1 Teaching through Songs and Chants

TEACHING THROUGH SONGS AND CHANTS

Introduction
The use of songs and chants in language teaching has a long history. Extensive research has focused on how memory is affected by simultaneous activity in other parts of the brain. For example, you remember words that you have spoken better than words you have only read or heard. Music also aids memory because rhythm helps learners to remember otherwise unconnected words or ideas. Oral traditions and rules of folk wisdom from many cultures are often rhythmic, rhyming, or musical ("Red sky at night, sailor's delight ..." "A stitch in time saves nine." etc.) Rhythm speaks to a very basic part of our emotional selves, so musical or rhythmic content may enter memory with fewer distractions. Songs can be adapted for language teaching purposes from the most basic or elementary level to a much higher proficiency level based on either the content of the lyrics or how the words are put into practice or discussed afterward. Most teachers and adult students of language know the benefits of learning a language through songs. We even experience this in our first language. Consider how many songs (from your first language) you can sing along with when you hear them on the radio. There are probably hundreds. Embedding the language of our lessons into songs and chants can really strengthen language acquisition if teachers use communicatively appropriate songs. This unit will focus on some of the theory and research related to the use of songs and chants in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL). We will then turn our attention to how to choose appropriate EFL songs or chants. We will also discover how to write our own language teaching songs and chants. We will follow up with a number of EFL song activities involving movement, drama, and fun. Finally we will turn our attention to activities that apply specifically to chants.

2 Teaching through Songs and Chants

Applicable Theories and Approaches

Let us revisit some of the major research about childhood learning and language acquisition, and see how these theories relate to presenting songs and chants in the classroom. In particular, we will discuss Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligences Theory, Experiential Learning Theory, the Direct Approach and Total Physical Response (TPR), the AuralOral Approach, Stephen Krashens and Tracy Terrells Natural Approach, and the Communicative Approach. Howard Gardner's research on Multiple Intelligences supports the use of songs and chants in the classroom. As is discussed in greater detail in the unit entitled Multiple Intelligences Theory, Gardner describes how people use a variety of mental processes while thinking. Therefore, the most successful classrooms provide different approaches to meet individual students areas of strength. For example, students who have a strong musical intelligence are sensitive to nonverbal sounds and are very much aware of tone, pitch, and timbre. Musically intelligent students have the ability to produce and appreciate music. These learners think in sounds, rhythms, and patterns. They often respond to music by tapping their feet, tapping a pencil, or complimenting or criticizing what they hear. Many of these learners are also extremely sensitive to environmental sounds (e.g., crickets, running water, bells, horns). Using rhythm, chanting, and songs with these students can increase their attention and interest while motivating them to learn. The musical intelligence is not the only one recognized by Gardner that can be appealed to by teaching through songs and chants. For example, focusing on the lyrics of a song can appeal to a childs linguistic intelligence. Incorporating choreographed movements that represent the meaning of the lyrics can help to appeal to the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, and so on (Gardner, 1983).

Multiple Intelligences Theory ()

Experiential Learning Theory ()

Experiential Learning Theory also advocates the use of representative movements and drama when songs and chants are taught. Of course performing an EFL song or chant can already be considered learning by doing (Dewey, 1933), but adding an element

3 Teaching through Songs and Chants

Direct Approach ()

realia ()

Total Physical Response (TPR) ()

of movement or drama can turn performing a song or chant into a physical experience. The Direct Approach would advocate having children manipulate realia or props to illustrate the lyrics they are singing or chanting. If such realia or props are unavailable, however, children can still manipulate imaginary objects as is sometimes done using James Ashers Total Physical Response (TPR) methods. In fact, both the Direct Approach and TPR give us a way to allow students to show they understand the meaning of a songs or chants lyrics (by doing physical actions that show the meaning as they hear the words) long before they are able to produce the language or perform the song or chant themselves. Songs and chants are even effective tools for teachers who choose to incorporate elements of the behaviorist AuralOral Approach (or AudioLingual Method) into their language lessons. Following this approach, children must somehow be motivated to repeat certain vocabulary, phrases, and sentence structures again and again, often chorally. Singing and chanting is a natural way to provide this motivation. Children are far more likely to sing a favorite song over and over, both within and outside the classroom, than they are to repeat a list of sentence patterns or a dialogue on their own volition. Also, songs and chants are often written with certain lines or a chorus that repeats often within a single performance. Many traditional childrens songs and EFL songs alike also repeat basic structures with single-slot or even double-slot vocabulary substitutions in the various verses. Practice with such vocabulary substitutions is another hallmark of the AuralOral Approach. The Input Hypothesis, which is discussed in the unit of this course on the Natural Approach, was proposed by Krashen and Terrell (1983) and detailed by Terrell, Rogers, Barnes, and Spielmann (1997) and can help us to choose or to write effective EFL songs and chants for our students. This part of the theory proposes that comprehension of a language (or in this case, the lyrics of a song) precedes production and that production emerges later. The researchers caution us, however, that in order for this to happen, the learners must be exposed to

Natural Approach ()

AuralOral Approach ()

