NAME / CONTACT NO GROUP IC / MATRIKS NO

NURHAFIZAH BINTI AJLAN0197166070

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BIP 3023 – MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT FOR THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT

ASSIGNMENT 1 AND 2

JOURNAL/ ARTICLE REVIE

LESSON PLANS OF A MATERIAL ( USING SONGS IN TEACHING LANGUAGE )

LECTURER

DR INTAN SAFINAS BINTI MOHD ARIFF ALBAKRI

ARTICLE 1

LESSON OUTLINES

Year 11; Issue 2; April 2009, ISSN 1755-9715

Using Songs in the English Classroom

Hans Mol, Australia

Hans Mol is a writer, trainer and teacher working from Australia. He is published worldwide for young learners, teens and adults. His next book (Grammar for Young Learners) is published by OUP in 2009. He is co-director of www.supasongs.com and fracasenglish.com. E-mail: hans@fracasenglish.com, connexxions@bigpond.com

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Songs in the classroom: a useful toolTypes of songsWhich learners like songs?Why are songs so suitable?

What can you do with songs in the classroom?Practical tips and tasks for using songsReferences

Songs in the classroom: a useful tool

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. But how do songs actually benefit your students? In the first part of this article we look at the theoretical background to these questions; in the second half we look at what we can do with songs in the classroom.

There is strong practical evidence supporting the use of music in the English language classroom; there is also a growing body of research confirming that songs are a useful tool in language acquisition. In fact musical and language processing occur in the same area of the brain. (Medina, 1993)

Types of songs

There are many types of songs which can be used in the classroom, ranging from nursery rhymes to contemporary pop music. There is also a lot of music written specifically for English language teaching. A criticism of the latter is that they often lack originality and musical appeal but there are good examples to be found of stimulating, modern, ‘cool’ music, appealing to the real tastes of language learners. ‘Real’ music that the children hear and play every day can be extremely motivating in the classroom, too. However, the lyrics may not always be suitable: they may, for instance, contain slang or offensive words, there may be grammatical mistakes and they may only marginally teach the language points you want to focus on.

Which learners like songs?

Howard Gardner once said: “It’s not how intelligent you are, but how you are intelligent.” No two students learn in exactly the same way. In any classroom there will be a mix of learning styles, and one student may ‘use’ more than one style, depending on what the task or topic is. To appeal to these differences is a huge teaching challenge. Gardner distinguished eight styles of learning, and students in his ‘aural/musical’ category will have a lot of benefit from learning through songs. They are strong in singing, picking up sounds, remembering melodies and rhythms; they like to sing, hum, play instruments and listen to music.

This is not to say that learners with other learning styles cannot benefit from

songs. Of course they can, because in the activities we develop with songs we can dance and act (physical learning style), read, draw and do puzzles (spatial intelligence) tell stories, and write (verbal learning styles).

Why are songs so suitable?

We can’t generalise, but research has found that pop songs have characteristics that help learning a second language: they often contain common, short words; they are written at about 5th grade level (US); the language is conversational, time and place are usually imprecise; the lyrics are often sung at a slower rate than spoken words and there is repetition of words and grammar. (Murhpy, 1992). Furthermore, songs are also known to lower the “affective filter” or, in other words, to motivate learners to learn. So, what positive contributions to language learning can songs make?

Socio-emotional growth

You’ll often find learners of any age singing together socially – when they are visiting friends, at a party or in karaoke bars. Teenagers and young adults seem to know an endless number of songs by heart and share them continuously through the Internet and portable music players. Even though it’s not always easy to copy this spontaneous love of music in the classroom, singing songs in and with a class is a social act which allows learners to participate in a group and express their feelings, no matter what their English is like.

Physical development

Songs provide a great opportunity for young learners to move around. Clapping, dancing and playing instruments stimulate memory, which makes it possible for learners to hear chunks of language as they sing and use them in different situations later. Older learners can also benefit from clapping, dancing, rocking, tapping, and snapping their fingers to music and songs.

Cognitive training

We all know the phenomenon of the song-that-is-stuck-in-my-head. With the right kind of song it is easy to simulate that in the classroom. Interacting with

songs again and again is as important to language learners as repeatedly practicing a tennis technique is for a tennis player. The skill which develops from this is called ‘automaticity’. Learners get to know what to say and to produce language rapidly without pausing.

Cultural literacy

Now that most music is accessible to almost anyone anywhere, either through radio, CDs, DVDs and downloads from the Internet, learners can enjoy songs from all corners of the globe. Songs used in English classes can, in that way, shed light on interesting musical traditions in countries, but can also teach teens, young adults and adults to appreciate other cultures. For adult learners they can be “a rich mine of information about human relations, ethics, customs, history, humor, and regional and cultural differences’ (Lems, 2001).

