Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Brno 2008
Dagmar ikov
Brno 2008
Supervisor:
Mgr. Jaroslav Such
Written by:
Dagmar ikov
Prohlen
Prohlauji, e jsem diplomovou prci zpracoval/a samostatn a pouil/a jen prameny
uveden v seznamu literatury.
Souhlasm, aby prce byla uloena na Masarykov univerzit v Brn v knihovn
Pedagogick fakulty a zpstupnna ke studijnm elm
Brn dne 5. prosince 2008
Dagmar ikov
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Mgr. Jaroslav Such, for his supervision,
helpful advice and recommending literature.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................7
1. THEORETICAL PART
33
69
RSUM
70
WORKS CITED
71
LIST OF APPENDICES
74
APPENDIX
Introduction
The Objective and the Content of the Diploma Thesis
This work is concerns using popular songs to teach English, especially
vocabulary since learning vocabulary is one of the key elements in learning a foreign
language and has always caused students difficulties. Thornbury quotes the linguist
David Wilkins to stress the importance of learning vocabulary: "Without grammar very
little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed (2002:13). He also
quotes several students who complain about their lack of vocabulary and points out that
"vocabulary teaching has not always been very responsive to such problems (2002:13).
The objective of this work is to measure the effectiveness of using popular songs to
teach vocabulary.
The work is divided into two parts: theoretical and practical. The theoretical part
discusses many aspects of music and language learning themselves, such as the role and
the importance of music in peoples lives. A brief account on history of music is also
included. This is followed by an analysis of the psychological effects of music. The
benefits and the effects of music on language learning are covered in the following part.
The last chapter of the theoretical part focuses on the general process of learning and
memory and those are implied on the tested method of using popular songs to teach
English.
All the knowledge gained in the theoretical part is applied in the practical one.
The practical part describes authors own research, the individual steps of the procedure,
and, of course, the results of this research. The practical part also includes exercises that
can be created for any song. The whole authors research and practical part are
described in detail beginning on page 33.
The conclusion summarises the content of this work, reflects on the results of the
research and evaluates the tested method.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis for this work is that students who are interested in the subject,
which in this case is going to be their favourite music, learn more easily and more
effectively. This method also includes repetitiveness, which is so important for the
process of studying because it is almost certain that the students will encounter the
material, their favourite songs, outside the classroom. Students at this age identify with
their favourite stars and are interested in what they are singing about and interest is also
fundamental for learning.
1. Theoretical Part
1.1. The Role and the Importance of Music
Why should music be suitable for teaching vocabulary? The answer is simple.
Music has always played a big part of humans lives, beginning with childs birth and
mothers singing lullabies to their children. It is used during all important occasions of
human lives beginning with childs christening, through weddings, to funerals. Each
country has its own anthem. Music has been important during many revolutions and was
even the cause of some of them. John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Karel Kryl can be mentioned
as some of the revolutionary musicians. The flower generation also connected through
music.
Pilka believes that every piece of art is a gift since it deals with big ideas and
social ideals as well as the most inward matters of each and everyone of us. It speaks a
language intelligible to everyone. Music brings emotions to life and it also serves as a
testimony of people from any land or time. It fills the gap between nations, crosses
thousands of miles and reveals more about its people than a scientific elaboration. It
may also help people to get into their own hearts. It speaks for us where words fail
(1959:275-277). Just as all different kinds of art, it serves many purposes. People create
and listen to it for the same reason - they all want to touch others with music or to be
touched by it.
Murphey made the following list about what people usually do with songs. We:
-
"listen
use music and song to make internal associations between the people, places,
and times in our lives, so they become the personal soundtrack of our
lives(1992:9).
Even the ancient Greeks knew of the importance of music. Holzknech assumes
that poets such as Homer and Hein must have been drawing from their own experience
when they celebrated the power of music and that their listeners would not have
believed them or would have laughed at them if the power of music had not been a
general experience. (1969:404).
Nowadays, it is almost impossible to escape music. It is used in films,
advertisements, it is on radio and even in most shops, restaurants and other public
places. Current technological inventions, such as the iPod, mobile phone and MP3
player enable people to enjoy their favourite music anywhere at any time. People listen
to it while traveling and even while walking in the streets. In fact, a lot of children get
into troubles for listening to music on their headphones during lessons. So why not use
music to our advantage?
Music as such has always been important, especially to most young people. It
has always brought them together. They love to share their music with one another.
