Using songs in teaching English.

Using songs in teaching English is unquestionably very natural, very scientific.

Teaching alphabet to a child through song more effectively than offer to learn it by heart. Child picks them up faster and memorizes them better. This is the precise reason that rhymes and verses are the chief modes of teaching the basics - both numerical lessons and linguistic lessons to a child in the early years of life. Actually, the melody echoes in the child's mind and the child soon grows familiar with the music and with the accompanying word or number. There are yet other, more valid reasons for using songs in teaching English. Songs are generally a real source of authentic language and since a large fraction of the world populace listens to English songs, it will be more fun than hard work for the learners to acquire mastery in English if, as a teacher, you try using songs in teaching English . As said, songs are a powerful means of teaching English and you can use songs as a classroom activity to enrich your students' English vocabulary, to improve their grammar and accents. Using songs in teaching English can be very effective, provided you are quite selective with the songs. Choose songs that are good to listen to - not a loud, earsplitting background score overlapping the singer's voice, rather soft renderings with each word, each syllable being clearly articulated. Equal emphasis should also be laid on the theme of a song. However, choose songs that your students can associate with. Go for plain, simple language; avoid songs that have slang and cultural references or else you'll have a tough time in the classroom. Whilst using songs in teaching English to young learners, stick to songs that involve them both physically and mentally. Some surefire classroom activities using songs in teaching English are as follows:

Fill-in-blanks is the most popular classroom activity. However, this is not as simple as handing out worksheets full of gaps to students. We can omit the rhyming words or adjectives, etc. but whatever do needs to be properly planned.

Spotting the mistakes is another game that can be involved students in. Change a few words (not more than 8 to 10) in the lyrics and asking students to correct them as they listen to the song. Here again, we will have to choose the words sensibly. A nice idea will be providing the antonyms. We can use synonyms in case we are using songs in teaching English to adult learners. Translation and interpretation of songs inherent meaning, the use of various symbols, etc. nurture creativity in students; composing follow-up verses for a song is an equally effective task for higher-level students.

Filling in the blanks

Songs are often used in this way in the ESL classroom. We can carefully choose which words to blank out depending on what lexical area we want our students to work on.

Listening Comprehension

Instead of doing your usual listening comprehension out of the course books, do a song instead. Getting students thinking about the subject and doing any pre-teaching of vocabulary as necessary. As with standard listening comprehension, there are a variety of exercises that we can do with songs: true or false, matching exercises, open comprehension questions, etc.

Phonetics

We can use a song with a clear rhyme pattern to do some phonetics work on particular phonemes. The main reason songs work so well is that many kids are what's called "Musically Intelligent". It simply means that new phrases stick in their memory if it's accompanied by a melody. It's the same thing that happens when you hear the new Madonna song on the radio and can't get it out of your head all day!

But although musical intelligence is very common, some kids are also intelligent in different ways and we have to try and incorporate as many types as we can into the class. So for kids who are more physical we add in gestures and actions for each line of the song. 

 Picture Cards for Each Word or Phrase

Just as some kids are more physical, some learn more visually. More effective than simply writing the lyrics on the board, a colorful picture card to illustrate each lyric is recommended. Now we have actions, melody and pictures for each new word or phrase. Ideally we'd also have a smell for each one, but I think we'll leave that for now, as we have most of the kids learning styles covered!

 By listening to English songs, students can hear the native pronunciation of words. It improves their ability of hearing the language.

How can teachers use the material effectively? Murphey suggests the following

activities that teachers can do with students when teaching English through popular

songs:

- study grammar

- practice selective listening comprehension

- read songs  for linguistic purposes

- compose songs, articles about songs, letters to singers, questionnaires

- discuss a song

- translate songs

- write dialogues using the words of a song

- use video clips in many ways

- do role-plays (as people in the song, or the artist/interviewer)

- dictate a song

- use a song for gap-fill, cloze, or for correction

- use music for background to other activities

- integrate songs into project work

- energize or relax classes mentally

- practice pronunciation, intonation, and stress

- break the routine

- do choral repetition

- teach vocabulary

- teach culture

- learn about your students and from your students, letting them choose and

explain their music

- have fun

For teaching vocabulary, the most appropriate activities are probably writing

dialogues using the words of a song, dictating a song, using a song for gap-fill, cloze, or for correction, integrating songs into project work, practicing pronunciation, intonation, and stress. However, Murphey stresses that teachers should “be careful not to kill the material by doing too much of serious work , that is why he believes that probably the most important thing to do with a song in an English classroom is just to have fun because it can stimulate very positive associations to the study of a language, which otherwise may only be seen as a laborious task, entailing exams, frustration, and correction".