Language learning

In a world where non-native speakers of English are likely to produce the majority of songs in English, learners have the opportunity to listen to pronunciation in a wide range of varieties of the language. Songs will help learners become familiar with word stress and intonation, and the rhythm with which words are spoken or sung also helps memorization. Again, this will enable learners to remember chunks of language which they can then use in conversations or in writing. As language teachers, we can use songs to practice listening, speaking, reading and writing.

What can you do with songs in the classroom?

The sky is the limit! There are a few things to keep in mind: simple, repetitive songs often contain a recurrent grammatical pattern which is useful to teach (especially with younger children). More difficult songs often contain interesting vocabulary and idioms. Also there is often a message, a theme, or a story underlying a song which students can discuss, explain, debate, and write about at almost any level.

Practical tips and tasks for using songs

Focus it

Start with a focusing activity: anything that will get students thinking about the subject of the song. Have them think about the title of the song, in groups of pairs. Find a picture that relates to the subject of the song and have students make guesses about it.

Highlight it

Put a selection of important words from the song on your board. Have students ask each other what the words mean. Then, have students in groups write or tell a quick story that uses the words. You can also get students to circle, underline or highlight specific words or word categories.

Stop it

Again, write a selection of words on the board. Students must shout STOP any time they hear one of the new words. You could also stop the song before a word you want them to guess.

Lip sync it

Have students lip sync the song before a team of judges in a Class Idol show. This allows them to become familiar with the words, rhythm, stress and intonation before actually singing the words out loud.

Strip it

Cut the song into strips. Give each student one strip to memorize. Students put the strips in their pockets. They get up and tell each other their part of the song, without looking at their part or showing their part to anyone else. Students then organize themselves in the right order, speak the song and then listen and check. You can also have students put the strips on a table in order.

Question it

Have students ask each other questions about the song (about the words, about the topics or about characters in the song). For more advanced students you could choose two songs of a similar theme, and split the class into two teams. Have each group listen to their song and draw up a list of (open or True/False) questions. Pair each student with a member of the opposite team and have them take turns asking their questions.

Gap it

You can prepare a gapped version of the lyrics and let students complete them before listening and then check afterwards.

Write it

Have students write a letter to the main character or the singer, send an

answer to a person referred to in the song, rewrite the song as a story, write a story which began before the story in the song and led to it, or write a story which will continue after the song.

Change it

Change words (adjectives, adverbs, nouns -names, places or feelings), and invent new lyrics for the melody. If you have karaoke versions of the songs you can then let students sing their own versions.

Draw it

Get students to draw or collage the song and compare the visualisations in class.

The possibilities are endless. Music and songs are fun, and most people enjoy them. Make songs a regular feature in your lessons!

References

Lems, Kirsten, Using Music in the Adult ESL Classroom, ERIC Digest, 2001.

Medina, Suzanne L, The Effect of Music on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition, ‘National Network for Early Language Learning’, Vol 6-3, 1993.

Murphy, T (1992), The discourse op pop songs, TESOL Quarterly 26”(4), 770-774.

Please check the Methodology and Language for Primary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.Please check the Methodology and Language for Secondary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.Please check the Teaching through Music and Visual Art course at Pilgrims website.

 

 

SUMMARY OF ARTICLE 1

This article is telling us about the usage of songs in teaching English Language

and the grammar as well in order to get the children to learn English better. Based on

the article, there are a lot of benefits of using songs in teaching grammar ( part of

language ). One of the benefit is to let the children feel enjoyable to learn grammar

because children are commonly like to listen to the songs . In addition, most of the

teachers use songs at two stages of learning, there are during the introduction and the

ending of the lesson too. Furthermore, songs can motivate the children by attracting

their interest towards learning grammar as well as the language too. According to the

article, most of the people recently like to listen to contemporary pop music which is it is

a new phenomenon in education especially in English Language Learning. The pop

songs have certain short words which are conversational, time and place are imprecise.

This is happens because we have different types of learners which involving the mix

abilities people such as the beginner, medium and fast learners. This kind of varieties

would be one of the factor why the usage of songs is good in learning grammar. A lot of

reasons why do we use songs to teach grammar. Firstly, the lyrics are sung with its

slower rate then the spoken words. This is telling that this material is considering the

beginner learners too in order to master the grammar items. Unforgotten, the repetition

of the words make them familiar with the language as well as the grammar items too.

