MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

THE USE OF MUSIC IN TEACHING

ENGLISH

Diploma thesis

Brno 2007

Supervisor: Written by:

Mgr. Jaroslav Such Veronika Rosov

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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION

Rosov, Veronika. The use of music in teaching English: diploma thesis. Brno:

Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and

Literature, 2007. Diploma thesis supervisor Mgr. Jaroslav Such.

ANNOTATION

The diploma thesis deals with the use of music in teaching English. The attention is

paid to songs, mainly focusing on their importance in language teaching both from

theoretical and practical point of view. It is supported by the research the main

subject of which is to find out if music helps to acquire and remember vocabulary.

ANOTACE

Diplomov prce se zabv vyuitm hudby ve vuce anglickho jazyka. Pozornost

je hlavn vnovna psnm, zamujc se hlavn na jejich dleitost ve vuce

jazyka, jak z teoretickho tak praktickho hlediska. Prce je podpoena vzkumem,

jeho hlavnm pedmtem je zjistit, zda hudba pomh s osvojovnm a

zapamatovnm si slovn zsoby.

KEYWORDS

Music, song, teaching, listening, poem

KLOV SLOVA

Hudba, Pse, vyuovn, poslech, bse

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Declaration

I declare that I have written my thesis on my own and that I used the sources listed

in the bibliography. I agree that the work will be kept in the Masaryk University

library for study purposes.

Brno, 10th August 2007. Signature:

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Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to my supervisor Mgr. Jaroslav Such, and I would like to thank

him sincerely for giving me helpful and valuable advice. I appreciate his willingness

to consult my thesis anytime I needed it.

I would also like to thank all the students who took part in my research.

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CONTENTS

Bibliographical description Declaration Acknowledgements

CONTENTS 5 1 INTRODUCTION 7 1.1 Introduction practical point of view 8

2 MUSIC 10 2.1 The term music & songs 10 2.2 Music and its beginning 10 2.3 Definitions of music 11 2.4 Influence of music 11

3 SUGGESTOPAEDIA 13 4 SONGS 14

4.1 What makes a song a song? 14 4.2 Nature of songs 15 4.3 Why introduce songs in the classroom 15 4.4 The importance and the role of songs in language teaching 16 4.4.1 Cultural significance 16 4.4.2 Enjoyable drill 17 4.4.3 Songs as practice material 17 4.4.3.1 The help of songs when learning pronunciation 18 4.4.3.1.1 The help of songs focused on sounds 18 4.4.3.1.2 The help of songs focused on words 19 4.4.3.1.3 The help of songs focused on connected speech19 4.4.4 What can we do with a song in language teaching? 20 .4.5 Taking songs seriously 21

5 LISTENING 23 5.1 What is listening? 23 5.2 The importance of listening 24 5.3 Listening difficulties 25 5.3.1 Listening difficulties stemming from pronunciation 26 5.4 Formal informal speech 27 5.5 Teachers expectations of learners comprehension 27 6 SOME ASPECTS OF PLANNING AND TEACHING A LESSON28 6.1 Planning a lesson 29 6.1.1 Teaching aims 30 6.1.2 Motivation 30 6.1.3 Teaching aids and materials 31 6.1.4 Student groupings 32 6.2 Planning a listening lesson 33 6.3 Some aspects of teaching a listening lesson 33 6.3.1 Listeners expectations 34 6.3.2 Clear instructions 34 6.3.3 Feedback 35 7 POEM 36 7.1 The terms literature, poetry, poem 36

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7.2 Why to teach literature 37 8 MEDINA RESEARCH 39 9 RESEARCH 41 9.1 Parts of the research 41 9.2 Description of researched groups 42 9.3 Planning the research lesson 43 9.4 Results of the first questionnaire 43 9.5 Description of the song lesson experiment 47 9.5.1 Description of the course of song- lesson 49 9.5.2 Results collection of song lesson experiment 50 9.5.3 Results of the second questionnaire 50 9.6 Description of the poem lesson experiment 53 9.6.1 Description of the course of poem lesson 56 9.6.2 Results collection of the poem lesson experiment 57 9.6.2.1 Results of the poem lesson worksheet 57 9.6.2.2 Results of the interview 59 9.7 Comparing the results of song and poem-lesson experiment 60 10 SUMMARY 61 Sources 63 Appendix 1 67 Appendix 2 70 Appendix 3 73 Appendix 4 75 Appendix 5 77 Appendix 6 78 Appendix 7 79 Appendix 8 80 Appendix 9 81 Appendix 10 83 Appendix 11 84 Appendix 12 85 Appendix 13 86

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1. INTRODUCTION

Language is a treasure that enriches my mind.

Music is a treasure that enriches my soul.

Teaching enriches my spirit.

Veronika Rosov

English, music, as well as teaching create a substantial part of my life and

have been its necessary components for many years. Also in the history and the

present of mankind, English, music and teaching represent important areas of human

activity and effort. Their importance, content, character, our attitude to them

likewise their use have developed for centuries and they are still regarded as a

bottomless well of new knowledge, ideas and information. I would like to have a

look into this well and try to find some information and connection concerning the

use of music in teaching English.

There are a lot of ideas, thoughts, and definitions about a language from

different points of view. When I gave it a deep thought, one striking metaphor

crossed my mind. As I wrote in the very first sentence, I consider a language the

most valuable treasure one can possess. Alexander Solzhenitsyns quotation about

language complements my idea splendidly: Own only what you can carry with you:

know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel

bag. 1

Confucius said that music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature

cannot do without. I not only like listening to music, but I also love making music

with the choir at concerts. It is the most pleasant, the most reliable, and the most

effective way how to get straight into humans heart and speak a language everyone

understands. When I ask people when and why they listen to music, their usual

answers are for example: I like listening to music when I feel extremely happy, I

listen to music, while studying because it creates agreeable, and motivating

atmosphere, I listen to music when I want to feel positive, but also I listen to

1 http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2997.html

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music when I am stressed or depressed because it makes me feel calmer, and

relaxed. My answer would be: I listen to music in various situations, and under

different conditions. Shortly, when I want to intensify my feelings or when I want

encouragement. Maybe this is the kind of pleasure Confucius named.

While music enriches my soul, teaching enriches my spirit. It evokes a nice

feeling of being helpful which motivates me incredibly. L. Dee Fink said that

teaching is helping someone else learn.2 If we imagine that a language is the

already mentioned treasure, and learners being treasure hunters, then teaching is

drawing, and providing carefully planned maps for learners, who are led to a certain

aim by the teacher, who should monitor, check if the learners are following the

instructions properly, and mainly help them if they get lost on their way heading for

the wealth of knowledge.

There are plenty of diverse ways how to teach, and learn a language. I would

like to find out if the power of music and its particular use can be one of the useful,

helpful and easily memorable ways how to acquire a language with ease and delight.

In other words if music can help us put the language treasure into the memory

bag.

1.1 INTRODUCTION PRACTICAL POINT OF VIEW

As I mentioned at the very beginning, music has been one of the necessary

components of my life for many years, as I have been singing in a choir for

seventeen years. This experience inspired me with my thesis theme idea.

Every year we sing a lot of new songs, and very often in different languages

such as Latin, Italian, Japanese, Welsh, Finnish, and others. Some of these

languages are difficult, and moreover their pronunciation is also specific and

exacting. Nevertheless, everyone is always able to learn a song without any bigger

problems, and moreover we are usually able to sing a song, which has not been sung

for a couple of years, plus, and that is the point, we remember the lyrics. Of course,

it depends on a few factors, which influence our ability to recall the words, such as

popularity of the song, motivation, choreography, time devoted to rehearsing, and

2 http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/quotes.htm

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finally repetition. These factors played an important role while writing two

questionnaires and drawing up the research.

The first questionnaire consists of eight questions by means of which I

gained some useful information concerning the respondents tastes in music,

singing, and listening. The main goals were to choose the most appropriate song,

and to be sure the students and pupils like singing.