4 Teaching through Songs and Chants

comprehensible input that is still slightly challenging for them (a concept that Krashen and Terrell expressed with the formula i + 1, where i represents the students current level of language proficiency and +1 represents one step up from that level). When students listen to a comprehensible song or chant several times, they begin to understand new words and internalize their meaning, even before they are able to say the words themselves or use them in context. Oral production of the words by the students will come later as the songs and other activities continue to recycle them. Unlike learning by rote memorization, allowing delayed production in this way facilitates true language acquisition, according to Krashen and Terrell.
affective filter ()

Another hypothesis of the Natural Approach says that any strategy that can lower the students affective filter1, such as using music or song and chant games and activities in the classroom, is worthwhile. The affective filter refers to anything, such as boredom or difficult material that may become a mental barrier to a childs language learning. Music enables students to become more open to playing with the language because they feel more relaxed. That is, using songs and chants in the classroom can help to lower the affective filter. Finally, the Communicative Approach suggests teaching students language that they are likely to use in real life situations in their day-to-day lives. That is, only authentic language should be taught. Following this guideline, then, songs and chants that include a great deal of language that is not useful for true communication should be avoided, and the lyrics of the ideal EFL song or chant will be in dialogue form or in some other way represent realistic communicative events.

Communicative Approach ()

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Choosing Appropriate Songs and Chants

Here, we will consider what to look for when choosing a song, chant, or rhyme to teach to English as a foreign language students. We will also see examples of songs that should be avoided and discuss why. What are the main reasons for choosing to teach a particular song or chant? First, the song or chant should be relevant, meaningful, and

5 Teaching through Songs and Chants

interesting to the children. Second, it should tell a simple story and be comprehensible. Third, it should have a simple, memorable melody. Fourth, the song should build a base for future learning. Fifth, it should review past learning and practice language skills. Finally, it should be age appropriate (MacDonald, n.d.) In practice, it is very difficult to find any song that fulfills all six of these standards. This is especially true in an EFL context, since a large catalog of English music is not readily available in non-English speaking countries. Most importantly, then, when you select a song, chant, or rhyme to teach, choose one that provides comprehensible input and useful, conversational language. Consider the following English folk song, for example. Is the language in it comprehensible and useful to young learners who are new to English?
London Bridge London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady. Additional Verses: 2. 3. 4. 5. Take the key and lock her up ... Build it up with iron bars ... Iron bars will bend and break ... Build it up with silver and gold ...

Although this is a popular song for young children who are native speakers of English, it is neither comprehensible nor conversationally useful for limited English proficient (LEP) students. LEP learners cannot comprehend the meaning of the lyrics, and most EFL students will never need to use such expressions in their day-to-day lives. Besides, does any of the language in this song resemble the language they are learning in class? Learning this song is quite a challenge for young LEP learners because they have never seen most of the words before, nor are the words related directly to any of their lessons. Another example of a popular song for native English speaking

6 Teaching through Songs and Chants

children is The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the waterspout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain. The itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

This song is one of the most popular kindergarten and preschool songs for native speakers of English, and it has been exported to countries where children are learning English as a foreign language. Well-intentioned English teachers feel that since it is appropriate for native English speaking children, it would also be appropriate for LEP young learners. Sadly, not only does this song not build communicative competence, it could have a negative impact on students language learning experience. A song that is full of new words and grammar structures and that differs markedly from the language children are learning in their English class is a major challenge for them. To teach such a difficult song to young children weakens their newly emerging speaking confidence (or, as Krashen and Terrell would put it, it raises the learners affective filter). The song also includes inverted word order, which would not be used in conversational English. That is, native speakers of English rarely, if ever, say, Down came the rain. Rather, they would say, The rain came down, or simply, It rained. The same is true for, Out came the sun. A native speaker would almost always say, The sun came out. Some traditional songs and nursery rhymes are also full of archaic English or even nonsense English. Teaching these songs, chants, or rhymes may also prove damaging to an LEP learners progress. For example, native English speakers no longer use the phrase fair lady to mean a pretty woman as it is used in the song London Bridge. A good example of nonsense English can be seen in the popular traditional childrens song, This Old Man. Read the following lyrics to this song and pay attention to how much nonsense English is included:

7 Teaching through Songs and Chants

This Old Man This old man, he played one. He played knick-knack on my thumb, With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone. This old man came rolling home. Additional Verses: 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. This old man, he played two. He played knick-knack on my shoe ... This old man, he played three. He played knick-knack on my knee ... This old man, he played four. He played knick-knack on my door ... This old man, he played five. He played knick-knack on my hive ... This old man, he played six. He played knick-knack on my sticks ... This old man, he played seven. He played knick-knack up in Heaven ... This old man, he played eight. He played knick-knack on my gate ... This old man, he played nine. He played knick-knack on my spine ... 10. This old man, he played ten. He played knick-knack once again ...

Now let us turn to the topic of choosing a good song or chant. The first key to using songs and chants successfully is to choose the right ones. Most modern EFL textbooks include appropriate songs written specifically for LEP learners and the target language of the course, but teachers may still want to use some traditional songs, chants, or rhymes. We want to choose tunes that are easy and catchy (that is, easily remembered and fun to sing), as well as songs that build our students confidence. Ideally, we also want to choose songs that enable our children to walk out of class with a few new useful words or expressions to use in the real world.

