“Take It Easy”: Use Songs to Teach English as a Second Language

Transcription

TRABAJO FIN DE GRADO
Título
“Take It Easy”: Use Songs to Teach English as a Second
Language in Primary School
Autor/es
Alicia Borraz Fabón
Director/es
María del Mar Asensio Aróstegui
Facultad
Facultad de Letras y de la Educación
Titulación
Grado en Educación Primaria
Departamento
Curso Académico
2012-2013
“Take It Easy”: Use Songs to Teach English as a Second Language in Primary
School, trabajo fin de grado
de Alicia Borraz Fabón, dirigido por María del Mar Asensio Aróstegui (publicado por la
Universidad de La Rioja), se difunde bajo una Licencia
Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 3.0 Unported.
Permisos que vayan más allá de lo cubierto por esta licencia pueden solicitarse a los
titulares del copyright.
©
©
El autor
Universidad de La Rioja, Servicio de Publicaciones, 2013
publicaciones.unirioja.es
E-mail: publicaciones@unirioja.es
Trabajo de Fin de Grado
'Take It Easy': Use Songs to Teach
English as a Second Language in
Primary School
Autor:
Alicia Borraz Fabón
Tutor/es:
Fdo. María del Mar Asensio Aróstegui
Titulación:
Grado en Educación Primaria [206G]
AÑO ACADÉMICO: 2012/2013
‘Take It Easy’: Use Songs to Teach English as a Second Language in Primary School.
Alicia Borraz Fabón.
RESUMEN
Cuántas veces hemos tenido la letra de una canción dentro de nuestra cabeza
durante días; o hemos escuchado a nuestras madres decirnos cuando éramos pequeños:
“si te supieras las lecciones como te sabes las canciones…” No cabe duda de que las
canciones, a través de su ritmo y musicalidad, contribuyen al aprendizaje y
memorización de estructuras lingüísticas, ¿por qué no aprovecharlo a la hora de adquirir
un nuevo lenguaje? Este es el objetivo principal de este trabajo: mostrar las grandes
ventajas que puedes llevar hasta una clase de inglés a través de una canción, la
importancia de motivar a los niños y transmitirles el gusto por aprender otro idioma a la
vez que disfrutan.
En primer lugar, se ha realizado un estudio teórico, empezando por citas
interesantes de autores expertos en el tema, para seguir hablando de conceptos
importantes como la motivación o las ventajas que aportan las canciones en el aula.
En segundo lugar, se ha procedido al desarrollo del trabajo, los métodos que voy
a seguir, los objetivos y, sobre todo, las actividades que voy a realizar en cada uno de
los tres ciclos, ya que pienso que hay grandes cambios cognitivos y personales en estas
edades y que difieren mucho las necesidades y gustos en cada uno de los ciclos. Por
ello, creo que, separando las canciones en franjas de dos años (de 6 a 8, de 8 a 10 y de
10 a 12), se facilita la formación y adaptación del alumno.
A partir de todo lo trabajado y estudiado en estas páginas, termino extrayendo
algunas conclusiones, que pienso interesantes, para todo aquel interesado en el tema.
Palabras clave: inglés como lengua extranjera, enseñanza, aprendizaje, canción,
Educación Primaria, motivación, actividades.
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ABSTRACT
How many times have we had the lyrics of a song in our head for days? Or how
many times have we heard our mothers telling us when we were kids: “If you knew the
lessons as you know the songs…” There is no doubt that songs, through their rhythm
and musicality, contribute to the learning and memorization of linguistic structures.
Thus why not taking advantage of this when we want to acquire a new language? This
is the main objective of this essay: to show the great benefits that you extract from a
song in an English classroom, the importance of motivating children and to pass on the
joy of learning another language, while enjoying.
Firstly, there has been a theoretical study, beginning with interesting remarks
from expert authors on the subject, to continue talking about important concepts such as
motivation or the advantages that songs bring to the classroom.
Secondly, the development and corpus of the essay has been carried out; that is
to say, the different methods that I will follow, the aims and, above all, the activities
that I have prepared for each of the three stages. I think that there are huge personal and
cognitive changes in children aged 6-12 and, therefore, their needs and tastes in each
stage are very different. So, separating songs in periods of two years (from 6-8, 8-10
and 10-12) facilitates pupils’ formation and adaptation.
From everything worked and studied in these pages, I have drawn some
conclusion which I believe will be interesting for anyone interested in this topic.
Keywords: English as a Second Language, teaching, learning, song, Primary school,
motivation, activities.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... p. 7
2. General aims .......................................................................................................... p. 9
3. Theoretical framework ........................................................................................... p. 11
3.1. Some general features of Primary school pupils ........................................... p. 11
3.2. Some theories on children’s language learning ............................................ p. 12
3.2.1. Jean Piaget .......................................................................................... p. 12
3.2.2. Lev Vygotsky ...................................................................................... p. 13
3.2.3. Jerome Bruner ..................................................................................... p. 14
3.2.4. How do Primary school pupils learn a second language? ................... p. 14
3.3. Using songs to teach English as a second language ...................................... p. 15
4. Project development: ‘Take It Easy: Use Songs” ................................................. p. 19
4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................... p. 19
4.2. Aims .............................................................................................................. p. 20
4.3. The choice of method .................................................................................... p. 21
4.4. Songs and activities ....................................................................................... p. 24
4.4.1. Stage 1: Songs and activities for pupils aged 6-8 ............................... p. 24
4.4.2. Stage 2: Songs and activities for pupils aged 8-10 ............................. p. 27
4.4.3. Stage 3: Songs and activities for pupils aged 10-12 ........................... p. 41
5. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. p. 49
6. References ............................................................................................................. p. 51
7. Appendixes ........................................................................................................... p. 55
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1. INTRODUCTION
Primary School in Spain covers learning for all children aged 6-12. The Spanish
national curriculum for Primary schools has been established by the “Real Decreto
1513/2006, de 7 de diciembre, por el que se establecen las enseñanzas mínimas de la
Educación primaria”. Among other things, this national law sets out:
the main objectives to be achieved in Primary education,
the subjects that should be taught at schools,
the knowledge, skills and understanding the child should achieve in each subject
according to the child’s age,
the timetable,
the ways and moments in which learning has to be assessed.
English as a second language constitutes one of the six subjects that the national
curriculum sets out for Primary education. This subject is divided into four different but
interrelated areas of study, which are presented in the table below (Table 1):
1
Listening, speaking and talking to/with others.
2
Reading and writing.
3
Knowledge of the English language.
4
Knowledge of sociocultural aspects and intercultural conscience.
Table 1. English as a second language in Primary school: established areas of study. (RD 1513/2006, de
7 de diciembre)
The curriculum for Primary school is divided into three stages. Each stage is
taught during two years for a specific age group. Within each stage the curriculum
establishes the amount of hours that will be dedicated to the teaching of each subject.
The table below represents the curriculum for the teaching of English as a second
language in Primary school (Table 2):
Stages
Age groups
Years
Hours
Stage 1
6-8
1st and 2nd years
105
Stage 2
8-10
3rd and 4th years
140
Stage 3
10-12
5th and 6th years
140
Table 2. The three stages for the teaching of English as a second language in Primary School.
(RD 1513/2006, de 7 de diciembre)
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The national curriculum also establishes that the main objectives in teaching
English as a second language will be the development of the following skills (Table 3):
1
To listen and understand messages in different verbal interactions, using the
received information to carry out specific tasks related to their own experience.
2
To express themselves and interact orally in simple, ordinary situations with a
familiar content and development, using verbal and non-verbal methods and
adopting a respectful and cooperative attitude.
3
To write different texts with different finalities about themes which will have
been previously dealt with in the classroom and with the use of models.
4
To read comprehensively different texts, related to their experiences and
interests, extracting from them general and specific information in accordance
with a prior aim.
5
To learn progressively how to use with autonomy every resource they may have
at hand, new technologies included, in order to obtain information and to
communicate in a second language.
6
To value the foreign language, and languages in general, as means of
communication and understanding among people from different backgrounds
and cultures and as a tool for the learning of specific contents.
7
To show a receptive and trustful attitude towards their own learning capacity
and towards the use of the second language.
8
To put former knowledge and experiences with other languages to the service of
a faster, more efficient and autonomous second language acquisition.
9
To identify phonetic, rhythmical, accentual and intonational aspects, as well as
linguistic structures and lexical aspects of the second language in order to use
them as basic elements of communication.
Table 3. Main objectives behind the teaching of English as a second language in Primary school.
(RD 1513/2006, de 7 de diciembre)
Taking all the aforementioned elements into account, the following essay deals
with the use of songs as a means to teach English in Primary school, paying special
attention to the above mentioned areas of study, the different stages and age groups, and
offering a project that develops some of the above mentioned skills and is liable to be
put into practice in a real classroom.
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2. GENERAL AIMS
This essay has as its main objective to show that songs may become a very
useful tool when teaching English as a second language to Primary school pupils.
During my internship, I could experience in person that the use of songs is useful in an
English class. Thus, I will mention real examples of the advantages I could observe in
using songs to learn a second language.
Consequently, I firmly believe in the utility of songs as valuable and beneficial
resources in the process of learning a second language. The use of music in the
classroom has numerous advantages. The benefits of using songs in the English class
are obviously linguistic, since they help pupils to distinguish different phonemes and
stress patterns and favour the unconscious acquisition of otherwise difficult issues such
as pronunciation, rhythm and intonation; they offer grammatical structures which are
repeated once and again and are therefore easily absorbed in their minds; and they
introduce lexical items in context, which facilitates the correct use of such items in their
future utterances. Yet, linguistic benefits, although being extremely important, are not
the only benefits that can be achieved from the use of songs in the English classroom.
Psychological benefits like motivation, social participation, confidence building or
memory development also deserve being mentioned as an important part of the learning
process.
Another positive element of using songs in the English classroom is the fact that
it is inexpensive because, normally, each classroom already has access to the Internet or
has a radiocassette. Taking into consideration the present moment of economical crisis
we are living through, I consider that it is important to make use of as many economical
resources as possible.
