| Creative Teaching Ideas... |
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When I was an ESL teacher in Brooklyn, N.Y., I had an idea to capture the attention and imagination of my often restless students. I brought popular music into the classroom and taught language through their song lyrics. I myself had used music to learn another language and knew it worked.
When I was a junior in college, I studied for a year in Florence, Italy. Upon my arrival that year, I knew just a few Italian phrases. But I remember being very motivated to learn Italian through popular Italian music. I was bored by meaningless classroom material in the text books. I was fascinated by Italy's lifestyle and viewed it's music as an intriguing reflection of the culture. So I learned Italian mostly by watching "Video Musica" on Italian television. I spent hours trying to learn the lyrics to popular Italian songs. I remember asking my Italian friends what each song was about and tried with frustration to understand and sing to the music. By the end of my year in Florence, I knew how to sing all of my favorite Italian pop and rock songs!
So when I was an ESL teacher in Brooklyn, I began using this method with great results. I now use the music method in Italy for the Live & Learn Italian Program, as well. I have chosen popular classic tunes from great American and Italian artists that reflect the culture in which they were written. It is an entertaining, fun and great way to learn another language as well as another culture. The songs have interesting themes and messages, not to mention nices rythm and beats. It is a great way to learn and remember new words. |
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| Hit the Learning Language Thru Music link. It details the process of learning language through music in lesson plan format. Then check out the pop song in the Song Lessons link. You will see a lot of interesting words with a great discussion theme. What I regularly do is spend a few hours on each song in a systematic way. I provide regular listening, speaking, reading and writing exercises that deal with the lyrics and theme of the song. Students get to enjoy popular music and forget they're even learning language. |
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| Learning through Songs and Music |
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Introduction:
One universal love and passion is music. It is a fascinating and intregal part of every culture. There isn't any culture that does not enjoy listening to and singing to music. The purpose of this method is to teach language through music and it's song lyrics. This method utilizes everyone's love of music and incorporates it into the classroom. It is a fun and lively way to learn language, as well as being extrememly effective. Listening to the song and it's lyrics are the focal point, where all language learning and acquisition follow. The songs are used for their most valuable learning resources; vocabulary development and discussion of the song's message and theme. But most importantly it's a sheerly entertaining way to learn. My Song Lessons are music based activities for Junior High School to College students of a foreign language (English and Italian) at the intermediate to advanced levels. It includes speaking, singing, reading and writing excercises, as well as listening activities. All four methods of language acquisition are developed from the song's lyrics and it's interesting social theme. |
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I have carefully selected songs with positive, interesting and meaningful messages which are of great social value today. Each song deals with a vital human interest or current social issue which is used as a springboard for discussion, reading and writing activities. It is designed to appeal to the student's emotions, thereby motivating students to learn and talk about the theme of the song. This ultimately leads to valuable vocabulary development. The teaching techniques used are primarily the communicative approach and value clarification. The songs deals with such topics of current cultural interest as love and romance, family relationships, friendship, marriage, loneliness, popularity, youth, old age, developing, self esteem, etc. The songs are a primary reflection of American or Italian culture and are thereby meaningful to all. The songs are ultimately used to stimulate discussion and communication and are a great way know and understand the culture.
Each Song with it's activities lasts for about a week of class time, or at least a few hours. The exercises and activities utilize all four stages of language acquisition or learning. Here is an explanation of each activity that goes along with the song. |
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Pre- Song Motivation-
Students get ready by exploring the topic or them of the song. The questions in this section stimulate classroom discussion so students relate the topic to their own experiences. This peaks students interest in the upcoming song.
Vocabulary Exercises-
In the vocabulary review, unfamiliar vocabulary words are singled out and defined. Students define the vocabulary words themselves by choosing from a multiple choice format. Afterwards, the Vocabulary Discussion Questions are a list of personaized questions using the new vocabulary, thus enabling students to apply it creatively.
Reading or Singing & Listening Activites-
By hearing and reading the actual lyrics, students will develop an understanding of the song, the way the artist intended. Students not only read the vocabulary in context but they hear it as well. By hearing the music along with reading the lyrics, students acquire language more quickly. The words are set to a beat that allows them to be more easily remembered. This theory or method is best known as the "Jingle Theory". One remembers more easily if the words and message are set to music. |
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Post Song Comprehension Questions-
The comprehension questions test the student's understanding of the content of the song. It encourages the student to review the song analytically, to better understand the meaning and message of the artist. Comprehension questions immediately follow the song and include questions that require factual as well as analytical answers.
Discussion of Song Theme-
The discussion section encourages students to analyze and talk about the ideas and themes in each song. The questions are designed to encourage students to communicate their personal beliefs and feelings with classmates. It also provokes them to reflect upon and discuss their own conflicting values. This section uses value clarification techniques which enable students to gain valuable insight and perspective into their own personalities and culture. It encourages students to compare values with those of classmates with different points of view. They may develop more personal insight and cultural awareness. They will begin to notice cultural similarities and differences. It encourages students to open up their minds to new ways of thinking and allows students to learn from each other's differences. Because there are no correct answers to value clarification, questions students realize that there are no wrong answers. As a result they gain confidence and concentrate on using English for sheer discussion purposes. This ultimately results in accelerated language acquisition. Moreover, value clarification leads to self discovery and awareness of personal potential. |
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Writing Exercises-
The writing exercises are a series of questions designed to personalize the song to the students. The questions encourage students to reflect upon the message of the song. They stimulate their imagination and interest in the theme of the song. The writing exercises take the discussion questions a step further and actually allow students to express themselves on paper. Ultimately students are able to take personal pride in their writing since it is centered around their own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, creative insights and ideas. Nothing is more meaningful to a student than relating the subject matter to themselves personally. They will be keeping a priceless journal of their own ideas and personal stories.
Post Quiz-
Finally, students are tested on their improved knowledge of all four skills; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It is heavily vocabulary oriented and deals with the theme of the song. |
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Copyright 1996
Carla Arban
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