Students of the three groups that the songs were piloted with love to talk about their
favourite artists. Talking about their favourite artists is a part of their everyday
communication. Music is connected to many areas of their lives. People who like
similar kinds of music usually dress in a similar way (see appendix number 12 and 13).
It is part of peoples way of living, of their world and it can be used as a means for a
teacher to get into his or her students world, to get closer to them.
Music may touch topics that people can relate to. Murphey writes that "songs
can be appropriated by listeners for their own purposes, largely because most pop songs
do not have precise people, place, or time references. For those who find them relevant,
songs happen whenever and wherever one hears them and they are, consciously or
subconsciously, about the people in ones own life" (1992:8)
For instance, any pupil in the group that listened Fergies song called "Clumsy"
could relate to it, since they all could think of a situation when they had felt clumsy.
10
This shows that music is personal and people in general are most interested in and
motivated by things that they can relate to.
All of the above-mentioned arguments indicate that music is a subject of
everyday communication and it is something that is ever present in peoples lives
intentionally or unintentionally, which can be very beneficial for the method of using
songs to teach English vocabulary since it increases the possibility that students will
come across the taught material, frequently revising it.
11
12
Associations website it improves the quality of life and music therapy interventions
can be designed to:
-
promote wellness
manage stress
alleviate pain
express feelings
enhance memory
improve communication
Music therapy is beneficial for anyone from children to elderly people, healthy
or ill. It is not just classical music that is used for therapeutic purposes. All styles of
music may have a healing effect. The AMTA website stresses that the individual's
preferences, circumstances and need for treatment, and the client or patient's goals help
to determine the types of music a music therapist may use.
Holzknech further mentions an experiment done in prison when trying to support
his claim that music has a relaxing and soothing effect on people. In the experiment,
music was used to dispel prisoners depression. This method was highly successful with
the exception of felons who remained indifferent to the music. Music helped in many
cases where spoken word and books failed. Prisoners were even saving money to buy
their own musical instruments and started forming little groups. Forbidding them to
participate in the musical sessions was viewed as the hardest punishment (1969:406).
However, Holzknech also admits that music may have the opposite effect,
describing a story of a friend of his who was unable to continue with her scientific work
because her neighbour kept playing music that made it impossible for her to concentrate
or ignore it (1969:407). Although, the above-mentioned disadvantage may not be valid
in the case of teaching vocabulary through songs since in the case of a student working
on her scientific work, music served as a distraction and not as a means of learning the
subject.
Music therapy is done by music therapists who assess emotional well-being,
physical health, social functioning, communication abilities, and cognitive skills
through musical responses. Then, they design music sessions for individuals and groups
based on client needs using music improvisation, receptive music listening, song
writing, lyric discussion, music and imagery, music performance, and learning through
13
including discriminating the meaning of closely related words (e.g. lush and
plush)
-
when producing language, using the correct form of a word for the meaning
intended (i.e. nose not noise) (2002:2).
Hopefully, music could help students fulfil one these recommendations since the
words used in songs are remembered, along with the melody of the song, throughout a
lifetime.
How is vocabulary learned? Thornbury mentions three ways of acquiring words
labelling, categorising and network building. Labelling means "mapping words on to
concepts. Categorizing skills enable a child to "extend the concept of a word (2002:18)
which means that a child understands that the word dog includes "other peoples dogs,
toy dogs, and even pictures of dogs (2002:18). Network building stands for
"constructing a complex web of words so that items like [] family and brother are
interconnected (2002:18).
When learning vocabulary, some words seem to be easier to remember than
others. What makes a word difficult? Thornbury made a list of several "factors that
make some words more difficult than others:
-
difficult pronunciation,
spelling (e.g. words that contain silent letters such as foreign, listen),
15
Learners need tasks and strategies to help them organise their mental lexicon
by building networks of associations the more the better.
Teachers need to accept that the learning of new words involves a period of
initial fuzziness.
Words need to be presented in their typical contexts, so that learners can get
a feel for their meaning, their register, their collocations, and their syntactic
environments,
Teaching should direct attention to the sound of new words, particularly the
way they are stressed.
Learners need multiple exposures to words and they need to retrieve words
from memory repeatedly.
Not all the vocabulary that the learners need can be taught: learners will
need plentiful exposure to speech and text as well as training for self-directed
learning (2002:30).
16
17
the Illustration treatment groups were shown large, color illustrations of the story
while listening to the tape-recording. [] Subjects were able to derive the
meaning of unfamiliar words from illustrations. Subjects in the No Illustration
group were not shown illustrations; therefore, they extracted meaning from
contextual information.