Nevertheless, choosing the correct song for each specific session is really
important. The choice of songs, as well as of the activities related to them, has to be
carried out taking into account the age group, skill level and features of the pupils. I
think that pupils in each age group have specific features that must be had in mind. So,
the development of my project will be composed of three separate parts, which will
coincide with the three stages in Primary school already mentioned.
To sum up, the aim of this essay is to show that using songs as a learning tool in
an English classroom is a good election to motivate our students, and to increase their
interest in the study of English not only in Primary school but also during the rest of
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their lives. Besides, the use of songs can be recommended for several reasons: the lyrics
tend to be composed of brief sentences and have a repetitive structure that encourages
pupils to imitate the pronunciation and intonation of English in a correct way and that
helps them to memorize the linguistic structures and lexicon used.
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3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
In this part of the essay, I want to support my project by making reference to
some general features of Primary school pupils, firstly; then, to different authors who
theorize about children’s language learning, on the one hand, and about the advantages
of using songs as a productive English teaching tool in Primary school, on the other;
and, finally, to several teaching methods which I consider especially useful when
teaching English as a second language with the use of songs. To do this, I have used
both digital documents and paper documents, but all of them have been, in general
terms, specialised texts about the topic.
3.1. Some general features of Primary school pupils
Primary school pupils are children aged 6-12. This is an age period commonly
referred to as middle childhood. As W. Andrew Collins explains, “the implicit grouping
of ages 6-12 appears to be neither an idiosyncratic invention of Western cultures nor
merely a category by default among arbitrarily defined periods of human development.
Rather, these years universally mark a distinctive period between major developmental
transition points” (1984: 1). This idea of a distinct developmental period has its
theoretical basis on the works of such authors as Jean Piaget, to whom we will be
coming back in the next section. The most important thing to point out here is that
children are in a continuous developmental process which, furthermore, differs in each
child. Nevertheless, it can be safe to provide a few general features which may be
common to Primary school pupils and which have to be taken into account when in the
classroom.
In general terms, Primary school pupils are more independent and physically
active than preschool pupils. This means that they like activities in which they have to
do something. Besides, they are imaginative, curious and involved in their own learning
process; in this sense, teachers should stimulate both their imagination and their
curiosity towards the subject taught, in order to encourage their desire to discover new
things and learn from them. At this period, children already have a more mature and
logical way of thinking.
Even though their thinking becomes more complex, children in this age group
still think in concrete terms. This means they are most concerned with things that are
“real” rather than with ideas. It is very important to provide them with authentic
material (realia) to create in class every day situations in real contexts and to encourage
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them to use their senses as a means to identify things better.
Primary school pupils like to imitate adults and they can be very good at it
because they are uninhibited, that is to say, they do not feel embarrassed when doing so.
This means that teachers can use patterns of repetition and imitation in class with very
successful results.
Primary school pupils are less individualistic than preschool pupils and they love
to share their own experiences with friends and classmates. In this sense, teachers
should use those personal experiences as a means to encourage pupils to communicate
with others both orally and in writing. Personal experiences and likes could also be a
source of class material.
3.2. Some theories on children’s language learning
We can observe that there are different theories related to children’s language
learning. I have read some books about this and I think that the one written by Lynne
Cameron, Teaching Languages to Youn Learners (2001), is the book that best describes
the similarities and differences between an author and another. For my essay, I am
especially interested in the theories of Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner because they
complement one another. Then I present some interesting ideas about how children
learn a second language.
3.2.1. Jean Piaget
As it has already been mentioned, Jean Piaget and his theory of cognitive
development have had an enormous influence on the study of children’s learning
process. As Collins explains, “in Piaget’s view the significant psychological
developments of middle childhood are in the realm of intellectual competence. The goal
of most of the research emanating from Piaget’s theory has been understanding the
logical model of intellectual functioning; indeed, the major contribution of Piagetinspired shcolars has been an image of the child at every stage of development as an
active, integrating organism in interaction with the environment” (1984: 4).
Piaget’s concern was with the relation that children have with the world that
surrounds them and their actions. Different factors influence their mental development,
such as biological factors, educational and cultural factors, and the socio-familiar
factors. All of them provide children with strategies to solve problems. “What happens
early on with concrete objects continues to happen in the mind, as problems are
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confronted internally and action taken to solve them or think them through” (Cameron
2001: 3).
Although some of Piaget’s theories have been criticised for underestimating
what children are capable of doing, what interests me about his theories is that they
divided children’s capacities in different knowledge stages: “At each stage, the child is
capable of some types of thinking but still incapable of others” (Cameron 2001: 3).
A second interesting theory is that Piaget, in my opinion, contributed to the best
understanding of children’s features in the teaching-learning process: “We can take
from Piaget the very important idea of the child as an active learner and thinker,
constructing his or her own knowledge from working with objects or ideas” (Cameron
2001: 4).
Children have the desire to talk and ask questions, they want to know
everything, including a different language, and teachers have the responsibility of taking
advantage of all this. Furthermore, normally, students depend on the school as the only
place where they learn a second language, so, teachers have a powerful position to make
their learning of English a positive, stimulating and successful experience by making
use of their desire to learn.
3.2.2. Lev Vygotsky
If I had to summarize Lev Vygotsky’s theory, I would say that he stresses the
importance of social interaction in the development of children cognition. The idea that
human development is only explained from social interaction is the basic idea in his
work. The development consists on the use of cultural tools, like language, which
belong to the human group. Thus we learn through social interaction.
According to Cameron, “Vygotsky’s views of children development differ from
Piaget’s in the importance he gives to language and to other people in the child’s world”
(2001: 5). For Vygotsky, language has a double function in cognitive development. On
the one hand, it is a tool by means of which adults trasmit information to children.
“Language provides the child with a new tool, opens up new opportunities for doing
things and for organising information through the use of words as symbols” (Cameron
2001: 5). On the other hand, language becomes a tool of intellectual development.
Cameron also explains that Vygotsky’s idea of the ZPD (zone of proximal
development): “Rather than measuring intelligence by what a child can do alone,
Vygotsky suggested that intelligence was better measured by what a child can do with
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skilled help. Different children at the same point in development will make different
uses of the same help from an adult” (2001: 6). It is clear, then, that the teacher has a
huge responsibility in this social interaction in order to make the most of all our
students.
I totally agree with Vygotsky’s theories on the importance of social interaction
in the development of children cognition. That is why I think that teachers should
interact with children through language, the second language, in the classroom; they
should communicate with them, and show them that they can communicate and share
their experiences with friends and classmates, as well as with people all over the world.
We want to teach our students that language, and English language in particular, is an
open door to the world.
3.2.3. Jerome Bruner
Jerome Bruner was heavily influenced by both Piaget’s theory about children’s
developmental stages and Vygotsky’s ideas that language is the most important tool for
cognitive growth and that children can do a lot more when they receive skilled help.
However, what interests me more about Bruner’s theory is the importance he gives to
routines, as a useful method for Primary school, above all, in the lower stages.
As Bruner said, “Routines then can provide opportunities for meaningful
language development; they allow the child to actively make sense of new language
from familiar experience and provide a space for language growth. Routines will open
up many possibilities for developing language skills”. (Cameron 2001: 11)
Children learn through routines, which are based on imitation and repetition.
Pupils imitate and repeat what they see and hear in the classroom, which explains why,
by means of songs, we can teach them more than we believe.
3.2.4. How do Primary school pupils learn a second language?
To begin with, I would like to quote Jayne Moon, who has extracted some ideas
from a group of teachers attending an international summer school which I believe that
could be interesting:
Children learn a foreign language…
‘…in a natural way, the same way they learn their own language.’
‘…through being motivated. It depends on the teacher’s style. If the teacher
motivated them they would learn fast or quicker.’
‘…by listening and repeating.’
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‘…by imitating the teacher. They want to please the teacher. They feel
embarrassed when they make mistakes.’
‘…by doing and interacting with each other in an atmosphere of trust and
acceptance, through a variety of interesting and fun activities for which they see the
purpose.’
‘…through translating sentences into their own language.’ (2000:3)
To learn a second language in a natural way the teacher has to use that language,
English in our case, as the primary, if not the only, communicative tool in class. This is
why I have found the following reflection by Michael Rost really interesting: “As
teachers, we need a comprehensive image of what we do in order to help students
develop their listening ability. (…) Talk to your students in English. Talk to all your
students – not just the better English speakers” (1991: 7; emphasis in the original).
Howard Gardner once said: “It is not how intelligent you are, but how you are
intelligent”. Two students cannot learn in exactly the same way. However, students, in
their “aural/musical” category will have a lot of benefits from learning through songs.
They are strong in singing, picking up sounds, remembering melodies and rhythms.
They like all of this (www.hltmag.co.uk).
Hans Mol has pointed out some interesting aspects about using songs in the
English classroom: “Songs are part of daily life for most people. Who doesn’t enjoy
music at home, while travelling or studying, or even at work? Language teachers can
use songs to open or close their lessons, to illustrate themes and topics, to add variety or
a change of pace, present new vocabulary or recycle known language”
(www.hltmag.co.uk).
Besides, lived experiences are essential for children and teenagers. Thus, pupils
will always remember “The songs sung and the occasions on which singing is done”
(Fries 1945: 59).
3.3. Using songs to teach English as a second language
As I have already said, the use of songs at school has a huge range of benefits. If
we visit www.tefltunes.com, we can find twenty reasons why we should use songs more
often in our lessons. I would like to begin by referring to what is, in my opinion, the
most important advantage of using songs as a productive English teaching tool in
Primary school: music, in general, and songs, in particular are an extraordinary vehicle
of children’s motivation. At any point in our lives, everybody has confirmed that with
motivation everything is better. We can remember a wonderful teacher who taught us
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from a motivational perspective, and how, at the end of the term, we got high marks
because of that. In this way, all of us know that motivation is the best vehicle for
learning: “most students are highly motivated by song-based activities, which they
perceive to be fun” (www.tefltunes.com 2010).
Using songs to teach English breaks with the daily routine and adds new
elements such as enjoyment or fun. “Children have a great capacity to enjoy themselves.
When they are enjoying themselves, they are usually absorbed by the activity and want
to continue with it. They are not always aware that they are learning a language” (Moon
2000: 6). The article in eHow (1999-2013), titled “How to Use Songs when Teaching
English as a Second Language”, offers “different tools to teach conversation,
vocabulary, English grammar, and concepts”. Thus, “Using music and song is one of
the tools you can use to teach English to your class, regardless of the age of the learner.