Regardless the songs are suitable to be used especially when the children or people

visiting their friends at some special occasions such as parties and karaoke. The

teenagers and the young adults also usually share the songs continuously through the

Internet and any portable music players. Basically, the use of songs allow the students

to move around because it needs them to do some actions such as clapping, dancing,

playing instruments and so on and it also attract the older to do the same things. So,

songs need a bit physical movements to enjoy the songs and the content of the

grammar items included in the songs. And at the same time, to make the songs are

meaningful and related to the grammar items. There are so many activities can be used

in teaching grammar. For instance, step 1, by asking some questions for brainstorming

the ideas about the songs heard. Another activity is by drawing pictures to visualize the

content or man points of the songs, stripping the sentences of the lyrics to have the

sequencing activity and gapping activity which is allowing the pupils to fill in the blanks

with the correct words highlighted from the lyrics of the songs.

ARTICLE 2

Chinese Culture University

This workshop demonstrated how to use movie songs to make grammar teaching more

appealing to the learners and more effective in language acquisition. Despite

widespread adoption in EFL classes, songs have rarely been used with specific

reference to the acquisition of grammar. Based on the presenters’ experience of using

songs in EFL classes, this workshop showed how to teach both word and sentence

grammar in a number of ways. Techniques demonstrated included blank filling, multiple

choice, matching, dialogue, and sentence making. Numerous movie songs in DVD

format were gleaned to meet the illustrative purposes of this workshop. Rationale and

guidelines with respect to using these various ways of using songs to teach grammar

were also provided for best teaching and learning effect.

Introduction: A Personal Testimony

Inspired by the encouraging suggestions of their students, the presenters of this

workshop began to use songs in their English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes

fourteen years ago at Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan. Since then, their use

of songs in the classroom has undergone three stages of development and maturation.

The first stage was the one in which

they adopted music straightforwardly and was with only a general purpose in mind. That

is, songs were employed mostly for relaxation, for fun, and for hearing something

different from the teacher’s lecturing.

As years went by, the presenters, sensing that the direct use of songs seemed

insufficient for apparent instructional effects, started seeking more meaningful ways of

using songs in the EFL classroom, although they were still deemed as supplementary or

subordinate to the textbook. At this stage, the adoption of songs for instruction was

made mainly out of the presenters’ own creation or imagination. One of the most

frequently designed activities was blank filling, in which the students are asked to listen

to the songs and fill out the missing words. The purposes attached to the song activities

were quite limited, mainly for pronunciation or listening drills.

Over the past five years, the presenters commenced looking for reinforcement from

the professionals, which sent them into the third stage of using music in the EFL

classroom. For example, in May 2001, in Taipei they attended a workshop held by the

world-renowned Carolyn Graham on using songs in the EFL classroom. In addition,

they read widely those journal articles and books on teaching English through music.

The use of songs now became more professional, focused on one specific segment or

aspect of language learning for each song. Moreover, special emphasis was placed on

not only enhancement of student motivation but also relevancy of songs to the course

objectives.

What we have known and done about adoption of songs for language acquisition is

quite meager, and more possibilities and effective ways are still to be unveiled. This

workshop aimed to introduce DVD technology and different sources of songs, and to

demonstrate how to design various types of activities for using songs to teach grammar.

Literature on Using Songs to Teach Grammar

Like ice and fire, both grammar and songs are divergent in nature: One is full of

regularities and even ice-cold boredom, while the other is full of fire-like emotions and

inspirational melodies that enchant one. Nevertheless, the marrying of these two

radically different elements into the family of language instruction has been proved

successful. One of the examples is Learning English by Singing in which Professor Shih

(1997) of Taiwan collected 101 songs with commentaries and general instructional

guidelines. This book was targeted at the children or EFL beginners, although not

specifically referring to grammar instruction. Another book Singing, Chanting, Telling

Tales by Carolyn Graham (1992) also examined the use of songs to teach functions and

structures. Moreover, in her Using Authentic video in English Language Teaching: Tips

for Taiwan’s Teachers, Professor Katchen (1996) of National Tsing-hwa

TSAI & LIN:

USING MUSIC TO TEACH GRAMMAR

University in northern Taiwan examined music videos. She devoted one chapter to

discussing the use of music videos for instruction in general, although grammar was

only peripherally mentioned (99). Professor Fox (1995), in his “On Common Ground:

Why and How to Use Music as a Teaching Aid,” pointed out the close tie between music

and language acquisition from the perspective of therapy and religion. He also

discussed how three EFL textbooks use songs to teach grammar (100). Celce-Murcia

and Hilles (1988) went a step further to deepen the relationship of grammar and songs,

providing useful selection guidelines, teaching procedure and examples. Perhaps

nowhere has the bond between songs and grammar been more tightly bridged than

Cranmer and Laroy (1993) who devoted one chapter to exploration of using music to

teach grammar in their Musical Openings: Using Music in the Language Classroom.

Eight types of using songs to teach grammar are enumerated with preparation,

procedure, and suggestions very usefully and clearly made.

DVD Technology

The movie songs in the DVD format have the following four fundamental functions:

The Subtitles Function

This allows the user to select any of the subtitles already available on a given disc.