Her research proved that the same amount of language acquisition resulted
whether musical or non-musical means were used (The effects of Music Upon Second
Language Vocabulary Acquisition (ERIC)). However, the combination of music and
illustration consistently yielded the highest average amount of vocabulary gain (The
effects of Music Upon Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (FLES)).
Some scientists claim that the first thing we learn when acquiring our first
language is the discourse intonation that may be viewed as music since it is the actual
melody of the language. The pre-existing patterns of music in the early development of
language prove that the two are already long acquainted. Through its mother's body,
womb, and amniotic fluid, a fetus cannot hear consonants; it only hears the musical
vowel sounds (Stansell). Lake states that children learn to sing before they speak. An
infants communication is a series of coos that communicate hunger, fatigue, alarm or
pleasure. Further, a childs mother can discern the childs need based on pitch. Mora
quoted by Stansell adds that later on, it is through interaction that a child picks up not
only the musicality of each language, but also the necessary communication skills.
Moreover, for better acquisition of their mother tongue, children are taught nursery
rhymes, poems, but also songs. Why should it be any different when learning a second
language and its vocabulary?
Learning a mother tongue, the child first hears the language before it can speak
it. Brown writes that
one should learn with his/her ears before learning with his/her eyes. In learning
ones own language there are five or six years in which language skills are
developed by ear before the reading and/or writing of language is introduced.
This natural process enables one to instinctively communicate verbally with
words and later, after learning to read, learn to write those thoughts down.
Thornbury agrees when he describes the difference between acquiring a first
language and a second language is that "second language learners already have a first
18
19
Pop songs have poor vocabulary too much slang and bad grammar.
Which songs should you choose? Many express violence and sexism.
Many of the above mentioned are, of course, irrational. For instance, most
students take music seriously, especially their favourite music by their idols. The
vocabulary of many songs may be of poor quality and full of slang, but so is the natural
language used in everyday situations, therefore it is necessary that students get
acquainted with the slang. Nowadays, it is very easy to find any lyrics on the Internet.
The technical equipment should not be a problem anymore since there is at least one CD
player in most schools. Even though some EFL songs are boring, the teacher may
choose any other song. Murphey argues that "the supply is inexhaustible!" (1992:8) and
summarises this by saying "no material will answer all our different needs", and that
success depends "on successful manipulation of the material by the teacher" (1992:9).
How can teachers use the material effectively? Murphey suggests the following
activities that teachers can do with students when teaching English through popular
songs:
-
study grammar
translate songs
dictate a song
do choral repetition
teach vocabulary
teach culture
learn about your students and from your students, letting them choose and
explain their music
For teaching vocabulary, the most appropriate activities are probably writing
dialogues using the words of a song, dictating a song, using a song for gap-fill, cloze, or
for correction, integrating songs into project work, practicing pronunciation, intonation,
and stress. However, Murphey stresses that teachers should be careful not to kill the
material by doing too much of serious work (1992:10), that is why he believes that
probably the most important thing to do with a song in an English classroom is just to
have fun because it can stimulate very positive associations to the study of a language,
which otherwise may only be seen as a laborious task, entailing exams, frustration, and
correction(1992:6).
Blodget, who is not only a teacher, but also a musician and songwriter, has used
music to teach a second language successfully for many years. He mentioned even
some more ideas as to what students can do with the song in the lessons. They can:
-
dance and choreography moving hands, head, feet, and body to the music
in creative ways
re-write the song either altogether in an original and creative lyric (for those
who can), or by substituting all the nouns, or adjective, or other parts of
speech so as to make a new song lyric, and much more.
Stansell mentions Fawn Whittakers article that deals with the use of music
through literature review. She believes that songs have a positive effect in all languagelearning areas (listening, speaking, reading and writing). She describes her process of
presenting a song to a class, which consists of four steps. The first step is playing the
song to the students. Then, she has students repeat the words which is followed by
22
pointing out new expressions giving students pronunciation cues. She finishes by
playing the song again while the students are allowed to sing along. Stansell concludes
that this approach might "lead to the out-of-class associations that are crucial to
language learning. Simply attending class a few days a week and doing homework does
not a proficient language speaker make, but adding songs encourages rehearsal." Of
course, this theory is also valid for teaching vocabulary.
Blodget also stresses that by using music to teach a language,
all of the (Howard Gardners) seven multiple intelligences are addressed when
teaching language through music with the appropriate accompanying exercises:
-
individual (the fallback for all of the written exercises, as well as with
individual projects and culminating activities).
