MASARYK UNIVERSITY IN BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Teaching Vocabulary through Music

Diploma Thesis

Brno 2008

Dagmar Šišková

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MASARYK UNIVERSITY IN BRNO

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

AND LITERATURE

Teaching Vocabulary through

Music

Diploma Thesis

Brno 2008

Supervisor: Written by: Mgr. Jaroslav Suchý Dagmar Šišková

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Prohlášení

Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci zpracoval/a samostatně a použil/a jen prameny uvedené v seznamu literatury.

Souhlasím, aby práce byla uložena na Masarykově univerzitě v Brně v knihovně Pedagogické fakulty a zpřístupněna ke studijním účelům

Brně dne 5. prosince 2008 Dagmar Šišková

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Mgr. Jaroslav Suchý, for his supervision,

helpful advice and recommending literature.

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................7

1. THEORETICAL PART 7

1.1. The Role and the Importance of Music .............................................9

1.2. History of Music ..............................................................................11

1.3. The Psychological Effects of Music ................................................12

1.4. Music and Language Learning ........................................................14

1.5. Why should this method work? .......................................................24

1.6. Memory ............................................................................................29

1.7. Summary ..........................................................................................32

2. PRACTICAL PART 33

2.1. Information about the students ........................................................33

2.2. The Questionnaire ............................................................................35

2.3. The Evaluation of the Questionnaire ...............................................36

2.3.1. The Seventh Grade ................................................................36

2.3.2. The Eighth Grade ..................................................................37

2.3.3. The Ninth Grade ...................................................................38

2.3.4. Overall results .......................................................................39

2.3.5. The Selection of Songs .........................................................40

2.4. Practical exercises for the songs ......................................................41

2.4.1. Rihanna – "Don‘t Stop the Music" .......................................42

2.4.2. Shakira – "Don’t Bother" ......................................................45

2.4.3. Fergie – "Clumsy" .................................................................48

2.4.4. Ozzy Osbourne – "Mama I’m Coming Home" .....................49

2.4.5. Eminem – "Mockingbird" .....................................................51

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2.4.6. Blink 182 – "I Miss You" .....................................................55

2.4.7. Jamiroquai – "Cosmic Girl" ..................................................57

2.4.8. Red Hot Chily Peppers – "Under the Bridge" ......................60

2.4.9. Student’s reactions to the exercises ......................................61

2.5. Students’ Test Results ......................................................................63

2.6. Evaluation of the Test Results .........................................................65

CONCLUSION 69

RÉSUMÉ 70

WORKS CITED 71

LIST OF APPENDICES 74

APPENDIX

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Introduction

The Objective and the Content of the Diploma Thesis

This work is concerns using popular songs to teach English, especially

vocabulary since learning vocabulary is one of the key elements in learning a foreign

language and has always caused students difficulties. Thornbury quotes the linguist

David Wilkins to stress the importance of learning vocabulary: "Without grammar very

little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed“ (2002:13). He also

quotes several students who complain about their lack of vocabulary and points out that

"vocabulary teaching has not always been very responsive to such problems“ (2002:13).

The objective of this work is to measure the effectiveness of using popular songs to

teach vocabulary.

The work is divided into two parts: theoretical and practical. The theoretical part

discusses many aspects of music and language learning themselves, such as the role and

the importance of music in people’s lives. A brief account on history of music is also

included. This is followed by an analysis of the psychological effects of music. The

benefits and the effects of music on language learning are covered in the following part.

The last chapter of the theoretical part focuses on the general process of learning and

memory and those are implied on the tested method of using popular songs to teach

English.

All the knowledge gained in the theoretical part is applied in the practical one.

The practical part describes author’s own research, the individual steps of the procedure,

and, of course, the results of this research. The practical part also includes exercises that

can be created for any song. The whole author’s research and practical part are

described in detail beginning on page 33.

The conclusion summarises the content of this work, reflects on the results of the

research and evaluates the tested method.

Reasons Why I Have Chosen this Topic

There are two main reasons as to why I have chosen this topic. The first reason

is a personal one dealing, with my own experience with this method. This is how I had

taught myself English before I started attending an English course. I would look up the

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lyrics of my favourite songs in a dictionary, and listening to my favourite songs made

me never forget these words, even though I have hardly ever used some of them. I

wanted to find out if this method would be as successful with my own students.

And the second reason is that there are many students at our school who love

and listen to music most of the time on their mobile phones and MP3 players. There are

problems with them on a daily basis listening to their favourite music on headphones

even during lessons. That is why I thought that I could make use of their habit and listen

to their music in the lessons - studying the lyrics of those songs making the lessons

more enjoyable and, hopefully, more effective.

Information about the Students

The students are pupils of an elementary school in Kroměříž. This method will

be tested on three groups of students – the seventh, the eighth and the ninth graders.

There are fifty-two children altogether in those three groups out of which eighteen

pupils are in the eighth, the same nimber in the ninth grade, while there are only sixteen

students in the seventh grade.

Their levels range from beginner to pre-intermediate. However, two of the three

groups consist of rather weak students with disciplinary problems and little interest in

English. On the other hand, one group, the seventh grade, consists of hard-working

students who like to study and are active during the lessons.

The students’ ages are from twelve to fifteen.

More information about the students is provided in the practical part on page 33.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis for this work is that students who are interested in the subject,

which in this case is going to be their favourite music, learn more easily and more

effectively. This method also includes repetitiveness, which is so important for the

process of studying because it is almost certain that the students will encounter the

material, their favourite songs, outside the classroom. Students at this age identify with

their favourite stars and are interested in what they are singing about and interest is also

fundamental for learning.

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1. Theoretical Part

1.1. The Role and the Importance of Music

Why should music be suitable for teaching vocabulary? The answer is simple.

Music has always played a big part of humans’ lives, beginning with child’s birth and

mothers singing lullabies to their children. It is used during all important occasions of

human lives beginning with child’s christening, through weddings, to funerals. Each

country has its own anthem. Music has been important during many revolutions and was

even the cause of some of them. John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Karel Kryl can be mentioned

as some of the revolutionary musicians. The flower generation also connected through

music.

Pilka believes that every piece of art is a gift since it deals with big ideas and

social ideals as well as the most inward matters of each and everyone of us. It speaks a

language intelligible to everyone. Music brings emotions to life and it also serves as a

testimony of people from any land or time. It fills the gap between nations, crosses

thousands of miles and reveals more about its people than a scientific elaboration. It

may also help people to get into their own hearts. It speaks for us where words fail

(1959:275-277). Just as all different kinds of art, it serves many purposes. People create

and listen to it for the same reason - they all want to touch others with music or to be

touched by it.

Murphey made the following list about what people usually do with songs. We:

- "listen

- sing, hum, whistle, tap, and snap fingers while we listen

- sing without listening to any recording

- talk about the music

- talk about the lyrics

- talk about the singer/group

- talk about video clips

- use songs and music to set or change an atmosphere or mood […]

- use songs and music to create a social environment, form a feeling of

community, dance, make friends and lovers

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- read about the production, performance, effect, authors, producers, audiences

of music and song

- use music in dreams

- use music and song to make internal associations between the people, places,

and times in our lives, so they become the personal soundtrack of our

lives“(1992:9).

Even the ancient Greeks knew of the importance of music. Holzknech assumes

that poets such as Homer and Hein must have been drawing from their own experience

when they celebrated the power of music and that their listeners would not have

believed them or would have laughed at them if the power of music had not been a

general experience. (1969:404).

Nowadays, it is almost impossible to escape music. It is used in films,

advertisements, it is on radio and even in most shops, restaurants and other public

places. Current technological inventions, such as the iPod, mobile phone and MP3

player enable people to enjoy their favourite music anywhere at any time. People listen

to it while traveling and even while walking in the streets. In fact, a lot of children get

into troubles for listening to music on their headphones during lessons. So why not use

music to our advantage?

Music as such has always been important, especially to most young people. It

has always brought them together. They love to share their music with one another.

Students of the three groups that the songs were piloted with love to talk about their

favourite artists. Talking about their favourite artists is a part of their everyday

communication. Music is connected to many areas of their lives. People who like

similar kinds of music usually dress in a similar way (see appendix number 12 and 13).

It is part of people’s way of living, of their world and it can be used as a means for a

teacher to get into his or her students’ world, to get closer to them.

Music may touch topics that people can relate to. Murphey writes that "songs

can be appropriated by listeners for their own purposes, largely because most pop songs

do not have precise people, place, or time references. For those who find them relevant,

songs happen whenever and wherever one hears them and they are, consciously or

subconsciously, about the people in one’s own life" (1992:8)

For instance, any pupil in the group that listened Fergie’s song called "Clumsy"

could relate to it, since they all could think of a situation when they had felt clumsy.

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This shows that music is personal and people in general are most interested in and

motivated by things that they can relate to.

All of the above-mentioned arguments indicate that music is a subject of

everyday communication and it is something that is ever present in people’s lives

intentionally or unintentionally, which can be very beneficial for the method of using

songs to teach English vocabulary since it increases the possibility that students will

come across the taught material, frequently revising it.

1.2. History of Music

The history of music is worth mentioning because it connects language and

music together, which may further support the idea that teaching vocabulary using

songs should work.

The history of music is tied not just to the development of human culture, but

also to animals. Animals, such as birds, have always used music to communicate. There

are even many theories connecting the origins of music and speech together. According

to Geist, there are three theories connecting the origin of music to the origin of speech.

First theory was developed by people such as Charles Darwin, James B.

Monboddo, Charles D. Isaacson, Richard Wagner and others who claimed that speech

arose from singing. Monboddo believed that screams changed into tones before they

became articulate and that is why music can be more easily acquired than speech.

The supporters of the second theory, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Johann Gottfried

Herder, A. W. Schlegel and many others, claimed that speech and music were originally

connected. However, this theory has not been proven.

The scientists supporting the third and scientifically verified theory argue that

singing arose from excited speech. Scientists such as the famous Charles Darwin,

Herbert Spencer, Edward Mac Dowell, John Frederic and many others believed that

music was a result of excited speech caused by inner emotional states. Stabon´s thesis

says that singing and talking is the same thing. (1970:25-28)

This brief account of the history of music proves that music and language have

always been connected, which implies that teaching the vocabulary of a foreign

language through songs could be effective.

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1.3. The Psychological Effects of Music

What makes music such a powerful tool for teaching vocabulary of a foreign

language? Music has its effect not just on people, but also animals and even plants.

Robertson claims that "music with a ‘beat’ can stimulate your body; music with

powerful melodies and harmonies performed with feeling can make you weep or cry out

with joy; and music like the fugues of Bach and Mozart can be mentally invigorating."

Film makers are very aware of the power of music. The movie “Jaws“ directed by the

legendary Steven Spielberg proves that, since it is mainly the music thst brings tension

to most scenes of the film, not the images. For instance, if there was different music

accompanying the scenes of children playing in the sea, the footage could have easily

been used for a travel agency advertisement. This proves that music influences the way

people perceive things as well as the way they behave and it is used in many ways, even

as a therapy.

The website of the American Music Therapy Association gives the following

brief account of the history of music therapy:

The idea of music as a healing influence which could affect health and behavior

is as least as old as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. The 20th century discipline

began after World War I and World War II when community musicians of all types,

both amateur and professional, went to Veterans hospitals around the country to play for

the thousands of veterans suffering both physical and emotional trauma from the wars.

The patients' notable physical and emotional responses to music led the doctors and

nurses to request the hiring of musicians by the hospitals. It was soon evident that the

hospital musicians needed some prior training before entering the facility and so the

demand grew for a college curriculum. The first music therapy degree program in the

world, founded at Michigan State University in 1944, celebrated its 50th anniversary in

1994. The American Music Therapy Association was founded in 1998 as a union of the

National Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music

therapy.

Music therapy is an established psychological practice in which music is used to

“achieve therapeutic goals“ (“Music therapy“). Its beneficial effects have been

supported by a vast amount of research published through, for instance, the Journal of

Music Therapy or Music Therapy Perspectives promoted by the American Music

Therapy Association (AMTA). According to the American Music Therapy

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Association’s website it “improves the quality of life“ and “music therapy interventions

can be designed to:

- promote wellness

- manage stress

- alleviate pain

- express feelings

- enhance memory

- improve communication

- promote physical rehabilitation.“

Music therapy is beneficial for anyone from children to elderly people, healthy

or ill. It is not just classical music that is used for therapeutic purposes. All styles of

music may have a healing effect. The AMTA website stresses that “the individual's

preferences, circumstances and need for treatment, and the client or patient's goals help

to determine the types of music a music therapist may use.“

Holzknech further mentions an experiment done in prison when trying to support

his claim that music has a relaxing and soothing effect on people. In the experiment,

music was used to dispel prisoners’ depression. This method was highly successful with

the exception of felons who remained indifferent to the music. Music helped in many

cases where spoken word and books failed. Prisoners were even saving money to buy

their own musical instruments and started forming little groups. Forbidding them to

participate in the musical sessions was viewed as the hardest punishment (1969:406).

However, Holzknech also admits that music may have the opposite effect,

describing a story of a friend of his who was unable to continue with her scientific work

because her neighbour kept playing music that made it impossible for her to concentrate

or ignore it (1969:407). Although, the above-mentioned disadvantage may not be valid

in the case of teaching vocabulary through songs since in the case of a student working

on her scientific work, music served as a distraction and not as a means of learning the

subject.