Press the “Subtitles” button and use the guide arrow to choose the desired subtitle

option. Not every music dick, however, is installed with the subtitle function.

The Language Function

This allows for a selection of the output language type. Unfortunately, it can only

produce the language as labeled on the cover page of the disc. There are always

limitations according to each product sold. In English Karaoke, there are two choices,

one with only English subtitles and rhyme, the other with English subtitles and sound.

The Advance Function

The Use of this function enables the user to skip to individual scenes or chapters on the

disc. Most DVDs include a scene index, providing easy location of the required

scene/chapter. The button labeled “Go To” or “Forward” typically provides the advance

function. This function may also prove useful for various student-centered activities,

such as asking learners to forward the chapter to a favorite song that they would like to

learn.

Chapter Repeating Function

If the teacher intends to show a song many times with or without visual support, this

function does help. When the song is being played for the first time, press this button,

and it will be repeated as many times as needed.

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USING MUSIC TO TEACH GRAMMAR

This very powerful function enables the teacher to continuously repeat a single scene.

Different Sources of Songs

Songs are available from two main sources:

1. the audio channel, such as cassette tapes, CDs and DVDs

2. both audio and video channels, such as the musical DVDs and DVD films

Theme Songs in the Special/Extra Features

Most DVDs provide the function of extra/special features, such as theme songs,

costumes galleries, behind the screens, posters, actors’ background information, and

commentaries. In the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” for instance, inserted in

DVD format is the theme song titled “A Love Before Time” sung by Co Co Lee in MTV

style.

Live Concert in DVD Format

Most songs are presented by the original singers, for instance, “Charlotte Church: Voice

of an Angel, Pavarotti” and “The Corrs.” The students enjoy learning songs from the live

concerts as they can witness the singers on the screen. As the live concert DVD

musicals usually do not provide English subtitles or written scripts, the teacher can

assign students to do the lyrics of their favorite songs. It is recommended that the song

be played three times, first with sound and image, next with sound only, and the third

time with both or either.

English Karaoke

Songs in this type of DVD musical, sung by the original singers only in audio channel,

are presented with background images either with sounds and subtitles or only with

English subtitles, word by word, for the viewer to sing. Much cheaper than the live

concert DVDs, the Karaoke DVD discs provide a wider variety and combination of

songs, such as pop songs, movie them songs, and old love songs. Besides, they

provide English subtitles which students can take advantage of for singing and learning

English.

Theme Songs in the Film

Most feature films present songs with the plot going on, so that the viewer can

understand the background information of the song. However, this type of song usually

is not shown in its entirety, so audiotapes or CDs are needed to play the complete song.

It is recommended that this type of songs be played first with sound and image and the

second or third times only with the sound through audio channel.

The four movie songs selected for this workshop are: “A Love Before Time” (“Crouching

Tiger, Hidden Dragon”); “Green, Green Grass of Home”; “How Do I Live” (“Con Air”);

and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (“Greasy”).

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USING MUSIC TO TEACH GRAMMAR

Four Steps of Using Music to Teach Grammar

1. Pre-use or getting into media stage: Teacher selects grammatical points and song

lyrics and design appropriate tasks or exercises.

2. Input or working from media stage: Teacher presents/elicits designated

grammatical points.

3. Focus or working with media stage: Teacher plays the song and students are

asked to do the exercise while listening to the tapes.

4. Transfer or working out of media stage: Teacher checks the answers and makes

necessary explanation. Class discussion follows. Students are encouraged to ask

questions and asked to do follow-up assignment by using what the media has just

presented. (Adapted from Donna M. Brinton, 459)

Activity Design

Five types of activities based on the lyrics are introduced here: blank-filling, multiple-

choice, matching, dialogues, and sentence making. The former three types are

mechanic drills aimed at the conceptual instill and habituation of the targeted grammar,

while the other two are communicative types of drills aimed at enhancing students’

active and natural use of the language learned from the lyrics.

Blank-filling

Most widely used by the EFL teachers, the blank-filling exercise is especially suitable for

recognizing the eight parts of speech. Each may be focused on practice of one or more

grammatical points. Usually each blank has only one word to be filled, and the word

may be guessed through both context and grammatical relationship. The blank may be

followed by a cue in the parentheses. For example:

Fill in the blank with the appropriate verb form:

If the sky _________(open) up for me, and the mountains __________

(disappear),

If the seas _________(run) dry, __________(turn) to dust and the sun

__________(refuse) to rise,

I would still find my way, by the light I see in your eyes.