Music is a tie that binds all cultures and languages and therefore, one of the best ways to
make learning English fun” (www.ehow.com).
Furthermore, as Suzanne L. Medina notes, “the use of music in language classes
puts students at ease, makes them more attentive and can increase their desire to learn a
language. Music offers a multifaceted way to look at the language and can be used to
reinforce and improve speaking, listening comprehension, vocabulary and phrasing”
(www.ehow.com). Teachers can improve the four skills, and also pupils’ memorization
through repetition.
Another significant reason to use songs in the English classroom is that “Music
can help language learners to learn good pronunciation. Melodies and rhymes guide
learners to speak in a native cadence” (Farrug 2008 in www.tefltunes.com 2010). It
serves, too, to create a good atmosphere in the class and to calm pupils down.
Robert Lake has also pointed out that “Music with lyrics engages both sides of
the brain so it becomes a powerful learning tool” (2003 in www.tefltunes.com 2010).
This means that, through the use of music with lyrics, we can clear up pupils’ heads and
make them gain strength before starting a new lesson, for example.
As I have already said, the choice of songs is a very relevant issue for the
success of the English class. In this respect, it is sometimes interesting to allow pupils,
especially those in stage 3, to choose the song or songs they want to work with.
According to Tim Murphey,
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Using the student’s choice has several advantages:
- Music and song are ‘tools for living’, and the topic holds great value, especially
when students select the material.
- Allowing them to choose gives them some responsibility, involves them in the
lesson more, and gives school relevance to their everyday lives and concerns.
- By looking at music and song critically, with student-generated criteria, we can
also help them to develop the means to sort out the good from the bad.
- For the teacher, it can be a tremendous learning experience in which the students
actually teach the subject matter (their songs and music), while the teacher is a resource for
the language.
- Handing material in this way equalizes the encounter between students and
teachers (Thomas 1984), creating mutual respect and approximating the more equal
interactions that they find outside the classroom.
- It reduces the teacher-time and work spent searching for materials which may not
have as much appeal as those which students themselves contribute. (1992: 14)
To sum up, although different authors have different opinions about this topic,
all of them agree on the idea that thanks to music and songs, children enjoy learning
English and can practice their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. It is true
that music can have some disadvantages because, for example, it can disturb people in
the class next-door or, if you choose an inadequate song, you may not get the expected
benefit from this material. However, we can affirm that, in general, and with a correct
use of it, the presence of music in the classroom is very positive, because it helps to
develop the pupils’ expressive, linguistic, motor, and intellectual skills. As teachers, our
final objective is to achieve the integral formation of our students, and music is a good
vehicle to do so.
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4. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT: “TAKE IT EASY: USE SONGS!”
4.1. Introduction
When we were children, learning English as a foreign language was a really
boring and uninteresting task. The methodology used to teach the subject rested on
grammar exercises, which were boring to death, and written compositions, for which no
previous explanation or tip was given. Nothing was done to improve our listening or
speaking skills, apart from the fact that we corrected some written activities by reading
them aloud in the classroom. Students usually worked on grammar exercises on their
own and read stories in English. We practised our reading skills in class, but the main
aim was the literal translation of those stories to the first language, without any attempt
at introducing pupils to the specific expressions and culture of the foreign language.
Besides, we also learnt enormous lists of vocabulary by heart, which lacked any
communicative sense. All this turned this subject into something horrible and boring to
tears, because we could not see the beautiful part of learning a language, only the tough,
useless one. Teachers, parents and students were all jaded with this situation.
Fortunately, a considerable change in education has happened at schools during
the last years. Today, lessons are taught in the second language, more bilingual schools
are opened, children speak a lot, listen to songs, stories and different tales… They can
see the meaning of learning a second language. They are able to communicate and they
really love it, they feel comfortable in the English classes, they feel at ease with these
lessons, they are no longer fed up or demotivated.
In this process of change, songs can have an important function in the class,
because through songs and music, children can learn vocabulary, grammatical
structures, ordinary expressions... Songs contain common colloquialisms that, once
acquired, can be used and reproduced in ordinary speech. Songs introduce a huge range
of advantages from the learning point of view and they can be a very versatile material,
because they allow us to practise the four English skills: listening, writing, speaking and
reading.
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4.2. Aims
When we learn a second language our main objective is to manage to
communicate with people who speak that language. English can be tedious, tiresome,
monotonous, laborious and certainly difficult for some students, which is why teachers
have the responsibility of making it funnier. There are different tools to improve pupils’
speaking, listening comprehension, vocabulary and grammar skills and music is one of
the best ways to make learning fun.
Nevertheless, apart from motivating my pupils and helping them to enjoy the
process of English learning, I want to achieve the next aims with my musical activities:
1. To teach English through songs. Songs will help learners to become familiar
with English sounds and their pronunciation.
2. To develop children’s memory and concentration through rhythms and
musicality.
3. To develop children’s physical co-ordination and development by performing
the actions of a song, they can turn around, clap their hands… (Total Physical
Response).
4. To learn chunks or meaningful phrases instead of isolated words.
5. To make the English language seem less daunting.
6. To get an enjoyable atmosphere instead of the one caused by the use of
traditional teaching methods.
7. To decide on the songs that can be used and the songs that can be played,
taking into account both students age and the English language skill level of the class.
8. To determine what we want to teach, to remember chunks of language which
they can then use when speaking or in writing.
9. To choose a suitable song. The lyrics must be in conversation clear.
10. To socialize with songs in English, for the reason that students can
participate in a group and express their feelings.
11. To enlarge cognitive learning, to became to make automatic to produce
language rapidly.
All these goals are interrelated in the sense that they look for the same final
purpose: to make children enjoy learning English and to make the quality of education
better. When teaching English as a second language, you have to be very creative so as
to keep pupils’ interest and motivation.
20
4.3. The choice of method
As I had always thought and I have confirmed after having experienced my
internship, children memorize and assimilate better lexical and grammatical structures
which would be really difficult to digest in other contexts, when they listen to them in
songs: for example, body parts, week days, jobs, expressions related to the weather or to
one’s personal life and emotions…This is easier when you learn it as you sing!
The best way to learn a second language, English in this case, is total linguistic
immersion. Children need to get involved with this language to understand the main
ideas and be able to follow the explanations through gestures, images, synonyms…
When organising an English class, it is important to distiguish between syllabus
and method, or methodology, since “There has been a tendency historically to equate
methodology with method” (Nunan 1991: 3). As David Nunan points out,
“Traditionally, a distinction has been drawn between syllabus and methodology: the
former concerning itself with the selection and grading of linguistic and experiential
content, the latter with the selection and sequencing of learning tasks and activities. In
other words, syllabus design is concerned with what, why and when; methodology is
concerned with how” (1991: 2).
As I have already explained in the introduction to this essay, the syllabus for the
teaching of English in Primary school, that is to say, the “what, why and when”, is
established by the “Real Decreto 1513/2006, de 7 de diciembre, por el que se establecen
las enseñanzas mínimas de la Educación primaria” and developped by the “Decreto
4/2011, de 28 de enero, por el que se establece el Currículo de la Educación Primaria en
la Comunidad Autónoma de La Rioja”. This means that the English teacher has very
little choice with regard to the syllabus. However, he or she can choose the method or
methods which best suit their pupils. Thus, as Jack C. Richards points out, the goal of
many language teachers is to find the right method” (1987: 11).
Firstly, then, it is necessary to explain that a method refers to the overall plan for
the proper presentation of language material, a way of proceeding or doing something.
There are different groups depending on the focus. Secondly, it is necessary to decide
on the method or methods that will best suit the development of my project. In this
sense, the book Inglés. Complementos de formación disciplinar. Theory and Practice in
English Language Teaching (2011), coordinated by Susan House, has been especially
useful. From all the different possibilities that the book offers, and taking into account
21
that the clue to success is to be capable of extracting the best or most appropriate parts
of each one of them, there are four methods that have called my attention especially: the
“Direct method”, the “Audio-lingual method”, the “Silent way” and “Total Physical
Response”.
The first method I will be using is the direct method which is also sometimes
called “natural method”. Webster’s New English Dictionary provides the following
definition: “Direct Method is a method of teaching a foreign language, especially a
modern language, through conversations, discussion, and reading in the language itself,
without the use of the pupil’s language, without translation and without the study of
formal grammar. The words are taught by pointing to objects or pictures or by
performing actions” (in Fries 1945: 7).
Revising the history of English language teaching methodology, Sonsoles
Sánchez-Reyes points out that the direct method “was an attempt to set up conditions
that imitate mother tongue acquisition by a total immersion technique” (in House 2011:
31). Sánchez-Reyes further explains that “In the direct method, students learn how to
think in the target language without involving L1 in the language learning process.
There is a direct connection between concepts and the language to be learned” (in
House 2011: 31; emphasis in the original). This method rejects the written word in the
early learning stages.
For these reasons, from the direct method I will take the idea that English as a
second language has to be taught only in English, that is to say, using only the second
language in class, complemented with teaching resources such as flashcards, pictures or
pantomime, above all. These resources are essential for the learning of vocabulary, they
make language learning easier and it is fun because children learn vocabulary without
the necessity of a dictionary or something written, so, they improve their oral skills
which is what we want, especially in the lower stages.
The second method I will be using is the audio-lingual method or “aural-oral
method”. According to Sánchez-Reyes,
With the audiolingual method, students learn the foreign language through extensive
repetition of a variety of drills so as to project the linguistic patterns of the language into
their minds to form a habit. In audiolingualism there is no explicit grammar instruction: the
teacher presents the correct model of a decontextualised sentence (usually in the language
lab), introducing new words for the students to sample in the same structure, and the
students repeat it until they can use it spontaneously in error-free utterances with the correct
22
pronunciation. (in House 2011: 32; emphasis in the original)
Since the audio-lingual method consists on the repetition of linguistic patterns
with the purpose of creating a linguistic habit in pupils’ minds, it is a very useful
method when teaching English from songs. The teacher presents the correct pattern of a
sentence and pupils will have to repeat it, first, until they are capable of introducing
some variations. Pupils will learn different grammar structures, idioms and expressions
from each song. Listening to each song once and again pupils will memorize structures
and words and will be capable of repeating them automatically. Thus, routine,
reiteration and imitation are key elements here.