Music therapy is done by music therapists who assess emotional well-being,

physical health, social functioning, communication abilities, and cognitive skills

through musical responses. Then, they design music sessions for individuals and groups

based on client needs using music improvisation, receptive music listening, song

writing, lyric discussion, music and imagery, music performance, and learning through

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music; participate in interdisciplinary treatment planning, ongoing evaluation, and

follow up. Naturally, such profession requires special education.

The most important aspect of music therapy connected with the method of

teaching vocabulary through music is that music is also used in schools to improve

students’ non musical areas especially physical coordination and communication skills,

which are probably the most important skills when learning a language.

The powerful effects of music on human’s mind are well documented, but could

music positively influence foreign language learning?

1.4. Music and Language Learning

According to Thornbury, words are organised in the human mind in what is

called the mental lexicon, which means that the vocabulary is stored in "highly

organised and interconnected fashion“ (2002:16). He believes that "knowing a word

involves knowing its form, and its meaning As well as "knowing the words commonly

associated with it (its collocations) as well as its connotations, including its register and

its cultural accretions“ (2002:15). Both Harmer and Thornbury distinguish between

receptive and productive knowledge. Thorbury writes that "receptive knowledge

exceeds productive knowledge and generally – but not always – precedes it“ (2002:15).

However, Harmer points out that it is difficult to say which words that students know

are passive and which are active.

"A word that has been active through constant use may slip back into the passive

store if it is not used. A word that students have in their passive store may

suddenly become active if the situation or the context provokes its use. In other

words, the status of a vocabulary item does not seem to be a permanent state of

affairs“ (1991:159).

Hopefully, the words used in the lyrics remain in the active store as long as

students listen to the particular song and since the aim of this work is to use students’

favourite songs, the period of time when pupils listen to the song for is long.

Thornbury described the following challenges that a learner of a second

language has to face:

- "making the correct connections, when understanding the second language,

between the form and the meaning of words (e.g. mouth, feel and grippy),

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including discriminating the meaning of closely related words (e.g. lush and

plush)

- when producing language, using the correct form of a word for the meaning

intended (i.e. nose not noise)“ (2002:2).

Thornbury continues with recommendations of what a learner needs to do in

order to meet these challenges:

- "acquire a critical mass of words for use in both understanding and

producing language

- remember words over time, and be able to recall them readily

develop strategies for coping with gaps in word knowledge, including coping

with unknown words, or unfamiliar uses of known words“ (2002:2).

Hopefully, music could help students fulfil one these recommendations since the

words used in songs are remembered, along with the melody of the song, throughout a

lifetime.

How is vocabulary learned? Thornbury mentions three ways of acquiring words

– labelling, categorising and network building. Labelling means "mapping words on to

concepts. Categorizing skills enable a child to "extend the concept of a word“ (2002:18)

which means that a child understands that the word dog includes "other people´s dogs,

toy dogs, and even pictures of dogs“ (2002:18). Network building stands for

"constructing a complex web of words so that items like […] family and brother are

interconnected“ (2002:18).

When learning vocabulary, some words seem to be easier to remember than

others. What makes a word difficult? Thornbury made a list of several "factors that

make some words more difficult than others:

- difficult pronunciation,

- spelling (e.g. words that contain silent letters such as foreign, listen),

- length and complexity (long words are more difficult),

- grammar (e.g. verb patterns),

- meaning (two words overlapping in meaning get confused, words with

multiple meanings),

- range, connotation and idiomaticity (idiomatic expressions will generally be

more difficult than words whose meaning is transparent)” (2002: 27 – 28).

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According to Thornbury, these are "the implications for teaching:

- Learners need tasks and strategies to help them organise their mental lexicon

by building networks of associations – the more the better.

- Teachers need to accept that the learning of new words involves a period of

′initial fuzziness′.

- Learners need to wean themselves off a reliance on direct translation from

their mother tongue.

- Words need to be presented in their typical contexts, so that learners can get

a feel for their meaning, their register, their collocations, and their syntactic

environments,

- Teaching should direct attention to the sound of new words, particularly the

way they are stressed.

- Learners should aim to build a threshold vocabulary as quickly as possible.

- Learners need to be actively involved in the learning of words.

- Learners need multiple exposures to words and they need to retrieve words

from memory repeatedly.

- Learners need to make multiple decisions about words.

- Memory of new words can be reinforced if they are used to express

personally relevant meanings.

- Not all the vocabulary that the learners need can be ′taught′: learners will

need plentiful exposure to speech and text as well as training for self-directed

learning” (2002:30).

Using songs to teach vocabulary, several conditions for teaching stated by

Thornbury are met. In lyrics, words usually appear in context, the sound of new words

is easily remembered along with the melody of the song and by listening to the song,

students are exposed to the new words many times.

As mentioned earlier, the roots of music and speech seem to be closely

connected. Stansell believes that

“music positively affects language accent, memory, and grammar as well as

mood, enjoyment, and motivation” and that “pairing words and rhythm properly

helps to hold songs together, and to improve the ability of the mind to recall it.”

He insists that “music and language help each other in the process of learning

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human expression, a common goal. Interconnections between the musical and

linguistic areas enable music to assist in learning vocabulary and phrases, which

tasks are governed by the linguistic intelligence. High musical ability is common

among multilingual individuals and professional singers with thick accents

otherwise still sing in a standard dialect. With this appreciation for the assistive

place of music in the mind, researchers must try to discover ways that music can

more effectively awaken students to language learning.”

Medina, who has conducted several researches on using music to teach

vocabulary and who was kind enough to grant her permission by email to quote her

work, which can be found in the appendix on page, writes that “second language

researchers [...] have distinguished between vocabulary that is acquired incidentally and

vocabulary that is acquired intentionally,” meaning that the former one is learned

through “variety of sources” and the latter one is learned in school. The above

mentioned sources include, for example, reading and listening to oral stories. Medina

mentions Krashen’s "Input Hypothesis", which explains how new vocabulary is learned.

“According to this hypothesis, new and 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

turn, results in what Krashen refers to as "comprehensible input" since the

linguistic input is made comprehensible to the second language leamer. Krashen

further states that the amount of comprehensible input is proportionate to the

amount of vocabulary acquired. Thus, vocabulary is incidentally acquired

through stories because familiar vocabulary and syntax contained in the stories

provide meaning to less familiar vocabulary.”

Medina adds that “songs share all of the same elements of an oral story.“

Medina made a research related to the discussed method of teaching vocabulary

through music to determine the effects of music and illustration on language acqusition.

She created four equivalent groups “by matching subjects on the basis of vocabulary

pre-test scores”.

“The Music treatment group heard the story in its sung version while the No

Music group heard the spoken rendition of the story (i.e., oral story). Subjects in

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the Illustration treatment groups were shown large, color illustrations of the story

while listening to the tape-recording. […] Subjects were able to derive the

meaning of unfamiliar words from illustrations. Subjects in the No Illustration

group were not shown illustrations; therefore, they extracted meaning from

contextual information.”

Her research proved that “the same amount of language acquisition resulted

whether musical or non-musical means were used“ (“The effects of Music Upon Second

Language Vocabulary Acquisition (ERIC)“). However, “the combination of music and

illustration consistently yielded the highest average amount of vocabulary gain” (“The

effects of Music Upon Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (FLES)“).

Some scientists claim that the first thing we learn when acquiring our first

language is the discourse intonation that may be viewed as music since it is the actual

melody of the language. “The pre-existing patterns of music in the early development of

language prove that the two are already long acquainted. Through its mother's body,

womb, and amniotic fluid, a fetus cannot hear consonants; it only hears the musical

vowel sounds“ (Stansell). Lake states that “children learn to sing before they speak. An

infant’s communication is a series of coos that communicate hunger, fatigue, alarm or

pleasure. Further, a child’s mother can discern the child’s need based on pitch.” Mora

quoted by Stansell adds that “later on, it is through interaction that a child picks up not

only the musicality of each language, but also the necessary communication skills.”

Moreover, for better acquisition of their mother tongue, children are taught nursery

rhymes, poems, but also songs. Why should it be any different when learning a second

language and its vocabulary?

Learning a mother tongue, the child first hears the language before it can speak

it. Brown writes that

“one should learn with his/her ears before learning with his/her eyes. In learning

one’s own language there are five or six years in which language skills are

developed by ear before the reading and/or writing of language is introduced.

This natural process enables one to instinctively communicate verbally with

words and later, after learning to read, learn to write those thoughts down.”

Thornbury agrees when he describes the difference between acquiring a first

language and a second language is that "second language learners already have a first

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language […] with its conceptual system […] it involves both learning a new

conceptual system, and constructing a new vocabulary network – a second mental

lexicon“ (2002:18). However, there are some shared features. "The adult learner’s

concept system is already installed and up-and-running“(2002:18). This means that the

learner is "saved a lot of the over- and under-generalising associated with first language

learning“ (2002:18).

When using songs to teach vocabulary of a foreign language, the pattern of

learning is the same. It also starts with the listening and ends with fluent

communication. However, many students are not comfortable speaking in a foreign

language. Stansell claims that “language students that lack familiarity with a target

culture and have trouble expressing themselves can connect through the freeing

influence of music.” This freeing influence results in students being more relaxed.

According to Medina, in such atmosphere, “they are also more attentive than usual, and

therefore, more receptive to learning. Through songs, students are exposed to

“authentic” examples of the second language. Furthermore, target vocabulary,

grammar, routines and patterns are modeled in context. These are but a few of the

benefits associated with music use in the second language classroom” (“Using Music to

Enhance Second Language Acquisition: From Theory to Practice”).

By listening to English songs, students can hear the native pronunciation of

words. It improves their ability of hearing the language. Farrug argues that "music lends

a natural rhythm to words and phrases, helping language learners to use good

pronunciation. Melodies and rhymes guide learners to speak in a native cadence."

Brown states that it trains "the ear to hear and produce nuances of sound whether they

are musical or linguistic. Orchestra, band, and music teachers have noticed the ability

their immersion students have to hear variations of sound that non-language learners do

not even know exist."

Stansell quotes Palmer & Kelly explaining that “the 4-beat division of most

songs coincides well with the linguistic foundation of binary alteration, or stressed and

unstressed syllables” (Palmer & Kelly 539). Use of music is recommended by them for

better understanding of language because “when songs and words match in stress and

accent, the learner can experience gains in comprehension of word stress, attention

span, anticipation of new text, and memory (Palmer & Kelly 539).”

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Moreover, the authors of Spectrum (Prentice-Hall Regents Publications) state

that "songs are an important aspect of culture, representing the history, folklore, and

current idiom of a country. [...] Singing can build students’ confidence by allowing

them to enjoy a degree of fluency in English before they have achieved it in speaking"

(qtd. in Music in the EFL Classroom). Shtakser also wrote that "didactically songs are

also useful in teaching the rhythm of the language and informing the students about the

culture of that language’s speakers." And even if the teachers’ aim was not to use music

to teach vocabulary Shtakser argues that

"even just playing music without words creates a relaxed atmosphere that

enhances learning. The best example for this is the Suggestopedia method of

Georgii Lozanov in which foreign texts are read dramatically with the

background of several carefully chosen works of classical music. Lozanov

claims that the atmosphere created by the music enhances the ability of the

students to remember vocabulary words and thus shortens the study period of the

foreign language."

Suggestopedia is also going to be analysed in this work as one of the two

language teaching methods that are connected to using songs to teach vocabulary.

The question is, how can teachers put the use of music into foreign language

teaching practice? Many teachers are concerned about using songs in their lessons

fearing a number of factors. Murphey conducted a survey in a group of commercial

school teachers and made the following list of items that teachers most often worry

about:

- "Administrators/teachers/students do not take music and song seriously.

- It disturbs neighbouring classes

- Some students get too excited

- It takes away from the normal syllabus. Time is lost.

- Students disagree about songs, and have different musical tastes.

- Pop songs have poor vocabulary – too much slang and bad grammar.

- How do you exploit the material usefully? What is the goal?

- It is hard to find lyrics – source of old recorded material are no longer

available.

- Students just want to listen, not to work.

- Poor quality cassette/video recorder.

- Lack of technical equipment due to cost.

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- Teachers do not like to sing or are not musical.

- Many songs are not intelligible.

- EFL songs are boring.

- Students will not sing

- Which songs should you choose? Many express violence and sexism.

- What to do when students bring music which teachers hate?

- Songs go out of date very quickly.

- How do you share in materials production" (1992:8-9)?

Many of the above mentioned are, of course, irrational. For instance, most

students take music seriously, especially their favourite music by their idols. The

vocabulary of many songs may be of poor quality and full of slang, but so is the natural

language used in everyday situations, therefore it is necessary that students get

acquainted with the slang. Nowadays, it is very easy to find any lyrics on the Internet.

The technical equipment should not be a problem anymore since there is at least one CD

player in most schools. Even though some EFL songs are boring, the teacher may

choose any other song. Murphey argues that "the supply is inexhaustible!" (1992:8) and

summarises this by saying "no material will answer all our different needs", and that

success depends "on successful manipulation of the material by the teacher" (1992:9).

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

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

songs:

- “study grammar

- practice selective listening comprehension

- read songs [...] for linguistic purposes

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

- discuss a song [...]