The world I know _______(fade) away, but you stay. (“A Love Before Time”)

Multiple-choice

The multiple choice activity, which seems easier than blank-filling to design and to do,

may be devised with two or more choices, and may be done before, during or after

listening to the music. For example:

TSAI & LIN: USING MUSIC TO TEACH GRAMMAR How do I get through one

night without you

If I (have, had) to live without you

What kind of life (will, would) that be

Oh and I, I need you in my arms

Need you to hold

You’re my world, my heart, my soul

If you ever (leave, left)

Baby you would take away everything good in my life. (“How Do I Live”)

Matching

Another mechanical but frequently used exercise; the matching exercise usually

consists of a list of words that have to go with the blanks in the selected lyric. The

following example is a drill on recognizing the three types of clauses.

Match each underlined clause with one of the three types of clauses listed in the

front:

A. Noun Clause

B. Adjective Clause

C. Adverbial Clause

They asked me how I know ( )

My true love was true.

Oh, I of course replied

Something here inside

Cannot be denied.

They said someday you’ll find

All who love ( ) are blind.

Oh, when your heart’s on fire ( )

You must realize

Smoke gets in your eyes ( ). (“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”)

Dialogues

Students are asked to produce dialogues based on the grammatical elements of the

song heard. They have to gain a considerable understanding of the grammatical

components of the song before making meaningful dialogues. For example, the

dialogue assignment of the song “A Love Before Time” may be: Write eight to ten

sentences of dialogues between two lovers who would most likely be talking to each

other as revealed in the song. There is much room for students to exercise their

imagination and for the teacher to expect various dialogues.

TSAI & LIN:

USING MUSIC TO TEACH GRAMMAR

Sentence-making

Aimed at putting students’ sense of sentence into practice, this exercise may be

designed by imitating some of the grammatical elements or structures of the sentences

in the song. The song serves as a point of departure for making similar or better

sentences. The sentence structures of the lyrics must be well grasped before they can

be used for sentence making by the students. Take “Green, Green Grass of Home.”

There is one sentence “Down the road I look, and there runs Mary/Hair of gold and lips

like cherries,” which includes several grammatical elements that worth being drilled,

such as the reverse sentence structure (“down the road I look” and “there runs Mary”),

the compound sentence, the adjective phrase (“of gold”) and simile (“like cherries”).

Students may be asked to make similar sentences by imitating one or more or all of the

grammatical components of the above sentence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both presenters would like to claim, first, that an EFL teacher does not

have to be a good singer or musician to use songs in the classroom. Next, we

recommend that we make every song pedagogically meaningful and purposeful. Third,

it is very important to grasp the fundamental qualities and special traits of songs before

we can make the best of them to meet our demands. Finally, in selection and use of

songs, we must take into account such factors as student backgrounds and relevancy to

the course syllabus, and linguistic skills to be trained. It is only when these aspects are

aptly weighed can we enhance student learning motivation, and bring English learning

by songs from a relaxing and lively process to a fruitful effect.

TSAI & LIN: USING MUSIC TO TEACH GRAMMAR

References

Celce-Murcia, M. & Hilles, S. (1988). Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar.

New York, N. Y.: Oxford University Press.

Cranmer, D. & Laroy, C. (1992). Musical Openings: Using Music in the Language

Classroom. Essex, England: Longman.

Brinton, D. M. (1991). The use of media in language teaching. In Celce-Murcia, M. Ed.,

Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. pp 454-472.

Fox, T. R. (1995). On common ground: Why and how to use music as a teaching aid.

The Hwa Kang Journal of TEFL. No. 1, May 1995, 77-116.

Graham, C. (1992). Singing, Chanting, Telling Tales: Arts in the Language Classroom.

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Katchen, J. E. (1996). Using Authentic Video in English Language Teaching: Tips for

Taiwan’s Teachers. Taipei: The Crane Publishing Co., Ltd., 92-102.

Shih, Y. (1997). Learning English by Singing. Taipei: Crane Publishing Ltd.

SUMMARY OF ARTICLE 2

This article is telling about some ways of teaching grammar which is a part of

language. Most of the ways are related to the people’s interest which are more attracted

to listening to the music. There are varieties of activities can be designed to use songs

such as multiple choices which is good to be done. For example, the pupils are asked to

choose one of the two provided answers that related to the grammar part ( has and

have ). After listen to the song twice, the pupils need to circle the correct choice which is

directly extracted from the lyrics of the song heard. After all, multiple choices activity is

easier than filling in the gap or blanks activity because filling in the gap needs them to

memorize all the words from the lyrics and this is the weakness of it. Despite of having

those kind of activities, songs can be used in matching activity by matching the

underlined words to the choices given. ( Choice A- Adverb. Choice B- Adjectives and