My research resulted from the questionnaire from which I chose a students

favourite song on which one lesson was based. This song was used in various

activities (see 8.5), and the students had the possibility to hear it five times and to

sing it at least twice. This fact has its significant meaning since repetition and

experience (here I mean singing) help with remembering. How much, for how long,

is there likelihood of recalling some words even without music, and can we also talk

about acquisition of some parts of a language? These are the questions I would like

to find the answers to. And since an inspirational idea of comparing a song with a

poem occurred in the course of the research, a poem was also used in various

activities (see 8.6) in one lesson.

From my own experience I know the power of music, and I am aware of

what it does to my mind and memory, yet I do not think I should expect the same

effect on everyone. There are miscellaneous factors that influence the process of

learning, and they will be taken into account when analyzing the research, as well as

the results of the second questionnaire, which serves as a feedback and gathering of

relevant pieces of information. Though I hope there will be enough evidence to

prove that my hypotheses about the ability of music to facilitate learning, and help

acquire vocabulary, are correct and will be tangible.

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2. MUSIC

The very first section of the first chapter describes the terms song and music

in the way I will be using them in my thesis to avoid misunderstandings. In the

second section we will have a look at the beginning of music and the word music

proceeding with the possible definitions of music. Whilst the last section draws

attention to the influence of music and its use, the second chapter focuses on

suggestopaedia.

2.1 THE TERMS MUSIC SONGS

Throughout this thesis you will see the terms songs and music. They will be

used in the same way as in the book Songs in Action, written by Dale T. Griffee,

who defined them as follows: The word songs refers to pieces of music that have

words, especially popular songs such as those one hears on the radio. By music is

meant instrumental music, for example, symphonic, chamber, easy listening, or solo

instruments such as the organ, flute or guitar ( p. 3).

2.2 MUSIC AND ITS BEGINNING

A beginning is one of the most significant parts of everything that exists, and

that is happening around us, which moreover has some kind of reason. Since music

is an inseparable component of our lives, let us have a look at its beginning both

from the contentual and lexical viewpoint.

Speculation on the beginnings of music is endlessly fascinating, but no

certainty is ever likely to come of it. The first musical utterances in prehistoric times

were imitations of bird songs or other natural noises; they were formalized signals

of love, battle, or the hunt; they were rhythmic poundings on a hollow log or

vocalization more song than speech and possibly preceding both (E. Borroff, p. 3).

The word music comes from the Greek mousik (tekhn) by way of the Latin

musica. It is ultimately derived from mousa, the Greek word for muse. In ancient

Greece, the word mousik was used to mean any of the arts or sciences governed by

the Muses. Later, in Rome, ars musica embraced poetry as well as instrument

oriented music.3

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_music

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2.3 DEFINITIONS OF MUSIC

This topic is quite a tricky one, however, it is important enough to be

mentioned here. The perception of music and a definition coming from it vary from

country to country, from nation to nation, from person to person and from language

to language. In some languages there is even no word that would be translated as

music. Socrates said: I know that I know nothing. We also will know that we do

not know anything certain about a definition of music as there is not any unique

definition in the world.

In the following examples we can see the great disunity of opinions relating

to what music is. Wynton Marsalis said that music is sound organized in time.4

Michael Linton perceives music as the organization of sound and silence into forms

that carry culturally derived meanings, cultivated for aesthetic or utilitarian

purposes (ibid.). Gottfried W. Leibnitz considered music as nothing but

unconscious arithmetic (ibid.). According to Luciano Berio music is everything

one listens to with the intention of listening to music (ibid.). The Encyclopedia

Britannica offers a broader definition:

Music is an art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expression, usually according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody, and, in most Western music, harmony. Music most often implies sounds with distinct pitches that are arranged into melodies and organized into patterns of rhythm and metre. Music is an art that, in one guise or another, permeates every human society. It is used for such varied social purposes as ritual, worship, coordination of movement, communication, and entertainment.5

I would like to conclude this paragraph with Jean-Jacques Nattiezs

definition of music that summarizes concisely this paragraph: By all accounts there

is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be.6

2.4 INFLUENCE OF MUSIC

The first of the six medicine-mens rules says that the sound is the principle

of everything. They used special drums and rattles to influence their bodies. The

sound influences breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, releases muscular stress,

influences body temperature, and increases endorfin level.

Music as one of the neuroleptic factors reduces the signs of nervousness of

children and teenagers by 30%. Music is used therapeutically, in psychiatry, 4 http://bigoldamp.squarespace.com/music-quotes/ 5 http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9110117/music 6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_music

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pediatrics and child psychiatry. With the aid of music neuroses and function failure

(stammer, dyslexia, dysgraphia) are cured. (www.dk-studio.net)

Mood music is very popular now, whether in the dentists surgery to relax

us, or in shopping centres to encourage us to buy. Heart surgeons now use music to

relax operating teams during long and stressful operations. In one London hospital

women can listen to music during childbirth to relax them.(T. Murphey, p. 37)

One of the most common examples, yet among the most prominent is the use

of music in films. It forms an essential part, which should evoke the atmosphere of a

particular situation, and mainly corresponding feelings such as calmness, wellbeing,

pleasure, joy, compassion, fear, thrill, tenseness, and others. Imagine, for instance,

the main soundtrack of the film Once upon a time in the west and the specific

feelings evoked by the sound of the mouth organ. From the written examples it is

certain, that music changes the atmosphere around us.

T. Murphey also says that music has the potential to change the

atmosphere, but what is more important than his confirmation of this fact is that in

this case he means the atmosphere in a classroom, and describes music as follows:

It seems to give energy where was none, and to spark off images when students

complain of having nothing to write about. Music is the stuff dreams grow on. (p.

37).

CONCLUSION

The past of music is really remarkable. The reason I have mentioned it is

because I think music must have some significant meaning when it goes together

with the mankind from the first.

Also the disunity of opinions is relevant here since it is evident that music

works differently on everyone and everyone perceives it in their own way.

It is obvious that music has some kind of power, which can influence

physical the same way as mental condition of our bodies. It can bring about specific,

required atmosphere, in which we react in a particular way. Moreover it can further

help recharge our minds.

After everything I have just listed one question still remains: How much are

we influenced by the power of music when learning languages? One possible

answer can be found in suggestopaedia, which will be dealt in the following chapter.

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3 SUGGESTOPAEDIA

Suggestopaedia, a teaching methodology developed by Dr Lozanov in Bulgaria, claims to produce hypermnesia an excellent memory. Among its many innovations is the use of background music during the reading of dialogues (of which the students have the text and a translation). The dialogue is usually read twice, once slowly and once at normal speed, to the accompaniment of background classical music and at about the same volume. The idea behind using the music is apparently to relax students defences and to open up their minds to the language. Music may also engage the right hemisphere of their brains more, and make learning a more holistic experience. (T.Murphey, p. 37)

In a suggestopaedic course, music plays a large part in creating a pleasant

suggestive atmosphere, thereby facilitating the lessening or removal of anti-

suggestive psychological barriers. Music helps to create a state of receptiveness

induced by an apparent state of passiveness associated with a state of psychological

relaxation and concentration of superior cerebral activity. (http://eric.ed.gov)

Up to now, suggestopaedia has been the only method working with relaxation. Mainly based on the discovery of the mirror neurons7 Ludger Schiffler (2003) has developed the interhemispheric foreign language learning, using gestures and the mental visualization of the gestures during the relaxation period. The intended purpose of suggestopedia was to enhance learning by lowering the affective filter8 of learners. The method works not only on the conscious level of human mind but also on the subconscious level, the minds reserves. Since it works on the reserves in human mind and brain, which are said to have unlimited capacities, one can teach more than other method can teach in the same amount of time.9

In other words Dr Lozanov says that music, with help of a specific

suggestopedic classroom equipped deliberately with particular objects that work on

our peripheral perception10, prepares the best conditions for receiving new

information. Even though there are many factors, stimuli and conditions influencing

suggestopaedic learning, music plays one of the most relevant roles in its realization,

which is a fact that should not be missed out, but on the contrary it should be

stressed as the systematic introduction of music into pedagogy has proven to be an

innovation with numerous beneficial results.11

7 A mirror neuron is a neuron which fires both when an animal performs an action and when the animal observes the same action performed by another animal. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of another animal, as though the observer were itself performing the action. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neurons) 8 An affective filter is a learning blockage due to a negative emotional ("affective") attitude. It is a hypothesis of second language acquisition, a field of interest of educational psychology. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affective_filter) 9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestopedia 10 Those stimuli which are for the most part not within the scope of conscious attention. (http://archive.web.web.org.php) 11 http://www.eric.ed.gov

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4 SONGS

No one knows why songs are powerful, but everyone knows from a

personal point of view they are, wrote Dale Griffee (p. 4) and I absolutely agree

with his statement. Songs contain the power of music as well as the power of lyrics.