The third method I will be using is called the “Silent Way”, a pedagogical
approach created by the Egyptian mathematician Caleb Gattegno. This method “aimed
to develop human values, self-awareness and empathy, sensitivity to feelings and
emotions, and student involvement in their own learning” (House 2011: 33). In this
method, the use of the mother tongue is not allowed, either. The teacher concentrates on
what the students say and how they are saying it, drawing their attention to the
differences in pronunciation and the flow of words and encouraging them to correct
their own mistakes and that of their classmates. Songs are a very useful tool to learn the
pronunciation of individual words, rhythmical patterns and even accentual variation.
This method also emphasises the autonomy of the learner and encourages pupils to have
an active role not only in class but also at home by means of simple exercises based on
the songs used in class which they can carry out on their own and with other family
members.
Finally, I will also be using another method which is called Total Physical
Response, in which lessons are organised around grammar, especially verbs. This
method emphasises the importance of listening to acquire a new language and does not
force pupils to speak in the early stages of the learning process. “Total Physical
Response (TPR) is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech
and action; it attempts to teach language through physical (motor) activity (…) A
method that is undemanding in terms of linguistic production and that involves
gamelike movements, reduces learner stress (…) and creates a positive mood in the
learner, which facilitates learning” (Richards & Rodgers 2001: 73). This method is
especially useful to develop pupils’ self-confidence and to reduce their stress and offers
the possibility of moving around while learning, through the coordination of linguistic
23
skills and physical action.
Summing up, my teaching method will be based on the following ideas: using
the second language as the primary communicative tool with pupils; using gestures and
mimic to help understand new vocabulary; using routines, imitation and repetition to
make grammatical structures automatic in the pupils; and encouraging pupils to have an
active role in the activities, not only during the class but also once they are at home with
their families.
4.4. Songs and activities
It has already been made clear that this project has to be carried out taking into
account the three stages in which Primary education is divided:
First stage: pupils aged 6 to 8.
Second stage: pupils aged 8 to 10.
Third stage: pupils aged 10 to 12.
I have decided to make this distinction because students have different cognitive
features depending on their age-group, and I am convinced that it is essential to make a
differentiation in the choice of songs, the activities and the teaching method used in
each of them. Thus, Harley et al. have pointed out that “In studies of immersion
language learning, younger children (7-8 years) seem to pay more attention to sound
and prosody (the music of an utterance), whereas older children (12-14 years) are more
attentive to cues of word order” (1995:10).
I want to guide my essay towards a practice with children that will have as a
purpose to use mainly songs as a vehicle to make pupils feel closer to English. The use
of a song in each stage will require different sessions, in which children will be
encouraged to enjoy learning English and will show no fear, concern, embarrassment or
rejection of this subject.
My project will be based on routines (hello and bye songs), vocabulary songs (to
learn new vocabulary with each song), and grammatical songs (to learn different
structures like questions, answers and other linguistic structures.
4.4.1. Stage 1: Songs and activities for pupils aged 6-8
Young children are usually already familiar with rhymes and songs in their first
language. Using them in English lessons provides a link between home and school, and
helps to create a secure environment for learning. For very young learners (aged 6 to 8),
using songs that are repetitive and easy to understand helps them with pronunciation,
24
vocabulary and grammar. They understand mostly from what they receive through their
senses, that is to say, through sight, hearing or touch and from interaction rather than
from explanation. “Children are naturally curious and active. They eagerly explore their
environment and interact with people who help them to construct their understanding of
the world they live in. An important way in which they do this is through physical
activity and experiencing things at first hand” (Moon 2000: 7). They have a low
concentration span, so, a wide variety of activities is needed to keep their attention.
In this first stage, English songs will be mainly used to set the frame for the
English class, regardless of the fact that pupils will also learn from these songs. “Hello”
songs will be used at the beginning of the class and “Bye-bye” songs will be used at the
end of the class.
4.4.1.1. Hello Song: activities
“It’s time for English”
“It’s time for English,
clap your hands.
It’s time for English,
turn around.
It’s time for English,
one, two, three.
Stop! Look! And listen to me!”1
The first activity is the song’s presentation. The teacher uses the Direct method,
and, with pantomime, he or she represents or symbolizes the different actions described
in the song while the pupils listen to it. In order to help students understand what they
hear, flashcards with images representing the actions sung will be stuck on the
blackboard. Flashcards will not have any word, just images because, at this stage, I want
to lay more emphasis on sound and meaning than on writing. (See Appendix 1)
When the pupils have listened to the song and seen the teacher’s example as to
the movements, they listen to the song again, and now, they stand up, sing and dance
with the teacher. This is a Total Physical Response activity, considering that children
combine the use of language with physical movement.
These two activities will be repeated all through the term as the starting point of
1
The lyrics of the song are included in the teacher’s book: Find Out 1, cd1, track 9.
25
each English lesson.
4.4.1.2. Bye-bye Song: activities
“It Is Time to Say Good-Bye”
(Tune: “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”)
Clap your hands.
stomp your feet.
It is time to say good-bye to all my friends.
It is time to say good-bye,
Give a smile and wink your eye.
Good bye, friends.
Yee haw!2
We follow the same steps as with the hello song. The teacher uses pantomime
and shows the rest of the class how they could sing and dance this song at the end of
each class of the term. Flashcards can help to make the memorization of the actions
easier. They will be stuck on the board during the whole term. (See Appendix 2)
After the song presentation, the pupils stand up and repeat what the teacher has
done, imitating him or her. Children become familiar with English pronunciation and
accent at the same time as they enjoy and share a good moment with their classmates.
Furthermore, some days, we can try to do something different. For example:
a) the teacher can point a finger at the flashcards and the students make the
appropriate gesture and tell the sentence that corresponds to the picture in the song; or
b) one pupil goes up to the board instead of the teacher and he or she becomes
the example to imitate that day;
c) some other days, we can also sing the song without listening to it first; in this
way, we can confirm that pupils really know the lyrics. Through direct observation, the
teacher can make an assessment about the internalization of the songs.
With the hello song and bye-bye song routines, the following aims are achieved:
1. Pupils become familiar with English sounds and their pronunciation.
2. Children’s memory and concentration is developed through rhythm and music.
2
The lyrics of the bye-bye song have been taken from www.songsforteaching.com.
26
3. Children’s physical co-ordination is developed.
4. Chunks or meaningful phrases, instead of isolated words, are learnt.
5. English is perceived as less daunting.
6. An enjoyable atmosphere is created.
10. Children express their feelings in English and socialize in a group.
Thus, on the one hand, pupils automatically associate the song with English. The
song helps them change their mind from other subjects that have nothing to do with
English and are ready to start the lesson of the day in a happy mood. In only a few
minutes, the teacher creates a perfect atmosphere to teach English. Likewise, “Ending
the class with this warm, simple song is a great way to send students off with
confidence and positive feelings” (www.supersimplelearning.com).
On the other hand, both songs “It’s time for English” and “It Is Time to Say
Good-Bye” help pupils to learn the meaning and the correct pronunciation of some
basic words and expressions like “It’s time for…” and to become familiar with the use
of imperatives in English.
Thus, both hello songs and bye songs will be present during the whole year,
although the actual songs can be changed from term to term as both a sign of novelty
and a means of introducing new vocabulary and expressions. I have included different
examples of hello songs in Appendix 3 and different examples of bye songs in
Appendix 4. The activities I have proposed for the two examples chosen can equally be
applied to any of the songs in appendixes 3 and 4.
4.4.2. Stage 2: Songs and activities for pupils aged 8 to 10
Children aged 8 to 10 are no longer young children but they are not still preteenagers. They need to feel good about themselves. Their intellectual development
derives from their motivation and achievements. They want to feel that they are useful
in class, at school, in their families. They need to feel they belong to a group. What is
more, it is important for them to catch up with the goals they are proposed.
Pupils aged 8 to 10 have some knowledge of English and can work with real
songs. Yet, they do not have not as much knowledge as they will have at the end of this
second stage, when they will probably be capable of deciding on the real songs they
want to work with. For this reason, I think that the English class with these young
learners has to be a mixture of the two systems I am proposing in my project, that of
27
very young learners in Stage 1 (which has been presented in the previous section) and
that of pre-teenagers in Stage 3 (which will be presented in the next section).
In Stage 2, the English class will then not only be framed by a “Hello” song and
a “Bye-bye” song; songs will also be a significant tool to teach part of the contents of
the syllabus. To do so, I have thought of using a topic that will be the common ground
of all the sessions. The topic will be “Holidays” and we will pay special attention to the
different places we can go to and the things we can see all over the world.
This main theme, “Holidays”, will be taught by means of songs that are included
in the original soundtracks of very well-known Disney films. I have chosen this source,
Disney films, because I believe that children aged 8-10 still like cartoons and because
the songs in those films are not as childish as those selected for Stage 1 but rather have
a more mature message children appreciate because they speak about places,
experiences or desires from a more mature point of view.
Within each of the six terms in Stage 2, we will be dedicating one week out of
four to the teaching of English by means of songs3. Since the curriculum establishes
three hours a week for the teaching of English as a second language (Lengua
extranjera), the unit “Holidays” will be composed of six sixty-minute sessions. I will
now show what I intend to do in each of those six sessions.
4.4.2.1. Session 1: The rain forest.
I think that speaking is one of the skills pupils are less gifted at. For this reason,
we will begin the class asking pupils to speak about different places where they would
wish to go in the future and/or places where they have already been in the past. To
begin with, they can speak about any place they want, with complete freedom, but then
the teacher will guide their students to the place he or she wants them to go to in this
session: the rain forest.
The song selected for this purpose is “I Wanna Be Like You”, from the film The
Jungle Book. Here are the lyrics of the song:
“I Wanna Be Like You”
Now I’m the king of the swingers, whoa,
the jungle V.I.P.
3
Lessons in which songs become the primary tool to teach English will be alternated with other more
traditional lessons during each term.
28
I’ve reached the top and had to stop
And that’s what’s botherin’ me.
