A Different Use for French Songs in the Classroom

Richard J. Melpignano

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ABSTRACT A pedagogical resource that has not been investigated in depth but which has great potential fo r helping to develop students’ aural comprehension of French Ij. the transcription of song lyrics. Through a rigorously controlled process, the instructor, by using songs, can help to minimize the obstacles encountered by students trying to understand rapid spoken French. The method is simple and adaptable to third and fourth level students who have already attained a certain level of mastery of French grammar but whose aural com- prehension is limited to taped exercises and to the in- structor’s slow, deliberate speech. The transcription of song lyrics is admittedly a challenging exercise, but it is one which provides the needed practice for compre- hending spoken conversational French.

“La chanson est un phknomkne de civilisation trks important de notre temps. En dehors m&me de tous crittres de qualitk, il n’y a qu’A voir la fagon dont les disques se vendent. Dans les pays francophones, beaucoup de gens baignent dans un univers sonore ou, en grande partie, rtgne la chanson. Ceux qui ont leur transistor en per- manence h l’6coute de Luxembourg, Europe 1, etc., ingurgitent de la chanson, de toute qualit6 d‘ailleurs, sans arr&t. Donc, d’un simple point de vue civilisationnel, indkpendamment de tout crittre esthktique, faire faire une tcoute, au be- soin critique, des chansons, c’est contribuer h rendre compte de ce qu’est I’univers verbal du Frangais moyen d’aujourd‘hui.”’

Richard J. Melprgnono (Ph.D , Universlty of Connecticut) fs Visttlng Lec- turer in French at Frarnlngham State College, Frarningharn, Massachusetts.

French songs are played in the classroom, explained by the instructor (summaries of the lyrics, some infor- mation on the singer(s), distribution of the lyrics to the students, etc.), and perhaps analyzed for grammar, vocabulary, and cultural vignettes.2 Since songs are a major aspect of French civilization, they should not be relegated to an end of the week reward for having made it through the relative pronouns, or neglected in favor of more “serious” activities -poetry, novels, theater. A truly interesting and rewarding activity for the classroom does not concern only the cultural content or the musical qualities of songsperse, but rather the exact transcription of the lyrics by the students, a sort of dictke set to music. Excluded, too, is any attempt to cor- relate content with literary texts. The exercise described pertains solely to the acquisition of a skill-listening comprehension. This activity, however, should be at- tempted only with students who have attained an ad- vanced level of ability in understanding French spoken at normal speed (news broadcasts, for example), and whose grammatical acumen has been demonstrated. Beginners or intermediate students, unless they are ex- ceptional, become discouraged quickly when they try to understand song lyrics. This is a difficult and challeng- ing exercise, even in one’s native language at times, but it is one from which students derive immense satisfac- tion. This activity should be used, therefore, with students in advanced conversation courses or with those preparing to spend time in a French-speaking country. The practice will be invaluable, for they will want to listen to and comprehend popular songs on the radio.

The pedagogical benefits of transcribing song lyrics are obvious:

(1) First and foremost, the student improves his or her ability to understand spoken French. One will object that people do not normally speak in song lyrics; however, certain aspects of lyrics, especially modern

Foreign Language Annals, No. 6 , 1980 455

456 FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS

rock lyrics, are predominant in everyday speech; for example, the disappearance of whole syllables, the dropping of [ a J . One of the major complaints of our students after their first contact with native speakers on a street or in a restaurant is: “But they speak so fast!”) Apart from some difficulty with vocabulary and regionalisms, a principal con- tributing factor to incomplete comprehension is that the speakers are unaware that they are not respon- ding like the textbook dialogues or like the careful enunciators on commercially prepared tapes. The problems arise when students cannot recognize eas- ily such phenomena as the omission of syllables or the standard suppression of ne in everyday collo- quial speech. Most modern rock lyrics are excellent examples of these phenomena.

(2) In most popular songs the vocabulary is up to date and of high frequency. And what is even more im- portant for the student attempting to transcribe lyrics, the words are often repeated within the songs, especially in those songs with refrains. A caveat is in order here. It is wise to choose songs which do not contain too much argot (for example, many by Pierre Perret and Renaud SCchan). Even the best students will experience difficulty trying to identify these words. A judicious dosage of argot, however, does help to increase vocabularies.

(3) One of the most challenging and difficult human ac- tivities is eavesdropping on a conversation in a crowded restaurant or subway car. We must make an effort to filter out the background noise in order to undertand what is being said. Listening to and transcribing song lyrics is excellent practice for this activity. Whereas we cannot ask our neighbor in the restaurant or subway to repeat what he or she said, however, we can play a song over and over, gradu- ally training our ears to eliminate the crashing of cymbals, the beat of drums, the crescendos, etc.

(4) As they proceed with the transcription of the lyrics, the students become aware of the importance of grammatical structures and of their value in deter- mining a word or words that seem incomprehen- sible. These mystery words often reveal their secrets when placed in the context of the verse. Of course, this does not always work, but it does often enough to prove its value.