Choice C – Nouns ). Other than that, we can create a dialogues based on the songs

heard or sung. For example, the song of A Love Before Time.. The students are allowed

to think and create eight dialogues which are related to a couple who is in love each

other. Here, we will be getting varieties of answers or lists of dialogues pertaining to the

song heard. Next is the sentence making activity which need the pupils or students to

use some of the words from the lyrics heard to create some new sentences for example

by using the similes seen from the lyrics of the songs. Those kind of activities as stated

above would encourage them to enjoy the songs in term of educational element plus

enjoying the feel and the tune of the songs too. The article also has shown that a

workshop has been done related to the use of songs in teaching grammar. There are so

many types of songs can be used such as video movie songs, DVD Technology Songs,

Live Concert, Karaoke and Theme Songs of Movies. Anyway, based on some

testimonial used, it is said that the use of direct song is insufficient anymore.The use of

songs now became more professional, focused on one specific segment or aspect of

language learning for each song. Moreover, special emphasis was placed on not only

enhancement of student motivation but also relevancy of songs to the course

objectives. In conclusion, there are so many advantages of using songs in teaching

grammar but it all depend on how the process takes place and use the best steps in

order to get a sufficient grammar lesson through the songs heard.

ARTICLE 3

Songs can be a useful tool when teaching ESL because they give

students the opportunity to listen to someone other than you, their

teacher.

Often students become familiar with how one person sounds and

may have difficulties understanding others. Songs can be a

challenge for students because they are often faster than an

instructor’s speech however they can also be enjoyable and serve

to reinforce certain aspects of English.

How To Proceed

1Grammar 

Often songs can be used to practice

particular grammar points. Some textbooks spend

enormous amounts of time on particular topics and creating

new activities may become challenging so songs are

something you can turn to. You can find song

worksheets and suggestions for certain English grammar

points right here, on BusyTeacher.org. Using songs in ESL

classes has become quite common. For instance, when

teaching the present perfect tense (here’s a great article

on teaching it!), songs such as “I Still Haven’t Found What

I’m Looking For” by U2 and “We Are the Champions” by

Queen may be appropriate. Students are unlikely to grasp

the entire meaning of the song but giving a brief summary or

including the translation would be beneficial. When using

songs, it is common to have a worksheet where students

must fill in certain words. For this present perfect lesson, you

can remove the present perfect verbs altogether and have

students try to fill in the blanks with the appropriate words. If

this is too challenging, including the present tense of each

verb will assist students immensely.

2Mad Libs

Mad Libs are a great way to practice parts of speech. You

can really use any passage to make a Mad Libs activity but it

can be fun to use songs too. For example, you can use

“Frosty the Snowman” to make your worksheet. Simply take

the song and delete particular words leaving blanks for your

students, this will be the second worksheet they receive.

Then make up a list with parts of speech that correspond to

the blanks. If the first blank is “Frosty the ________man”

then the first word in the list would have to be a noun. To

conduct this activity, give students the list with parts of

speech and have them work individually, in pairs, or in

groups to complete it. When they have finished, give them

the second sheet and have them fill in the blanks with their

words. Usually the result is very funny. Seeing as you used

a song to create this activity, you can finish the class by

listening to the song and having students write down the

missing lyrics.

3Holidays 

Using songs in your holiday lessons can be fun too! Songs

such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer can be easily

explained even to beginner and lower intermediate students.

There may not be a particular point to using the song in your

class besides to conduct a listening activity using a popular

holiday song, but sometimes that is sufficient and your

students are sure to enjoy it. If your students are willing, it

may be appropriate to practice singing the song too. Some

classes will enjoy such an activity and some certainly will not

so it is important to gauge how your students will respond.

4Discussion

Certain songs can be used to lead into discussions. This

type of activity would be appropriate for more advanced

learners. You can use a song such as “Another Day in

Paradise” by Phil Collins for this purpose. Initially, have

students listen to the song and complete a fill in the blank

exercise. Listening to the song several times would be

appropriate but once the answers have been checked, have

students read the lyrics trying to understand the meaning of

the song. You can ask general questions to test

comprehension. If you are not exactly sure what kinds of

questions will be appropriate, you can start off with very

simple ones such as “Is this a happy song?” and when

students say “No” ask them why not? This can lead into a

discussion about people’s indifference, homeless people, or

something similar.

When choosing songs, please be aware of their speed.

The song “Last Christmas”, for example, can be useful however if

you choose a version which is much too fast, students will not be

able to follow along. This song, by WHAM, is a good speed for

ESL learners. Organizing your worksheets so that the verses are

clearly laid out will also help students because even if they get

lost during one verse, they can be prepared when the next one

begins. Songs should generally be played at least twicebefore

checking the answers and then once again after the correct

answers have been given so that students can listen carefully to

parts they missed.

Songs are just another way to add some variety to your lessons

and expose students to a different culture’s music.

SUMMARY OF ARTICLE 3

Article 3 is telling about steps of using songs in the classroom especially in

teaching grammar in English Language. It is said that songs are useful tools because

they give the opportunities for the students to listen to someone other than the teacher.