I wanna be a man, Man Cub,
And stroll right into town
And be just like the other men
I’m tired of monkeyin’ around!
Oh, ooh-be-doo
I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too
Wee-bee-dee-bee-dee-boo
You’ll see it’s true
An ape like me
Can learn to be
human too.
(Gee, cousin Louie
You’re doin’ real good
Now here’s your part of the deal, cuz
Lay the secret on me of man’s red fire
But I don’t know how to make fire.)
Now don’t try to kid me, Man Cub,
I made a deal with you
What I desire is man’s red fire
To make my dream come true.
Give me the secret, Man Cub,
Come on, clue me what to do
Give me the power of man’s red flower
So I can be like you.
You!
I wanna be like you
I wanna talk like you
Walk like you, too
29
You'll see it’s true
Someone like me
Can learn to be
Like someone like me
Can learn to be
Like someone like you
Can learn to be
Like someone like me!4
Using this song and its lyrics as main material, I propose two different sets of
activities meant to a) teach pupils to use the grammatical structure “to want + to +
infinitive” and b) teach them new vocabulary.
a) The grammatical structure: “to want + to + infinitive”
Activity 1: First of all, the teacher explains this English structure to the class. He
or she presents some examples:
I want to work as a teacher.
I want to travel far away.
I want to eat pasta…
While the teacher says the sentences he uses pantomime. Then he or she
explains that another way of saying the sentences in a more colloquial way is using
“wanna” instead of “want to”.
Activity 2: Then, the teacher asks the students to think about some other
examples, offering them any help they might need to build new sentences.
Activity 3: When the teacher thinks that everyone in the class has understood
this grammatical construction and is capable of using it, he or she plays the song for the
first time. He or she will use the video that presents the sequence of the film in which
the song is sung (www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9cWkUhZ8n4). The lyrics will not be
provided yet.
Activity 4: The teacher asks pupils to find out whether the grammatical structure
they have studied can be heard in the song. Some pupils may be capable of repeating
some of the sentences that include the grammatical structure.
b) Vocabulary
4
See the sequence from the film with subtitles in www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEEPaYD5KZE.
30
Activity 5: At this point, the teacher plays the song a second time. Now, the
video shows the lyrics and the students are encouraged to read the words as they listen
to the song.
Activity 6: The teacher stops the song after every single sentence is produced
and asks the class about its meaning. If they do not know the answer, the teacher
explains them the meaning with the help of gestures and images, but never uses the
mother tongue.
Activity 7: If there is still time, the teacher and the pupils can speak about the
animals that live in the jungle and they can answer some question as, for example,
which of them is their favorite…
The materials needed in this session are: projector, digital screen or photocopies,
video with and without lyrics (or cassette).
In this session, the following aims will be achieved: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11.
4.4.2.2. Session 2: The marine world.
In the second session, the teacher will take their pupils on a voyage to the
bottom of the sea using the song “Under the Sea”, from the film The Little Mermaid.
Here are the lyrics of the song:
“Under The Sea”
The seaweed is always greener
In somebody else’s lake
You dream about going up there
But that is a big mistake
Just look at the world around you
Right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things surround you
What more is you looking for?
Under the sea! Under the sea!
Darlin’ it’s better, down where it’s wetter
Take it from me!
Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun, they slave away
While we devoting full time to floating
Under the sea!
31
Down here, all the fish is happy
As off through the waves they roll
The fish on the land ain’t happy
They sad ‘cause they in their bowl
But fish in the bowl is lucky
They in for a worser fate
One day when the boss gets hungry
(Guess who’s gon’ be on the plate)
Nobody beat us, fry us and eat us,
In fricassee!
We what the land folks love to cook
Under the sea we off the hook
We got no troubles, life is the bubbles
Under the sea!
Under the sea!
Since life is sweet here, we got the beat here, naturally!
Even the sturgeon and the ray
They get the urge and start to play
We got the spirit, you got to hear it
Under the sea!
The newt play the flute, the carp play the harp
The plaice play the bass, and they soundin’ sharp
The bass play the brass, the chub play the tub
The fluke is the duke of soul!
(Yeah)
The ray he can play, the lings on the strings
The trout rockin’ out, the black fish she sings
The smelt and the sprat, they know where it’s at
And oh that blowfish blow!
When the sardine begin the beguine
It’s music to me!
32
What do they got? A lot of sand!
We got a hot crustacean band!
Each little clam here know how to jam here
Under the sea!
Each little slug here, cutting a rug here
Under the sea!
Each little snail here, know how to wail here
That’s why it’s hotter under the water
Ya we in luck here, down in the muck here
Under the sea!5
The teacher introduces the song to the class while the children follow it in their
photocopies6. He or she plays the song a second and a third time. Then, the teacher
reads the whole text aloud, with the students reading the text simultaneously, following
his lead. In this way, each student in the class has an opportunity to pronounce the
sentences under the protection of all the other students, and with the teacher’s voice as a
guide (imitation).
At this point, the teacher asks about the vocabulary of the song. He or she has
prepared some flashcards with real images, not cartoons, of those nouns that appear in
sentences whose meaning cannot be explained by means of gestures (See Appendix 5).
The meaning of other sentences can be explained with gestures, for example: “the fish
on the land ain’t happy, they sad’ cause they in their bowl”. First, the teacher gives
some time for the children to express themselves. He or she wants their students to have
the opportunity to speak aloud. Students must talk. Then, the teacher introduces the
flashcards and asks his or her students which word do they think corresponds to the
image in the flashcard; for example, he or she shows a brass and asks: what do you
think is it? Students must find the name of the object.
To put an end to the activity, every student writes a personal anecdote related to
the sea, the beach, or some experience with the marine world, using at least five words
of the song. It must be something brief; they can read it aloud to the rest of the class,
while the teacher controls both the pronunciation and the composition. When four or
5
www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2RfNZsnuj4
6
This activity is a personal version of Mr. Prior’s class (see Peck 1988: 30-31).
33
five students have finished reading, the teacher can explain some common mistakes
present in the compositions.
The materials needed for this session are: photocopies with the lyrics, flashcards,
digital screen, projector or cassette, and the video.
In this session, the following aims will be achieved: 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 11.
4.4.2.3. Session 3: Africa.
In the third session, the teacher will introduce pupils to a new continent, Africa,
with the help of the song “The Circle of Life”, from the film The Lion King. Here are
the lyrics of the song:
“The circle of life”
From the day we arrived on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round
It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life
It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
34
In the Circle
The Circle of Life
7
The activities I propose to carry out with this song are related to three of the
different skills in the process of language learning: speaking, listening, writing. Besides
I also include an activity that focuses on the grammatical construction “there’s more to
+ verb than” and another one that emphasizes the importance of pronouncing words
correctly.
Activity 1: Speaking activity: This lesson starts with the following question:
What do you know about Africa? With this activity, we are going to speak not only
about Africa, but also about the five continents. We need a map, and the students could
say whatever they know about them. For this, the teacher has prepared a powerpoint
with real images that he or she will discuss with the children. (See Appendix 6)
Activity 2: Listening and writing activity. Once the first activity has come to an
end, the teacher plays the video of the song, without lyrics, twice if necessary. Then, the
teacher shares out the photocopies with the lyrics of the song. The pupils are asked to
fill in some gaps in the lyrics with prepositions, articles or particular expressions (to
arrive on, to step into, to take in…). To do so, they have to read the lyrics first and to
listen to the song once more. When they have finished, the teacher checks the answers
by playing the song one last time. Then, he or she checks possible mistakes and explians
any doubt. (See Appendix 7)
Activity 3: Grammar. With regard to grammar, we are going to work the
following expressions: from the day (from the day we arrive on the planet) and the
structure: there’s more to + verb than (there’s more to see than can ever be seen). The
teacher writes them down on the board. Children think about different examples of this
same constructions, changing some words.
Activity 4: Pronunciation. With this song, we also practice the pronunciation of
some words like: circle, through and endless. First, the teacher pronounces each word
and then children imitate the pronunciation. The teacher can ask pupils to listen
attentively to these words in the song and then to repeat them either individually or as a
group.
7
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zLx_JtcQVI
35
The materials needed for this session are: power point, photocopies with gaps,
the song (caste, digital screen…).
In this session, the following aims will be achieved: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11.
4.4.2.4. Session 4: The desert.
In the fourth session, pupils will travel along the desert with Aladdin and the
song “A Whole New World”, from the film Aladdin. Here are the lyrics of the song:
“A Whole New World”
I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, princess, now when did
You last let your heart decide?
I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride
A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming
A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear
That now I'm in a whole new world with you
Now I'm in a whole new world with you
Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky
A whole new world
Don't you dare close your eyes
A hundred thousand things to see
36
(Hold your breath, it gets better)
I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
I can't go back to where I used to be
A whole new world
Every turn a surprise
With new horizons to pursue
Every moment red-letter
I'll chase them anywhere
There's time to spare
Let me share this whole new world with you
A whole new world
That's where we'll be
A thrilling chase
A wondrous place
For you and me8
First of all, the teacher hands out the photocopies with the lyrics of the song
among the students9. The pupils do a reading exercise, concentrating on the words and
their pronunciation. They can read the lyrics twice if they want to.
Students may not understand the meaning of some of the words, for example:
shining, shimmering, splendid, wonder, and so on. Pupils, who know them, helped by
the teacher, can try to explain their meaning to the rest of the class using gestures and/or
synonyms. The language used in the class will always be English.
Once the vocabulary has been understood, we listen to the song once, using the
video if possible.
After that, we speak about the images in the video, about the magic carpet, and
about the genie in the lamp. The teacher formulates the following questions:
a) Where would you go if you had a magic carpet?
b) What would you wish if you had three desires?
8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDnOSk_ea6c
9
If there is a projector in the class, photocopies are not necessary. In this way, we can save paper.
37
Children write their answers in a piece of paper and hand it to the teacher. Then,
the teacher reads some of the answers aloud and the rest of the class has to guess whose
answer it is. At the end of the class, the teacher picks up all the answers and takes them
home to correct their mistakes.
The materials needed to carry out this activity is: photocopies with the lyrics or a
projector, the song.
In this session, the following aims will be achieved: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11.