Moreover, music does not only reach students inteligence. It is also emotional,
so even if students do not understand the meaning of all the words, music itself might
help them. There are music videos to most popular songs that also help students
understand the content of the lyrics. There is usually some topic or story covered in the
lyrics therefore students learn the new word within a context.
Another reason for using songs in English lessons is that the lyrics are often rich,
sometimes deep, at times silly or funny, which is something students appreciate. They
are full of slang words that are not covered by traditional English textbooks. Some
songs touch interesting topics that may be used for further discussion. Some lyrics are
even demanding and can be useful when trying to teach students to see the deeper
meaning of different texts. Murphey agrees that some songs can be quite complex
syntactically, lexically, and poetically and can be analyzed in the same way as any other
literary sample (1992:8).
The fact that song lyrics cover vast themes and topics means that the vocabulary
that students are exposed to is immense. One student of Spanish revealed at Language
Learner Adviser web site that using music to learn another language
23
24
There are two types of motivation; intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic
motivation "occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it
either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are
learning is significant" and extrinsic motivation means that "a student is compelled to do
something or act a certain way because of factors external to him or her (like money or
good grades)" (Motivation). Educational psychologists have studied intrinsic
motivation "and numerous studies have found it to be associated with high educational
achievement and enjoyment by students"(Motivation). The intrinsic motivation can be
achieved, if students:
" - attribute their educational results to internal factors that they can control (e.g.
the amount of effort they put in),
- believe they can be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i.e. the results
are not determined by luck),
- are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to achieve
good grades" (Motivation).
The method of using popular songs to teach vocabulary should make students
motivated intrinsically since it is believed that students will be interested in the songs
for they were chosen to be their favourite songs by their favourite artists based on a
questionnaire that they had answered. Shtakser mentioned that
"students relate to songs as part of entertainment rather than work and find
learning vocabulary through songs amusing rather than tedious. This is true especially
with pop songs which are part of youth culture. Better familiarity with these songs
improves students status within the peer group and therefore stimulates learning."
Thornbury writes that "for a long time, teaching approaches such as the Direct
Method and audiolingualism gave greater priority to the teaching of grammatical
structures (2002:14). He claims that it was the communicative approach that played the
key role in the "re-think of the role of vocabulary (2002:14). Teaching vocabulary
through music has similar features as two effective modern language-learning
approaches, one focusing on vocabulary called Lexical Approach and Suggestopedia.
Heres a brief discription of the two methods.
Lexical Approach was developed by Michael Lewis who believed that
"an important part of language acquisition is the ability to comprehend and
produce lexical phrases as unanalyzed wholes, or "chunks," and that these
25
chunks become the raw data by which learners perceive patterns of language
traditionally thought of as grammar (Lewis, 1993, p. 95)."
Moudraia writes that "the key principle of a lexical approach is that "language
consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar." It distinguishes vocabulary
from lexis. Vocabulary are words with fixed meanings while lexis includes
"the word combinations that we store in our mental lexicons. [...] The lexical
approach advocates argue that language consists of meaningful chunks that,
when combined, produce continuous coherent text, and only a minority of
spoken sentences are entirely novel creations" (Moudraia).
Lewis suggests the following taxonomy of lexical items:
-
sentence frames and heads (e.g., That is not as ...as you think; The
fact/suggestion/problem/danger was ...) and even text frames (e.g., In this
paper we explore ...; Firstly ...; Secondly ...; Finally ...) (Moudraia).
first and second language comparisons and translation--carried out chunkfor-chunk, rather than word-for-word--aimed at raising language awareness.
working with language corpuses created by the teacher for use in the
classroom or accessible on the Internet.
(Suggestopedia). In his website, Lozanov claims that using this method means "three
26
to five times faster, easier and deeper learning, inner freedom, increasing the motivation
for learning, joyful learning and psychol-physiological well-being."
Suggestopedia works with relaxation. Lozanov further writes that it is "a science
for
developing
different
non-manipulative
and
non-hypnotic
methods
for
teaching/learning of foreign languages and other subjects for every age-group on the
level of reserve (potential, unused) capacities of the brain/mind" and in his website
provides an extract of recommendations from international expert group of UNESCO
that has tested and evaluated his method as "generally superior" and recommends using
this method for teaching many subjects all over the world ( ).