8 Teaching through Songs and Chants

There are numerous sources of traditional childrens songs. You will soon find, however, that the vast majority of them are unsuitable for EFL students due to the previously mentioned concerns. There are, however, a number of suitable, very simple ones. The simplest of these have the children sing vocabulary words to a tune. For example, practically every child who learns English, whether it is their native language or a second language, learns the alphabet song. This traditional childrens song is a valuable way to help true beginners to learn the alphabet. Another simple traditional childrens song is Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes. The song lyrics are as follows:
Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes Head and shoulders, knees and toes, Knees and toes, knees and toes. Head and shoulders, knees and toes. It's my body! Eyes and ears and mouth and nose, Mouth and nose, mouth and nose. Eyes and ears and mouth and nose. It's my body!

This song is valuable for teaching vocabulary for parts of the body. It also introduces the conjunction and in a very simple context. Finally, the song introduces the structure Its my (body). This is a structure that children are likely to use very often in conversations (e.g., Its my book. Its my picture. Its my cookie.) Although almost all native speakers and teachers of English know Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes as a traditional childrens song, many may not be aware that it is sung to the tune of one of the songs we previously identified as inappropriate for LEP studentsLondon Bridge. This brings us to our next topicwriting new EFL songs using familiar tunes from traditional childrens music.

9 Teaching through Songs and Chants

Procedures for Writing EFL Songs

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You may feel that in the future, you will always use existing song and chant materials, but song and chant writing should be among your many skills as a language teacher. This skill is one that you can use again and again as a sort of mnemonic (memory-enhancing) technique when you need to teach new language or content. Since you may not always have access to an existing song to get your lesson targets across, learning to create your own music will actually make your job easier. Though English may not be your native language, you can definitely write songs if you follow some simple rules that work for EFL teachers of all levels. In this section, we will explore how we can do this most effectively. The next section will focus on how to write your own chants. Because the melody of London Bridge is easy and catchy, lets use it as an example of how an existing familiar melody can be used to write a new EFL song. To do this, simply change the lyrics to language students are learning in their classes, as is done in the following examples:
[Melody: London Bridge] Hello, hello, how are you? How are you? How are you? Hello, hello, how are you? Im fine, thank you. or What time do you wake up? You wake up ... You wake up ... What time do you wake up? I wake up at seven. [Melody: This Old Man] Whats your name? Whats your name? My name is (Andy); Whats your name? My name is (Andy); Whats your name? My name is (Andy); Whats your name? (Children substitute their own name into the parentheses when they sing.)

10 Teaching through Songs and Chants

or I like red. I like red. I dont like orange; I like red. I dont like orange; I like red. I dont like orange; I like red. Additional Verses: 1. 2. I like blue. I like blue. I dont like purple; I like blue ... I like green. I like green. I dont like yellow; I like green ...

These lyrics are much more appropriate because the words are among the first learned by EFL students, the language is conversational, and they have been customized to match the patterns being taught in the class. You can just as easily create your own songs in this way. To do so, follow these steps:
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Step 1Brainstorm a list of catchy melodies that you know well. These melodies need not be from English songs. It is even better if the melodies are ones that your students may have been exposed to in their native language. If the children already know the melodies, it makes it much easier for them to learn the songs. Choose melodies that are short and easy. Remember, our goal is to make our students feel confident and joyful while singing, not overly challenged. Step 2Choose the target language you want to teach. If you are using a course book, pull out some phrases or expressions you would like to help your students remember. In this way you do not need to create your own sentences. This target language becomes your song lyrics. Step 3After you have lyrics and a list of melodies, insert the words into various songs until you find the melody that best matches them. For example, imagine that the target lesson focuses on the expressions What time is it? and Its six oclock. First try embedding these structures into the melody of London Bridge.
What time is it? Its six oclock. Its six oclock. Its six oclock.

11 Teaching through Songs and Chants

What time is it? Six oclock. Its six oclock now.

It doesnt quite seem to work, does it? When we analyze the song a bit more, we realize that there are too many syllables in the sentence Its six oclock. The original lyrics repeat three syllables (falling-down). On the other hand, the target sentence has four syllables (Its-six-o-clock). We might try to make this song better by changing the lyrics as follows:
What time is it? Six oclock. Six oclock. Six oclock. What time is it? Six oclock. Its six oclock now.

This adaptation of the target sentence pattern is probably still acceptable because the word its is often dropped in conversational English when someone gives the short answer to the question What time is it? If making such slight changes to the structure makes it unnatural or if it still doesnt seem to work within the melody youre working with, try another of the melodies from your list. For example, the famous childrens song, The Wheels on the Bus may have been included on your list.
The Wheels on the Bus The wheels on the bus go round and round. Round and round. Round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round, All through the town. This melody may work better for our chosen target structures: What time is it now? Its six oclock. Six oclock. Six oclock. What time is it now? Its six oclock. Six oclock now.