4.4.2.5. Session 5: The mountains.
In the fifth session, pupils will experience life in the mountains with the song
“Colours of the Wind”, from the film Pocahontas. Here are the lyrics of the song:
“Colours of the Wind”
You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...
You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name
You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sun sweet berries of the Earth
38
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth
The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends
How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind
You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind10
In this case, as it is the last Disney song about “Holidays” we are going to listen
to, the students will create a small theatre with gestures, using Total Physical Response
Method. Pupils will listen to the song and will watch the video twice. If they do not
understand some words, they can try to guess from the context, first, or ask the teacher.
In pairs, they will be given some time to decide on the actions they are going to
perform. They can imitate the animals, the mountains, a scene of the film… At the end
of the class, each pair will perform their chosen action in front of the class with the help
of the music. If a sixty-minute lesson is not enough, the next class can also be used to
watch all the pairs perform.
To assess this activity, the teacher will take into account the range of vocabulary
used, the correctness of grammatical constructions and of pronunciation, as well as,
originality.
For this activity the only material needed is the video.
In this session, the following aims will be achieved: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11.
10
www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4vkq2ztxSw
39
4.4.2.6. Session 6: Review.
The purpose of the last lesson of the unit “Holidays” is to make a review about
the contents studied in class during these weeks. First of all, we are going to listen to the
five songs so that pupils remember vocabulary, expressions, gestures, issues talked
about in class and so on.
The second step is to assess our students’ knowledge of vocabulary. To do so the
teacher suggests them to play the wonderful and famous game called hangman. One
student goes up to the board and thinks of one of the words related to the topic under
assessment. He/she writes on the board the same number of lines as that of the letters
that the word has. The rest of students must provide for the missing letters to discover
the words. If the letter proposed is not in the word, the student who is next to the board
will draw a different part of the hangman. We can repeat this game with lots of words.
The final exercise consists of writing about a place where they want to go. They
must use some expressions of the songs. If they do not finish the composition in class,
they will have it as homework. The next day, some students will be asked to read their
compositions aloud for the rest of the class. The teacher will carry out a global
assessment of the concepts that have been learnt in the different sessions. He/she will
use an evaluation grid, that he can use every day if he/she thinks it necessary. (See
Appendix 8)
4.4.3. Stage 3: Songs and activities for pupils aged 10 to 12
For late young learners or pre-teenagers, aged 10 to 12, it is useful to practice
with modern fashionable songs to improve their English skills. This is absolutely one of
the best ways to keep pre-teenagers’ attention. With them many different ways of
teaching may be used. They have a longer attention span but they are still children, and
they usually take learning seriously. To develop social, motor and intellectual skills is
very relevant for them, so, the activities we plan must fulfill these requirements.
This stage allows the teacher an endless amount of possibilities. On the one
hand, at this age our students have a good linguistic basis: in the lower stages they have
learnt grammar, vocabulary and they also have a developed their oral and listening
comprehension skills. We have to make the most of this fact and to use all of them up to
the limit.
On the other hand, children are in a difficult period of their lives. They are
somewhere in between childhood and adolescence, so, to get their attention and to know
40
in a correct way the songs and the associated exercises is essential to keep their interest
in English, which is usually lost as they grow up.
In this stage, I am going to use real songs, that is to say, pop/rock songs, instead
of infantile songs. Children at this age have some specific features: they do not like
cartoons or childish songs. They are pre-teenagers and they listen to popular music very
frequently; they start to have idols and I think that using these resources is a good way
to create a personal motivation in each one of them.
In this way, we have different options to do in class:
a) First, pupils listen to the song without the lyrics. They can explain what they
have understood with their own words. Then they are given the handouts with the lyrics
so that they can check their answers. They listen to the song again and repeat the same
oral activity to complete any missing data.
b) The teacher can also make photocopies with pre-/while/post-listening
activities, such as:
a. Brainstorming. Speak about any issue that comes to mind when listening to the
title of the song.
b. Fill in the gaps exercises.
c. Questions with multiple choice answers.
d. Write about the plot of the song.
e. Students can invent another verse for the song.
f. Pupils can be asked to make a performance based on any aspect of the plot of the
song.
It is necessary to take into account that, at this age, boys and girls have very
different preferences with regard to music. Girls love pop music, whereas boys find pop
music absolutely disgusting and usually prefer hard rock. This explains why I have
chosen the three following songs to work with pupils in class: girls will probably love
Selena Gomez’s “Who Says”; boys will probably find Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” much
more interesting; and perhaps all of them may be attracted by Avril Lavigne’s “Alice”,
one of the tracks in the original soundtrack of Tim Burton’s film Alice in Wonderland.
4.4.3.1. Pop music: Selena Gomez.
Selena Gomez is a very popular actress and singer among girls aged 10-16. She
is one of the main characters in the Disney Channel television series The Wizards of
Waverley Place. I have chosen to work with Selena Gomez’s song “Who Says” for two
41
main reasons: the first one is the meaning of the song, its plot and message; the second
one is its grammatical structures. Here are the lyrics of the song:
“Who Says”
I wouldn't wanna be anybody else
You made me insecure
You told me I wasn't good enough
But who are you to judge
When you’re a diamond in the rough
I'm sure you got some things
That you'd like to change about yourself
But when it comes to me
I wouldn't wanna be anybody else
(Nannanananananananna)2x
I’m no beauty queen I’m just beautiful me
(Nananananananananannan)2x
You've got every right to a beautiful life,
Come on!
Who says who says you’re not perfect
Who says you’re not worth it
Who says you’re the only one that's hurting
Trust me that’s the price of beauty
Who says you’re not pretty
Who says you’re not beautiful
Who says
It's such a funny thing
How nothing’s funny when it’s you
You tell them what you mean
But they keep wiping out the truth
It’s like a work of art
That never gets to see the light
Keep you beneath the stars
Won’t let you touch the sky.
(Nannanananananananna)2x
42
Cause I’m no beauty queen I’m just beautiful me
(Nananananananananannan)2x
You’ve got every right to a beautiful life,
Come on!
Who says
Who says
Regarding the meaning of the song: this song has a beautiful message, which is
enhanced by the images in the video clip: who are the people to judge the others? (“But
who are you to judge”). Mainly, this song talks about beauty and its stereotypes, the
problems of both being fantastic and not being fantastic when people are judged
according to society’s beauty standards. The activity thought for this song is to make
our students think about the meaning of the lyrics and to talk about the importance of
being at ease with oneself, about having a strong personality and about not being carried
along by the opinions of others.
Regarding grammar, I think that the most important structure here is “who says”.
In the first part of the activity, we will be talking about pupils’ ideal of beauty and so
on. So in this second activity, pupils will have to read and write. Using the main verse
in the song (“Who says, who says you’re not perfect, who says you’re not worth it, who
says you’re the only one that's hurting, trust me that’s the price of beauty, who says
you’re not pretty, who says you’re not beautiful, who says”), children will have to try
and write a similar verse with their own words; for example: who say’s you’re not
43
friendly… They can change the adjectives but they have to maintain the same
grammatical structure. At the end of the class, they can read aloud, or even sing, their
new version of the song.
The aims that will be achieved in this lesson are: 1, 2, 4, 7, 11.
4.4.3.2. Rock: Bon Jovi.
Bon Jovi is a rock band that is very appreciated by boys aged 10 to 16. I have
chosen to work with the song “It’s My Life” because it represents the rebel inside each
of our pupils at this period of their lives. Here are the lyrics of the song:
“It’s My Life”
This ain't a song for the broken-hearted
No silent prayer for the faith-departed
I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd
You're gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud
It's my life, it's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
It's my life
My heart is like the open highway
Like Frankie said I did it my way
I just wanna live while I'm alive
It's my life
This is for the ones who stood their ground
It's for Tommy and Gina who never backed down
Tomorrow's getting harder, make no mistake
Luck, it ain't enough, you've got to make your own breaks
It's my life, it's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive.
The activity that I propose for this song is intended to improve the group’s work.
The teacher divides the class in five groups of five students each one, more or less.
Every single group is responsible of a paragraph of the song. Each group has an English
dictionary (or two), not an English-Spanish one, but an English dictionary since we only
work in English. Each group will have between twenty and thirty minutes to find out the
44
meaning of their paragraph. In the remaining thirty minutes each group explains the
meaning of their paragraph to their classmates speaking in English and using gestures or
actions if necessary. The aims of the activity will be achieved if at the end of the class
everybody understands the meaning of the whole song.
The aims that will be achieved in this lesson are: 1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 11.
4.4.3.3. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland: Avril Lavigne.
The film Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton has been a very great success
among pre-teenagers. The aesthetics of the film and its main characters, Johny Deep,
among others, are probably the basic causes for this. I have chosen to work with the
song “Alice” performed by another rebel like Avril Lavigne, because I think that the
film and the song will be equally attractive for boys and girls. Here are the lyrics of the
song:
“Alice”
Tripping out, spinning around
I'm underground, I fell down
Yeah I fell down
I'm freaking out where am I now?
Upside down and I can't stop it now
PRE-CHORUS
Can't stop me now
Oooh I, I'll get by
I, I'll survive
CHORUS
When the world's crashing down
When I fall and hit the ground
I will turn myself around
Don't you try to stop me
I, I won't cry
I found myself in wonderland
Get back on my feet again
Is this real? Is this pretend?
I'll take a stand until the end
PRE-CHORUS
45
I, I'll get by
I, I'll survive
CHORUS
I, I won't cry
I, I'll get by
I, I'll survive
I, I won't cry
Avril Lavigne’s song is especially interesting in terms of verb tenses. Thus, we
can use this activity as a review of verb tenses once they have been explained in the
course of the stage, making something usually boring, funny.
Reading the lyrics of this song we can observe that there are loads of different
verb tenses. The exercise will consist on handing out the photocopies with the lyrics to
the pupils. However, the lyrics will be incomplete and pupils will have to fill in the gaps
using the appropriate tense of the verb that will be given in brackets (see Appendix 9).
Students will explain to the rest of the class why they have chosen one verb tense
instead of another (we can have a brief dialogue) and, finally, we will listen to the song
once more so that students can check their answers. After that, the teacher answers any
question or doubt pupils may have.