- translate songs

- write dialogues using the words of a song

- use video clips in many ways

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

- dictate a song

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

- use music for background to other activities

- integrate songs into project work

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- energize or relax classes mentally

- practice pronunciation, intonation, and stress

- break the routine

- do choral repetition

- teach vocabulary

- teach culture

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

explain their music

- have fun“ (1992:10).

For teaching vocabulary, the most appropriate activities are probably writing

dialogues using the words of a song, dictating a song, using a song for gap-fill, cloze, or

for correction, integrating songs into project work, practicing pronunciation, intonation,

and stress. However, Murphey stresses that teachers should “be careful not to kill the

material by doing too much of serious work“ (1992:10), that is why he believes that

probably the most important thing to do with a song in an English classroom is just to

have fun because it can “stimulate very positive associations to the study of a language,

which otherwise may only be seen as a laborious task, entailing exams, frustration, and

correction“(1992:6).

Blodget, who is not only a teacher, but also a musician and songwriter, has used

music to teach a second language successfully for many years. He mentioned even

some more ideas as to what students can do with the song in the lessons. They can:

- “create booklets illustrating the lyrics

- karaoke, sing-along, or lip-sync video performances

- dramatic interpretations/mime/acting out performances

- dance and choreography – moving hands, head, feet, and body to the music

in creative ways

- re-write the song either altogether in an original and creative lyric (for those

who can), or by substituting all the nouns, or adjective, or other parts of

speech so as to make a new song lyric, and much more.“

Stansell mentions Fawn Whittaker’s article that deals with the use of music

through literature review. She believes that songs have a positive effect in all language-

learning areas (listening, speaking, reading and writing). She describes her process of

presenting a song to a class, which consists of four steps. The first step is playing the

song to the students. Then, she has students repeat the words which is followed by

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pointing out new expressions giving students pronunciation cues. She finishes by

playing the song again while the students are allowed to sing along. Stansell concludes

that this approach might "lead to the out-of-class associations that are crucial to

language learning. Simply attending class a few days a week and doing homework does

not a proficient language speaker make, but adding songs encourages rehearsal." Of

course, this theory is also valid for teaching vocabulary.

Blodget also stresses that by using music to teach a language,

“all of the (Howard Gardner’s) seven multiple intelligences are addressed when

teaching language through music with the appropriate accompanying exercises:

- kinesthetic (dance, clapping, stomping, body movement, percussion)

- musical (listening, singing, playing, distinguishing)

- linguistic (interpreting lyrics while listening or through exercises)

- logical/mathematical (music is maths)

- social (choral, dance, cooperative learning with the exercises)

- visual (illustrations, dramatizations, video)

- individual (the fallback for all of the written exercises, as well as with

individual projects and culminating activities).“

Moreover, music does not only reach students’ inteligence. It is also emotional,

so even if students do not understand the meaning of all the words, music itself might

help them. There are music videos to most popular songs that also help students

understand the content of the lyrics. There is usually some topic or story covered in the

lyrics therefore students learn the new word within a context.

Another reason for using songs in English lessons is that the lyrics are often rich,

sometimes deep, at times silly or funny, which is something students appreciate. They

are full of slang words that are not covered by traditional English textbooks. Some

songs touch interesting topics that may be used for further discussion. Some lyrics are

even demanding and can be useful when trying to teach students to see the deeper

meaning of different texts. Murphey agrees that “some songs can be quite complex

syntactically, lexically, and poetically and can be analyzed in the same way as any other

literary sample“ (1992:8).

The fact that song lyrics cover vast themes and topics means that the vocabulary

that students are exposed to is immense. One student of Spanish revealed at Language

Learner Adviser web site that using music to learn another language

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"has increased my exposure to everyday vocabulary, and also to some more

poetic or idiomatic uses of the language. Some words, which I would pass by in

a vocabulary list or dictionary as 'uninteresting' or 'not useful' I now learn by

hearing over and over in songs, or by looking them up to figure out what the

lyrics mean."

However, some lyrics may be offensive or inappropriate, so teacher should

always be cautious when choosing the songs.

All of this should help students when learning new vocabulary. Listening to

something students like makes it interesting and motivating to learn. Music also serves

as an escapism from class and makes the learning almost effortless meaning that

students might learn the language without noticing it. Volín summarizes it perfectly

when he says "We all have experienced it. A songs sticks in your head and it is

impossible to get rid of it. But do you know anybody who would have experienced a

grammar exercise stick in their head" (1997:cover of the book).

1.5. Why should this method work?

Using music to teach vocabulary attracts students’ attention. Their natural

admiration for their favourite artists should motivate them to try to understand the lyrics

of their songs and according to Harmer, motivation "is the biggest single factor affecting

students success" (1991:3). Linhart writes that motivation influences one´s performance.

It is closely connected to the energy that one puts into an activity and conditioned by

one’ s needs and emotions. Motivation is the initial stimulus for learning. It is tightly

knit to one´s attitudes, which means that it is personal. The need to understand what is

happening around me is also a learning stimulus (1967:53-54). Murphey also believes

that “highly motivated language learning starts with the students and what they are

interested in” (1992: 5) Wikipedia lists the following six effects that the right

motivation can have on students’ learning and behaviour. “It can:

1. Direct behaviour towards particular goals.

2. Lead to increased effort and energy

3. Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities

4. Enhance cognitive processing

5. Determine what consequences are reinforcing

6. Lead to improved performance” (“Motivation“).

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There are two types of motivation; intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic

motivation "occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it

either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are

learning is significant" and extrinsic motivation means that "a student is compelled to do

something or act a certain way because of factors external to him or her (like money or

good grades)" (“Motivation“). Educational psychologists have studied intrinsic

motivation "and numerous studies have found it to be associated with high educational

achievement and enjoyment by students"(“Motivation“). The intrinsic motivation can be

achieved, if students:

" - attribute their educational results to internal factors that they can control (e.g.

the amount of effort they put in),

- believe they can be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i.e. the results

are not determined by luck),

- are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to achieve

good grades" (“Motivation“).

The method of using popular songs to teach vocabulary should make students

motivated intrinsically since it is believed that students will be interested in the songs

for they were chosen to be their favourite songs by their favourite artists based on a

questionnaire that they had answered. Shtakser mentioned that

"students relate to songs as part of entertainment rather than work and find

learning vocabulary through songs amusing rather than tedious. This is true especially

with pop songs which are part of youth culture. Better familiarity with these songs

improves students’ status within the peer group and therefore stimulates learning."

Thornbury writes that "for a long time, teaching approaches such as the Direct

Method and audiolingualism gave greater priority to the teaching of grammatical

structures“ (2002:14). He claims that it was the communicative approach that played the

key role in the "re-think of the role of vocabulary“ (2002:14). Teaching vocabulary

through music has similar features as two effective modern language-learning

approaches, one focusing on vocabulary called Lexical Approach and Suggestopedia.

Here’s a brief discription of the two methods.

Lexical Approach was developed by Michael Lewis who believed that

"an important part of language acquisition is the ability to comprehend and

produce lexical phrases as unanalyzed wholes, or "chunks," and that these

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chunks become the raw data by which learners perceive patterns of language

traditionally thought of as grammar (Lewis, 1993, p. 95)."

Moudraia writes that "the key principle of a lexical approach is that "language

consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar." It distinguishes vocabulary

from lexis. Vocabulary are words with fixed meanings while lexis includes

"the word combinations that we store in our mental lexicons. [...] The lexical

approach advocates argue that language consists of meaningful chunks that,

when combined, produce continuous coherent text, and only a minority of

spoken sentences are entirely novel creations" (Moudraia).

Lewis suggests the following taxonomy of lexical items:

- "words (e.g., book, pen)

- poly words (e.g., by the way, upside down)

- collocations, or word partnerships (e.g., community service, absolutely

convinced)

- institutionalized utterances (e.g., I'll get it; We'll see)

- sentence frames and heads (e.g., That is not as ...as you think; The

fact/suggestion/problem/danger was ...) and even text frames (e.g., In this

paper we explore ...; Firstly ...; Secondly ...; Finally ...)“ (Moudraia).

Moudraia also suggest activities which can be "used to develop learners'

knowledge of lexical chains.

- intensive and extensive listening and reading in the target language

- first and second language comparisons and translation--carried out chunk-

for-chunk, rather than word-for-word--aimed at raising language awareness.

- repetition and recycling of activities, such as summarizing a text orally one

day and again a few days later to keep words and expressions that have been

learned active.

- guessing the meaning of vocabulary items from context.

- noticing and recording language patterns and collocations.

- working with dictionaries and other reference tools.

- working with language corpuses created by the teacher for use in the

classroom or accessible on the Internet.“

Suggestopedia was developed by Bulgarian psychotherapist Dr. Georgi Lozanov

in the 1970s and "the name is from the words suggestion and pedagogy"

(“Suggestopedia“). In his website, Lozanov claims that using this method means "three

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to five times faster, easier and deeper learning, inner freedom, increasing the motivation

for learning, joyful learning and psychol-physiological well-being."

Suggestopedia works with relaxation. Lozanov further writes that it is "a science

for developing different non-manipulative and non-hypnotic methods for

teaching/learning of foreign languages and other subjects for every age-group on the

level of reserve (potential, unused) capacities of the brain/mind" and in his website

provides an extract of recommendations from international expert group of UNESCO

that has tested and evaluated his method as "generally superior" and recommends using

this method for teaching many subjects all over the world ( ).

Teaching using this method is done in four phases: introduction, concert session,

elaboration and production. The introduction is a part where the teacher focuses on the

grammar and lexis of the content that is going to be taught in a playful manner. The

concert session can be either active or passive. According to Wikipedia, "in the active

session, the teacher reads the text at a normal speed, sometimes intoning some words

and the students follow" while "in the passive session, the students relax and listen to

the teacher reading the text calmly" with music played in the background

(“Suggestopedia“). Elaboration describes a phase where the students sing songs and

play games with the teacher being a consultant. In the production phase, the students

should be able to use actively what they have learned, which means that they should be

able to "speak and interact in the target language without interruption or correction"

(“Suggestopedia“).

The teacher should not control the students. Instead, he should be a partner to the

students and participate in all activities. Lozanov requires that the teacher should be

trained in order to be able to elaborate professionally the intonation, rhythm and tone.

He argues that it is also a very "good way to manage discipline among children"

however, he insists that it is not a method of amusement as many people think because

of the good spirits within the group" because he believes that "unnatural joking aimed at

relaxation does not accelerate but retards the process of education" ( ).

Lozanov further recommends that the material "should be arranged and

systematised in view of its easier and more profound assimilation." His other

requirements concern the volume and complexity of the material which "should be on

the border of the conscious mind and even partly in the peripheral perceptions or the

paraconsciousness" where "much of mind’s reserves exist." Therefore, a special training

for teachers is essential in order to be able to work "in the field of the reserve (unused or

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most often unknown) great personal capacities" otherwise the teacher is going to have

difficulties doing his or her work.

What connects the method of teaching vocabulary through music to the above-

mentioned two approaches? The method that this work focuses on shares one common

feature with suggestopedia, music. It seems that music is the key element of

suggestopedia making it so special. The method of using popular songs to teach English

also covers some aspects of the lexical approach since it includes the above mentioned

"intensive and extensive listening in the target language" and "repetition and recycling

of activities, such as summarizing a text orally one day and again a few days later to

keep words and expressions that have been learned active" ("Lexical Approach"). Some

exercises created for the songs in the practical part are "guessing the meaning of

vocabulary items from context", which is also one of the features of the Lexical

Approach ("Lexical Approach"). To sum up, the method tested by this work shares

some of the characteristics of Suggestopedia and Lexical Approach, two modern

foreign-language teaching methods.

Moreover, using students’ favourite songs to teach vocabulary creates endless

opportunities for revision and revision is fundamental for storing the information in long

term memory, which is the main objective of this work, to help students learn new

vocabulary forever. Linhart says that "without revision, there is no learning"

(1967:147). Revising the subject matter in different ways deepens students’ knowledge.

It is also very important that the revision is done systematically. Revising should be

done also outside the classroom which is something many students have problems with.

However, music might help those students to overcome this problem since it has the

quality of sticking in one’s head. Murphey calls this ability `the song stuck in my head

phenomenon` which stands for "the echoing in our minds of the last song we heard"

(1992:7).

To ensure even higher probability of students’ revision, it was already mentioned

that the songs were chosen to fit their taste in music. Most students enjoy listening to

their favourite music and this will quarantee one of the goals conditions of this work in

having them revise the vocabulary in order to for them to learn the vocabulary for good.

Moreover, the song itself is a source of repetition. Each song consists of usually

2 verses, a bridge and a chorus. The lyrics of the verses and the bridge usually differ.

However, the chorus usually repeats several times, therefore the lyrics of the chorus and

the new vocabulary included in the chorus will probably be remembered first

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There is also another theory supporting the idea of the effectiveness of the tested

method. This theory analyzes the effects of left and right brain on learning. Lake

mentions James Asher who believed that “no genuine learning can happen until there is

a switch from the left to right brain.” Lake explains this quote saying that “there must be

images for the mental representation of a word in order to retain and use it.” He

continues, describing people with right brain dominant personalities as those who prefer

“drawings, freedom in expressing emotions and use of metaphors. Right brain people

respond well to illustrated instructions and rely heavily on images in thinking or

remembering.” According to Lake, “the left brain dominant individual is defined as

being more verbally oriented and objective. They rely on language in thinking and tend

to be analytical in their reading. The left brain learner rarely uses metaphor.” He claims

that music is beneficial for both type of personalities because it “uses both brain

hemispheres. Emotion and language are one in a song.”