Before asking the students to transcribe an entire song, have them complete two preliminary stages. As the first stage in the exercise, play the song for them, asking them to jot down any words they recognize. Play the song a second and a third time. More words should then become recognizable. As the second stage in the process, prepare a fill-in-the-blank text, leaving spaces for selected words - vocabulary, verbs, elements of liaison, elision, enchainements. (As preparation for this stage, the students could work in small groups with Paul Pimsleur’s Le Ponf S ~ n o r e , ~ Troisikme Partie, in which lexical comprehension is developed.) As they progress with the skill, the students will be working with longer

and more frequent blanks. Eventually they will be ready for the transcription of a different song.

Preparing songs for transcription is technically a sim. ple process. Transfer the song from the record to a cassette tape. (For those unfamiliar with the method, any hi-fi store can help. The patch cord can be pur- chased for a dollar or two, and cassette tapes are relatively inexpensive.) With a cassette player/recorder it is easier to start and stop the song. Some machines have a convenient pause button.

Here are a few suggestions concerning the use of songs as dictkeses: in the beginning use slow songs. We do not want to discourage the students by bombarding their ears with what may seem to them an incom- prehensible garble. As they become more adept at iden- tifying lyrics, they can attempt more rapid songs. If possible, use the French version of an American or British song. Students are quite curious about foreign versions of familiar material. If you have access to any Canadian radio stations- CKAC, 73AM in Montreal, for example - you can tape several of the frequently played French versions of popular American songs, along with the disk jockey’s introductions. For the first four or five diclees, short songs with a lot of repetition should be used. Once they have correctly transcribed a verse, the students feel that they have accomplished something when they can recognize the same words later in the song. Make sure that the recordings is clear: too much static or muffled voices make a challenging activi- ty an impossible one. It is difficult enough to distinguish between [p] and [b], between [k] and [d], for example, without exterior interference. Three or four students working together on the same song are usually suc- cessful in identifying lyrics. What one student misses, another will probably understand. These musical dicfkes are therefore a very good small group activity. After they have completed the transcription (verified with the original that the instructor has made), the students should be allowed to present the song to !he class as a whole, giving a summary of the lyrics (copies to be distributed to class members in advance), and perhaps offering some information on the singer or group.

For those instructors who are not familiar with many of the recent recording stars in France and their songs, a short selective list of records is included at the end of the article. In order to facilitate the task of finding these recordings here in the United States, the labels on which the songs have been recorded along with the year of their release are included. The speed of the song-slow, medium, fast-and the relative difficulty of its trans- cription for students (fourth and fifth year for high school and third and fourth for college) are added. Needless to say, this highly selective list represents only a small fraction of French songs produced yearly and naturally reflects the author’s own taste in contem- porary music. The list is offered only as an aid to those instructors who would like to attempt a transcription in their classes. Copies of the lyrics are available to anyone who does not have the time to do the transcriptions if he or she sends a self-addressed stamped envelope to the

DECEMBER 1980 457

ARTIST

Gilbert Becaud Gilbert Becaud Jacques Brel Eric Charden

Joe Dassin Joe Dassin Michel Delpech Johnny Hallyday Johnny Hallyday Franqoise Hardy Serge Lama Serge Lama Gerard Lenorman Gerard Lenorman Enrico Macias

Mireille Mathieu Michel Sardou Michel Sardou Laurent Voulzy

TITLE

L’Indifference Je reviens te chercher Quand on n’a que I’amour Joue contre joue, seize ans, seize ans Le Ch%teau de sable Et si tu n’existais pas Le Loir et Cher Douce Violence La Fille a qui je pense La Maison ou j’ai grandi Le Dernier Baiser Je t’aime a la folie Un Ami Michele Malheur a celui qui blesse un enfant Moi c’est la chanson En Chantant La Maladie d’amour Rockollection

YEAR

1977 1967 1960 1977

1977 1975 1977 1963 1966 1966 1977 1975 1977 1976 1975

1973 1978 1973 1977

LABEL

Pathe Columbia Impact Disco

CBS CBS Barclay Impact Impact Vogue Phonogram Philips CBS CBS Philips

Polydor Trema Trema RCA

SPEED

slow slow medium medium

medium Flow fast slow slow Flow medium slow medium medium medium

medium medium slow fast

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY

medium medium easy difficult

medium easy difficult easy easy easy difficult easy medium easy medium

medium easy easy difficult5

author, indicating which songs are requested. Each issue of Salut!, now appearing weekly, contains the lyrics to several recently released hit songs. Lyrics can also be purchased from the following company: Service Distri- bution Musicale, 20 rue du Croissant, 75002 Paris.

If the songs chosen for transcription are not too dif- ficult, and if the students feel that the exercise is a major part of the course and not just a frill, then the transcrip- tion of song lyrics can be of invaluable aid in under- standing spoken French.

NOTES I . Rent Kochmann, Le Fruncais duns le monde, 131 (aoOt-septembre

1977), 17.

2. See William D. Leith, “Advanced French Conversation through Popular Music,” The French Review, 52 (1979), 537-51. The emphasis of the article is on the use of songs to develop conversational skills while the emphasis of the present article is on the development of listening com- prehension.

3. See the article by Thkrkse M. Bonin, “The Role of Colloquial French in Communication and Implications for Foreign Language Instruction,” The Modern Languuge Journal, 62 (1978). 90.102.

4. Le Ponl Sonore: une mtlhode pour comprendre le frunporr purl4 (Chicago: Rand McNally Publishing Company, 1974).

5 . See the article by Leith for a longer list of records

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