The aims that will be achieved in this lesson are: 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10.
4.4.3.4. Pupils’ choice.
Although different activities have been proposed for pupils of this age-group, I
also want these pupils to feel that they are the main characters in their learning process.
That is why another interesting option is to give students the freedom to choose
the song or songs they want to work with. They will have to explain why they have
chosen that song and which are the activities they think could be done with it in class.
46
Depending on the maturity of the pupils and on their language skills, they will
even be allowed to prepare a class on their own. Personally, I believe that this option is
very practical and rewarding. The teacher should prepare two or three songs as
examples, and then, for the rest of the course, it would be the students who will prepare
the classes. This would allow them to share their tastes with regard to music with the
rest of their classmates. Becoming teachers for one day would enhance their selfesteem, because they not only like being the center of attention in class but also being in
charge and having the knowledge that they are going to share with their classmates.
47
48
5. CONCLUSIONS
Having completed this essay, I believe that I have read enough books, articles
and websites related to the topic to be capable of coming to some conclusions about this
interesting subject.
I have had to make a choice of what I thought most important in terms of
theories and teaching methods, and I have pointed out the advantages of using songs to
teach a second language and the possible applications they will have in the English
classroom.
Now, I want to highlight the most pertinent ideas or conclusions I have reached.
On the one hand, songs and music, rhythm and musicality, are powerful tools in
class to improve the memorization and the study of a new language, but they must be
accompanied by regular lessons, either alternating the use of songs with other activities
in the same session, or alternating the use of songs with other activities in separate
sessions. Therefore, we should not just listen to the songs in class; songs should become
an instrument to practice the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Songbased activities should also be dedicated to teaching vocabulary, grammatical structures
and pronunciation, while simultaneously arousing pupils’ interest in the study of
English as a second language.
Another technique might be to use songs in class only for special occasions,
above all, in the highest stages. For example, we can listen to a song at the end of a unit,
or when it is someone’s birthday and the pupil is allowed to bring his or her favourite
song to class. In this way, our students can see the use of songs as something positive
that they can learn both in class and at home, where they can continue working with
songs.
In addition, we must keep in mind that the song’s choice is extremely
significant, so a lot of time should be invested in deciding on the songs we should use.
Summarizing Griffee’s words, when choosing a song, we have to take into
consideration: the age of our students, the language level of the students, their musical
interest, as well as, what is the purpose of the teacher using songs and the support the
song requires to be used successfully (1992: 4).
In relation to Griffee, I think that it is necessary to add the idea that inside each
stage (two years each one), there are differences between a class and another one, and
49
between a level and another, each boy or girl is different. Although the teacher could
make adaptations, I believe that the activities I have proposed are affordable enough for
everyone. These exercises can make English easier to learn. Songs can be used to
prepare fill-in-the-gaps activities, write down simple compositions and even carry out
review exercises. They are also of great help for pupils who have more difficulties with
English: these pupils can work in pairs, or they can be given extra time and slightly
different handouts adapted to their necessities, (for example, the teacher can underline
the most important words or expressions that are going to be used during the class, etc.).
Finally, although I have taken into account as many elements as possible in
order to propose all the song-based activities presented, it will only be when I manage
to put them into practice in a real classroom that I will really know if they are successful
and if the aims intended are really achieved. I am sure that the activities will have to be
reformulated once I receive the pupils’ feedback. Nevertheless, I am positive about the
fact that the inclusion of songs in English lessons is a vehicle of motivation at school.
Music and songs increase the efficiency and improve students’ training when they are
learning a new language.
50
6. REFERENCES
Aladdin, “A Whole New World” <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kl4hJ4j48s>
(Accessed 1 June 2013).
Bon Jovi, J. “It’s my Life” <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx2u5uUu3DE>
(Accessed 1 July 2013).
Cameron, L. 2001. Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Collins, W. Andrew, ed. 1984. Development During Middle Childhood: The Years from
Six to Twelve. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
eHow contributor. “How to Use Songs when Teaching English as a Second
Language”.<http://www.ehow.com/how_5182054_use-teaching-english-secondlanguage.html> (Accessed 18 June 2013).
Farrug, D. 2008. “How Music Helps Language Learning”. Language Study Suite
101.com.
Feldman, J. “Songs for Teaching. Using Songs to Promote Teaching”.
<http://www.songsforteaching.com/drjean/goodbye.htm> (Accessed 8 June).
Fries, C. 1945. Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language. Michigan:
University of Michigan Press.
Gardner, H. “Which learners like songs”.
<http://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr09/less01.htm#C1> (Accessed 28 May 2013).
Gardner, R. C. 1985. Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of
Attitudes and Motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
Gomez, S. “Who Says” <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDRm__OUe4M>
Griffee, D.T. 1992. Songs in Action. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International.
Harley, B., Howard, J., and Hart, D. 1995. “Second Language processing at different
ages: Do younger learners pay more attention to prosodic cues than sentence
structure?” Language Learning 45, I: 43-71.
House, Susan. (coord.). 2011. Inglés. Complementos de formación disciplinar. Theory
and Practice in English Language Teaching. Barcelona: Editorial Graó.
John, E., Rice, T. and Twillie, C. “Circle of Life” Lyrics.
<http://www.lionking.org/lyrics/OMPS/CircleOfLife.html> (Accessed 1 June 2013).
51
Lake, R. 2003. “Enhancing Acquisition through Music”. Journal of the Imagination for
Language Learning (VII)
Lavigne, A. “Alice” <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI4m-l2yRZA> (Accessed 6
June 2013).
LyricsMania. “AvrilLavigne”.
<http://www.lyricsmania.com/alice_lyrics_avril_lavigne.html> (Accessed 6 June
2013).
LyricsMania. “JonBonJovi”. <http://www.lyricsmania.com/its-my-life-lyricsjon_bon_jovi.html> (Accessed 1 July 2013).
LyricsMania. “SelenaGomez”.
<http://www.lyricsmania.com/who_says_lyrics_selena_gomez.html> (Accessed 4
June 2013).
Mols, Hans. “Using Songs in the English Classroom”.
<http://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr09/less01.htm#C1> (Accessed 18 June 2013)
Moon, J. 2000. Children Learning English. Hong Kong: Macmillan Heinemen.
Murphey, T. 1992. Music and Song. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Numan, D. 1991. Language Teaching Methodology. A textbook for teachers.
Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International English Language Teaching.
Ormerod, M. 2007. Find Out 1. Oxford: Mcmillan.
Pocahontas, “Colors of the Wind” <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkV-of_eN2w>
Peck, A. 1988. Language Teachers at Work. A description of Methods. Hertfordshire:
Prentice Hall International English Language Teaching.
Richards, J. 1987. “Beyond methods: alternative approaches to instructional design in
language teaching”. Prospect, 3 (1): 11-30.
Richards J. C. and T. S. Rogers. 2001. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rost, M. 1991. Listening in action. Activities for developing listening in language
teaching. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International English Language Teaching.
Steel, E. “How to Use Songs to Promote Learning English”.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5218264_use-songs-promote-learning-english.html
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Tefltunes.com. 2010. “Why Use Songs In ELT?
<http://tefltunes.com/whyusesongs.aspx> (Accessed 20 June 2013).
Thomas, J. 1984. “Cross-cultural discourse as ‘unequal encounter’: towards a pragmatic
analysis”. Applied linguistics 5/3: 226-35.
Super Simple Learning “Bye Bye Goodbye”
<http://supersimplelearning.com/songs/original-series/three/bye-bye-goodbye/>
The Jungle Book. “I Wanna Be Like You”.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV2GZF8rKT4> (Accessed 1 June 2013).
The Lion King, “The Circle of Life”.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwSKkKrUzUk> (Accessed 1 June 2013).
The Little Mermaid, “Under the Sea”
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgA2xo0HYrE> (Accessed 1 June 2013).
WaltDisney. “A Whole New World”. Aladdin. <http://www.metrolyrics.com/a-wholenew-world-lyrics-aladdin.html> (Accessed 1 June 2013).
WaltDisney. “Colors of the Wind”. Pocahontas.
<http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/classicdisney/colorsofthewind.htm> (Accessed 1
June 2013).
WaltDisney. “I Wanna Be Like You”. The Jungle Book.
<http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/classicdisney/iwannabelikeyou.htm> (Accessed 1
June 2013).
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<http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/classicdisney/underthesea.htm> (Accessed 1 June
2013).
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APPENDIXES
APPENDIX 1
These are the flashcards that I will use as a visual help to sing and learn the
“Hello” song “It’s Time for English”:
Flashcard 1
(It’s time for English)
Flashcard 2
Clap your hands)
57
Flashcard 3
(Turn Around)
Flashcard 4
One, two, three)
58
Flashcard 5
Stop)
Flashcard 6
(Look)
59
Flashcard 7
(Listen to me)
60
APPENDIX 2
These are the flashcards that I will use as a visual help to sing and learn the
“Bye-bye” song “It’s Time to Say Good-bye”:
Flashcard 1
(Clap your hands)
Flashcard 2
Stomp your feet)
61
Flashcard 3
(It’s time
Flashcard 4
to say goodbye)
62
Flashcard 5
(Give a smile
Flashcard 6
and wink your eye)
63
Flashcard 7
(Yee haw!)
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APPENDIX 3
In this appendix four examples of “Hello” songs can be found. Apart from the
lyrics of each song, I have also included, in parenthesis and italics, the different gestures
that may be carried out with the pupils in class as part of the learning process.
“I Like You”
(Tune: “Skip to My Lou”)
I like you, there’s no doubt about it. (Point to self and then to a friend.)
I like you, there’s no doubt about it.
I like you, there’s no doubt about it.
You are my good friend.
You like me, there’s no doubt about it. (Point to a friend and then to self.)
You like me, there’s no doubt about it.
You like me, there’s no doubt about it.
You are my good friend.
“Hello, Neighbor!”
(Tune: “Good Night, Ladies”)
Hello, neighbor. (Wave to partner.)
What do you say? (Give high five.)
It’s going to be a (Slap thighs, clap hands)
Happy day. (Slap hands in the air with partner’s hands.)
Greet your neighbor. (Shake hands.)
Boogie on down. (Wiggle hips.)
Give a bump, (Bump hips.)