Teaching using this method is done in four phases: introduction, concert session,
elaboration and production. The introduction is a part where the teacher focuses on the
grammar and lexis of the content that is going to be taught in a playful manner. The
concert session can be either active or passive. According to Wikipedia, "in the active
session, the teacher reads the text at a normal speed, sometimes intoning some words
and the students follow" while "in the passive session, the students relax and listen to
the teacher reading the text calmly" with music played in the background
(Suggestopedia). Elaboration describes a phase where the students sing songs and
play games with the teacher being a consultant. In the production phase, the students
should be able to use actively what they have learned, which means that they should be
able to "speak and interact in the target language without interruption or correction"
(Suggestopedia).
The teacher should not control the students. Instead, he should be a partner to the
students and participate in all activities. Lozanov requires that the teacher should be
trained in order to be able to elaborate professionally the intonation, rhythm and tone.
He argues that it is also a very "good way to manage discipline among children"
however, he insists that it is not a method of amusement as many people think because
of the good spirits within the group" because he believes that "unnatural joking aimed at
relaxation does not accelerate but retards the process of education" ( ).
Lozanov further recommends that the material "should be arranged and
systematised in view of its easier and more profound assimilation." His other
requirements concern the volume and complexity of the material which "should be on
the border of the conscious mind and even partly in the peripheral perceptions or the
paraconsciousness" where "much of minds reserves exist." Therefore, a special training
for teachers is essential in order to be able to work "in the field of the reserve (unused or
27
most often unknown) great personal capacities" otherwise the teacher is going to have
difficulties doing his or her work.
What connects the method of teaching vocabulary through music to the abovementioned two approaches? The method that this work focuses on shares one common
feature with suggestopedia, music. It seems that music is the key element of
suggestopedia making it so special. The method of using popular songs to teach English
also covers some aspects of the lexical approach since it includes the above mentioned
"intensive and extensive listening in the target language" and "repetition and recycling
of activities, such as summarizing a text orally one day and again a few days later to
keep words and expressions that have been learned active" ("Lexical Approach"). Some
exercises created for the songs in the practical part are "guessing the meaning of
vocabulary items from context", which is also one of the features of the Lexical
Approach ("Lexical Approach"). To sum up, the method tested by this work shares
some of the characteristics of Suggestopedia and Lexical Approach, two modern
foreign-language teaching methods.
Moreover, using students favourite songs to teach vocabulary creates endless
opportunities for revision and revision is fundamental for storing the information in long
term memory, which is the main objective of this work, to help students learn new
vocabulary forever. Linhart says that "without revision, there is no learning"
(1967:147). Revising the subject matter in different ways deepens students knowledge.
It is also very important that the revision is done systematically. Revising should be
done also outside the classroom which is something many students have problems with.
However, music might help those students to overcome this problem since it has the
quality of sticking in ones head. Murphey calls this ability `the song stuck in my head
phenomenon` which stands for "the echoing in our minds of the last song we heard"
(1992:7).
To ensure even higher probability of students revision, it was already mentioned
that the songs were chosen to fit their taste in music. Most students enjoy listening to
their favourite music and this will quarantee one of the goals conditions of this work in
having them revise the vocabulary in order to for them to learn the vocabulary for good.
Moreover, the song itself is a source of repetition. Each song consists of usually
2 verses, a bridge and a chorus. The lyrics of the verses and the bridge usually differ.
However, the chorus usually repeats several times, therefore the lyrics of the chorus and
the new vocabulary included in the chorus will probably be remembered first
28
There is also another theory supporting the idea of the effectiveness of the tested
method. This theory analyzes the effects of left and right brain on learning. Lake
mentions James Asher who believed that no genuine learning can happen until there is
a switch from the left to right brain. Lake explains this quote saying that there must be
images for the mental representation of a word in order to retain and use it. He
continues, describing people with right brain dominant personalities as those who prefer
drawings, freedom in expressing emotions and use of metaphors. Right brain people
respond well to illustrated instructions and rely heavily on images in thinking or
remembering. According to Lake, the left brain dominant individual is defined as
being more verbally oriented and objective. They rely on language in thinking and tend
to be analytical in their reading. The left brain learner rarely uses metaphor. He claims
that music is beneficial for both type of personalities because it uses both brain
hemispheres. Emotion and language are one in a song.
This part of the work shows that the method tested by this work meets the basic
criteria for effective learning such as motivation, effective teaching method and
revision. Songs used by this method should provide the necessary motivation for
students. The method of using songs to teach vocabulary includes aspects of two
mordern successful approaches. Moreover, the tested teaching method quarantees
revision in several ways. Using music also seems effective for people, with both right
and left brain dominant individuals.
