Using music and songs in teaching English

( by Molchanova O.A.)

Every language has its own music: special intonations, rhythm, sounds. We name it phonetics. It reflects national feelings of a certain culture and connected with the national thinking based on the historical experience. All together it’s a national identity: national sensations (reflects by phonetics) and national experience (reflects by lexis) and national thinking (reflects by grammar). Well-known, losing the language means losing the nation. It disappears, assimilating by the other national cultures. Studying language, a person is diving into another reality (feelings, experience and thinking). “Another language is another world”. Somebody’s told: “you’re a person as many times, as many languages you know”. It’s the most interesting thought about a language. That isn’t a new idea to connect the language studying with the nation culture studying and the historical way of a certain country. But in common way it only means culture and history knowledge without concerning phonetics – the music of a language.

Definite vibrations combinations were born as reflections of national feelings and sensations of a certain way of living. First they became the source of a language sounds and tones, then - national vocal music, literature, poetry, etc. Teachers usually don't attach to phonetics great value such as vocabulary or grammar. But in my view, the tones, rhythm and sound inflections only can give the feeling of another reality and diving in a new identity, because they convey emotions of a certain living. Empathy is a human’s property. Everyone likes to try on a new state of mind. Because of it we like fiction films, music. It gives to us emotions we don’t feel in everyday life. In this sense correct teacher’s pronunciation in combination with some oratory skills, authentic pop songs and other authentic sound and video examples of interesting for children content, role playing at the lessons can attract the pupils’ attention in the best way without any other methods or technologies. I think it’s a really good way to make the students interested in the subject and help them in English language learning. The interest is one of best ways to memorize something easily.

Learning verbal English I noticed that my musical education helps me in the studying. I listened to English speech just like I listened to music, divided it into sounds, intonations, and rhythms. I memorized sentences just like melodies. I was wonder. It wasn’t boring. If it helps me it can help the others. What is the nature of this phenomenon?

Speaking and singing are very close. Both of them are connected with voice development (intonations, dictions, articulations) and hearing (vocal hearing /how singer or speaker hear himself/, acoustical perception). Stanislavski K.S. spoke: "well told word is already singing, and well sung phrase is already speech». Melodies were born on speech expressiveness. They are the result of its development in expressing and conveying human’s feelings and life conceptions. The thought: "A good singer has got good diction; the diction of a bad singer is bad" (aphorism), - shows the connection between singing and speaking as well. Science researches have shown that the voice development (speech, singing) depends on hearing development. In this sense integrating with music can become the strong base for mastering of a foreign language because it teaches the child to hear, perceive and reproduce that he heard. Singing songs at the lessons helps memorize the lexis material without great efforts. The songs are a useful introduction to English stress and rhythm.

Originally English is the language of travelers and traders. Since ancient times English has been the language for business. For the businessmen it’s very important to introduce themselves and present their goods in the best shine. These purposes determined the historical development of the language. I mean tones, aspiration and beauty of the sounds and spelling styles. It embellishes everything you describe or name just like the Photoshop can improve your photo. Businessmen of all over the world feel it. They name their companies, shops and goods in English. The language attracts attention by itself. It’s the best language for business and communication. A teacher can also use the attractive nature of English if he feels it, and if he can enjoy and admire the verbal language with correct pronunciation while speaking, singing.

Historically a language is a means of communication, reflections of different life experiences and personal identity. The best way to catch the pupils’ interest at the English lessons is using the language in this way. I mean the communicative approach in pedagogics. There are a lot of interesting scientific, geographical, biological information, fiction materials, songs, themes and problems for discussions and disputes in the modern world. So, English lessons can become something broadening student’s mind in different human’s fields of activities. The communicative approach in connection with the conscious approach is a good condition motivating pupils. Understanding the meaning of exercises, the role of the studying for their future, they start working hard and become successful at the subject.

Nowadays the student-centered approach to teaching is very popular. Its main task is development of creative abilities of students. I encourage pupils to try expressing their own thoughts in English, to improvise and interpret some speeches, chants, poems and songs. English is the best language I know for improvisation and interpretation in it. Rhyme isn’t as important as in Russian or Kazakh and writer don’t need to pay a great attention to it. The number of the syllables in the line isn’t very important in comparing with languages of our country. Listening to English songs I often notice missing or shorting unimportant for understanding syllables or even words. It gives possibility to put variety of thoughts on a certain melody and with that a space of creative imagination too. For example, we interpret the song “What is red” with primary schoolchildren. Every child thinks about a thing in the classroom or in the picture and asks the others: “What is pink? Can you see?” That isn’t the matter how many syllables in the word he wants to sing and where is the stressed syllable, and is there any rhyme with the name of the thing he thought about. He can sing “what is purple?” it won’t make the song worse. So, any word will suit for the song. The others guess and answer: “I can see a fortepiano” or “I can see a bag”, “I can see a pencil case”. We can’t change words so easily in Russian. We must chose the word with the same number of syllables, with stress on the same syllable and a new word needs to be rhyme with previous word. In English interpretation is easy, useful and exciting exercise. There are a lot of English songs for children we can interpret with students at the lessons. My students learn names of school things with the song “Point to the window”. Instead of “window” I can sing any name of the thing in the classroom: “plug”, “board”, “computer”, etc. (video was sent).

My first profession is a fortepiano teacher. The best motivation of young pianist is noticing of sequential improving his skills from time to time. In my view it works at English lessons too. If a student is successful in practicing English, he is interested in the studying.

Somebody’s told: “to be a good teacher - to love the children and the subject”. I’d say: “If you love the children and understand the use of the subject, you can make the teaching attractive for them”. It’s something outside of methods and technologies. But in my view it’s very important to feel something great about the teaching work.