This part of the work shows that the method tested by this work meets the basic

criteria for effective learning such as motivation, effective teaching method and

revision. Songs used by this method should provide the necessary motivation for

students. The method of using songs to teach vocabulary includes aspects of two

mordern successful approaches. Moreover, the tested teaching method quarantees

revision in several ways. Using music also seems effective for people, with both right

and left brain dominant individuals.

1.6. Memory

Since memory plays the key role in learning vocabulary and a foreign language

in general, it is also going to be analysed in detail.

Linhart defined memory in the following way: “memory is an organism's ability

to store, retain, and subsequently retrieve information for a certain time” (1982:126).

Memory can be classified in several ways. The classifications are based on duration,

nature and retrieval of information. There are three stages in the formation and retrieval

of memory – encoding, storage and retrieval. Encoding is a process of “processing and

combining of received information“ (“Memory“). Storage describes a “creation of a

permanent record of the encoded information” and retrieval means “calling back the

stored information in response to some cue for use in a process or activity”

(“Memory“).

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There are several types of memory. Sensory memory is defined as

“the ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original

stimulus has ceased. It refers to items detected by the sensory receptors which are

retained temporarily in the sensory registers and which have a large capacity for

unprocessed information but are only able to hold accurate images of sensory

information momentarily” (“Sensory Memory“).

It can keep the perceived information for approximately “200 – 500

milliseconds” (“Memory“). George Sperling´s experiments proved that the capacity of

sensory memory is about 12 items. Some of the information stored in the sensory

memory proceeds to short term memory, whose capacity is also limited, and George A

Miller, a professor of psychology at Princeton University, conducted experiments that

revealed that its capacity was 7+2 items and its duration was from several seconds to

one minute. However, recent researches showed that the short term memory capacity

can be increased by a process of chunking which means that people are able to store

information better, once the information is presented in meaningful chunks. It is also

believed that short term memory relies rather on an acoustic code when storing

information. Conrad´s tests proved that people could not recall words that sounded

similar, such as dog, hog, fog etc. (“Memory“).

Thornbury also mentions working memory that he describes as “a work bench,

where information is first placed, studied and moved about before being filed away for

later retrieval“ (2002:23). He writes that “the material remains in working memory for

about twenty seconds“ (2002:23). This is “made possible by the existence of the

articulatory loop, a process of subvocal repetition, a bit like a loop of audio tape going

round and round“ (2002:23). This articulatory loop, as he states, “seems to be a

determining factor in the ability to learn languages: the longer the loop, the better the

learner“ (2002:23).

There is also a long-term memory. While short term memory is limited in

capacity, the capacity of long term memory is enormous and its duration covers one´s

lifetime. However, Thornbury mentions the fact that long-term memory “is not always

as long-term as we would wish“ (2002:24). He points out that learnes sometimes “retain

new vocabulary items the length of a lesson, but have forgotten them by the next

lesson“ (2002:24). He mentions several principles that need to be observed in order to

store the material in a permanent long-term memory:

- Repetition: combined with an attempt to organise the material.

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- Retrieval: Activities that require retrieval of the new material, such as using the

new word in written sentences.

- Spacing: Distributing memory work across a period of time

- Pacing: Giving the opportunity to pace learners’ own rehearsal activities.

- Use: putting new words to use.

- Cognitive depth: The more cognitively demanding decisions the learner makes

about a word, the better the word is remembered.

- Personal organising: The judgements that learners make about a word are most

effective if they are personalised.

- Imaging: Learners remember visualised words better and that is why it is

recommended that learners associate even abstract words with some mental image.

- Motivation: Strong motivation makes the learner to spend more time on

rehearsal and practice.

- Attention/arousal: Words that trigger a strong emotional response are more

easily recalled than ones that don’t. (2002: 24-25)

Using students‘ favourite songs definitely ensures repetition, motivation,

personalised approach and certainly arouses students‘ attention. Since the lyrics of the

songs are going to be analyzed, students should always connect the words used in the

song with the melody, thus associating it with a mental image.

Thornbury asks “Why do we forget words? Forgetting is a natural process and

according to Linhart, it “is not the opposite of learning“ (1982:139). He writes that “in

order for certain information to be stored other has to be forgotten“ (1982:139). It has

been estimated that up to 80 per cent of material is lost within 24 hours of initial

learning, but that then the rate of forgetting levels out“ (2002:26). He mentions a study

of learners‘ retention of foreign language which revealed that “in the absence of

opportunities to use the language, rapid forgetting occurred in the first three or four

years after instruction, but then levelled out, with very little further loss, even up to 50

years later. Forgetting may be caused by interference from subsequent learning and by

insufficient recycling“ (2002:26). By interference is meant “overload of students when

the price for learning new language items is the forgetting of old ones“ (2002:26).

Based on this finding, “teachers are advised not to teach words in lexical sets where

words have very similar meanings“ (2002:26).

Blodget believes that there is no better way for storing information in long-term

memory than through music. He stresses that "probably nothing imprints linguistic

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patterns better than words wedded to memorable music. Because of the unique

impressive nature of melodic music, students will retain grammatical structures and

vocabulary for the rest of their lives." Lake argues that "the key factor to storing

material in a person’s long-term memory is rehearsal. Adding rhythm and melody to

chunks of language invites rehearsal and transfers words into the long-term memory."

Medina states that "in the psychological research, music and its subcomponent,

rhythm, have both been shown to benefit the rote memorization process. When various

types of verbal information (e.g., multiplication tables, spelling lists) have been

presented simultaneously with music, memorization has been enhanced (Gfeller, 1983;

Schuster and Mouzon, 1982). Research on the effectiveness of rhythm, a subcomponent

of music, has been equally favorable (Staples, 1968; Ryan, 1969; Weener, 1971;

Shepard and Ascher, 1972; Milman, 1974). The literature also indicates that the

retentive effects of rhythm can be maximized when the targeted verbal information

carries meaning. In several studies, a rhythmic presentation benefitted memorization

when the items were both meaningful and meaningless (i.e., nonsense syllables). Yet,

the impact of rhythm was greatest when the verbal information was more meaningful

(Weener, 1971; Shepard and Ascher, 1971; Glazner, 1976)" (“The effects of Music

Upon Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (ERIC)“).

1.7. Summary

The objective of the theoretical part was to analyze music, its role and

importance in people’s lives, history, which was important because it connected

language learning and music together, the psychological effects of music, current

scientific findings on using music for language teaching and of course, the general

process of learning and memory playing the key part in learning vocabulary. All the

information was presented in order to support the potential positive effects that the

method of using songs to teach English should have. The knowledge gained is applied

below in the practical part.

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2. Practical Part

2.1. Information about the students

Since the author had not other choice but to work with the following three

groups, it is necessary to describe them in order to get a deeper understanding of the

results of this work. The songs were piloted with 3 groups of the seventh, eighth and

ninth grades at an elementary school in Kroměříž. The three classes are very different

and teaching in those groups requires different approaches. The group of the seventh

class consists of mostly well-behaved students with good attitudes towards learning.

The groups of eighth and ninth grade consist of rather weak students of these two

classes often with disciplinary problems.

There are 16 children in the seventh grade, 11 girls and 5 boys. As mentioned

before, there are no big educational or disciplinary problems in this group. However,

there are two students whose level of English is very low and who have faced failing

different subjects in the past. One of them is a girl whose problems are caused by a high

number of hours absent and who comes from a socially deprived family. The other

student is a boy who always disrupts the lessons. Holding his attention and making him

participate in the classroom is not an easy task because he is constantly busy trying to

entertain his peers or doing something completely unrelated to the classroom activities.

Moreover, there are two girls who struggle with English, and their attitude towards the

subject is not positive. They are concerned with everything except what is happening in

the class and rarely do they express an effort. They do enjoy music, though. The other

rest of the class is active most of the time, trying to learn with little adolescent displays

here and there, but in general, teaching these students is a pleasure. Most of these

students seem to love music, often listening to it on their MP3 players, and like to talk

about their favourite stars.

On the other hand, teaching the eighth grade is a constant battle. There are 9

girls and 9 boys. The biggest challenge for a teacher are three boys with considerable

disciplinary or learning problems. One boy has lived in a children´s home. There has

been a lawsuit which is constantly being suspended. His parents are in the middle of a

custody battle. He has been living in uncertainty for more than two years now, not

knowing what is going to happen with his life, which has left its effects on his

emotional and psychological well-being, which is eventually the cause for all his

34

problems. He refuses to cooperate, does whatever he wants to do and when admonished,

he becomes disrespectful, even rude to the teacher. When he gets upset, he becomes

uncontrollable.

Another pupil causing troubles in this class is a boy who has entered this school

this year with a history of bad behaviour from previous schools. Some of his

schoolmates have been complaining that his coming into the school has made the whole

social climate of the class worse. Girls have complained that boys with good behaviour

became grosser. He is the leader in this class and is constantly trying to get his peers

attention and admiration by showing his total disrespect to the school and teachers in

general. He spends his time at school disrupting the lessons.

Another student that stands out in the class is a boy who shows signs of a gifted

student. He loves physics and often represents the school at various competition. He

loves talking to teachers and fixing any broken objects, however, he refuses to do

anything that does not interest him. Unfortunately, English is not his favourite subject,

therefore he spends the lessons talking to his schoolmates about the problems he is

working on, ignoring the teacher’s expostulating. He requires the constant supervision

of the teacher in order to work. He never does any homework, and constantly forgets

something.

The rest of the group consists of average students with hardly any motivation to

learn English and who get easily influenced by the three strong personalities. Most of

the class, especially the boys, but even some of the girls, like following and emulating

them. Most students in this class also seem to enjoy music.

The ninth grade is also a class with a lot of problematic students. The class

consists of 9 boys and 8 girls. The two strongest children are a boy and a girl who both

come from bad family backgrounds. The girl is raised by her grandmother. The girls

centered around her also try to rival her or at least not to do anything she would not

approve of. Some of her friends revealed that she can manipulate the whole class and

that she would turn the whole class against anyone who refused to comply with her

rules. Therefore everyone pretends to be friends with her and cooperate with her in her

actions.

The already-mentioned boy was very similar to the student of the eight grade

who lives in the children´s home. Even though he is raised by his mother, he lacks

discipline, and regards any admonition from a teacher as an offence towards him. When

upset, he also becomes very rude to the teacher. He hardly has any friends among the

35

boys in the class, however he has got many adoring female admirers who try to gain his

respect by behaving in a similar way. He even has a criminal record with the police and

has caused many problems at school.

The rest of the students in the ninth grade also represent average learners with no

magnificent attitude towards learning English and with slight disciplinary problems.

However, they are usually willing to cooperate, prepare for the classes, do their

homework and pay attention during the lessons and the love for music in this group is

evident.

2.2. The Questionnaire

The questionnaire was given to the above-described three classes. The

questionnaire is in English therefore it was ensured that all the students understood all

the questions asked in it. Students who did not manage to fill in the questionnaire during

the lesson were allowed to take it home and hand it in the following lesson.

The questionnaire consists of five questions regarding their musical tastes. The

first two questions concern their favourite artists and songs. In the first question, the

students are asked to make a top ten list of their favourite singers and groups and in the

second question, they are asked to make a top ten list of their favourite songs.

Since there are a lot of people who do not have their favourite signers or groups,

the questionnaire includes the third and the fourth question dealing with their favourite

and least favourite musical genres. Students are offered a list of several genres and here

they are allowed to tick more than just one answer.

The last question is there to find out how often the students listen to their

favourite music because there is a possibility that the students who listen to their

favourite music everyday might have better results learning vocabulary from the songs

than those who do not listen to it as frequently or hardly ever listen to it.

The students were also asked to sign the questionnaire to facilitate better

evaluation of the effectiveness of this method. However, they did not have to sign it if

they did not want to.

The questionnaire is attached in the appendix on page.

36

2.3. The Evaluation of the Questionnaire

The results have been divided into three groups – the seventh grade, the eighth

grade and the ninth grade. Students were asked to make their top-ten lists of their

favourite artists, songs and genres, however, any mention of an artist, a song or a genre

has been considered to be a vote regardless of its position in a student’ s list. The votes

for each artist, song and genre have been counted and put into the following charts. The

entries in the charts are in alphabetical order. Each chart representing students’ answers

is introduced by a quote of the question from the questionnaire. Here, a maximum of

first five chart positions are shown. The complete results can be found in the appendix

on page

2.3.1. The Seventh Grade

There are sixteen students in the seventh grade, but only nine students filled in

this questionnaire.

I. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups.

Chart position Name of the singer or group

Number of votes

1. Fergie 6 2. Rihanna 4 3. Avril Lavigne

Timbaland 3

II. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs. Chart position Name of the artist and

song Number of votes

1. Fergie - "Big Girls Don´t Cry" Rihanna - "Umbrella"

2

III. Which of these musical genres do you like the most?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1. Hip-hop 10 2. Pop

Rap 6

3. Rock 4

IV. Which of these musical genres do you like the least?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes 1. Country 6 2. Funk 5

37

Heavy Metal Punk

3. Jazz 4

V. How often do you listen to your favourite music?

Frequency Number of votes Everyday 6 Several times a week 2

2.3.2. The Eighth Grade

There are 18 pupils in this group out of which twelve filled in this questionnaire.

I. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups.

Chart position Name of the artist Number of votes 1. Kotrafakt

Linkin Park Pussy Cat Dolls

3

2. Eminem Iron Maiden Korn Lordi

2

II. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs.

Chart position Name of the artist and

song Number of votes

1. Britney Spears - "Piece of Me" Pussy Cat Dolls –"Dontcha"

2

III. Which of these musical genres do you like the most?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes 1. Hip-hop 9 2. Rock 8 3. Pop

Rap 6

IV. Which of these musical genres do you like the least? Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1. Opera 9 2. Country 8 3. Heavy Metal 7

38

V. How often do you listen to your favourite music?

Frequency Number of votes Everyday 11 Several times a week 1

2.3.3. The Ninth Grade

This group consists of eighteen pupils and the number of students who have

filled this questionnaire is sixteen.

I. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups.

Chart position Name of the singer or group

Number of votes

1. 50 Cent 6 2. Eminem 5 3. Avril Lavigne

Blink 185 Cypress Hill DJ Tiesto Good Charlotte Linkin Park Omix Rihanna

3

4. Green Day Kontrafakt Lordi Nirvana Prodigy Pussy Cat Dolls Red Hot Chily Peppers Rytmus Sum 41 Tafrob Usher

2

II. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs

Chart position Name of the artist and song

Number of votes

1. Blink 182 – "I Miss You" 4 2. Prodigy – "Voodoo" 3

III. Which of these musical genres do you like to most?

39

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes 1. Hip-hop 12 2. Pop

Punk Rock

7

3. Rap 6

IV. Which of these musical genres do you like the least?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes 1. Opera 13 2. Country

Classical Music Musicals

11

3. Jazz 8

V. How often do you listen to your favourite music?

Frequency Number of votes Everyday 15 A few times a month 1

2.3.4. Overall results

The total number of students who filled the questionnaire is fifty.

I. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups. II.

Chart position Name of the singer or group

Number of votes

1. 50 Cent Avril Lavigne Eminem Fergie Rihanna

7

2. Linkin Park 6 3. Kontrafakt

Pussy Cat Dolls 5

4. Lordi 4 5 Blink 185

Britney Spears Cypress Hill DJ Tiesto Good Charlotte Omix Red Hot Chily Peppers Shakira Timbaland

3

40

III. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs.

Chart position Name of the artist and song

Number of votes

1. Blink 182 – "I Miss You" 4 2. Prodigy – "Voodoo"

Britney Spears - "Piece of Me" Fergie - "Big Girls Don´t Cry" Rihanna –"Don´t Stop the Music"

3

3. Rihanna – "Umbrella" Pussy Cat Dolls –"Dontcha"

2

IV. Which of these musical genres do you like to most?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1. Hip-hop 31 2. Pop

Rock 19

3. Rap 18 V. Which of these musical genres do you like the least?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1. Country 25 2. Opera 22 3. Classical music 20

VI. How often do you listen to your favourite music?

Frequency Number of votes Everyday 46 Several times a week 3 A few times a month 1

2.3.5. The Selection of Songs

The selected songs had to meet two criteria. They should be appropriate as far as

the content is concerned and the lyrics should more or less correspond with the students‘

knowledge of English.

41

This method of teaching vocabulary was piloted with nine songs. Some of the

songs were done with all three groups and some of them only with one group. The

songs were selected so that there was at least one song for each person who had filled

the questionnaire in the particular group.

This is a list of songs selected for the seventh grade:

Rihanna –"Don’t Stop the Music"

Shakira – "Don’t Bother"

Fergie - "Clumsy"

Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Under the Bridge"

The eighth grade listened to the following songs:

Rihanna – "Don‘t Stop the Music"

Ozzy Osbourse – "Mama I‘m Coming Home"

Eminem – "Mockingbird"

Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Under the Bridge"

The following songs were chosen for the ninth grade:

Rihanna –"Don’t Stop the Muxic"

Blink 182 – "I Miss You"

Eminem – "Mockingbird"

Jamiroquai – "Cosmic Girl"

2.4. Practical exercises for the songs

The author’s inspiration for creating some of these exercises were books by

Volín, Hutchinson and Murphy. Some of them were created by the author of this work.

For each song there is a listening activity at the beginning. Some creative writing

activities where students had to use the new words were added to activate the language.

Many exercises are focused on students’ understanding of the content of the lyrics and

where possible, some activities are connected with the grammar as well, for instance,

there is an exercise on irregular verbs or on comparatives and superlatives. Some

exercises also draw from the students’ knowledge about their favourite artists whose

songs were selected. To make the activities even more enjoyable, some exercises are in

form of crosswords etc.

It was mentioned before that students were tested on the vocabulary that they

learned through song in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this method. There were

42

also some troubling students who had to be tested in order to learn the new words. It

should be noted that students were not required to learn all the new vocabulary that

appeared in the lyrics of the song, but they were instructed by the teacher which words

they would be tested on because in some of the lyrics, there were too many new words.

This was done so as not to overload the students. The words that students were

supposed to learn are listed in the aim for each song and they were usually the ones that

appeared in the exercises. The words listed in the wordlist on the handouts were there to

help the students get a better understanding of the lyrics.

2.4.1. Rihanna – "Don‘t Stop the Music"

Target group: the seventh, the eighth and ninth grades of primary school

Level: low pre-intermediate to pre-intermediate

Aim: to teach new vocabulary of the lyrics (impossible, incredible,

naughty, private, chest, refuse, go on, rock, escape, look for,

explode, candidate, aura, stress, party, DJ, passion, shake away)

Time: total of 65 minutes (45 minutes and 20 minutes)

Material: a CD player

a CD with the song

a copy of a handout for each student

a bilingual dictionary for each student

Assumptions: This song should be enjoyed by majority of pupils in each class

because Rihanna was listed as a favourite artist by many of them

in the questionnaire. The lyrics are not very difficult and the song

is not expected to cause students many problems.

1st lesson

1. Play the song for students to listen and to fill in the missing words. Play the song

again. Check the words by asking students to give you the words that they have

filled in. Write the words on the board for those students who might have missed

some words.

43

Answer key

Music; away; baby; play; DJ; show;

15 minutes

2. Ask students to match the opposites in the two columns. Some students may

know some of the words in this exercise. Ask them to tell the rest of the class the

Czech equivalents. Give students dictionaries to look up the rest of the words

that they do not know.

Answer key

Impossible – possible

Incredible – unremarkable

Naughty – decent

Private - public

5 minutes

3. Get students to look at the lyrics of the bridge and ask them to find the four

words describing the parts of a human body. Students should know the words

hand and face but they might have problems with the words chest and waist.

Answer key

hand; waist; face; chest

4 minutes

4. Most students have problems understanding all the meanings of the word way.

Ask them to read the lyrics and to try to make out the three different meanings of

this word as set in their worksheet.

Answer key

1. způsob – Like the way you do this

2. směr - when you looked my way

3. cesta – I’m making my way over to my favourite place

5 minutes

5. Ask students to match the synonyms in the two columns. You may let them use

dictionaries to look up the words they do not understand.

Answer key

Refuse – say no

Go on – happen

Rock – dance

44

Escape – run away

Look for - search

6 minutes

6. These English words are very similar to their Czech equivalents. Ask students to

guess their meaning. They may have problems with the word aura.

Language note

A definition of aura taken from the Oxford online dictionary is “1 the distinctive

atmosphere or quality associated with someone or something. 2 a supposed

invisible force surrounding a living creature.“

Answer key

Explode - explodovat

Candidate - kandidát

Aura - aura

Stress - stres

Party – pařit

DJ - diskžokej

4 minutes

7. This exercise can be done as a homework. Ask students to learn all the new

words and complete this exercise at home. By answering the four questions, they

are going to get a name of a Michael Jackson song that is sampled in this

Rihanna song.

Answer key

Wanna Be Starting Something

6 minutes

2nd lesson

The remaining exercises may be done either at the beginning of the lesson or at

the end of the following lesson to revise the vocabulary that they learned the previous

lesson.

8. To revise the new vocabulary that the students were supposed to learn at home.

Play the song again and let them fill in the missing words. Check the correct

answers with students.

Answer key

45

shake; possible; aura; rocking; naughty; waist; chest; chest; wanna; escape;

refuse; keep; passion

7 minutes

9. To revise the learnt vocabulary, have a discussion with the students about the

topic of the song by having them answer these questions.

Answer key

Students’ own answers.

13 minutes

2.4.2. Shakira – "Don’t Bother"

Target group: the seventh grade of primary school

Level: low pre-intermediate

Aim: to teach new vocabulary of the lyrics (kind, fat free, cool, see,

own, unkind, practice, lose one’s nerve, deserve, bother, wait,

lose, promise, cry, defy, beat, give up, file, stay, be glad)

to get students acquainted with some of English weights and

measures (foot, pound)

to revise and practice comparatives and superlatives

Time: 45 minutes

Material: a CD player

a CD with the song

a copy of handout for each student

bilingual dictionary for each student

Assumptions: Most pupils should know this song well since it is a recent hit.

The lyrics are not as difficult, however few new words appear

making the lyrics slightly difficult, but not incomprehensible.

Shakira’s accent might cause difficulties in the beginning, but

students should be able to understand in the end.

I. Play the song for students and have them fill in the missing words. Some

students may have problems understanding her accent so play the song again

46

for them to have an opportunity to fill in those words that they did not

understand the first time.

Answer key

Look; school; she; sorry; be; doesn’t; see; country; football

14 minutes

II. Tell students to connect the synonyms in the table. They should know most

of the words. They are allowed to use a dictionary to look up those words

that they do not know.

Answer key

Kind – type

Fat free – slim

Cool – great

See – understand

Own – have

Unkind - unfriendly

5 minutes

III. Read the instructions and ask students whether they know how many metres

is one foot. If they do not know, tell them that one foot is 0,3048 metres.

Then ask them to do a sum.

Answer key

c) 1,80 m

2 minutes

IV. Follow the same instructions as in exercise number III.

Answer key

a) 0,45 kg

2 minutes

V. Ask students to connect the words with the phrases. Tell them that they may

work in pairs. Help them with the phrases that they may have difficulties

understanding.

Answer key

1 g

2 b

3 h

47

4 d

5 i

6 e

7 a

8 m

9 p

10 f

11 c

12 k

13 l

14 j

15 o

16 n

16 minutes

VI. Tell students to look at the first verse of the lyrics and find all the

comparatives and superlatives and put them in the table filling the other two

forms of the adjectives.

Answer key

adjective comparative superlative

great greater the greatest

much, many more the most

good better the best

3 minutes

VII. Ask students to think about their lives and write one thing that they are glad

about.

Answer key

Students’ own answers

3 minutes

VIII. This exercise is suitable to be given to students as homework. Tell students

to think of their idol or some imaginary perfect person and ask them to

describe that person in five sentences. Tell them that they can write about

that person’s looks, personal qualities or his or her skills.

Answer key

48

Students’ own answers

20 minutes

2.4.3. Fergie – "Clumsy"

Target group: the seventh and the eighth grades of primary school

Level: low pre-intermediate to pre-intermediate

Aim: to teach new vocabulary of the lyrics (fall in love, serious, single,

break up, breath, sink, play it cool, crazy, clumsy, bite, break up)

Time: 45 minutes

Material: a CD player

a CD with the song

a copy of handout for each student

bilingual dictionary for each student

Assumptions: Fergie being one of students’ favourite artists should motivate the

students. The lyrics may seem as a tongue twister especially in the

chorus and the words confusing and similar, but since this song is

a current hit, the frequent airplay that this songs enjoys on the

radio stations should help students revise the words frequently.

I. Play the song for students and ask them to fill in the missing words.

Answer key

Time; play; me; love; love; can’t; love; me;

10 minutes

II. There are two similar or confusing words in each sentence of this exercise.

Ask students to choose the correct one. Tell them to look at the lyrics where

they can find some of the expressions to help them. Explain the differences

between words they may seemingly mean the same such as single and alone.

Answer key

49

falls; serious; single; broke up; crawls; bite; breath; touch; alone; sank; crushed;

sleeves; clumsy; cool; crazy; like

20 minutes

III. Ask students to describe situations that make them feel clumsy. They may

prepare their answer and write them down or they can have a discussion

about it in classroom.

Answer key

Students’ own answers

15 minutes

2.4.4. Ozzy Osbourne – "Mama I’m Coming Home"

Target group: the eighth grade of primary school

Level: low pre-intermediate to pre-intermediate

Aim: to teach new vocabulary of the lyrics (hypnotized, ride, tell lies,

turn around, worry, heart, go by, selfish, apart, hurt,stone, fire,

strange, seem, can´t stand + ing)

to revise irregular verbs (see, come, go, be, drive, have, lose, find,

make tell, stand, take)

Time: 45 minutes

Material: a CD player

a CD with the song

a copy of handout for each student

bilingual dictionary for each student

50

Assumptions: Students should already know all the irregular verbs that appear in

the lyrics. This song has been chosen to please just one student in

the group but since this is quite a famous song and there are

couple of students who like rock music, they might eventually

enjoy this song.