1.6. Memory
Since memory plays the key role in learning vocabulary and a foreign language
in general, it is also going to be analysed in detail.
Linhart defined memory in the following way: memory is an organism's ability
to store, retain, and subsequently retrieve information for a certain time (1982:126).
Memory can be classified in several ways. The classifications are based on duration,
nature and retrieval of information. There are three stages in the formation and retrieval
of memory encoding, storage and retrieval. Encoding is a process of processing and
combining of received information (Memory). Storage describes a creation of a
permanent record of the encoded information and retrieval means calling back the
stored information in response to some cue for use in a process or activity
(Memory).
29
- Retrieval: Activities that require retrieval of the new material, such as using the
new word in written sentences.
- Spacing: Distributing memory work across a period of time
- Pacing: Giving the opportunity to pace learners own rehearsal activities.
- Use: putting new words to use.
- Cognitive depth: The more cognitively demanding decisions the learner makes
about a word, the better the word is remembered.
- Personal organising: The judgements that learners make about a word are most
effective if they are personalised.
- Imaging: Learners remember visualised words better and that is why it is
recommended that learners associate even abstract words with some mental image.
- Motivation: Strong motivation makes the learner to spend more time on
rehearsal and practice.
- Attention/arousal: Words that trigger a strong emotional response are more
easily recalled than ones that dont. (2002: 24-25)
Using students favourite songs definitely ensures repetition, motivation,
personalised approach and certainly arouses students attention. Since the lyrics of the
songs are going to be analyzed, students should always connect the words used in the
song with the melody, thus associating it with a mental image.
Thornbury asks Why do we forget words? Forgetting is a natural process and
according to Linhart, it is not the opposite of learning (1982:139). He writes that in
order for certain information to be stored other has to be forgotten (1982:139). It has
been estimated that up to 80 per cent of material is lost within 24 hours of initial
learning, but that then the rate of forgetting levels out (2002:26). He mentions a study
of learners retention of foreign language which revealed that in the absence of
opportunities to use the language, rapid forgetting occurred in the first three or four
years after instruction, but then levelled out, with very little further loss, even up to 50
years later. Forgetting may be caused by interference from subsequent learning and by
insufficient recycling (2002:26). By interference is meant overload of students when
the price for learning new language items is the forgetting of old ones (2002:26).
Based on this finding, teachers are advised not to teach words in lexical sets where
words have very similar meanings (2002:26).
Blodget believes that there is no better way for storing information in long-term
memory than through music. He stresses that "probably nothing imprints linguistic
31
patterns better than words wedded to memorable music. Because of the unique
impressive nature of melodic music, students will retain grammatical structures and
vocabulary for the rest of their lives." Lake argues that "the key factor to storing
material in a persons long-term memory is rehearsal. Adding rhythm and melody to
chunks of language invites rehearsal and transfers words into the long-term memory."
Medina states that "in the psychological research, music and its subcomponent,
rhythm, have both been shown to benefit the rote memorization process. When various
types of verbal information (e.g., multiplication tables, spelling lists) have been
presented simultaneously with music, memorization has been enhanced (Gfeller, 1983;
Schuster and Mouzon, 1982). Research on the effectiveness of rhythm, a subcomponent
of music, has been equally favorable (Staples, 1968; Ryan, 1969; Weener, 1971;
Shepard and Ascher, 1972; Milman, 1974). The literature also indicates that the
retentive effects of rhythm can be maximized when the targeted verbal information
carries meaning. In several studies, a rhythmic presentation benefitted memorization
when the items were both meaningful and meaningless (i.e., nonsense syllables). Yet,
the impact of rhythm was greatest when the verbal information was more meaningful
(Weener, 1971; Shepard and Ascher, 1971; Glazner, 1976)" (The effects of Music
Upon Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (ERIC)).
1.7. Summary
The objective of the theoretical part was to analyze music, its role and
importance in peoples lives, history, which was important because it connected
language learning and music together, the psychological effects of music, current
scientific findings on using music for language teaching and of course, the general
process of learning and memory playing the key part in learning vocabulary. All the
information was presented in order to support the potential positive effects that the
method of using songs to teach English should have. The knowledge gained is applied
below in the practical part.
32
2. Practical Part
2.1. Information about the students
Since the author had not other choice but to work with the following three
groups, it is necessary to describe them in order to get a deeper understanding of the
results of this work. The songs were piloted with 3 groups of the seventh, eighth and
ninth grades at an elementary school in Krom. The three classes are very different
and teaching in those groups requires different approaches. The group of the seventh
class consists of mostly well-behaved students with good attitudes towards learning.