While music touches our hearts, the lyrics and their words flow into our minds and

so they draw us into their own world. It grasps our imagination, emotions, and

intellect with equal force regardless of our language backgrounds (V. L. Holmes

and Margaret R. Moulton, p. 2).

In this chapter we focus on the explanation of what makes a song a song,

why we should introduce songs and their use in the classroom, the role of songs in

language teaching, cultural significance of songs and their nature, and we look at

songs as enjoyable drill plus practice material including the sections dealing with

help of songs when learning pronunciation, examples of activities that can be done

in language teaching, and some attitudes to using songs in language teaching.

4.1 WHAT MAKES A SONG A SONG?

As well as the title of this section, the following explanation is taken from

the book Songs in Action, written by Dale T. Griffee, who characterized a song as

follows.

Although songs have elements in common with speech and poetry, they are a unique form. Both songs and speech are vocally produced, are linguistically meaningful and have melody. Both songs and poetry use words to convey meaning, both are usually written down before publication, both can be put to music and both can be listened to (e.g. poetry for poems and a concert for songs). Nevertheless, songs have their own identity and they function differently from speech or poetry. It is possible to note at least three features of songs: 1) Songs convey a lower amount of information than poetry. Even though poetry can be heard, we usually read it, which permits longer and more dense information. 2) Songs have more redundancy than poetry. Songs achieve redundancy by devices such as the borrowing of lines from other songs, proverbs, catchphrases and clich as well as alliteration. It is this high degree of redundancy that makes songs sound so simple, especially when compared to the complexity and subtlety of poetry. The simplicity of songs is not, however, a weak point. Because a song is heard for a short time, simplicity, redundancy and a certain expectedness contribute to our understanding. 3) Songs have a personal quality that makes the listener react as if the song were being sung for the listener personally. We are joined through the direct quality of the song words (unlike a movie actor in a film, talking to another actor) to the singer and through the singer to others in the audience even if we are at home rather than at a concert. Thus songs have a socially unifying feature for the selected audience. Songs create their own world of feeling and emotion, and as we participate in the song, we participate in the world it creates. As Mark Booth states, The song embodies myth and we step into it. (Dale T. Griffee, Songs in Action, pp. 3, 4)

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4.2 NATURE OF SONGS

There is one very interesting and remarkable idea relating to songs. It is

believed that a language is easier to express in songs than in speech. Julian Dakin

asserts that for most learners, singing or reciting a rhyme is much easier than

talking (p. 5), and T. Murpheys utterance is also very similar: It seems easier to

sing language than to speak it (p. 6). We can find some reasonable explanation for

this fact when considering the beginning of a childs life. The very first childs

utterances are sounds like humming, spluttering, muttering, whooping, which

resembles more the sound of singing than talking. T. Murphey (p. 7) writes more

precisely: The singing of songs resembles what Piaget (1923) described as

egocentric language, in which children talk, with little concern for an addressee.

They simply enjoy hearing themselves repeat. In the chapter about beginning of

music is written, that in prehistoric times the vocalization of song was more usual

than of speech, which might mean that singing was more natural than talking, and

which might mean there was and maybe there still is some natural inborn disposition

in everyone as far as the attitude to singing is concerned. And it could be that the

need for egocentric language never really leaves us and is fulfilled partly through

song (T. Murphey, p. 7).

4.3 WHY INTRODUCE SONGS IN THE CLASSROOM?

Mario Papa and Giuliano Iantorno offer very persuasive explanation.

Recent researches in the field of foreign language teaching have pointed out that students motivation and interest are among the most important factors for the learning of a foreign language. There are several means to improve the teaching effectiveness and to raise the interest and motivation of the students. Recorded tapes, filmstrips, sound films, songs, comics, newspapers and magazines are all familiar to teachers and students and they have proved to be, in most cases, very effective because they are strongly related to everyday life. We think that among these teaching aids, pop and folk song are materials that best reflect young peoples concerns as they often relate to important trends in modern society. Young people enjoy original folk and pop songs because of their authentic cultural content. (M. Papa, G. Iantorno, p. 7)

Let us highlight a few examples of songs that became an inseparable part of

specific events in the past, and sometimes they can entirely characterize a given

period or some particular event. In the sixties it was, for example, the protest song

Where have all the flowers gone?, in the late sixties it was San Francisco,

which became the anthem of the hippie era, or in 1985 Lionel Richie and

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Michael Jackson`s We Are the World, which was intended to raise funds to help

famine relief efforts in Ethiopia.12

Moreover there is one more advantage why introduce songs in the classroom

according to Mario Papa and Giuliano Iantorno claiming that singing is certainly

one of the activities which generates the greatest enthusiasm and is a pleasant and

stimulating approach to the culture of foreign people (M. Papa, G. Iantorno, p. 8).

4.4 THE IMPORTANCE AND THE ROLE OF SONGS IN LANGUAGE

TEACHING

In our time, it is hard to escape music and song as it occupies ever more of

the world around us: in operating theatres, restaurants and cafs, shopping malls

(muzak), at sports events, in our cars, and literally everywhere. It would seem that

the only place music and song is slow to catch on is in schools (T. Murphey, p. 4).

And it is exactly schools, that could use the best and the most the immense

potential a song disposes. Songs have a place in the classroom for helping create

that friendly and co-operative atmosphere so important for language learning, but

they can offer much more, claims D. T. Griffee, and I will try to complete his idea

by giving other instances of the importance songs have.

4.4.1 CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

In the previous chapter we referred to the cultural significance of some songs

in the past. However, it is also the present culture in more modern songs that has its

meaning. To sum up: Bringing a song into the classroom entails bringing the

culture of the song in with it. And thus songs can be used as a way of looking at a

culture and comparing it with other cultures (D. Griffee, p. 5). From this point of

view, it can be perfectly used as a cross-sectional topic.

I would like to add to this contemplation about the importance of cultural

background of songs in language teaching Dale T. Griffees statement. Songs are

part of what makes a generation a generation and the current generation is a global 12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_have_all_the_flowers_gone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_%28Be_Sure_to_Wear_Flowers_in_Your_Hair%29

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generation rather than a parochial one. The world is evolving a common culture and

pop songs are its backbone. By using pop songs in your classroom, you and your

students are participating in the emerging world culture. (D. Griffee, p. 6)

Let the past remind us that it was already Jan Amos Komensk in the 17th

century, who included, in his teaching principles, the principle of connecting the

school with life. And using songs in language teaching is a great opportunity for

applying it.

4.4.2 ENJOYABLE DRILL

Jan Amos Komensk also demanded to maintain permanent jolly, creative

atmosphere. He said that cheerful mood is needed to avoid satiety and repugnance,

which is the right poison of teaching. Undoubtedly, songs definitely have the

ability to maintain jolly atmosphere. They provide variety and fun, claims T.

Murphey (p. 4), and a similar idea is to be found in My English Songbook, where the

authors write songs can provide an enjoyable change of routine in the classroom,

and they add that as well as being fun, they have a useful part to play in language

teaching (p. 5).

One of the basic principles when learning a language is a repetition:

Constant repetition is vital for the successful learning of a foreign language, is

stated in My English Songbook (p. 5), and I would like to add T. Murpheys

sentence, which says that songs may strongly activate the repetition mechanism of

the language acquisition device (p. 5).