Working target English structures into familiar melodies in this way may be a bit challenging at first, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Soon you will find yourself using some melodies over and over

12 Teaching through Songs and Chants

and even adding new melodies to your list as you think of them. If all else fails, however, it is almost always possible to write an original chant for a given English sentence pattern.
- - - (when, where, why) be -

Procedures for Writing EFL Chants

The real pioneer in using chants to teach English is Carolyn Graham, an EFL teacher and jazz musician. About thirty years ago, Graham noticed that when native speakers of English talk, they tend to say the stressed syllables on a regular, rhythmic beat, just like the underlying beat of jazz music (C. Graham, personal communication, November, 1997). She then introduced the concept of jazz chants to teach EFL students to produce the same sort of rhythmic or stress-timed speech. Grahams jazz chants are especially helpful to students whose native language does not use stress-timing, as is the case with most languages in Asia. Most of Grahams chants are presented in a dialogue format either as a question and response, a command and response, or a statement and response. Students are encouraged to chant either individually, in pairs, in groups, or chorally, allowing for a variety of interactions. In some cases, the words to the chants can be adapted by either the teacher or the students to echo the discussion topic or the grammar focus of a given class (Richard-Amato, 1996). A short excerpt from one of Carolyn Grahams jazz chants follows (Graham, 1978), with the syllables that fall on the beat appearing in bold print:
Where were you born? Id rather not say. Where are you from? Id rather not say. How tall are you? How old are you? How much do you weigh? Id rather not say.

Carolyn Graham went on to write jazz chants for children,

13 Teaching through Songs and Chants

grammar chants, and the EFL songs and chants for some of the most popular EFL courses in the world, but you do not really need to be a jazz musician to write your own EFL chants. They are usually easier to write than songs because chants do not require a melody, only a beat. You do, however, have to pay attention to which syllables in a given sentence native speakers are likely to stress on a beat. This is a little harder than it sounds because non-native speakers usually do not stress-time their speech, even when they are speaking in English. Also, although native speakers do tend to stress-time their speech, they do it so subconsciously that it is often difficult for them to identify which syllables they are stressing when called upon to do so. There are some rough guidelines that will, however, help you to know which syllables in a given sentence are likely to receive stress on the beat. Firstly, function words, such as articles and pronouns usually are not stressed. Stressed syllables are more likely to occur in content words such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Also the whquestion words when, where, and why usually are stressed, while be verbs usually are not. Finally, remember that often two, three, or even four syllables in a row may fall on an offbeat before another syllable is stressed. For example, consider the line Where were you born? The whquestion word is stressed followed by two unstressed syllables before another syllable is stressed, falling on the next beat. To get a better sense of this, read the excerpt on the previous page again, snapping your fingers to a rhythm and trying to place the syllables in bold on the beat established by your snaps. Lets again consider the target language structures used in the examples in the previous sectionWhat time is it? and Its six oclock. Can you predict where native speakers are likely to place stress on a beat? In most cases, the stress-timing pattern of these sentences would be as follows:
What time is it? Its six oclock.

Just as with writing EFL songs, producing your own EFL chants

14 Teaching through Songs and Chants

may seem difficult at first, but the more you do it, the easier it will be. To get started, you may want to purchase some of Carolyn Grahams chant books and CDs to give you a better feel for how EFL chants look and sound (see, for example, Jazz Chants, Jazz Chants for Children, Small Talk: More Jazz Chants, Jazz Chant Fairy Tales, Grammar Chants, and the Lets Chant; Lets Sing series, all from Oxford University Press).

Applications
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In our native language, teachers of young learners are successful when they simply do a sing-along or combine music with dance movements. But for the purpose of EFL, we should try to use songs in a more communicative way. Just because our students can sing a song beautifully, it does not mean that they can use the language contained in the song to communicate. If we sing a song without providing a meaningful context or purpose, the song will not be an effective tool for teaching our students to use the language. We must help them make the transition from singing the target language to actively using it in meaningful conversations. There are several strategies to make songs and chants more effective in the EFL classroom. These include using movements that represent the language used in the song, combining drama and music, and using motivational games and activities that make singing and chanting more fun for children. The first two strategies are most valuable because they can help the learners to understand the meaning of the lyrics and how the embedded structures can be used in a communicative context. The third strategy simply makes language learning more enjoyable to young learners, lowering their affective filter.

Songs and Movement

One classic activity that combines music and movement is Musical Chairs. The activity can be adapted as follows:

Musical ChairsSet up a circle of chairs with one chair fewer than there are students. Play a song the children are learning and have them

15 Teaching through Songs and Chants

walk in circles in one direction around the chairs as they sing along. At some random point, switch the music off. When the music stops, the students should quickly sit in a chair. The student left without a chair must perform a verse solo. Play then resumes. Traditionally, musical chairs is played as an elimination game in which the losing student in each round is eliminated from play and another chair is removed until only one student is remaining. When the game is being played in a classroom with an educational purpose, however, it does not make sense to eliminate students. To do so would exclude them from the learning process. Although Musical Chairs is fun and can be used with any song, it does not help the students to comprehend the meaning or communicative purpose of the language in the lyrics. This is because there is no connection between the action of walking around in circles and sitting down to the words in the song (unless, of course, the song happens to be about walking or sitting down). In order for a song or chant activity to help students understand the communicative function of the lyrics, the movements in the activity should help to illustrate the meaning or usage of the structures. Thus the value of Musical Chairs is limited to supporting our third strategy of making singing or chanting more fun for students.

The following are good examples of interplay between songs, movement, and communicative activities. They are adapted from a preschool EFL series entitled World Kinder Kids and the book Longman Songs and Chants. These examples will give you a sense of how you can design your own communicative song activities.
The Hello Song Hello, Tim, hello. Hello, Tim, hello. Hello, my friend. Hello, my friend. Hello, Tim, hello. Hello, Amani, hello.