The groups of eighth and ninth grade consist of rather weak students of these two
classes often with disciplinary problems.
There are 16 children in the seventh grade, 11 girls and 5 boys. As mentioned
before, there are no big educational or disciplinary problems in this group. However,
there are two students whose level of English is very low and who have faced failing
different subjects in the past. One of them is a girl whose problems are caused by a high
number of hours absent and who comes from a socially deprived family. The other
student is a boy who always disrupts the lessons. Holding his attention and making him
participate in the classroom is not an easy task because he is constantly busy trying to
entertain his peers or doing something completely unrelated to the classroom activities.
Moreover, there are two girls who struggle with English, and their attitude towards the
subject is not positive. They are concerned with everything except what is happening in
the class and rarely do they express an effort. They do enjoy music, though. The other
rest of the class is active most of the time, trying to learn with little adolescent displays
here and there, but in general, teaching these students is a pleasure. Most of these
students seem to love music, often listening to it on their MP3 players, and like to talk
about their favourite stars.
On the other hand, teaching the eighth grade is a constant battle. There are 9
girls and 9 boys. The biggest challenge for a teacher are three boys with considerable
disciplinary or learning problems. One boy has lived in a childrens home. There has
been a lawsuit which is constantly being suspended. His parents are in the middle of a
custody battle. He has been living in uncertainty for more than two years now, not
knowing what is going to happen with his life, which has left its effects on his
emotional and psychological well-being, which is eventually the cause for all his
33
boys in the class, however he has got many adoring female admirers who try to gain his
respect by behaving in a similar way. He even has a criminal record with the police and
has caused many problems at school.
The rest of the students in the ninth grade also represent average learners with no
magnificent attitude towards learning English and with slight disciplinary problems.
However, they are usually willing to cooperate, prepare for the classes, do their
homework and pay attention during the lessons and the love for music in this group is
evident.
35
II.
III.
6
4
3
Number of votes
2
Chart position
1.
2.
3.
IV.
Number of votes
Musical genre
Hip-hop
Pop
Rap
Rock
Number of votes
10
6
4
Chart position
1.
2.
Musical genre
Country
Funk
36
Number of votes
6
5
Heavy Metal
Punk
Jazz
3.
V.
Number of votes
6
2
Everyday
Several times a week
Chart position
1.
2.
II.
Number of votes
3
III.
Number of votes
2
Chart position
1.
2.
3.
IV.
Musical genre
Hip-hop
Rock
Pop
Rap
Number of votes
9
8
6
Chart position
1.
2.
3.
Musical genre
Opera
Country
Heavy Metal
37
Number of votes
9
8
7
V.
Number of votes
11
1
Everyday
Several times a week
I.
4.
II.
Number of votes
6
5
3
III.
38
Number of votes
4
3
Chart position
1.
2.
3.
IV.
Number of votes
12
7
Chart position
1.
2.
3.
V.
Musical genre
Hip-hop
Pop
Punk
Rock
Rap
Musical genre
Number of votes
13
11
Opera
Country
Classical Music
Musicals
Jazz
Frequency
Everyday
A few times a month
Number of votes
15
1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5
Number of votes
7
6
5
4
3
III.
1.
2.
3.
IV.
3.
Musical genre
Hip-hop
Pop
Rock
Rap
Number of votes
31
19
18
Chart position
1.
2.
3.
VI.
4
3
Chart position
1.
2.
V.
Number of votes
Musical genre
Country
Opera
Classical music
Number of votes
25
22
20
Number of votes
46
3
1
Everyday
Several times a week
A few times a month
40
This method of teaching vocabulary was piloted with nine songs. Some of the
songs were done with all three groups and some of them only with one group. The
songs were selected so that there was at least one song for each person who had filled
the questionnaire in the particular group.
This is a list of songs selected for the seventh grade:
Rihanna "Dont Stop the Music"
Shakira "Dont Bother"
Fergie - "Clumsy"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge"
The eighth grade listened to the following songs:
Rihanna "Dont Stop the Music"
Ozzy Osbourse "Mama Im Coming Home"
Eminem "Mockingbird"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge"
The following songs were chosen for the ninth grade:
Rihanna "Dont Stop the Muxic"
Blink 182 "I Miss You"
Eminem "Mockingbird"
Jamiroquai "Cosmic Girl"
41
also some troubling students who had to be tested in order to learn the new words. It
should be noted that students were not required to learn all the new vocabulary that
appeared in the lyrics of the song, but they were instructed by the teacher which words
they would be tested on because in some of the lyrics, there were too many new words.
