer I gave my student was that it can be a great way to learn english once it’s done in the right and proper way with a purpose in mind. Most of my previous students loved to learn english songs and would rather have this as their main curriculum than to study in their textbook. After many years of teaching my kindergarten students the song “You Are My Sunshine”, they have now gone on to graduate into the third grade, always singing that english song that was so familiar to them. I guess Mr. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet and educator, was true to his word when he stated “Music is the universal language of mankind”. Works cited Vernon, Shelly. young learners: english Songs for children in the esl Classroom. tefl.net. Using Music in the esl Classroom. My english Club. (www.englishclub.com/teaching-tips/music-classroom.htm).