I. Play the song and let students fill in the missing words.

Answer key

Come; home; me; lost; good-bye; so; but; everyday; don’t; me;

8 minutes

II. The table includes irregular verbs that appear in the lyrics of the song. Ask

students to fill in the other forms of the irregular verbs as well as their Czech

equivalents.

Answer key

Verb Past simple Past participle česky

see saw seen vidět

come came come přijít, přijet

go went gone jít, jet

be was/were been být

take took taken vzít, brát

drive drove driven řídit

have had had mít

lose lost lost ztratit

find found found najít

make made made udělat, vyrobit

tell told told říci

stand stood stood stát, vystát

take took taken vzít si, brát

13 minutes

III. Ask students to write down two things that they cannot stand doing.

Answer key

Students’ own answers

5 minutes

51

IV. Help students to complete the crossword to find out Ozzy Osbourne’s

nickname. Students may look at the lyrics to find the correct words to

complete the sentences with.

Answer key

1. hypnotized

2. ride

3. tell lies

4. turn around

5. cry

6. heart

7. go by

8. selfish

9. made

10. apart

11. hurt

12. take

13. stones

14. fire

15. strange

16. seems

Solution: Prince of Darkness

17 minutes

V. Ask students to read the lyrics and answer the two questions.

Answer key

Where is Ozzy going? He is going home.

Has he changed? Yes, he has.

2 minutes

2.4.5. Eminem – "Mockingbird"

Target group: the ninth grade of primary school

Level: low pre-intermediate to pre-intermediate

52

Aim: to teach new vocabulary of the lyrics (soldier, witness, jeweller,

promise, shoot, ring, argue, mockinbird, break into, puzzled,

scared, proud)

to get students acquainted with the slang expressions and idioms

(straighten up, I’m give you the world, Papa was a rolling stone,

to develop a habit, to witness something first hand, it backfires on

me, gon‘, ya, I‘ma)

Time: 2 x 45 minutes

Material: a CD player

a CD with the song

a copy of a handout for each student

a bilingual dictionary for each student

Assumptions: This song is expected to cause students some difficulties since the

lyrics are full of slang and there is quite a number of new words,

but since Eminem is one of the students favourite artists, their

enthusiasm to learn an Eminem song should help them overcome

any possible problems.

1st lesson

I. Play the song and have students fill in the missing words. It may be

necessary to play the song more than once or twice since students may have

problems following the text.

Answer key

sometimes; you; smile; be; is; why; crazy; dollars; CD; TV; sing

20 minutes II. Before starting analyzing the lyrics of the song, to help students understand

what the song is about, ask them who or what is Hailie. Eminem’s fans will

know the she is his daughter. Also, ask them who is Eminem refering to

when he says mommy and daddy. Make sure that students know that by

53

mommy and daddy he means himself and his wife. Have students read the

phrases and try to quess their meaning based on the context of the lyrics and

what they know about Eminem.

Answer key

Straighten up little soldier – stiffen up that upper lip. – Be strong. Don’t cry.

I’ma give you the world. – I am going to give you the world.

Papa was a rolling stone. – Your father cannot live in one place and keep longterm

relationships with people.

To develop a habit. – To become dependant on some substances.

Witness something first hand. – See something with your own eyes.

It backfires on me. – What I do turns against me.

10 minutes

III. Ask students what they think a piggy bank is. Tell them to use their

imagination and to compare the word with the Czech language because there

is a similar term in their mother tongue.

Answer key

prasátko (na peníze)

1 minutes

IV. Read the sentences with students and ask them to look at the lyrics to find

the described words.

Answer key

witness; soldier; jeweler; promise; nightmare; shoot; ring; argue; mockingbird;

break into

10 minutes

V. Tell students to finish the three sentences with the three words: puzzled,

scared, proud.

Answer key

a) scared

b) puzzled

c) proud

4 minutes

Tell students to learn the vocabulary that they have learned so far at home so

that they can continue with the following exercises.

54

2nd lesson

VI. Tell students to try to read the three words. Have them think about what

words these three words sound like and what words could they represent.

Answer key

gonna; you; I am going to

4 minutes

Get students to read the lyrics again. Go through the lyrics with students and

help them to understands the difficult parts. Then have them answer the following

questions.

25 minutes

VII. Ask students who Eminem sings to

Answer key

b) his daughter

1 minute

VIII. Based on the lyrics and what students know about Eminem, have them finish

the sentence. Eminem and his wife:

Answer key

b) have problems.

1 minutes

IX. Ask students which of the three answers describes the content of the verse.

Answer key

a) third verse

b) first verse

c) second verse

2 minutes

X. Ask the group that read the second verse to answer this question.

He had no money. He spent one Christmas crying because he did not have enough

money to buy his children presents. He lived in a slum and his wife tried to save

some money for their children, but someone stole the money. He and his wife were

fighting and Eminem left his family to live somewhere else. Then, he went to

California where he met Dr. Dre and became succesful. However, he could not

spend time with his family. His wife became dependant on some substances and he

55

felt he had failed as a father again and tried to comfort his children. He was not

happy.

10 minutes

XI. Students should be able to answer the question if Eminem is happy?

Answer key

No, he is not.

1 minute

XII. Ask the group that read the third verse what was it about. What would

Eminem do for his children?

Answer key

d) do it all.

1 minutes

2.4.6. Blink 182 – "I Miss You"

Target group: the ninth grade of primary school

Level: low pre-intermediate to pre-intermediate

Aim: to teach new vocabulary of the lyrics (nightmare, shade, morgue,

waste, valley, indecision, treason, creep, unsuspecting, stare,

background, darkness, insides)

Time: 45 minutes

Material: a CD player

a CD with the song

a copy of a handout for each student

a bilingual dictionary for each student

Assumptions: The lyrics may be a bit difficult for students because the lyrics are

quite poetic, but this song is one of students favourite songs

should guarantee students’ interest.

I. Play the song and ask students to fill in the missing words.

Answer key

56

Christmas; sorry; always; you;

8 minutes

II. Have students read the clues and fill in the crossword. All the words needed

for this crossword can be found in the lyrics of the song. Tell students to

look at the lyrics. This will help them.

Answer key

1. nightmare

2. shadow

3. morgue

4. creep

5. waste

6. valley

7. indecision

8. treason

9. unsuspecting

10. stare

Solution: Tom DeLonge

15 minutes

III. Ask students to look at the first column of three words that they should know

and then, have them guess the meaning of the related words in the second

column.

Answer key

Background – pozadi

Darkness – tma, temnota

Insides - břicho

4 minutes

Tell students to look at the lyrics and get them answer the following questions.

IV. How does the singer feel?

Answer key

He feels sad and depressed.

7 minutes

V. Why does he feel this way?

Answer key

57

He feels this way because his girlfriend left him and he misses her.

3 minutes

VI. What does he do when he cannot sleep?

Answer key

He counts webs from all the spiders catching things and eating their insides.

2 minutes

VII. Does he want his girlfriend to come back?

Answer key

Yes, he does.

2 minutes

VIII. Why do you think he and his girlfriend broke up?

Answer key

Students’ own answers

4 minutes

2.4.7. Jamiroquai – "Cosmic Girl"

Target group: the ninth grade of primary school

Level: low pre-intermediate to pre-intermediate

Aim: to teach new vocabulary of the lyrics (heaven, across, land, clear,

umbrella, check, beam, right, encounter, distant, list, all the same,

world, step in, flounder, rest, hyperspace, ecstasy, cosmic, galaxy,

solar system transmit, frequency, scan, gravity, magnetise,

transporter, radar, lazer)

Time: 45 minutes

Material: a CD player

a CD with the song

a copy of a handout for each student

a bilingual dictionary for each student

58

Assumptions: "Cosmic Girl" by Jamiroquai might not be generally as successful

as the other songs since it has been chosen to please only one

student and it is not a current hit and it is expected that the rest of

the class will not know this group nor the song, therefore they

might not be as interested in it. There is quite a number of new

words, but most of these words should not cause troubles because

they are similar to Czech equivalents.

I. Before playing the song, tell students that there are some words in italics in

the lyrics and that they are supposed to underline the word they are going to

hear in the song. Play the song. Check the words with students. Write them

on the blackboard.

Answer key

Saturday; dance; baby; should; eyes; galaxy; ecstasy; cosmic; forty; call; step; care;

galaxy; time

10 minutes

II. Tell students to find the words described in each verse of the lyrics.

Answer key

First verse

1. heaven

2. across

3. land

4. clear

5. umbrella

6. check

7. beam

8. cos

Second verse

1. right

2. distant

3. encounter

4. list

5. all the same

6. other

59

7. world

8. step in

9. all around

10. flounder

11. hyperspace

Third verse

1. rest

20 minutes III. Ask students to which TV program Jamiroquai refers when he sings “Do I

have to go star-trekking“.

Answer key

TV series called Star Trek.

3 minutes

IV. There is a list of words connected to space and physics that are similar to

their Czech equivalents. Tell students to guess their meaning.

Answer key

Ecstasy – extáze

Cosmic – kosmický

Galaxy – galaxie

Questar – název nějaké planety

Solar system – solární systém

Teleport – teleportovat

Transmit – přemístit se

Frequency – frekvence

Scan – snímat

Gravity – gravitace

Magnetise – magnetizovat, ovlivnit, upoutat, okouzlit

Transporter – dopravník, transportér

Radars – radary

Laser - laser

8 minutes

60

V. Tell students to think about the songs they have done before and ask them if

they can think of a song with similar lyrics and name the similarities.

Answer key

Rihanna – Don’t Stop the Music

The song is also about a boy and a girl meeting at a discoteque.

4 minutes

2.4.8. Red Hot Chily Peppers – "Under the Bridge"

Target group: the seventh grade of primary school

Level: low pre-intermediate to pre-intermediate

Aim: to teach new vocabulary of the lyrics (together, companion, deed,

downtown, only friend, hill, worry, believe, God, at least, get

enough)

Time: 45 minutes

Material: a CD player

a CD with the song

a copy of handout for each student

bilingual dictionary for each student

Assumptions: The students should understand most of the words as well as

grammar in this song. However, the lyrics are quite poetic and

students might not get the deeper meaning of it. Therefore, the

teacher should help them and give them some ideas as to what

this song might be about to choose from.

I. To make sure students understand the meaning of the words that they

are supposed to fill in the lyrics later, ask them to make a sentence

using each word from the box.

Answer key

61

Students’ own answers

7 minutes

II. Let students guess where the words should be in the lyrics. Then play

the song for students to check their ideas. Check the words with

students and write them on the blackboard.

Answer key

Don’t; city; she; am; is; hard; loves;

8 minutes

III. Tell students to read the lyrics and answer these questions.

Answer key

c); a); b); b); a)

6 minutes

IV. The singer often uses the pronoun she. But what does it refer to? Ask

students.

Answer key

The city

4 minutes

V. Tell students to think of their favourite city and to describe it in 5 to

10 sentences. Ask them to use at least 5 words that appear in the

lyrics. They may also draw a map of their town. Have them also

explain why they like the city so much.

Answer key

Students’ own answers

20 minutes

2.4.9. Student’s reactions to the exercises

As mentioned in the introduction part and at the beginning of the practical part,

the songs and the designed exercises were used in three different classes at an

elementary school in Kroměříž and the classes differ in many aspects, for example, their

learning habits, attitudes towards English, discipline and many others. Unfortunately,

62

these three groups were the only ones available to the author, therefore the songs could

not have been piloted with any other students.

The most well-behaved class with good attitudes to learning is the seventh grade.

There are hardly any disciplinary problems and most students enjoy learning and

express their interest in the language. They are active most of the time and work hard

even during "normal" lessons. These students were excited about learning vocabulary

through songs, enjoyed doing all the exercises and were very active. The students liked

the activities so much that they asked to continue in them in the following year and even

tried to analyze lyrics of their favourite songs on their own. Their only weakness was

that their level of English knowledge was quite low and therefore they did not always

get the deep understanding of some of the lyrics. However, this could be easily solved

by having the teacher go through the lyrics and help them with the difficult parts. Foe

example, the teacher can give them a number of possible topics that this song might be

about and have them choose the correct answer.

The eighth grade is a class with big disciplinary problems. There were only few

students active during the lessons throughout the year and the new approach of using

their favourite music to teach them English has not changed their attitude towards

learning very much. It has changed only those students who liked the particular song

that we were working on at that time while the rest of the class continued disrupting the

lesson. The problem with this class was that the students who caused the most trouble

and have the worst attitudes toward English were not interested in music and if they

were, it was Czech music that they were interested in. Those students were making fun

of the artists or the song and sometimes even refused to do a song that was by an artist

they did not like. Therefore these activities did not motivate them the way it was

expected and since those students cause the most problems, which this method did not

solve, the quality and atmosphere of the lessons did not improve that much.

The ninth grade consists of students similar to those in the eigth grade. There are

also many students with disciplinary problems and hardly any interest in English and

learning in general. However, there was one big difference. Most of the students love

music and in this case, the method of using popular songs in English was succesful. It

helped to motivate them, get their attention and most of the students really enjoyed the

activities and were interested in the content of the songs. However, the fact that their

learning habits and attitudes towards English had of poor quality meant that their level

of English was not as high as it could have been if their attitudes had been better.

63

Therefore they sometimes struggled with the lyrics because their vocabulary did not

match the level they were supposed to have reached. They were supposed to be at pre-

intermediate level and they did not understand elementary English.