It is common that too many drills make boring lessons, but a favourite song

can be repeated again and again with equal enjoyment (My English Songbook, p.

5).

4.4.3 SONGS AS PRACTICE MATERIAL

Song can be used in a lot of various ways (see 3.4.4). All the skills such as

listening, reading, writing and speaking can be practised, the same way as linguistic

areas starting with vocabulary, grammatical structures, and ending with rhythm,

stress, fluency and pronunciation.

The rhythm of the verse helps the learner to put the stress in the right places, creating a natural flow of language and building up fluency. At the same time the presence

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of rhyming words and such poetic device as alliteration13 and onomatopoeia14 help to focus on certain sounds, thus giving valuable ear-training and help in pronunciation. In the syntactical area a song gives us the opportunity to repeat the same structural item many times, thereby aiding correctness and fluency of expression. (Sheila Aristotelous Ward, p. 7)

Songs are also especially good at introducing vocabulary because they

provide a meaningful context for the vocabulary. However, it depends on the

choice of songs since there are also some songs without meaningful context. From

the grammatical point of view, they provide a natural context for the most common

structures such as verb tenses and prepositions (D. T. Griffee, pp. 5, 6).

4.4.3.1 THE HELP OF SONGS WHEN LEARNING PRONUNCIATION

Songs can be very helpful as far as learning pronunciation is concerned.

They provide the authentic language with all its traps (such as connected speech,

different pronunciation of the same sound, or difficult pronunciation of some words)

laid for learners, who should be exposed to it as much as possible to strengthen their

ability to understand it. In the following subsections we will concentrate on three

areas of difficulties in pronunciation (sounds, words, connected speech), and on

explaining why songs can be useful when the learners are caught into these traps of

language.

4.4.3.1.1 THE HELP OF SONGS FOCUSED ON SOUNDS

Sounds are the smallest unit from which words are formed and can be

categorised as vowels and consonants.15

For the learners of English some sounds may be difficult to pick out because

they do not exist in their mother tongue, and they have to learn to physically

produce certain sounds previously unknown to them (ibid.). Even though it may be

a difficult task for some learners, it is quite important because it can sometimes

happen that incorrectly pronounced sounds strain communication, and it can also

change a phrases meaning (ibid.).

Songs can help learners because the rhymes in songs provide listeners with

repetition of similar sounds, and when the students choose to listen to songs time

13 A structuring device characterized by the reiteration of the initial consonant at the beginning of two consecutive or slightly separated words. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration) 14 A word or a grouping of words that imitates the sound it is describing, suggesting its source object. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia) 15* http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/song_pron.shtml

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and again, they are indirectly exposing them to these sounds16, repeating them,

getting better at recognizing them, and finally producing them.

4.4.3.1.2 THE HELP OF SONGS FOCUSED ON WORDS

Words are combinations of sounds which form together to give meaning. A

word is uttered in syllables, usually one emphasised syllable (the stress) and the rest

weak (unstressed) (ibid.).

There are several difficulties that may be encountered by a learner. Firstly,

each English word has its own stress pattern, with very complex rules to guide

learners. Secondly, even when the same words exist in both languages, the

number of syllables is not always identical. And lastly weak syllables are central

to English (ibid.).

There are both several difficulties and several ways songs can support

practising these problems. Words in songs fit the music, helping learners associate

the number of syllables / stress in these words, with memorable rhythms. Songs

contain endless examples of weak syllables, helping to convince learners of the way

English is pronounced (ibid.).

4.4.3.1.3 THE HELP OF SONGS FOCUSED ON CONNECTED SPEECH

Connected speech is the natural way we speak, linking together and

emphasising certain words, rather than each word standing alone (ibid.).

Connected speech plays a very important role in English as it is the way

English is usually spoken, but unfortunately not always in English lessons. Many

learners are accustomed to hearing a very careful, clear pronunciation of words,

such as native speakers might use when talking very emphatically or saying words

in isolation (S. Rixon, p. 38). However, native speakers usually connect the words.

And when the words are used in a connected natural utterance, some of their

sounds are different to those used in very careful speech, and they may become

harder for learners to recognise (S. Rixon, p. 39). The problem is that the learners

normally learn words individually and, especially at lower levels, tend to

pronounce each word separately.17 Concerning this problem Shelagh Rixon claims

that words pronounced in isolation often sound very different from the same words

16http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/song_pron.shtml 17 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/song_pron.shtml

20

said in connected speech, so there is little point in concentrating too much on single

words said out of context (p. 30). Another problem is that learners frequently

misconceive contraction as being incorrect, only used in slang.18 But as said a

while ago, a native speaker says the words separately either on purpose or when

talking emphatically, which means that connected speech is natural, normal and

widely used.

Songs help learners practise the described subject matters because they

provide real and catchy examples of how whole phrases are pronounced often to

the extent that students find it difficult to pick out individual words. The music

further emphasises the flow of the words. Moreover, songs, like other spoken

texts, are full of contractions (ibid.).

4.4.4 WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A SONG IN LANGUAGE TEACHING?

Automatic usual and simple answer to this question could be: A word-gap-

fill. However, the answer is not so single valued. And hopefully, the following

selected list of Tim Murphey (and references to other sources of activities) will be

convincing enough to prove that the answer can be much longer.

What can we do with a song in lesson?

1) Listen 2) Sing, whistle, tap, and snap fingers while we listen 3) Sing without listening to any recording 4) Talk about the music 5) Talk about the lyrics 6) Talk about the singer / group 7) Use songs and music to set or change an atmosphere or mood, as background

furnishing 8) Use songs and music to make a social environment, form a feeling of community,

dance, make friends 9) Write songs 10) Perform songs 11) Do interviews 12) Write articles 13) Do surveys, make hit lists 14) Study grammar 15) Practice selective listening comprehension 16) Read songs, articles, books for linguistic purposes 17) Compose songs, letters to singers, questionnaires 18) Translate songs 19) Write dialogues using the words of a song 20) Use video clips in many ways 21) Do role-plays (as people in the song) 22) Dictate a song

18 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/song_pron.shtml

21

23) Use a song for gap-fill, cloze, or for correction 24) Use music for background to other activities 25) Integrate songs into project work 26) Energize or relax classes mentally 27) Practice pronunciation, intonation, and stress 28) Break the routine 29) Do choral repetition 30) Teach vocabulary 31) Teach culture 32) Learn about your students and from your students, letting them choose and explain their

music 33) Have fun. (T. Murphey, pp. 9, 10)

If we look at this list carefully, we can see that all four skills (speaking, reading,

listening, and writing) can be very well and equally practised.

The number of books and web pages providing inexhaustible quantity of

ideas and precise instructions what to do with a song in a classroom has increased

recently. Let us mention some of them.

Dakin, J. Songs and Rhymes for the teaching of English.1992

Griffee, D. T. Songs in action. 1995

Macmillan publishers. My English Songbook. 1981

Murphey, T. Music & Songs. Oxford University Press, 1992

Ward, S. A. Dippitydoo. Songs and activities for children. 1980

Rixon, S. Tip Top. 1992

At these web pages musical activities for young learners of EFL are to be found.

At these web pages there are some activities to promote comprehension.

At these web pages songs with related activities are to be found.

4.4.5 TAKING SONGS SERIOUSLY

Even after the long, but not exhaustive, list of what can be done with a song,

many teachers would still have doubts about using songs as a full-value teaching

material because they consider songs as a sort of leisure time activity, which cannot

be taken seriously. Tim Murphey and Suzanne Medina hold different opinion.