- Hello

16 Teaching through Songs and Chants

Hello, Amani, hello. Hello, my friend. Hello, my friend. Hello, Amani, hello.
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Activity 1Have each pair of children set up a pretend a door (two chairs set back to back). The pairs practice ringing the bell or knocking on the door and answering. Once they are familiar with the song, have them sing the song, substituting in their own names, as they role-play greeting their friend at the door. Activity 2The teacher stands inside the actual classroom door, and the class lines up in the hall. The first child knocks on the door and the teacher opens it. The class then sings a verse, inserting the teachers name. The teacher answers by singing the second verse, inserting the first childs name, and the child enters. Then the second child knocks on the door, and it is opened by the first child. The students remaining outside the door sing another verse, inserting the name of the child who answered the door. The first child solos a verse inserting the name of the second, and that child enters. Then the third child knocks, and the second child answers and so on. Each time, all the students in the hall sing to greet the person who answers the door, and all the children in the room sing to greet the child who knocked.
Animal Riddle Rap What is it? What is it? What is it? What is it? Ruff, ruff, ruff, Ruff, ruff, ruff. Its a dog! Its a dog! What is it? What is it? What is it? What is it? Oink, oink, oink, Oink, oink, oink. Its a pig! Its a pig! What is it? What is it?

17 Teaching through Songs and Chants

What is it? What is it? Meow, meow, meow, Meow, meow, meow. Its a cat! Its a cat!
-

ActivityStudents bring in their stuffed toys and gives them to the teacher. The teacher makes sure the students know the English version of the sound each animal makes. The teacher then secretly puts one of the stuffed toys into an opaque bag and hands the bag to one child. That child reaches one hand into the bag, feeling the toy without looking and trying to determine which animal it is while the class chants, What is it? What is it? The child answers by chanting the sound made by the animal he or she believes is in the bag. The class then chants the line that identifies the animal based on its sound, and the toy is pulled out to make sure they were correct. Play continues with other toys and children reaching into the bag.
Numbers Song One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

ActivityClear an area so students can move around. Play the song and have students hop, skip, or jump around the room as they sing along. Stop the music, call a number, and have students get into groups of the called number. For example, if you call out Five! students get into groups of five and hold hands. Any students unable to join a group can call out a number for the next round. Alternatively, they can act as judges to check the number of students in each group then join the next round. Repeat the activity several times, calling out different numbers.
Shes My Mom! Whos she? Whos she? Who is she?

Shes my mother. Shes my mom. Whos she? Whos she? Who is she? Shes my mother. Shes my mom.

ActivityHave students bring in photographs of their own family members to show the rest of the class while they are singing the song.

18 Teaching through Songs and Chants

One child holds up a photograph of a family member. If it is a picture of a woman, for example, the rest of the class sings, Whos she? Whos she? Who is she? The student then sings the answer, Shes my mother. Shes my mom.
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What Time Is It? What time is it? Its five oclock. Five, five, five, five, Five oclock. What time is it? Its nine oclock. Nine, nine, nine, nine, Nine oclock.

ActivityDemonstrate this activity at the front of the room. Use both arms to represent the hands on a clock face. Hold a ruler in your right hand to indicate the longer minute hand. Move your arms to the appropriate position to show three oclock and ask the class, What time is it? The class answers, Its three oclock. Then invite students to take turns showing times in a similar manner. Once students are comfortable with the activity, have them show more complicated times (e.g., 7:30, 11:15, 2:35). After practicing the activity with the entire class, have one child come to the front of the room to play the clock. Half the class sings the first line of the song, while the clock poses to show a time of his or her choosing. After reading the clock, the other half of the class sings the three answer lines. The activity continues with children taking turns playing the clock and the two sides of the class alternating asking and answering.
Notice that through each of the above activities, the song has been turned into a communicative experience. The best song and chant games and activities should help the students feel they are communicating, not just singing. This is one key to effectively using songs and chants in the EFL classroom. Likewise, since combining music with movement is so effective, it is a good idea to use two or more

19 Teaching through Songs and Chants

activities that have different features or that appeal to different learning styles. This will help a wider variety of children to learn more effectively from songs and chants. To help attain this goal, let us now turn to how drama offers another approach.

Drama and Songs

The second way to add meaning, emotion, and an element of communication is to add a dramatic situation or scenario to the song. Doing this will probably require you to give directions and introduce the situation in the students native language. Consider the following songs and corresponding drama activities. How do the dramatic scenarios or song dramas enhance the language learning experience?
Popcorn Song Popcorn, candy, popcorn, candy, Popcorn and candy. Popcorn, candy, popcorn, candy, Popcorn and candy. May I have some popcorn? May I have some popcorn? Yes you may; yes you may. Popcorn, candy, popcorn, candy, Popcorn and candy. Popcorn, candy, popcorn, candy, Popcorn and candy. May I have some candy? May I have some candy? Yes you may; yes you may.