However, there was one positive aspect common for all the classes. The song

worksheets were the only worksheets that students asked for if they missed a lesson,

even though there is a slight suspicion that they might have asked for it in order to have

the pictures of their favourite stars. Nevertheless, this should be mentioned and taken

into account because having the worksheet increases the possibility of them looking at

the lyrics and learning something from them even if they asked for it for the wrong

reasons.

Another fact worth mentioning is that some students even expressed their

interest in looking for more lyrics. They asked the teacher to show them how to look for

lyrics on the internet, which should also be considered as an achievement because it

proves that this method motivated them into exploring more lyrics.

2.5. Students’ Test Results

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this method, the students were tested on

the vocabulary that they had learned through the songs as well as on the vocabulary that

they had learned from their textbooks. The results were compared and analyzed from

different perspectives and a conclusion on the effectivess of this method drawn.

First, the results of the students who had listed the particular song as their

favourite was examined.

Name of the artist and the song Average mark on vocabulary learned

through song Blink 182 – "I Miss You" 2 Eminem - "Mockingbird" 2 Fergie - "Clumsy" 1 Jamiroquai – "Cosmic Girl" 1 Ozzy Osbourne – "Mama I’m Coming Home"

1

Red Hot Chilly Peppers – "Under the Bridge"

1

Rihanna – "Don‘t Stop the Music" 1 Shakira -"Don‘t Bother" 1,5

64

Secondly, the average mark from tests on each song is presented in order to find

out which songs were most successful and which ones seemed to cause students the

most difficulties. The entries in the chart are made according to how effective the

particular song proved.

Name of the artist and the song Average mark

1. Red Hot Chilly Peppers – "Under

the Bridge"

1,2857

2. Blink 182 – "I Miss You" 1,4375

3. Ozzy Osbourne – "Mama I’m

Coming Home"

1,7333

4. Fergie - "Clumsy" 1,9285

5. Rihanna – "Don‘t Stop the

Music"

2

6. Jamiroquai – "Cosmic Girl" 2,2142

7. Shakira - "Don‘t Bother" 2,25

8. Eminem - "Mockinbird" 2,5

Thirdly, the test results were divided by grades. An average mark in tests on

vocabulary learned from coursebook were compared to the average mark in tests on

vocabulary learned through songs.

Grade Average mark in tests on

vocabulary learned

through songs

Average mark in tests on

vocabulary learned

through coursebook

7 1,9148 1,588

8 2,1406 1,931

9 2 1,617

Finally, the overall results are presented. The average mark of all students in

tests on coursebook vocabulary was compared to the average mark in tests on

vocabulary learned through songs.

Average mark in tests on vocabulary

learned through songs

Average mark in tests on vocabulary

learned through coursebook

65

2,0297 1,6956

2.6. Evaluation of the Test Results

As the results showed, the average mark on vocabulary learned through music

was worse by about 0,3 than the average mark on vocabulary learned through text-

books in general. The difference between the results is almost the same for the seventh

and the ninth grade, about 0,4. The smallest difference between those two marks, about

0,2, was in the eighth grade, which scored the worst mark in both of the tests.

The songs with the worst results turned out to be Eminem, followed by Shakira

and Fergie. The best results in tests were for lyrics by Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Blink

182.

The test results of the students who listed a particular song as their favourite

proved as the greatest achievement because the average mark on five out of eight songs

was 1.

What conclusions on the effectiveness of this method can be made based on

these results? Since the overall results showed that students had better results on

vocabulary learned through textbook, teaching vocabulary through songs seems to be

ineffective. What could be the possible reasons for this failure? And is it truly as

ineffective as it may seem or are there any improvements achieved by the tested

method?

There could be several reasons for students scoring worse in tests on vocabulary

learned through songs. One of the reasons may be that some of the songs are not current

hits with high rotation on radios, therefore students who do not listen to those songs

heard it only few times in the classroom which probably was not enough to make the

remember the melody, the lyrics and learn the new words. Moreover, teenagers take

music seriously and feel strongly about the music that they listen to and resent artists

and songs they do not like and not all the songs that were used enjoyed overall

popularity. Some songs were chosen to please only one student in order to meet the

requirement of having one song for each student that filled the questionnaire, which also

worsened the average mark because the song itself did not motivate most of the

students. However, it is important to involve all the students in the learning process and

choosing only songs popular with the majority of students would not be fair to those

66

who have different tastes. And last but not least, some students kept on losing the

worksheets and had nothing to learn from for the tests.

As mentioned above, in general, there is about 0,4 difference between the

average mark on vocabulary learned through songs and vocabulary learned through

textbook in the ninth and seventh grade with the seventh grade scoring slightly better in

both tests since there seem to be better students there. There was little difference

between those two marks in the eighth grade which was probably caused by the fact that

the most troublesome students are not that interested in music and kept on disrupting the

lessons in the same way as they normally do. The non-existant improvement in the

atmosphere during the lessons showed through in the results staying the same.

The most effective proved to be songs by Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Blink 182 and

Ozzy Osbourne. There are several reasons as to why these three songs were the most

successful. "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chilli Peppers was probably the easiest song

as far as grammar is concerned and there were not that many new words to learn. Blink

182‘s "I miss You" was voted by the students as one of the favourite songs. The lyrics

for Ozzy Osbourne‘s "Mama I‘m Coming Home" were probably also not as demanding

for the students.

The three songs that caused the most problems were Jamiroquai‘s "Cosmic

Girl", Shakira‘s "Don‘t Bother" and "Mockingbird" by Eminem. However, it is not

surprising that these three songs failed. The lyrics for Jamiroquai‘s "Cosmic Girl" were

probably too abstract for students to understand and full of unusual vocabulary and even

though students were not required to learn the difficult words connected to physics, this

song caused them difficulties. Since the songs were selected to fit the taste of all

students who had filled the questionnaire, this song was chosen only because of one

student who mentioned it as his favourite. The rest of the class did not know the song

and since it is not a current hit, it is not played frequently on the radios so they only got

to hear the song in the classroom, which probably was not enough to make the other

students remember the song and its lyrics and learn the new vocabulary.

The lyrics for Shakira‘s "Don‘t Bother" are not that difficult, but since this song

was piloted in the seventh grade, the lyrics might have been demanding for them since

the students‘ level of English is the lowest and there were quite a number of new words

for them.

Eminem‘s "Mockingbird", which had the worst results, also has the most

difficult and the longest lyrics. The difficulty of this song may have also been caused by

67

the author who overrated the students’ level of English due to the fact that she started to

teach them that year and did not know them that well. This song and Eminem are very

popular among students that´s why it was chosen for the nineth grade whose level of

English is supposed to be the highest. Even though the students enjoyed the lessons with

this song very much, they still did not succeed learning the new vocabulary.

Nevertheless, there was one big achievement reached with this song that the test results

did not reveal. It was the only song whose lyrics nobody was able to follow as Eminem

was rapping. His rapping seemed too fast at first and his accent unintelligible and it took

several playings before the students were able to understand it. Later on, it cause no

problems and the students got used to it. They found out that it is even possible to

understand rappers.

This method is, however, highly successful if students like the particular song.

The test results on vocabulary learned through music of students who listed the song as

their favourite were excellent. The average mark on five out of eight songs was 1. The

worst results were found in those songs that were not successful in general, Eminem‘s

"Mockingbird" which was the most demanding song, Shakira‘s "Don‘t Bother" where

students did not succeed as well, and surprisingly, Blink 182‘s "I miss You" which was

voted as one of the most popular songs. Nevertheless, Blink 182’s score was spoiled by

one of the most troublesome students of the ninth grade described above. If it were not

for him, the average mark would have also been 1.

Putting all the test results aside, the greatest achievement of this experiment was

that the students of the seventh grade want to continue with this method, have already

handed in this year’s lists of their favourite songs and artists of their own accord and

demand to include songs into English lessons. Some students have already started to

analyze, translate and try to understand lyrics of their favourite songs on their own.

Unfortunately this is not the case of the eighth grade as a whole, whose students seemed

untouched by this method, though there were some exceptions. Two students asked to

continue with the songs. There is no information on how it has effected the students of

the ninth grade, who have left the school, but some positive aspects were already

noticed towards the end of the school year when some students asked the teacher how to

look for the lyrics on the internet.

And as it has already been mentioned, an improvement in the atmosphere during

the lessons and bigger involvement of students when students worked on these songs

should also be considered as an achievement because in many cases the songs helped

68

with the disciplinary problems. Teaching more focused students definitely leads to

better learning by all involved.

69

Conclusion

The objective of the work was to test and measure the effectiveness of teaching

vocabulary through music. This work is divided into two parts, a theoretical and a

practical part. The aim of the theoretical part was to provide scientific findings on

related subjects.

As the results of student’s test results show, the tested method proved to be

uneffective in general. However, a more detailed analysis of these results revealed

highly positive aspects of this method as well as some achievements. The method of

teaching vocabulary through music led to excellent results when students were tested

on vocabulary of their favourite songs. Students who listed the particular song as their

favourite reached for most songs an average mark 1. The average mark on two songs

was higher than the average mark from tests on vocabulary learned through coursebook,

while one of the two songs reached a number one in the student’s chart. Based on these

findings, it can be said that teaching vocabulary through music is highly effective if

students like the song.

As mentioned earlier, there were other positive aspects of this method. The

atmosphere during the lessons was better than during ′ordinary′ lessons. The students

were more focused and more interested. Some pupils expressed their interest in

searching and working on more lyrics of their favourite songs and one class, the seventh

grade has requested to continue with this method in the following school year. Some

pupils even started to work this way on their own, which is probably more important

achievement than the marks themselves because it added another dimension to ther

language learning process.

To sum up, this method is highly effective if the song used is the students’

favourite. However, the overall results of this method were worse than if students

studied vocabulary through their coursebook, though it should be taken into

consideration that the songs were piloted with below-the-average students with very

poor attitudes towards learning and yet some positive results and aspects were achieved.

It may also be that the findings are just a result of the “initial fuzziness period” that

Thornbury warned of (2002:30).

70

RESUMÉ

Diplomová práce „Učení slovíček hudbou“ se zabývá používáním populárních písniček

jako metody výuky slovíček. Cílem bylo otestovat, analyzovat a vyhodnotit efektivnost

tohoto způsobu práce. Práce je založena na hypotéze, že učení je efektivní, jsou-li žáci

motivováni a zaujati. Zájem má zajistit užití jejich oblíbených anglických a amerických

písniček. Skladby byly vybrány na základě dotazníků, které vyplnili studenti, na nichž

bude tato metoda testována. S využitím vědeckých poznatků popsaných v teoretické

části práce byla k textům jednotlivých písní vypracována různá cvičení, jež měla za cíl

procvičit a objasnit novou slovní zásobu. Efektivnost metody byla zjišťována pomocí

testů. Žáci byli zkoušeni ze slovní zásoby získané prostřednictvím vybrané písničky a ze

slovní zásoby, kterou se naučili z učebnice. Výsledky těchto testů byly porovnány

z několika hledisek a na základě tohoto srovnání byla vyhodnocena efektivnost metody.

Kromě výsledků testů byl popsán i průběh výuky a změna přístupu žáků k angličtině.

RÉSUMÉ

The diploma thesis called “Teaching Vocabulary through music” deals with

using popular songs as a method of teaching vocabulary. The aim of this work was to

test, analyze, and evaluate the effectiveness of this kind of teaching method. This work

is based on the hypothesis that only motivated and interested students learn effectively.

It is the using of popular songs that should quarantee students’ motivation and interest.

The songs were chosen based on a questionnaire completed by the students with whom

this method was tested. The exercises for the lyrics of the chosen songs were created

based on scientific findings described in the theoretical part. The objective of these

exercises was to explain and practice the new vocabulary. The effectiveness of this

method was determined through tests. Students were tested on vocabulary learned

through songs and vocabulary learned though the coursebook. The test results were

compared and analyzed from several points of view and, based on this comparison, a

conclusion on the effectiveness of this method was drawn. Apart from the test results,

the course of a lesson and any changes in students’ attitude toward English were

described.

71

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n. p., 1982. 250 s.

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n.p., 1959. 1st published 1959. 314 s.

THORNBURY, Scott. How to Teach Vocabulary. Essex: Pearson Education Limited,

2002. 185 s. ISBN 0582 429668

VOLÍN, Jan. English through Songs. Praha: LEDA s.r.o. 1997. 1st published 1997.

ISBN 80 85927 28 4

Electronic sources:

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Blodget, Tom. “Teaching the Target Language Through the Lyrics of Melodic Music.“

Songs for Eatching. Using Music to Promote Learning. 25 Aug 2008.

<http://www.songsforteaching.com/musicapaedia/teachingtargetlanguagethroughlyri

cs.htm>

72

Brown, Nyssa. Lamb, Deborah. “Parallels Between Music Learning and Language

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<http://www.carla.umn.edu/immersion/acie/vol8/Nov2004_MusicandLanguage.html

>

“Communicate Aproach“ Modern Foreign Languages. Second Language Acquisition. 9

Apr 2002. 15 Aug 2008. <http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mflwww/seclangaqu.html>

“Music In th EFL Classroom.“ Ernie’s. EFL Songs Page. 21 Aug 2008.

<http://www.lingolex.com/userpages/music.html>

Farrug, Daine. “How Music Helps Language Learning.“ Suite101. 22 Jan 2008. 20 Aug

2008.