22

Music and song can be as useful as, and sometimes more than, conventional classroom materials. But it is often suspect because it is so enjoyable and so little used. Louis-Jean Calvet (1980) says that the idea that language learning cannot be enjoyable is outdated. Nevertheless, many teachers and students cling to the attitude that if something is fun, you cannot be learning. Like medicine, these people think, if it does not taste nasty, it cannot be doing you any good. (T.Murphey, p. 16)

Nevertheless, in 1993, Suzanne Medina conducted research (see more in

section 7) focused on the effects of music on second language vocabulary

acquisition by means of which it was proved that music helped the children who

were taking part in the research in vocabulary acquisition. She claims that if music

is a viable vehicle for second language acquisition to the same extent as other non-

musical means, then songs can no longer be regarded as recreational devices, having

little instructional value. Consequently, educators might consider giving music a

more prominent role in the second language curriculum.19

CONCLUSION

This chapter drew attention to the features of songs, to deeper contemplation

about them and their use. Accordingly, it is obvious that songs have a lot of qualities

supporting their significance in language teaching. Songs naturally motivate

students, they can evoke positive atmosphere and they have considerable cultural

significance, as well as they present an inexhaustible source of materials practising

pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary plus all of the four skills.

However, there are three facts I regard as the greatest advantages of songs,

which together - make this formula: Griffees conveying meaning plus personal

quality of songs plus enjoyable drill equals the ability of songs to repeatedly evoke

particular feelings, ideas and experiences, which are more easily memorable and

retroactively visualizable. The music ties words and motion together and increases

memorability (T. Murphey, pp. 121, 122).

Malvina Reynoldss quotation will concisely close this chapter about songs:

Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes

you feel a thought.20

19 http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/01.htm 20 http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/MALVINA/homep.htm

23

5 LISTENING

The principle condition of working with songs lies and depends on listening,

which represents here the main medium of receiving information. A lesson with a

song is based closely on listening, and therefore it is necessary to mention the basis

of listening, its importance, and some difficulties, that can be encountered.

This chapter focuses on listening, and includes sections dealing with possible

descriptions of listening, the importance of listening, listening difficulties stemming

from pronunciation, and formal versus informal speech and teachers expectations of

learners comprehension.

5.1 WHAT IS LISTENING?

Listening is a complex skill which operates at various levels. It is a skill

which involves a series of different strategies and micro-skills that we use at

different times for different purposes, state J. McDowell and Ch. Hart, who

describe these strategies and micro-skills as follows.

When we listen, we make use of information we already have about the topic being spoken about. The more we know, the less intensively we have to listen. We use the information we already have about the topic, and about how the language works, to anticipate and predict what is coming. We normally listen selectively rather than listening to every word. We listen for key words and expressions that give us clues to meaning, and not to every single word as many learners tend to do. As we listen and select information, we store it in short-term memory so that we can reinterpret it in the light of what is to come. We then store it in long-term memory, in the form of messages rather than in actual words. (McDowell, J., Hart, Ch., Listening Plus, p. 7)

At this point it is worth mentioning a few words about catchy songs because

they are closely related to short-term and also long-term memory. Certainly

everyone has already experienced personally the phenomenon of catchy songs

special and particular sorts of tunes, which, after hearing them, can stay in ones

mind sometimes only for a while, sometimes for few hours, but sometimes also

forever. Keith Duffy describes this phenomenon in terms of brain itching and brain

scratching (mentally repeating a song). He carried out research, where the test

subjects were played snippets of familiar songs that had segments removed.

Participants said their brains filled in the gaps in fact, they heard the removed

parts of the songs in their heads. This was especially true in songs that had lyrics

as well as songs which evoked strong visual memories in participants. Paul Barsom

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wanted to find out what exactly causes that initial itch. Even though he regards it

as a pretty intangible thing he claims that certain kinds of musical gestures or

combinations seem to plug readily into our memory, like molecules coming together

in a chemical reaction. In spite of the fact that P. Barsom listed some factors that

might cause a song to be catchy such as a certain familiarity, a cultural connection

between music and listener, and repetition, there is no formula for catchiness.21

Since the ideas of what listening is vary, let us give another explanation for

comparison. Michael Rost defines listening in terms of the necessary components,

which listening consists of.

discriminating between sounds recognising words identifying grammatical groupings of words identifying pragmatic units expressions and sets of utterances which function as whole units to create meaning connecting linguistic cues to paralinguistic cues (intonation, stress) and to nonlinguistic cues (gestures) in order to construct meaning using background knowledge and context to predict and then to confirm meaning recalling important words and ideas (M. Rost, pp. 3, 4)

And he adds that successful listening involves an integration of these component

skills (p. 4).

5.2 THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING

The pupils, students, learners of a language usually say that speaking is the

most important skill to master. But hardly anyone is aware of the fact that before

speaking we usually have to listen to be able to react then. And even if speaking

precedes listening in a form of asking or saying something, in most cases this act

involves expectation of response, which is, again, listening. So, we can definitely

agree with Michael Rost, who wrote that progress in listening will provide a basis

for development of other language skills (M. Rost, p. 3).

No one knows exactly how listening works or how people learn to listen

and understand. It is a skill which seems to develop easily for mother-tongue

listening, but requires considerable effort where listening in a foreign language is

concerned, claims Mary Underwood (p. 1), who also says that listening is the

activity of paying attention to and trying to get meaning from something we hear.

21 http://www.physorg.com/news69003006.html

25

To listen successfully to spoken language, we need to be able to work out what

speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways on particular

occasions, and not simply to understand the words themselves (p. 1).

Jeremy Harmer describes three main reasons why it is also important to teach

listening to spoken English. One of the main reasons for getting students to listen

to spoken English is to let them hear different varieties and accents rather than just

the voice of their teacher with its own idiosyncrasies. In todays world, they need to

be exposed not only to one variety of English (British English, for example) but also

to varieties such as American English, Australian English, Caribbean English,

Indian English or West African English (J. Harmer, p. 97). This is a cogent

argument for involving listening to songs in a classroom, since the songs provide an

inexhaustible quantity of different varieties of English. However, this advantage

does not relate just to songs, the students can be exposed to spoken English through

the use of taped material which can exemplify a wide range of topics such as

advertisements, news broadcast, poetry reading, plays, speeches, telephone

conversations and all manner of spoken exchanges (J. Harmer, p. 98).

The second major reason for teaching listening is because it helps students to acquire language subconsciously even if teachers do not draw attention to its special features. Exposure to language is a fundamental requirement for anyone wanting to learn it. Listening to appropriate tapes provides such exposure and students get vital information not only about grammar and vocabulary but also about pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, pitch and stress. Lastly, just as with reading, students get better at listening the more they do it! Listening is a skill and any help we can give students in performing that skill will help them to be better listeners. (Harmer, J., p. 98)

5.3 LISTENING DIFFICULTIES

I have been teaching for six years, and whenever I imagine my students

listening to something, either to me or to a tape, their puzzled, frustrated and

powerless expressions of their faces come to my mind. Even though they usually say

speaking is worse than listening, they do not have such difficulties with speaking

like with listening. Even if they make mistakes while speaking, the counterpart

usually gets the meaning. But as far as listening is concerned, there is no counterpart

to help them, and they have to rely only on their own ears. Unfortunately, it happens

very often that they get lost in what is being said to them, and they get angry, sad

and helpless. My own experience can also confirm Jim Scriveners statement

26

saying: Even if someone knows all the grammar and lexis of a language, it does not

necessarily mean that they will be able to understand a single word when it is

spoken (J. Scrivener, p. 170). And the main learners problems according to them

are:

people speak too fast to follow; they cant tell where words start and stop; people pronounce words they just dont recognise; they cant work out details of what is being said; they cant get even a general sense of the message; they dont know what attitudes people are expressing; they cant pick out those parts that are most important for them to understand. (Scrivener, J., p. 170)

At least four from these mentioned problems stem from English

pronunciation, so let us have a brief look at the difficulties stemming from

pronunciation (S. Rixon, p. 37).