Dramatic ScenarioStudents stand facing each other in pairs. One student holds something that represents popcorn in one hand and something that represents candy in the other. This student stands with his or her hands behind his or her back. Together the pair sings the chorus (Popcorn, candy ). At the end of the chorus, the second student sings, May I have some ________? and points to either the

20 Teaching through Songs and Chants

left or the right. The first student opens that hand and shows what is in it. If it matches what the second student asked for, he or she sings, Yes, you may. If it does not match, the student sings, No, you may not! (Procter & Procter, 2005).
How Many Are There? How many are there? There are four. How many are there? There are five. How many are there? There are six. There are six bananas. Yoo, hoo! One, two, three. Yoo, hoo! Four, five, six. Yoo, hoo! Seven, eight, nine. There are nine bananas.
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Dramatic ScenarioTell the students that they are two groups of monkeys in the jungle that are looking for bananas. Suddenly, the first group of monkeys yells, We found bananas! The second group excitedly sings, How many are there? The first group sings the answer, There are four. The second group pretends they cant hear them well, so they sing louder, How many are there? But just then, the first group finds more bananas, so they sing excitedly, There are five! The groups continue like this until they finish the song (Procter & Procter, 2003).
Have a Piece of Birthday Cake Milkshake, soda pop, ice cream cone, Have a piece of birthday cake. Im eight years old today. Hooray! Have a piece of birthday cake. Party hat, candles, birthday cards, Have a piece of birthday cake. Im eight years old today. Hooray! Have a piece of birthday cake. (Wilson, 2003)

Dramatic ScenarioHave a dialogue similar to the following with the students:

21 Teaching through Songs and Chants

T: You all live in a small kingdom. Who is your prince? Ss: (Pointing at a boy.) He is. T: Today is his birthday. He is eight years old. Group one, you are the royal family. You sit here with the prince and act very sophisticated. G1: Like this? T: Yes. T: Group two, you are the princes best friends. You love the prince, so when you sing, you act like you love him. G2: OK. T: Group three, you are the princes enemies, so when you sing, act like his evil enemies. What kind of face can you make when you sing? G3: (Making a face.) How about this? T: Yes, thats great. T: Group four, you are jealous of the prince, so when you sing, how can you act jealous? G4: Look at this. T: Great. You look really jealous. T: Now, everybody sing the chorus of the song, but royal family, you sing the line Have a piece of birthday cake. Dont forget to act sophisticated. T: OK. Now, everyone sing in character.

As was mentioned in this sections introduction, and as can be seen in the above scenario, there is sometimes very high-level English involved. If the teacher shares the same native language as the students, much of the scenario will have to be explained in the mother tongue. Generally, this should be acceptable since the goal is to teach students to be bilingual or multilingual speakers. Let us now turn to the less ideal, but still worthwhile type of singing and chanting activities, those that simply motivate students to sing or chant and so engage them in oral language practice.

Motivational Singing Activities

There are lots of singing games and activities teachers like to use that are not communicative and do not enhance meaning in the same way that the above movement and drama activities do. However, they

22 Teaching through Songs and Chants

do benefit students by motivating them to verbalize the target language and thus practice proper pronunciation and intonation. These activities vary from the above activities in that they are not song or language specific so could be used with any song in much the same way as Musical Chairs. Often it is possible, however, to adapt them according to the target language of a particular lesson making them more meaningful. We will begin with very simple activities that are appropriate for very young learners and work our way up to activities that are more and more challenging.
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Mexican Jumping BeansHave students jump in place while the music is played. Suddenly, call out Stop! or switch off the music. All students squat down. The last student to squat is It. The rest of the class asks the student a target question from the sons. It responds accordingly. For small classes, students can skip around the room until you yell stop. At that point, they squat (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998). FreezeWhile singing, students walk around the room randomly until the teacher says, Freeze! The first student who moves must answer a question. By pointing to a flashcard or to an object in the classroom, the teacher can elicit a particular question to be asked chorally by the remainder of the class. The student answers accordingly, and play continues (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998). Remote ControlThe entire class begins singing the song. The teacher, using a real or an imaginary remote control, pretends to aim at various students and switch them off. Any student who is turned off must stop singing and freeze in place. The remaining students keep singing the song repeatedly until all have finally been turned off. Alternatively, the teacher can turn students on and off randomly without ever turning them all off. Students can also be given the chance to use the remote control on their peers. Louder, LouderHave the entire class sing a song together. The first time through, they should sing very, very softly. The second time through, they should sing louder, then louder, and louder. This continues

23 Teaching through Songs and Chants

until the students are shouting the lyrics. This process can then be reversed, having the students sing softer and softer until they are again whispering.
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Hotter or ColderBring in pictures of target vocabulary. Hide one in the classroom while one student waits outside. The class begins singing the target song when the student returns. When the student draws nearer the hidden picture, the class sings more loudly. When getting farther away, they should sing more quietly. This continues until the student finds the picture. The class then asks questions that elicit answers that embed the target language. The student answers accordingly (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998). Join InThe class is separated into groups. As the singing begins, only the first group sings. The second group joins in at the start of the second verse. The third group joins at the beginning of the third verse, and so on. The entire class sings the chorus or final verses. Then rotate and have a different group start at the beginning. Singing RolesFor songs that can easily be separated into two character roles, have part of the class sing the role of one character and the rest of the class sing the role of another. You can then switch roles and have the students sing again. You can also have all the students join together to sing the chorus or some of the verses or lines. Musical CardsHave the class sit in a circle and then play them a

Figure 1: Musical Cards

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song. While the music is playing, the children sing along and pass around a flash card showing a word that can be substituted into the lyrics. Suddenly switch off the player. The student holding the card when the music stops must sing a verse solo, inserting the word shown on the card. Repeat with other cards.