<http://languagestudy.suite101.com/article.cfm/why_use_music_to_learn_language>

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Acquisition. (ERIC)“ ESL through Music. 2000. 20 Aug 2008.

<http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/02.htm>

Medina, Suzanne L. “The Effects of Music Upon Second Language Vocabulary

Acquisition. (FLES)“ ESL through Music. 2000. 20 Aug 2008.

<http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/01.htm>

Medina, Suzanne L. “Using Music to Enhance Second Language Acquisition: From

Theory to Practice.“ ESL through Music. 2000. 20 Aug 2008.

<http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/06.htm>

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Inc. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>

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Blink 182. "I Miss You." Blink 182. Geffen Records., 2003.

Eminem. "Mockingbird." Curtain Call. Aftermath., 2005.

Fergie. "Clumsy." The Dutchess. Insterscope Records., 2006.

Jamiroquai. "Cosmic Girl." Travelling Without Moving. Sony., 1997.

Osbourne, Ozzy. "Mama I’m Coming Home." No More Tears. Sony., 1991.

Red Hot Chily Peppers. "Under the Bridge." Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Warner

Bross/Wea., 1991.

Rihanna. "Don’t Stop the Music." Good Girl Gone Bad. Def Jam., 2007.

Shakira. "Don’t Bother." Oral Fixation Vol. 2. Sony., 2006.

74

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix No. 1 – Dr. Suzanne Medina – Email

Appendix No. 2 – Questionnarie

Appendix No. 3 – The Evalution of the Questionnaire

Appendix No. 4 – Blink 182 "I Miss You" – Worksheet

Appendix No. 5 – Eminem "Mockingbird" – Worksheet

Appendix No. 6 – Fergie "Clumzy" – Worksheet – Worksheet

Appendix No. 7 – Jamiroquai "Cosmic Girl" – Worksheet

Appendix No. 8 – Ozzy Osbourne "Mama I’m Coming Home" – Worksheet

Appendix No. 9 – Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge" – Worksheet

Appendix No. 10 – Rihanna "Don’t Stop the Music" – Worksheet

Appendix No. 11 – Shakira "Don’t Bother" – Worksheet

Appendix No. 12 – Depeche Mode – Picture

Appendix No. 13 – Depeche Mode fans - Picture

75

APPENDICES

Appendix No.1 - Dr. Suzanne Medina - Email

Dear Dagmar: Thank you for your message. That is wonderful news that you are writing on this topic. Please feel free to paraphrase anything on my website or quote it as you wish. Simply make certain that you cite your source (e.g., the article, author, etc. ). If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Best Wishes, SM

Thursday, August 21, 2008 1:21 PM

"Dr. Suzanne Medina" dr.medina@ca.rr.com

76

Appendix No.2 – Questionnaire

Name: _________________

Questionnaire Dear students, in order to make English classes more enjoyable for you and, hopefully, more effective, I have decided to use some of your favourite music to teach you English, especially vocabulary. I would like you to fill in this questionnaire so that I am able to choose the right songs for you. If you fill in this questionnaire honestly, you are very likely to be rewarded by having the opportunity to listen to, get to know and understand the lyrics of some of your favourite songs.

In filling this questionnaire, please do not put in any Czech singers, groups or songs. We are learning English and we will not need any Czech music. Thank you for filling in this questionnaire. I. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups.

1. _________________________ 2. _________________________ 3. _________________________ 4. _________________________ 5. _________________________ 6. _________________________ 7. _________________________ 8. _________________________ 9. _________________________ 10. _________________________

II. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs.

1. _________________________ 2. _________________________ 3. _________________________ 4. _________________________ 5. _________________________ 6. _________________________ 7. _________________________ 8. _________________________ 9. _________________________ 10. _________________________

III. Which of these musical genres do you like the most? You may tick as many genres as you wish.

a) pop b) rock

77

c) heavy-metal d) punk e) funk f) rap g) hip-hop h) country i) classical music j) opera k) jazz l) musicals m) other: _________________________

IV. Which of these musical genres do you like the least? You may tick as many genres as you wish.

a) pop b) rock c) heavy-metal d) punk e) funk f) rap g) hip-hop h) country i) classical music j) opera k) jazz l) musicals m) other: _________________________

V. How often do you listen to your favourite music? Please tick just one answer.

a) everyday b) several times a week c) a few times a month d) I don´t listen to music.

78

Appendix No.3 – The Evaluation of the Questionnaire

The Seventh Grade

There are sixteen students in the seventh grade, but only nine students have filled

in this questionnaire.

VI. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups.

Chart position Name of the singer or

group Number of votes

1 Fergie 6 2 Rihanna 4 3 Avril Lavigne

Timbaland 3

4 Shakira 2 5 Alicia Keys

Annastacia Ashley Tisdale Black Eyed Peas Blog 27 Britney Spears Christina Aquilera DJ Shadow Evanescence Forbín Bleu Good Charlotte Haddaway Hilary Duff Pink Red Hot Chilli Peppers Shaggy Vanessa Anne Hudgens

1

VII. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs. Chart position Name of the artist and

song Number of votes

1 Fergie - "Big Girls Don´t Cry" Rihanna - "Umbrella"

2

2 50 Cent - "Disco in Ferno" Alicia Keys - "No One" Avril Lavigne - "When you´re gone" Britney Spears - "Toxic", "Piece of Me" Enrique Iglesias - "Do you know" Fergie - "London Bridge",

1

79

"Clumsy" Haddaway – "What Is Love" Hillary Duff - "Hey Now" Christina Aquilera - "Beautiful" Kelly Clarkson - "Because of You" Pink - "Dear Mr. President" Pink – "Just like a File" Rihanna –"Don´t Stop the Music" Shaggy- "Mr. Bombastic" Timbaland - "Way I are"

VIII. Which of these musical genres do you like the most? Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1 Hip-hop 10 2 Pop

Rap 6

3 Rock 4 4 Jazz 3 5 Classical music 1

IX. Which of these musical genres do you like the least? Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1 Country 6 2 Funk

Heavy Metal Punk

5

3 Jazz 4 4 Classical music 3 5 Rock 2

X. How often do you listen to your favourite music?

Frequency Number of votes Everyday 6 Several times a week 2

The Eighth Grade

There are 18 pupils in this group out of which twelve filled this questionnaire.

VI. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups.

80

Chart position Name of the singer or group

Number of votes

1 Kotrafakt Linkin Park Pussy Cat Dolls

3

2 Eminem Iron Maiden Korn Lordi

2

3 2 Pac 4 lyn 50 Cent A16 Atomic Kittens Avril Lavigne Black Eyed Peas Black Sabbath Britney Spears Bruce Dickinson Ceasar´s Palace D 12 Dr. Dre Eazy – E Fergie Gamma Ray H16 Helloween Ice-T Judas Priest Liqido Manowar MC Eight Motorhead N.W.A. Nightwish Peaches Puddle of Mudd Red Hot Chili Peppers Rytmus Sharpe 4 Snoop Dogg Sounds To Consume Suga Babes Tafrob The Game The Sounds Weeser WU – Tang

1

81

VII. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs. Chart position Name of the artist and

song Number of votes

1 Britney Spears - "Piece of Me" Pussy Cat Dolls –"Dontcha"

2

2 Avril Lavigne – "My World", "Skater Boy", "Tomorrow" Enrique Iglesias – "Do You Know" Fergie - "Big Girls Don´t Cry" Flipsyde – "Happy Birthday" One Republic – "Apologize" Pussy Cat Dolls – "Buttons", "Beep" Rihanna –"Don´t Stop the Music" The Pointer Sisters – "Jump"

1

VIII. Which of these musical genres do you like the most? Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1 Hip-hop 9 2 Rock 8 3 Pop

Rap 6

4 Heavy-Metal Punk

3

5 Funk 2 6 Jazz 1

IX. Which of these musical genres do you like the least? Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1 Opera 9 2 Country

8

3 Heavy Metal 7 4 Classical music

Jazz Musicals

6

82

Punk 5 Funk

Hip-hop Rap

4

6 Pop 3 Rock 1

X. How often do you listen to your favourite music?

Frequency Number of votes Everyday 11 Several times a week 1

The Ninth Grade

This group consists of eighteen pupils and the number of students who have

filled this questionnaire is sixteen.

VI. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups.

Chart position Name of the singer or

group Number of votes

1. 50 Cent 6 2. Eminem 5 3. Avril Lavigne

Blink 185 Cypress Hill DJ Tiesto Good Charlotte Linkin Park Omix Rihanna

3

4. Green Day Kontrafakt Lordi Nirvana Prodigy Pussy Cat Dolls Red Hot Chily Peppers Rytmus Sum 41 Tafrob Usher

2

5. + 44 2 Pac

1

83

A Fire Inside (AFI) Angels and Airwaves Anti-Flag Kanye West AC/DC Barclei Basement Jaxx Berry White Billy Matent Billy Patent Britney Spears Bushido Cascada Diam´s Disgrafix DJ Kappa Fergie Fort Minor High School Musical Jamiroquai Jennifer Lopez Lady Sovereigh Madonna Miky Mora Missy Elliot Monkey Business Nas Nelly Furtado NeYo Outcast Pablo Pith Placebo Plan White t/ s Ramones Redman a Metodman Scooter Sex Pistols Shakira Simple Plan Snoop Doggy Dog The Casulties The Game The Unseen Twisted Sisters Tyra Banks US5

VII. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs

84

Chart position Name of the artist and

song Number of votes

1. Blink 182 – "I Miss You" 4 2. Prodigy – "Voodoo" 3 3. +44 – "No, It Isn´t"

50 – Cent - "If I Can", "Pimpin", "A Yo" Technology AFI – "The Day of Phoenix" Angels and Airwavew – "Call to Arms" Anti-Flag – "This Is the End", "Love Like Winter" Avril Lavigne - "Hot" Basement Jaxx – "Good Luck" Billy Patent – "Fallen Leaves" Blink 182 – "Feeling This, Down" Britney Spears - "Gimme More" Cancada – "What Hurts the Most" Cypress Hill – "Hitso from the Bong", "Boom Biddy Bye Bye" DJ Tiesto - "Flight 643" DJ Which – FMD – "Straight from da Heart" Eminem – "Mockingbird", "Mite" Flypside – "Train" Fort- Mindr – "Remember" Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová – "Falling Slowly" Good Charlote – "AM Black" Good Charlote – "Missery" High School Musica – "Bet on It" Jamiroquai – "Cosmic Girl" Kanye West – "Stronger" Lil Mama – "Lip Gloss" Linkin Park – "Numb, In the End", "What I´ve Don"e Nas - "I Can" Omix – "Slam" Outcast – "Hey Ya"

1

85

Pavemore – "Misery" Baiencese Peter Pable – "Step Up" Placebo - "Every" Plan White t´s - "Hey There Delilah" Rihanna –"Don´t Stop the Music" Rihanna Feat. NeYo - "Hate that I love You" Samantha Jade – "Step Up" Scooter – "The Bottom" Sex Pistols – "EMI", "Good Save the Queen" Snoot Dogg - "Xibith" US5 – "Work Your Body" Usher – "Caught Up" Usher – "Yeah" Xzibit – "Get Your Walk On, Bye Now"

VIII. Which of these musical genres do you like to most?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1 Hip-hop 12 2 Pop

Rock Punk

7

3 Rap 6 4 Heavy Metal 4 5 Funk

Jazz 1

IX. Which of these musical genres do you like the least?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes

1 Opera 13 2 Country

Classical Music Musicals

11

3 Jazz 8 4 Heavy Metal 7 5 Funk 6 6 Rock 4 7 Rap 3 8 Pop

Punk 2

X. How often do you listen to your favourite music?

86

Frequency Number of votes

Everyday 15 A few times a month 1

Overall results

The total number of students who filled the questionnaire is fifty.

VII. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups. VIII.

Chart position Name of the singer or group

Number of votes

1. 50 Cent Avril Lavigne Eminem Fergie Rihanna

7

2. Linkin Park 6 3. Kontrafakt

Pussy Cat Dolls 5

4. Lordi 4 5 Blink 185

Britney Spears Cypress Hill DJ Tiesto Good Charlotte Omix Red Hot Chilli Peppers Shakira Timbaland

3

IX. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs.

Chart position Name of the artist and song

Number of votes

1. Blink 182 – "I Miss You" 4 2. Prodigy – "Voodoo"

Britney Spears - "Piece of Me" Fergie - "Big Girls Don´t Cry" Rihanna –"Don´t Stop the Music"

3

3. Rihanna – "Umbrella" Pussy Cat Dolls –"Dontcha"

2

87

X. Which of these musical genres do you like to most?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes 1. Hip hop 31 2. Pop

Rock 19

3. Rap 18 4. Punk 10 5. Heavy Metal 7 6. Jazz 5 7. Funk 3 8. Classical music 1

XI. Which of these musical genres do you like the least?

Chart position Musical genre Number of votes 1. Country 25 2. Opera 22 3. Classical music 20 4. Heavy Metal 19 5. Jazz 18 6. Musicals 17 7. Funk 15 8. Punk 13 9. Rap

Rock 7

10. Pop 5 11. Hip hop 4

XII. How often do you listen to your favourite music?

Frequency Number of votes Everyday 46 Several times a week 3 A few times a month 1

88