And turn around. (Wave hands in the air and turn around.)
“Shake a Hand”
Everybody shake a hand, (Walk around the room and shake hands.)
shake a hand, shake a hand.
Everybody shake a hand
and walk around the room.
65
Everybody give high five, (Walk around the room giving high fives.)
give high five, give high five.
Everybody give high five
Everybody smile and wink, (Smile and wink at friends as you walk around.)
smile and wink, smile and wink.
Everybody smile and wink
Everybody give a hug, (Hug friends.)
give a hug, give a hug.
Everybody give a hug
then sit down in your seat.
66
“Rise and Shine”
Use this song to start your day in a positive way.
Rise and shine, (Bend down, then rise and put arms in air.)
And welcome to school today. (Clap to the beat.)
And welcome to school today. (Clap.)
And welcome to school today. (Clap.)
We’re so glad you’re here! (Shake hands.)
A little louder... (Sing loud.)
A little softer... (Sing soft.)
Whisper version...(Whisper words.)
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APPENDIX 4
In this appendix three examples of “Bye-bye” songs can be found. Apart from
the lyrics of each song, I have also included, in parenthesis and italics, the different
gestures that may be carried out with the pupils in class as part of the learning process.
The first song “May There Always Be Sunshine” is to be sung in sign language,
combining thus the direct method with Total Physical Response. The song is taken from
the album Keep on Singing and Dancing by Dr. Jean Feldman. In the album cover there
is a link to a powerpoint that may also be used in class some days.
“May There Always Be Sunshine”
(Tune: “Stuball Was a Racehorse”)
May there always be sunshine. (Hold up index finger and circle around.)
May there always be blue skies. (Hands over head.)
May there always be children. (Palms going down like stair steps.)
May there always be you. (Circle index finger then point to children.)
May there always be stories. (Index fingers and thumbs make circles.)
May there always be music. (Pretend to strum arm.)
May there always be teachers. (Pull knowledge from head.)
To care for you. (Make letter “k” with fingers.)
May there always be sunshine. (Make sunshine circle in the air and wiggle fingers.)
May there always be blue skies. (Hands over head.)
May you always feel special, (Stick up index finger like a candle.)
Because you are you! (Point to children.)
68
The second song “Back Pack Boogie” is especially useful when the English
class is the last class of the day. Children have more fun when they sing the song while
actually doing their backpacks and getting ready to go home.
“Back Pack Boogie”
Check September 2009 Activities for a downloadable book.
Get your back pack and clean out your desk
Throw all the trash away and take home your best.
Put your books and pencils away.
We’re finished with school for today.
Look on the floor, and what do you see?
Put all the scraps in the trash can, please.
Push in your chair and take a second or two
To see what else you should do.
Chorus:
Do the back pack boogie, it’s the dance that’s cool.
The back pack boogie when it’s time to leave school.
The back pack boogie, you know what to do.
The back pack boogie!
Get your back packs and lunchboxes, too.
Don’t forget if you have homework to do.
Clean up the room, make it tidy and bright.
I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?
Did you wear a coat or sweater today?
Get everything you brought together, O.K.?
It’s time to go, say good-bye to your friends.
The school day has come to an end.
The third song “Good-by Friends” is especially suitable when pupils are learning
animal names.
“Good-bye Friends!”
See you later, alligator!
After a while, crocodile!
69
In an hour, sunflower!
Maybe two, kangaroo!
Gotta go, buffalo!
Adios, hippos!
Chow, chow, brown cow!
See you soon, baboon!
Adieu, cockatoo!
Better swish, jellyfish.
Chop chop, lollipop.
Gotta run, skeleton!
Bye-bye, butterfly!
Better shake, rattlesnake.
Good-bye, my good friends!
70
APPENDIX 5
“Under the Sea”
Flashcard 1
Seaweed)
Flashcard 2
(Bubbles)
71
Flashcard 3
Harp)
Flashcard 4
Bass)
72
Flashcard 5
Brass)
Flashcard 6
(Tub)
73
APPENDIX 6
In this appendix, I present the different slides of the powerpoint that will be used
in the session dedicated to Africa.
74
75
76
77
APPENDIX 7
Listen to the song and fill in the gaps in the lyrics of the song “The Circle of Life” with
the appropriate preposition, article or expression.
_____ the day we arrive _____ the planet
And blinking, step _____ the sun
There's more _____ see _____ can ever be seen
More _____ do _____ can ever be done
There's far _____ much to take _____ here
More _____ find _____ can ever be found
But _____ sun rolling high
_____ the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small _____ the endless round
It's the Circle _____ Life
And it moves us _____
_____ despair and hope
_____ faith and love
Till we find _____ place
_____ the path unwinding
_____ the Circle
The Circle _____ Life
78
APPENDIX 8
Evaluation grid.
STUDENT’S NAME
LISTENING
SPEAKING
WRITING
READING
pronunciation
vocabulary
pronunciation
vocabulary
grammar
fluency
grammar
cohesion
79
APPENDIX 9
Complete the lyrics of the song “Alice” by Avril Levigne with the correct form of the
verb in brackets:
__________________ out, __________________ around (trip/spin)
I __________________ underground, I __________________ down (be/fell)
Yeah I __________________ down (fell)
I __________________ out where __________________ now? (freak/be)
Upside down and I can't __________________ it now (stop)
PRE-CHORUS
Can't __________________ me now (stop)
Oooh I, I __________________ by (get)
I, I __________________ (survive)
CHORUS
When the world __________________ down (crash)
When I __________________ and __________________ the ground (fall/hit)
I __________________ myself around (turn)
you __________________ to __________________ me (try/stop)
I, I __________________ (cry)
I __________________ myself in wonderland (find)
__________________ on my feet again (get back)
this real? __________________ this pretend? (be/be)
I __________________ a stand until the end (take)
PRE-CHORUS
I, __________________ by (get)
I, __________________ (survive)
CHORUS
80
you __________________ to __________________ me (try/stop)
I, I __________________ (cry)
I, __________________ by (get)
I, __________________ (survive)
you __________________ to __________________ me (try/stop)
I, I __________________ (cry)
I, __________________ by (get)
I, __________________ (survive)
81
WEBPAGES USED FOR THE IMAGES IN THE APPENDIXES
Active rain “Hoodie Hoo Day A Really Bizarre Holiday…”
<http://activerain.com/blogsview/2147160/hoodie-hoo-day-a-really-bizarre-holiday> (Accessed 3 July 2013).
Allproducts.com “Sheng Hsieh Tube Musical Instrument Works”.
<http://www.allproducts.com/musical/shenghsieh/> (Accessed 3 July).
ArtyStuff “African Inspiration” <http://artystuff.wikispaces.com/African+inspiration>
(Accessed 3 July).
Bird’s eye view “Sunday Mail column for Sunday 10 July 2011. the one about
emoticons…” <http://rebeccasparrow.com/2011/07/10/sunday-mail-column-forsunday-10-july-2011-the-one-about-emoticons/> (Accessed 3 July 2013).
BandH, “Recording Brass and Woodwinds at Home”
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/newsLetter/RecordingBrass.jsp> (3 July
2013).
CanStockPhoto “Vector-niño, mano, cerca, frente”
<http://www.canstockphoto.es/ni%C3%B1o-mano-cerca-frente-12322366.html>
Camino misionero. “Pregón: es la hora de la vida nueva”
<http://caminomisionero.blogspot.com.es/2011/04/pregon-es-la-hora-de-la-vidanueva.html> (Accessed 3 July 2013).
ESL-Kids.com “Action flashcards” <http://esl-kids.com/flashcards/actions.html>
Forbes. “China’s Housing Bubble Past, And Its Future”
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2011/11/08/chinas-housing-bubble-pastand-its-future/> (Accessed 3 July 2013).
Gowloop “Leaders Take the Time to Listen”
<http://www.govloop.com/profiles/blogs/leaders-take-the-time-to-listen> (Accessed
3 July 2013).
Hiren and Pankaj’s Homepage “Snail” <http://www.hiren.info/desktopwallpapers/animals-birds-pictures/snail-1f> (Accessed 3 July).
Limón, A“Política, política Mexicana y política a la mexicana”.
<http://aquimero.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/los-discursos-que-no-fueron.html>
82
Mapa político de África <http://www.zonu.com/fullsize/2009-09-17-42/Mapa-Politicode-Africa-1993.html> (Accessed 3 July).
MusikProduktiv, “Bass” <http://www.musik-produktiv.es/fender-american-standard2012-precision-bass-v-mn-blk.html> (Accessed 3 July).
Nunca dejes de sonreír. “Esto no puede seguir así…”
<http://haygentequenosnecesita.blogspot.com.es/2012_01_01_archive.html>
(Accessed 3 July).
Oracle’ThinkQuest “Harp” <http://library.thinkquest.org/J002478F/harp.htm>
Panorámica del Observador, “La verdadera Longitud de África” <http://www.p-do.com.ar/2010/12/la-verdadera-longitud-de-africa.html> (Accessed 3 July).
Shutterstock “Young boy reading an English book” <http://www.shutterstock.com/pic101855101/stock-photo-young-boy-reading-an-english-book-eps-vector-formatalso-available-in-my-portfolio.html> (Accessed 3 July 2013).
SodaHead “Clap your hands!!!” <http://www.sodahead.com/fun/clap-yourhands/question-965951/> (Accessed 3 July 2013).
StockphotoPro “Child hands showing one, two and three fingers”
<http://www.stockphotopro.com/photo_of/showing/B4C1NW/Child_hands_showin
g_one> (Accessed 3 July 2013).
Webster, B.“Liquid Seaweed” <http://gardening.ktsa.com/Liquid-Seaweed/8053208>
Wikimedia Commons “File: Dive hand signal Turn Around.png”
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dive_hand_signal_Turn_Around.png>
Wikipedia “Smiley” <http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley> (Accessed 3 July 2013).
123RF “Señal 3D de humano stop de rojo blanco símbolo de advertencia”
<http://es.123rf.com/photo_8659051_senal-3d-de-humano-stop-de-rojo-blancosimbolo-de-advertencia.html> (Accessed 3 July 2013).
83

“Take It Easy”: Use Songs to Teach English as a Second Language

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