Word SubstitutionReplace key words (such as the object nouns) in a song with another word the students find silly (e.g., bananas). As you sing the song, students must keep a straight face, not smiling or laughing when they include the silly word. Any student caught smiling or laughing must sing a verse or part of a verse solo.
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Our SongMany songs enable you to substitute parts with words that the students provide themselves, making it more of a song about them. Either make a list of student-recommended substitution words on the board or call out a student name between verses having that student shout out the substitution for the next verse. SpotlightTurn off the lights and have the children sing a song softly. Direct a flashlight towards one child being careful not to shine it directly in their eyes. (Usually, if you point it at their feet, the surrounding light circle is wide enough to make the point.) The child in the spotlight sings louder such that they can be heard over the others. Move the spotlight around the class so that each child ends up in the spotlight at least once.

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Figure 2: Spotlight
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Pass the BagWhile listening to and singing along with their EFL

25 Teaching through Songs and Chants

songs, students draw five pictures of target vocabulary of their choice. Alternatively, the children can write the words on cards if they are literate. Students number each picture or word in descending order from their favorite to least favorite. (Their favorite word is number five and their least favorite is number one.) Students then form pairs. Each pair gets an opaque bag and combines their pictures in the bag. While singing, partners pass the bag back and forth. Suddenly say, Stop! The student holding the soft bag pulls out a card, says the word in a complete sentence, and receives the number of points written there. At the end of the game, the students who have the most points are the winners (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).
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Lucky DipCollect pictures, flashcards, or personal items that represent target vocabulary. Put them into a bag along with a few prizes (inexpensive stickers, pencils, etc.) While singing, students pass the bag around until the teacher says, Stop! The student who is holding the bag pulls out an object and asks a question (e.g., Whose (pen) is this?) Any student who knows the answer responds, Its Tonys; Its Sallys; or Its mine. If nobody responds, the object must be a prize the student can keep (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998). Who Has It?Put the students in two lines facing each other. Give

Figure 3: Who Has It?

26 Teaching through Songs and Chants

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one line a picture small enough to hide in the hand. Tell students, "Go." Everyone starts singing, and the line with the card passes it around behind their backs so the other line cannot easily see the card being passed (see Figure 3). When the song finishes, students in the second line try to guess who has the card, asking questions such as, John, do you have the book? The second line is then given a different picture, and play continues (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).

Give Away the PicturesHave each student draw five or fewer tiny pictures of key words in a song while they sing along to it. Each student cuts them out and hides them in one hand. Students skip around and sing until the teacher says, Stop! Each student quickly finds a partner, puts a few pictures in one hand, and holds it out. The partner guesses how many of the pictures of a particular item he or she is hiding in the hand that is held out. If the guess is correct, the student gives a picture to his or her partner (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).
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Shadow DancingWhile singing the song, one student creates a dance and their partner tries to mimic the dance movements in real time (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998). Whos the Leader?Send two students out of the room. Have the rest of the children form a circle and choose a student to be the leader. The leader will guide the class in doing simple dance movements as they sing. Have the students practice singing and ask them to try to follow the leader's movements without looking directly at him or her. Then invite the two students back into the room and have them stand in the middle of the circle. The class starts singing and copying the leader's movements. The students in the center try to find who the leader is. Once they have found the leader, repeat the activity by having two other students leave the room and having the remaining children select a new leader. Name that Song!Divide the class into several teams. On a musical instrument, play three notes from a song the students have learned and have students try to guess the song. The team that guesses correctly gets three points. If no one guesses correctly, play five notes from the same

27 Teaching through Songs and Chants

song for two points. If no one guesses correctly, play a line from the song for one point. Have the winning team sing the whole song for an extra point. If it is not feasible to play a musical instrument in class, play short sections of the song from a CD or cassette.
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Lip SyncingModel lip-syncing a song (silently mouthing the words) without playing any music. Ask the class to guess the song. Have each student choose a song. Give students time to check the words and practice lip-syncing. Put students in pairs, sitting face-to-face. One student lip-syncs his or her song. The other student watches and tries to guess the song. When the student guesses correctly, the partners switch roles. If you would like to continue the activity, you can then have the children switch partners and repeat the guessing procedure. TV CommercialDivide the class into several groups. Using a song or chant, each group makes a TV commercial that embeds the target language. This activity works best with vocabulary for items that are often bought and sold such as food, classroom objects, services, and so on (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998). Acting ContestDivide the class into four groups with one student in each group being the counter. While singing, the counter points to each student from his or her group one at a time. When the song stops, the last player pointed to from each team is that teams representative for an acting contest. The class will ask a target question, (e.g., Are you hungry?) and the representatives act melodramatically as they answer. The class or teacher picks the best actor. Play continues, with a different question being asked to the actors each round (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998). Creative WritingChildren use both English and their first language in this activity. First, have the students listen to an English song. Then have them work in small groups to write stories in their first language that relate to the song. Each group then tells their narrative story and sings the song for the class. The language of the song has greater meaning because of the story scenario provided. This is a good example of how to use the native language to support the meaning of an

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28 Teaching through Songs and Chants

English song or chant (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).