5.3.1 LISTENING DIFFICULTIES STEMMING FROM

PRONUNCIATION

There are four main sources of listening difficulty:

1 The weak relationship between English sounds and the way they are spelt in the written language.

2 Changes in sounds when they occur in rapid, connected speech. 3 The rhythm pattern of English speech.

4 Different ways of pronouncing the same sound. (S. Rixon, p. 38)

All these sources of listening difficulty can be well practised on songs. There are

various exercises using the lyrics of songs such as for instance a gap-fill, ordering

the parts of the text, reading and comprehension, by which means the first difficulty

may be practised. The students can see the written language, and immediately hear

the difference while listening to it. As far as the connected speech and rhythm are

concerned I dare say that songs are one of the best types of exercises practising

these sorts of problems. When we sing, the words are naturally connected together

to fit the melody with the help of rhythm, which represents an enormous help and

support for learners. The fourth difficulty is closely connected with the first one.

The lyrics of songs can be used as a material, in which the students, while listening,

should find the same sounds pronounced differently.

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5.4 FORMAL INFORMAL SPEECH

Many language learners have limited experience of English language in

informal situations. In their lessons they tend to use formal language because this is

expected when teachers and students talk to each other, and so they have difficulty

in understanding informal spoken discourse (M. Underwood, p. 14).

Nevertheless, when we imagine the conversations in everyday situations, we

usually use informal spoken language, and, moreover, we use it naturally. Therefore

we can conclude that learners of English should not be taught only formal speech,

and informal speech should be involved in their learning, as well.

Songs can serve as a very good and inexhaustible source full of informal

spoken language that is used commonly in everyday English (see for example the

song That dont impress me much in appendix 9).

5.5 TEACHERS EXPECTATIONS OF LEARNERS CONPREHENSION

Goodith White wrote an interesting article about listening comprehension,

which is worth mentioning not only because of surprising information, but also

because of the question at the end of her article.

A study of Bone (1988) of native speakers showed that people often listen at only 25 per cent of their potential and ignore, forget, distort, or misunderstand the other 75 per cent. Concentration rises above 25 per cent if they think that what they are hearing is important and/or they are interested in it, but it never reaches 100 per cent. Do we therefore expect too much of language learners, especially when there is no guarantee that the students are interested or motivated, since they have usually played no part in deciding what they listen to, or why they are listening? (G. White, p. 7)

Even though it is almost certain that Goodith White wrote and meant this

question as a rhetorical one, which does not require any answer, I want to answer, at

least, to myself in order to avoid great expectations and subsequent disappointment

before playing the next listening exercise to my students. I did expect too much!

Songs offer the teacher the possibility to let the students choose what they

want to listen to, and in doing so, increase their motivation and concentration (see

the quotation above 25 per cent). And moreover, as Tim Murphey says it gives

them some responsibility, and involves them in the lesson more (p. 14).

28

CONCLUSION

According to what has been written about listening, there is a considerable

evidence to suggest that listening is a skill worth paying great attention to.

Listening consists of many McDowell and Harts micro-skills or M.Rosts

necessary components, which can be called building bricks, and which must be

well-made and well-put to build a strong wall part of a house called language.

(S. Hanuovs didactics lesson)

Shelagh Rixon claims that the principal aim of listening comprehension

practice is not to provide a model for oral production, but to strengthen the ability to

understand spoken messages (p. 13). On the other hand, I think that songs include

both practice to strengthen the ability to understand and they are excellent models

for oral production.

6 SOME ASPECTS OF PLANNING AND TEACHING A LESSON

Teaching is not only a complicated process of transferring the information,

but it is also a process about establishing relationships, forming new ideas, finding

new ways, and shifting the borders of ones world of knowledge. A teacher is the

one, who has the power to push these borders, but there are various factors, we will

focus on in this chapter, influencing this pushing.

From the beginning of this thesis we have been mainly dealing with music

and songs, their significance, advantages and their possible use in language

teaching. We wrote about various ways how to use a song in a classroom. So if we

do not want to use only the, already mentioned, word-gap-fill, but precisely on the

contrary, we want to use everything songs offer, and base a lesson on a song, there

are several factors that can considerably influence the fruitfulness of such a lesson.

These factors are planning a lesson including teaching aims, motivation, teaching

aids and materials, student groupings, and teaching, in our case, a lesson based on

listening, including listeners expectations, clear instructions and feedback. The

following sections, having these titles, discuss the basic theory of these factors, and

they are connected with practical examples from my research.

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6.1 PLANNING A LESSON

Planning is a thinking skill wrote Jim Scrivener (p. 109), who also gives a

very good advice what to do while planning a lesson when he says: Let your mind

wander and explore a number of ways that material and learners can meet. Just

enjoy them and keep wandering (p. 111). His advice is well-founded because there

are a lot of areas the teachers should think about before a lesson. According to Cora

Lindsey and Paul Knight we need to decide:

- What the goals or aims of the lesson are - what resources to use - whether to adapt the coursebook, if we are using one to supplement, leave

out, or replace activities and materials to make them more appropriate for our learners and our teaching methods

- which types of activities the learners will do - how the learners will interact with the teacher and each other - the sequence of activities - the timing and pacing - how best to use the classroom (p. 103).

Some experienced teachers think and believe that they do not have to prepare

a lesson plan, but most teachers go on preparing lessons throughout their careers,

even if their plans are very informal (J. Harmer, p. 121). Lesson based on a song

demands having a lesson plan because even though it is a good material, it is raw

material, which needs working up to get the best of it in a lesson.

There are several good reasons for being prepared for every lesson both for

students and for teachers. Two convincing Jeremy Harmers reasons for having a

lesson plan from the students point of view are: 1) Evidence of a plan shows them

that the teacher has devoted time to thinking about the class. 2) It gives students

confidence: they know immediately whether a teacher has thought about the lesson,

and they respond positively to those who have (p. 121).

Jim Scrivener offers two compelling reasons for having a lesson plan for

teachers. 1) The better prepared a teacher is, the more likely it is that he/she will be

ready to cope with whatever happens. 2) Planning increases the number of options

and in doing so, increases chances of a successful lesson (p. 109).

In the following sections we will focus on some specific areas closely related

to teaching which should be taken into consideration when planning a lesson.

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6.1.1 TEACHING AIMS

Oxford dictionary defines aim as the purpose of doing something; what

somebody is trying to achieve (Oxford Dictionary, p. 26).

When we substitute the inexplicit words in this general explanation by more

specific ones, we will get a possible definition of a teaching aim, which is: teaching

aim = the purpose of teaching; what a teacher is trying to achieve.

Before every lesson it is useful to state the aims of a lesson, as said before,

what we want to achieve. There are various kinds of aims, but the most important

aim usually concerns intended student achievements: things that they will have

learned, skills they will have improved, points they will have reached by the end of

the lesson (J. Scrivener, p. 124).

Cora Lindsey and Paul Knight distinguish language aims including three

areas of vocabulary, functions, and grammar. Skill aims reading, listening,

speaking, and writing. And subsidiary aims these are the language or skills that

your learners practise but which you are not specifically concentrating on in the

lesson (p. 104). As already mentioned in sections 3.4.3 and 3.4.4, with the help of

songs a lot of different areas such as all the skills, grammar, vocabulary,

pronunciation can be practised, so any of these aims is suitable for a lesson with a

song, and can be set. It is just important to make it clear which will be the main aim

to focus on in a lesson. In my research both lessons (song and poem lesson) had the

main language aim, which was vocabulary acquisition, and skill aims focused on

listening, reading, and speaking in a song-lesson, and reading, listening, writing and

speaking in a poem-lesson. Subsidiary aims were grammar and pronunciation.

Setting a teaching aim is the first necessary and important step of a lesson

plan. The next steps are making up suitable motivation, choosing and preparing

materials and aids we will be using, and deciding about classroom management.

These are also the titles of the following subchapters we will concentrate on.

6.1.2 MOTIVATION

Every activity we do is motivated by something. Either it is our own need,

feeling, wish, idea, interest (intrinsic motivation) or it is a duty, necessity, order, or

promised reward (extrinsic motivation), the motivation is the basic and first kick

to do something. In the process of teaching it is one of the most important tasks for

teachers, especially those teaching children who, in comparison with adult learners,

31

usually lack the motivation for learning, which is a claim based on my own

experience. Teachers have to provoke interest and involvement in the subject even

when students are not initially interested in it. It is by their choice of topic, activity

and linguistic content that they may be able to turn a class around. It is by their

attitude to class participation, their conscientiousness, their humour and their

seriousness that they may influence their students. It is by their behaviour and

enthusiasm that they may inspire. (J. Harmer, p. 8)

I would go so far to say that motivation is an utterly essential part of

successful learning and teaching. When we are well-motivated we try to do our best,

which is the best presumption for a good result. Jeremy Harmer also says that

highly motivated students do better than ones without any motivation at all (p. 8).

