Hello everyone, for this week’s blog entry I’m going to do something a little different. Since I’ve been gathering a lot of data about how teachers use music in the language classroom, I thought I would share some of my findings with you. However, before I continue, I need to say how brilliant, generous, and passionate all of the teachers I’ve had the pleasure of working with have been. I am so inspired by their creativity, kindness, and dedication to providing quality education to our youth. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing me a glimpse into your worlds.
How teachers are using music in language classrooms and the benefits of doing so
Music is being used to establish a daily routine
Teachers are using songs in the target language to teach students greetings, the daily schedule, the date, and the days of the week.
Music is being used for classroom management
All of the teachers agreed that singing a command or instruction is more effective than simply speaking one as it seems to catch the students’ attention more than regular speech. Similarly, clapping and having students echo a rhythmic phrase was also more effective than simply speaking it.
Many teachers have created interactive songs in the target language to take attendance, teach the classroom rules, and give instructions (such as to sit on the carpet, line up, and clean up).
Some teachers are also utilizing background music during individual or group work which seems to keep talking at a minimum and decrease the overall volume at which the students speak. Stopping the background music attracts the students’ attention and allows teachers to make announcements, while changing the style of music can signal a transition to a new activity. The use of playlists also allows students to make requests creating a sense of community and ownership.
Melodies and lyrics are providing rich, authentic, and interdisciplinary texts to be learned, analyzed, and adapted
Teachers are using songs to help learners better understand, speak, write, and remember correct grammatical structures, vocabulary, slang, and idiomatic expressions, as well as to improve pronunciation and prosody (the patterns of stress and intonation in a language). In other words, music is being used to reinforce the gradual acquisition of implicit grammar through the repetition of full sentences found in song lyrics.
Furthermore, analyzing song lyrics in class opens up discussions on historical issues, social movements, and cultural practices. In turn, students are gaining a deeper understanding of the world around them and are becoming more interested in the cultures that speak the target language.
Moreover, teachers are often using songs as the foundation of a larger lesson or project, providing extension activities that include adding movement to the song, personalizing the song, writing their own verses, dramatizing the song, or creating a whole new song, text, or story. These extension activities can further heighten students' understanding of the language and allow them to apply the learned grammatical forms, vocabulary, and themes in new contexts that are pertinent to them.
Songs are being used as a mnemonic device and is helping students apply their knowledge to new contexts Songs are being created to help students learn and remember a variety of topics in a wide range of subjects (including but not limited to math, science, language arts, and social studies). As students progress throughout the year, they may not always remember a specific concept, grammatical structure, vocabulary word, spelling, or pronunciation that was learned in a classroom song. In humming the melody or singing part of a lyric from said classroom song, teachers can often trigger the students’ memories showing them that they already have the necessary knowledge to complete this new task.
Music is helping students with emotional regulation and expression
Through the use of interactive and highly adaptive storytelling activities set to instrumental music, teachers are helping students recognize the emotions of others, empathize with what others might be feeling, explore their own emotions and learn how to express them in a healthy way.
Music is creating a safe, fun, and relaxed learning environment
Many teachers have commented that singing as a class can allow the shy students to acquire the correct pronunciation and implicit grammar without having to speak a lot in front of the class. Similarly, humorous songs can alleviate the pressure on students while still being educational. Also, teachers that invent their own songs (particularly on the spot), create an atmosphere where creativity and taking risks is not only encouraged but modelled as well.
Music is being used to create community
Many schools have regular weekly or monthly assemblies where students of all grades get together to sing traditional and modern songs in the target language. In addition to these school-wide activities, many teachers are creating class anthems with their students which are personalized with the students names, characteristics, and hobbies.
Music is being used for body breaks
Movement breaks set to music are helping students to regain focus, connect to the cultures that speak the target language, and engage in full body learning. They are also simply providing a fun and silly way to take a break and learn the target language at the same time Music and songs from students are being embraced by the teachers
Students are encouraged to share their talents during ‘show and tell’ as well during the music assemblies. Furthermore, students requests are often added to class playlists and sometimes even integrated into lessons when appropriate.
Many teachers are using the guitar to motivate, support, and calm students
Many teachers have commented that when they accompany their classroom songs with a guitar they feel more confident singing. This permits them to provide a more accurate and precise model for the students. Likewise, the students also feel more confident singing with guitar accompaniment and are thus more willing to participate. Many teachers have also taken advantage of its soothing qualities when played on its own.
Well kind readers, I hope this has given you some insight into and appreciation for the amazing things that are happening in our language classrooms.
Until next time music and language lovers!