Motivational Chanting Activities

While many of the above activities can also be used to practice chants as well as songs, there are some additional activities that are ideally suited for chanting. Most of these activities in some way emphasize the beat that is so important to chants and do not rely on there being a melody.

Shake Your BottleHave student shake chant bottles. They can use plastic bottles and put some uncooked rice in them. (Making chant bottles and other small percussive instruments is covered in greater detail in the unit entitled Managing Materials.) They shake their chant bottles to the rhythm of the chant (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998). Unseen SeesawPut students in pairs. The pairs stand facing each other about two meters apart. Tell the class that there is an invisible seesaw between each student and their partner. When one goes up the other must go down. Then play a chant and have the students perform it going up or down on each beat.

Figure 4: Unseen Seesaw

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Sound OffThis activity works best with chants that have four

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beats per line. The teacher or a leader plays the role of a drill sergeant and says a line of the chant in the tune of a common military drill chant. The class echoes. Then the teacher continues with the next line, and so on. (Westerners will likely be more familiar with the tune of the traditional military drill chant, which often begins I dont know, but Ive been told ... An example of a military drill chant can be seen in the movie A Few Good Men.)
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Hand SlapTeach the students a simple hand-slap routine that has been choreographed to a chant. You can have students slap their thighs, clap their hands, or slap a partners hands to the beat. Then put students in pairs to practice chanting while they do the hand slap routine. Alternatively, you can have students in pairs make up their own routines then demonstrate them for the class.

Figure 5: Hand Slap

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Jump RopeA long jump rope is stretched across the classroom and a volunteer jumper goes to the center. The teacher and a volunteer student hold either end and begin swinging the rope. The rest of the class chants such that the beat follows the rope as it hits the floor. See how far through the chant the jumping student can get before becoming entangled. Let another student try to beat that students record, then another and another. (This activity doesnt work well in a small classroom or one with a low ceiling.)

30 Teaching through Songs and Chants

Now that you have been exposed to various song and chant activities, you should consider your own classroom or teaching context. Reflect on how you would apply these activities to your own lessons, taking into consideration the age and language level of your students, the size of your class, and other classroom dynamics. Of course not all song and chant activities are suitable for all classes and classrooms.

Conclusions
Music has always been a way for children to remember stories and learn about the world around them. Using music as a stimulus can affect one's emotions and make information easier to remember. Music also creates an environment that is conducive to learning. It can reduce stress, increase interest, and set the stage for listening and learning. There are many similarities between literacy acquisition and musical development. Therefore, teaching that combines music with language arts instruction can be the most effective (Davies, 2000). Gardners Multiple Intelligences Theory advocates teaching with music to engage students with a strong musical intelligence. By focusing on lyrics, we can also engage the childrens linguistic intelligence, and by incorporating representative movement and drama with songs and chants, we can further appeal to their bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Using movement is also endorsed by Experiential Learning Theory, the Direct Approach, and the Total Physical Response (TPR) model, especially if it is possible for children to manipulate realia or props that illustrate the meaning of the lyrics. By using movement and drama song and chant activities, children can show that they comprehend the language of a song or chant before they are able to produce or perform it themselves. Songs and chants also provide natural motivation for children to participate in the sort of repetitive choral practice of language that is recommended by the AuralOral Approach (or AudioLingual Approach). Additionally, songs and chants often repeat key sentence patterns with single- and double-slot vocabulary substitutions, another

31 Teaching through Songs and Chants

common method of practice used in this approach. The Natural Approach also suggests that music, songs, and chants are effective tools for stimulating a childs language learning. Songs and chants can help to lower the learners affective filter, and the lyrics should provide comprehensible input that is still slightly challenging for the children (expressed by the researchers as i + 1). Simply allowing the children to listen to new songs and chants at first gives them time to internalize the meaning of any new words before oral production (in the form of signing or chanting) is required of them. This facilitates true language acquisition as opposed to learning by rote memorization. The Communicative Approach reminds us to select or write songs and chants that include authentic language that help students to develop communicative competence. Contemporary language-learning theories also stress the importance of connecting meaning to language in a fun, active, and participatory way. However, as teachers we must choose the songs or chants we present carefully. We have suggested a set of song and chant selection guidelines including choosing those that have easy, catchy melodies and lyrics that provide comprehensible input and conversational language. Those that contain a great deal of inverted word order, archaic English, or nonsense English should be avoided. We also recommended steps for writing your own language teaching songs: 1) brainstorm a list of familiar melodies, 2) select target language, and 3) try fitting the target language into different melodies from your list until you find one that works. We then suggested ways songs and chants can be used in practice. We stressed the increased teaching value of using songs with movement and drama, but also included a number of games and activities that simply motivate students to participate more fully in song and chant lessons. As teachers, we play so many roles, but in the end, our job is to be effective memory makers. It is our duty to consider the way in which all lessons can create the strongest, most positive memories. The more ways in which we enable our students to represent new information in

32 Teaching through Songs and Chants

the mind, the richer both their memory and their educational experience will be.

Notes
1)affective filter (Krashen, 1985) (): ""

References
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