In fact, students are more familiar with the sounds rather than listening to the same

speech in their daily lesson. But, listening to the songs are a bit challenging because it

is faster than a human’s speech however , they also can be enjoyable to enhance their

language. Generally, to proceed the use of songs as our material in teaching language,

a few steps need to be done or considered such as the grammar part of the songs. For

example, the use of textbooks are enormous amount of time but not the songs. This is

because, songs are something that can be turn to some enjoyable or fun elements. For

example, when the teacher is teaching Present Perfect Tense, songs such as I Still

Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2 and We Are The Champions by Queen

could be appropriate or suitable to be used in the classroom. In fact, the students are

unlikely to get the meaning of the entire of the songs but they are able to give some

brief summary of the songs heard or sung and relate them to the content of the lesson

on that particular time for example in learning Present Perfect Tense. The next step is

using Mad Libs which is really practical and useful because it is one of the great way to

practice parts of speech. Some words can be deleted and the students are required to

fill in the blanks with the suitable or correct words pertaining to the songs. But, the most

important thing is, the teacher should focus on certain topic or item that the teacher

wants to stress on. For example, if the teacher is focusing on Nouns, so the teacher

needs to delete the noun words and leave them blanks. So that, it is easier for the

students to guess the answer by refreshing the words which are under the nouns

categories. Next step is by singing out the song. It is very suitable for the beginner and

the intermediate students in order to gauge their respond and interest toward learning

grammar. This is easier to be done because the students feel enjoyable and interested

to sing the song too and at the same time, they are gaining something and practicing

the grammar items found from the lyrics of the songs. The last step is discussion on the

content of the songs which leads them to talk about the content of the songs that the

writer wants to say. This kind of session will test their comprehension skill whether they

are having a meaningful listening and understanding the songs too. In conclusion, the

three articles are mostly showing the advantages of using songs in teaching language

as well as grammar to the students in schools. I do agree with their points because I

have implemented this material in my language class. As a result, majority of the

classes are enjoyed in using songs in the lessons and have improved in their reading,

listening and speaking, and reading skills.

I have gone through the experience of using songs in teaching grammar in my Year 3

class at SK Haji Mat Dahan, Pendang. There are 14 pupils in the class and I really

surprised that they really enjoyed and have changed in their attitude toward English.

This is because, to them, English is a critical and a dull subject. Previously, it was very

difficult to get their response or answers in English Language. But, is has changed after

I have tried this material ( using songs ) in my lessons especially in teaching grammar

item to the pupils. It is not an easy task since they are average learners which come

from mix abilities level too. When teaching the singular and plural nouns, I have used a

song of Five Little Ducks in my classroom. At the moment, they were not so attracted

toward the topic of that day. But, after listened to the song of Five Little Ducks, they

started to enjoy to imitate the sounds of ducks and finally they were able to repeat after

the song correctly. To me, that is the best chance to me to use the song to get their

participation and their response toward the learning content ( Singular and Plural Nouns

). And, finally, they were enjoyed the lesson and as the result, they are able to different

between singular and plural by creating some simple sentences ( written and orally )

which are showing the singular and plural words or nouns. What a big surprise to me,

now, they are able to correct their pronunciation toward the use of plural nouns by not

forgetting to say the plural nouns with the sound of /s/ at the end of the words. ( e.g :

Five little ducks went out one day…Over the hill and far away..Mother duck said..quack

quack quack..But only four little ducks came back. )

REFERENCES

Retrieved on 7th May 2013 at http://busyteacher.org/3855-how-to-teach-using-

songs.html

Retrieved on 7th May 2013 at :http://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr09/less01.htm

ASSIGNMENT 2

PORTFOLIO

A) LESSON PLAN OF ENGLISH KSSR YEAR 3 ( 1st )

CLASS / TIME Year 3 / 8.15 am – 9.15 am

Focus Listening and Speaking and Reading

Topic Pet’s World

Content Standard 1.1 By the end of the 6 year primary schooling,

pupils will be able to pronounce words and speak

confidently with the correct stress, rhythm and

intonation.

2.2 By the end of the 6 year primary schooling,

pupils will be able to demonstrate understanding of

a variety of linear and non linear texts in the form of

print and non print materials using a range of

strategies to construct meaning.

( lyrics )

Learning Standard 1.1.3 Able to listen to, say aloud and recite rhymes,

tongue twisters and sing songs, paying attention to

pronunciation, rhythm and intonation.

2.2.2 Able to read and understand phrases and

sentences in linear and non linear texts.

Learning outcomes To be able to :

i- listen to the song of Five Little Ducks carefully.

ii- read the sentences ( lyrics ) of the song with the

correct pronunciation, intonation and stress.

Teaching aids Props ( hill ), Puppets of ducklings ( made of

polysterin ), Masks of flowers and Mother Duck.