Songs can help the teacher with the initial motivation because the fact itself

that they are so pleasurable to listen to is motivational enough, moreover, see in

section 4.5, motivation can be increased if we let the students choose their songs,

which is a fact I used in my research.

6.1.3 TEACHING AIDS AND MATERIALS

Teaching aids and materials are necessary components of teaching and there

are three main ways in which these materials can be used: as a supplement to a core

course book, as self-learning material, and as modular course material (J. Revel

and B. Breary, p. 6). There is a wide range of teaching aids and materials such as

flashcards, posters, pictures, games, books, magazines, newspapers, videotapes,

films, songs, pelmanism, quizzes and many others we can choose from. When

choosing teaching materials several criteria have to be taken into account. Jane

Revel and Barry Breary write that materials should be creative, interesting,

fluency-focused, task-based, problem-solving focused, humanistic, and learning-

centred (p. 6). According to my experience I would also add adequate,

understandable and well-prepared. In both of my research lessons I tried to equip

my materials with as many of these characteristics as possible, and visuals, the

best-known sensory aids (E. W. Stevick, p. 106), were largely used because as

Penny Ur writes visuals have an important function as aids to learning, simply

because they attract students attention and help and encourage them to focus on the

subject in hand (p. 30).

32

Traditionally the most frequent use of visual aids has been simply to

illustrate what words are saying (E. W. Stevick, p.106). However, recently, miming

and acting have also become popular visual aids. Penny Ur claims that if the visual

aids are conspicuous, colourful, humorous, dramatic, or in motion so much the

better: striking and stimulating visual aids are likely to heighten students

motivation and concentration (p. 30). These were used in various forms in my

poem-lesson (see more in section 8.6).

At this point I will let my experience speak again. Sometimes it may take

time to prepare something nice, entertaining, useful, and at the same time instructive

(I mean for instance diverse cards, pelmanism, games etc.). Nevertheless, it is worth

investing our effort! When there is something the students can touch, can move, can

play with, it seems (to me) that they are feeling more at ease, as though just the idea

of playing would calm them down from the demanding process of studying,

involving the threatening thoughts of being always prepared, not making a mistake,

and hard thinking. The described process of studying is nicely and ingeniously

hidden in games the students like and appreciate very much.

6.1.4 STUDENT GROUPINGS

There are four ways how to organise students when teaching them. They

can work as a whole class, in groups, in pairs, or individually (J. Harmer, p. 20).

However, students preferred ways of working differ from one to the other, and this

is why all these organizational forms of work should be used and alternated. Every

form has its advantages and disadvantages which are suitable for one student, but

inconvenient for other. Let us highlight some of them.

On one hand, a whole class arrangement is the best because of time sparing,

easy monitoring, and having students attention, on the other hand the students are

usually passive. Groupwork and pairwork seem to have many advantages. In

groups and pairs students tend to participate more equally, and they are also more

able to experiment and use the language than they are in a whole-class arrangement

(J. Harmer, p. 21). However, some students may feel ashamed and uncomfortable to

speak in front of other people. The advantages of solowork are: It allows students

to work at their own speed, allows them thinking time, and they can go back to

considering their own individual needs and progress (J. Harmer, p. 21). On the

contrary, when it is used very often the students get bored.

33

On the basis of the fact that every student prefers different form of work, I

combined all four sorts of groupings in both of my research lessons.

6.2 PLANNING A LISTENING LESSON

In the previous section it has already been pointed out that setting teaching

aims, preparing teaching aids, making up suitable motivation and students grouping

are necessary components of the process of planning a lesson. These are also,

undoubtedly, valid for planning a listening lesson, so there is no need to mention

them again. On the other hand we can be more specific, since the main aim-

listening has been chosen. According to Shelagh Rixon there are three main

considerations when planning a listening lesson:

1) Choosing one of the types of listening experience that you have previously

identified as relevant or interesting for your students 2) Finding exercises that both fit what the passage has to offer and practise skills

connected with listening that will be useful for your students 3) Bringing these exercises together and putting them into a sequence which

forms a coherent lesson. (S. Rixon, p. 63)

As far as the first consideration is concerned I let the students choose their

favourite songs whereby their interest was aroused, and then I chose the most

suitable song according to particular criteria (see 8.4 question 4).

The exercises were all closely connected with the song. Except for the main

aim to practise listening, reading and speaking were also included. Even though

writing was not in the song-lesson, there are some activities connected with songs

focusing on writing (see 3.4.4).

The exercises in the research concurred and formed a coherent listening

lesson (see 8.5).

6.3 SOME ASPECTS OF TEACHING A LISTENING LESSON

During teaching a lesson a teacher must be aware of many facts s/he has to

adapt according to the existing situation. So it may very well happen that during one

lesson the teacher may also serve as a psychologist, an actor, a singer, or a DJ (those

who does not sing, and play music). Nevertheless, his / her main role, which is also

a part of just mentioned transformations, is to be a facilitator someone whose

priority is to help the students and to make learning easier.

34

The following subsections will discuss some possibilities of making listening

lesson easier, dealing with listeners expectations, clear instructions and feedback.

6.3.1 LISTENERS EXPECTATIONS

Imagine several common situations from everyday life, such as for example

shopping, being at the doctors, meeting a friend, celebrating a birthday, travelling

by train, or listening to well known songs. In all these situations we usually know

what the conversation is going to be about, and we expect particular words phrases

or sentences, and as far as songs are concerned it is undoubtedly true, as well. Who

in the world would not finish automatically the sentence We will, we will ..!

Who among Czechs does not know what Karel Gott will put sugar in? But when

students sit in a classroom and the teacher says Listen to this, and then switches on

the cassette recorder, the students may have no idea what to expect. Even if the

sounds and words are familiar, they may still be unable to understand because they

lack certain kinds of knowledge necessary for them to comprehend, stated Mary

Underwood (p. 30), who also considers this act as being unfair to the listeners. So,

before listening, students should be tuned-in so that they know what to expect,

both in general and for particular tasks (M. Underwood, p. 30). In other words, the

students should be given a reason to listen.

This tuning-in or pre-listening activities represent one of the facilitators

possibilities how to make the listening easier.

6.3.2 CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS

The presence of clear instructions is completely necessary in everything we

are doing. Because how can something be done without knowing what exactly

should be done and how? This problem of lacking clear instructions exists

everywhere at work, at school, at home, and causes various troubles. In the pre-

listening phase of a lesson it can cause students to switch off and not attempt to

do anything, and this in turn distracts those who are trying to perform the task. All

the students should understand what they have to do before a teacher starts to play,

read or speak the listening text (M. Underwood, p. 32). Without doubt, it also

concerns songs. In spite of the fact that songs are enjoyable enough to listen to

without any other specific reason if the teacher wants to use the potential of songs

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fully in order to achieve the lesson aim, clear instructions are one of the

presumptions how to succeed.

However, there is something more to add when giving instructions. Even

when the teacher thinks he / she gave clear instructions enough for everybody to

understand, it does not have to mean that the situation corresponds to his / her

supposition. Therefore the teacher should check the instruction.

6.3.3 FEEDBACK

Everyone was once a child and everyone, certainly, experienced the need for

praising or evaluating something they had done (for example a painted picture,

recited poem, built castle etc.), and also the disappointment when this need was not

satisfied. Actually, this need has never left us. Of course, it is not so intensive like in

childhood, but the need still remains. Thinking deeply, it even seems that this need

is reintensified as far as students are concerned. No wonder. Learning simply

demands praise, correction and evaluating. Jeremy Harmer (p. 10) expressed it more

precisely saying that: Giving feedback involves praising students for things they do

well, and offering them the ability to do things better where they were less

successful. It involves teachers in judging their students responses to correction so

that they can act accordingly. And so students want to know the correct answer

immediately they have done a task, are frustrated if it is delayed, and may very well

lose some of their interest by the time it does appear (P. Ur, p. 29). Therefore after

every activity in both research lessons a feedback followed - in various forms.