Reflection / Impact All the Year 3 pupils were able to:

a) listen to the song carefully.

b) sing the song and pronounce the words correctly

and accurately.

ACTIVITIES STRATEGIES NOTES

Set Induction ( 5 min )

( sounds of ducks

quacking )

Stage 1 ( 20 min )

- Listen to the sounds of the

quacking.

- Pupils try to guess the

animals with the sounds

heard.

- Talk about the physical of a

duck.

- Listen to the full version of

the song.

Some of them imitate the

sounds….( quack

quack….)

Stage 2 ( 5 min )

Stage 3 ( 25 min )

- Repeat after the song.

- Read the lyrics of the song

with the correct stress,

pronunciation and intonation.

- Take turn in reading the

lyrics ( group reading )

- Pupils sit in a group of 3 to 4

- Discuss on how to sing the

song correctly.

- Pupils perform their singing

in front of the class ( in groups

)

- They have to take turn to

perform their singing.

- While the first group sing out

the song in front of the class,

the rest of the groups will

listen to their singing carefully.

- Then, give some comments

or compliments toward their

singing. ( stressing on their

pronunciation, intonation,

rhythm ).

- Repeat the same steps from

Title : Five Little Ducks

Group discussion

Perform their singing

Commenting /

Complimenting

CLOSURE ( 5 min )

the first group to the last group

( performing/singing and

commenting/complimenting )

- All the groups combine in

one group ( in front of the

class )

- Sing out the song joyfully.

Lesson Plan ( 2nd )

CLASS / TIME Year 3 / 8.15 am – 9.15 am

Focus Language Art and Grammar

Topic Pet’s World

Content Standard 4.3 By the end of the 6 year primary schooling,

pupils will be able to plan, organize and produce

creative works for enjoyment.

5.1 By the end of the 6 year primary schooling,

pupils will be able to use different word classes

correctly and appropriately.

Learning Standard 4.3.1 Able to produce simple creative works with

guidance based on :

( c ) action songs

5.1.1 Able to use nouns correctly and appropriately :

( c ) singular nouns

( d ) plural nouns

Learning outcomes To be able to :

i- produce and perform an action song of Five Little

Ducks in front of the class ( the whole class of Year

3 )

ii- use the singular and plural nouns correctly and

appropriately using the action song has been

created and performed in front of the class.

Teaching aids Props ( hill ), Puppets of ducklings ( made of

polysterin ), Masks of flowers and Mother Duck.

Reflection / Impact All the Year 3 pupils were able to:

a) produce and perform the action song creatively

and attractively.

b) pronounce the singular and plural nouns

correctly to show the different between singular and

plural

c) create 5 simple sentences using any singular and

plural nouns ( written and orally ).

ACTIVITIES STRATEGIES NOTES

Set Induction ( 5 min )

( song of Five Little Ducks

– with vocals )

- Listen to the song of Five

Little Ducks.

- Pupils try to sing along.

( whole class )

Sing together ( whole

class )

Title : Five Little Ducks

Stage 1 ( 20 min )

Stage 2 (25 min )

- Pupils sit in a big group .

- Discuss about the song

heard and sung.

- Try to think of and talk

about the ideas to perform

the song accurately,

creatively and attractively.

- Make use of some masks

and props given by the

teacher to have a good

performance of an action

song.

- Body gestures,

movements will be used

too.

- Divide their own

characters or parts. ( the

Mother Duck, Ducklings,

Flowers )

- Work in groups

- Perform out their action

Group discussion

Masks and props

Performance of an action

song

CLOSURE ( 10 min )

song in front of the class

- Teacher helps the pupils

to record the performance.

- Finally, watch the

recorded performance and

try to correct some

pronunciation or mistakes. (

where necessary especially

to the pronunciation of the

singular and plural nouns )

- Pupils create 5 sentences

using the other singular and

plural nouns ( out of the

lyrics of Five Little Ducks )

Post Mortem ( orally )O

Orally

APPENDICES

A) LYRICS

Five little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said quack quack quack quack

Only four little ducks came back.

One little duck went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said quack quack quack quack

None of the 5 little ducks came back.

Four little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said quack quack quack quack

Only three little ducks came back.

Poor Mother duck went out to find

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said quack quack

All of the five little ducks weren’t found

Three little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said quack quack quack quack

Only two little ducks came back.

Oh my mother..Oh…my mother

Where are you..Where are you

We cannot find you

We cannot find you

We miss you……We miss you

B) PICTURES ( MASKS, PROPS )

C) URL OF THE VIDEO ( ACTION SONG )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f7JopnepQ8

Two little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said quack quack quack quack

Only one little duck came back.

Sad mother duck went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said quack….quack

All of the five little ducks came back…..

]