Reading and writing do not need immediate feedback because the students can

reread the relevant material, but speaking and listening, however, need to be

reacted immediately (P. Ur, p. 28). The reason for the need to be checked

immediately is that what a listener has heard is still echoing somewhere in their

mind and there is still a possibility of hearing it again (P. Ur, p. 28).

CONCLUSION

This chapter started with a thinking skill of planning a lesson, which is a

process running in a teachers mind and which consist of many other thoughts. The

name of the first thought is a teaching aim an abstract spot, where the students

should find a piece of, already mentioned, language treasure. For this journey it is

necessary to prepare good nutrition called motivation, and moreover make clear

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signposts, write a well-arranged brochure, build an information desk, in short,

prepare teaching aids and materials that can help them on this journey. And finally

decide which parts of this journey will be shared by the whole class, group, pairs,

and which parts the students will have to go through individually.

7. POEM

The original idea, at the beginning of my diploma thesis, was to concentrate

fully on the use of music in teaching English, and to support the idea of positive

influence of music in language teaching, both from theoretical and practical point of

view. My intention was to carry out research based only on a song, however, during

my investigation an interesting subject matter, proposing a comparison of the

influence of song with a poem, appeared. Because it turned out it could be beneficial

for my thesis, I carried out research based on a poem (see 8.6) which not only

helped when evaluating the final results, but it also enriched me and my teaching in

many directions. Let us now have a brief look at the theoretical background of

literature supporting its incorporation into language teaching. The first section

explains the terms: literature, poetry and poem, and the second section gives various

explanations and reasons why to teach literature.

7.1 THE TERMS LITERATURE, POETRY, POEM

Since in the following sections these terms will be used variously, let us

explain them properly with the help of Oxford Dictionary.

Literature pieces of writing that are valued as works of art, especially novels,

plays and poems (p. 751)

Poetry a collection of poems; poems in general (p. 973)

Poem a piece of writing in which the words are chosen for their sound and the

Images they suggest, not just for their obvious meanings (p. 972)

The explanations were provided to bear in mind that these terms are in

hyponymic relation, which means that a poem is a part of poetry which is a part of

literature, so using the terms literature or poetry always includes the presence of a

poem, as well.

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7.2 WHY TO TEACH LITERATURE

Who among us cannot recite a short poem or nursery rhyme learned long

ago? Ask V. L. Holmes and M. R. Moulton, who provide the explanation of this

phenomenon. Firstly, poetry sticks with us because it resonates in our hearts and

minds, and secondly poems often adhere to predictable patterns of rhythm and

rhyme, they are pleasurable and easy to recall (V. L. Holmes and M. R. Moulton, p.

2).

Literature language surrounds us in many different ways and is to be found

in many daily practices (e.g. playground rituals, verbal games, jokes, songs, and

advertisements jingles). (R. A. Carter, p. 7)

V. L. Holmes and M. R. Moulton offer explanation of language acquisition

through poetry, and they give reasons for using poetry in language teaching.

Children are often introduced to poetry early in their lives by parents, grandparents, and other caretakers who chant nursery rhymes or sing lullabies to soothe their childrens anxiety all before the youngsters have any consciousness of linguistic forms. Many children learn their first words from poems because the sounds of poetic language, with its patterns of rhythm, rhyme, and cadence, intrigue them and make them listen carefully. Linguists suggest that early knowledge of syntax comes from children listening to language forms from their environments. More often than not, those forms are poetic. Poetry teaches children to listen, develop vocabulary, learn to read and write, and think creatively. For some of the same reasons that poetry is useful in acquisition of a first language, it is an effective way of learning and reinforcing the sounds and structures of a second, or even third, language. Through listening to poetry, second language learners can reinforce target language learning in a natural way. (V. L. Holmes and M. R. Moulton, p. 3)

According to R. A. Carter there are three main reasons for teaching literature.

These are: the cultural model, the language model, the personal growth model.

a) The cultural model Teaching literature within a cultural model enables students to understand and appreciate cultures and ideologies different from their own in time and space and to come to perceive tradition of thought, feeling, and artistic form within the heritage the literature of such cultures endows.

b) The language model The main reason is to put students in touch with some of the more subtle and varied creative uses of the language. There is much to be gained in terms of language but a main impulse of language-centred literature teaching is to help students find ways into a text in a methodical way and for themselves.

c) The personal growth model The main goal is to try to help students to achieve an engagement with the reading of literary texts. The personal growth is rewarding because it results from learning how to appreciate and evaluate complex cultural artefacts; it is fulfilling because it is stimulated by an understanding of our society and culture and of ourselves as we function within that society and culture. (R. A. Carter, p. 2, 3)

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Alan Duff and Alan Maley offer another three types of justification for using

literary texts: linguistic, methodological, and motivational.

a) Literary texts offer genuine samples of a very wide range of styles, registers, and text-types at many levels of difficulty.

b) Literary texts are open to multiple interpretations. This ready-made opinion gap between one individuals interpretation and anothers can be bridged by genuine interaction.

c) Literary texts are non-trivial, they deal with matters which concerned the writer enough to make him or her write about them. This genuine feel of literary texts is a powerful motivator, especially when allied to the fact that literary texts so often touch on themes to which learners can bring a personal response from their own experience. (A. Duff & A. Maley, p. 6)

There is an inexhaustible amount of poems from which we will choose a few

examples on which we will demonstrate Carters models and Duff and Maleys

justification for using the poems in language teaching.

Tradition of thought, feeling, and artistic form of the cultural model can be

demonstrated on Elizabeth Barret Brownings poem How do I love thee? (see

appendix 9). The methodical way of the language model can be presented on the

poem used in the research (see section 8.6 and appendix 7). For the personal growth

model see for instance the poem written by Rudyard Kipling If (see appendix 10).

From the linguistic point of view nursery rhymes are nice examples of wide range of

styles, registers, and text-types at many levels of difficulty (see some examples in

appendix 11). There are a lot of poems that offer multiple interpretations and are

very personal. In appendix 12 two examples are to be found. The first poem is To a

stranger by Walt Whitman and the second by William Butler Yeats Leda and the

swan.

Although the explanations and given reasons for teaching literature are

convincing looking through TEFL / TESL writings in the seventies or early

eighties, we find surprisingly little about the teaching of literature. Nevertheless,

during the 1980s the situation has changed quite radically and literature is

undergoing an extensive reconsideration within the language teaching profession.

(R. A. Carter, p. 1)

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8. MEDINA RESEARCH

Suzanne Medina is a professor of School of Education in Carson, California,

who conducted research in an area similar to what I am interested in, in my diploma

thesis. Her pieces of knowledge and findings support my research which is the

reason why there is a reference to her investigation.

She carried out research focused on the effect of music on second language

acquisition. Her research was based on a story song. The theoretical support was

largely based on Krashens second language acquisition hypotheses, which we will

highlight the main ideas from.

Two best known Krashens hypotheses, from his five, are the Input and

Affective filter hypotheses. According to Krashens Input Hypothesis, new,

unfamiliar vocabulary is acquired when its significance is made clear to the learner.

Meaning is conveyed by providing extralinguistic support such as illustrations,

actions, photos, and realia. This in turns results in what Krashen refers to as

comprehensible input since the linguistic input is made comprehensible to the

second language learner (S. Medina). In the Affective Filter hypotheses Krashen

says that the extent to which linguistic input is received from the environment

largely depends upon the learners affect, that is his inner feelings and attitude.

Negative emotions, functioning much like a filter, can prevent the learner from

making total use of the linguistic input from his environment. Therefore, if he is

anxious, unmotivated, or simply lacks confidence, language acquisition will be

limit