This was done so as not to overload the students. The words that students were
supposed to learn are listed in the aim for each song and they were usually the ones that
appeared in the exercises. The words listed in the wordlist on the handouts were there to
help the students get a better understanding of the lyrics.
Level:
Aim:
Time:
Material:
a CD player
a CD with the song
a copy of a handout for each student
a bilingual dictionary for each student
Assumptions:
1. Play the song for students to listen and to fill in the missing words. Play the song
again. Check the words by asking students to give you the words that they have
filled in. Write the words on the board for those students who might have missed
some words.
42
Answer key
Music; away; baby; play; DJ; show;
15 minutes
2. Ask students to match the opposites in the two columns. Some students may
know some of the words in this exercise. Ask them to tell the rest of the class the
Czech equivalents. Give students dictionaries to look up the rest of the words
that they do not know.
Answer key
Impossible possible
Incredible unremarkable
Naughty decent
Private - public
5 minutes
3. Get students to look at the lyrics of the bridge and ask them to find the four
words describing the parts of a human body. Students should know the words
hand and face but they might have problems with the words chest and waist.
Answer key
hand; waist; face; chest
4 minutes
4. Most students have problems understanding all the meanings of the word way.
Ask them to read the lyrics and to try to make out the three different meanings of
this word as set in their worksheet.
Answer key
1. zpsob Like the way you do this
2. smr - when you looked my way
3. cesta Im making my way over to my favourite place
5 minutes
5. Ask students to match the synonyms in the two columns. You may let them use
dictionaries to look up the words they do not understand.
Answer key
Refuse say no
Go on happen
Rock dance
43
7. This exercise can be done as a homework. Ask students to learn all the new
words and complete this exercise at home. By answering the four questions, they
are going to get a name of a Michael Jackson song that is sampled in this
Rihanna song.
Answer key
Wanna Be Starting Something
6 minutes
2nd lesson
The remaining exercises may be done either at the beginning of the lesson or at
the end of the following lesson to revise the vocabulary that they learned the previous
lesson.
8. To revise the new vocabulary that the students were supposed to learn at home.
Play the song again and let them fill in the missing words. Check the correct
answers with students.
Answer key
44
shake; possible; aura; rocking; naughty; waist; chest; chest; wanna; escape;
refuse; keep; passion
7 minutes
9. To revise the learnt vocabulary, have a discussion with the students about the
topic of the song by having them answer these questions.
Answer key
Students own answers.
13 minutes
Level:
low pre-intermediate
Aim:
to teach new vocabulary of the lyrics (kind, fat free, cool, see,
own, unkind, practice, lose ones nerve, deserve, bother, wait,
lose, promise, cry, defy, beat, give up, file, stay, be glad)
to get students acquainted with some of English weights and
measures (foot, pound)
to revise and practice comparatives and superlatives
Time:
45 minutes
Material:
a CD player
a CD with the song
a copy of handout for each student
bilingual dictionary for each student
Assumptions:
Most pupils should know this song well since it is a recent hit.
The lyrics are not as difficult, however few new words appear
making the lyrics slightly difficult, but not incomprehensible.
Shakiras accent might cause difficulties in the beginning, but
students should be able to understand in the end.
I.
Play the song for students and have them fill in the missing words. Some
students may have problems understanding her accent so play the song again
45
for them to have an opportunity to fill in those words that they did not
understand the first time.
Answer key
Look; school; she; sorry; be; doesnt; see; country; football
14 minutes
II.
Tell students to connect the synonyms in the table. They should know most
of the words. They are allowed to use a dictionary to look up those words
that they do not know.
Answer key
Kind type
Fat free slim
Cool great
See understand
Own have
Unkind - unfriendly
5 minutes
III.
Read the instructions and ask students whether they know how many metres
is one foot. If they do not know, tell them that one foot is 0,3048 metres.
Then ask them to do a sum.
Answer key
c) 1,80 m
2 minutes
IV.
Answer key
a) 0,45 kg
2 minutes
V.
Ask students to connect the words with the phrases. Tell them that they may
work in pairs. Help them with the phrases that they may have difficulties
understanding.
Answer key
1g
2b
3h
46
4d
5i
6e
7a
8m
9p
10 f
11 c
12 k
13 l
14 j
15 o
16 n
16 minutes
VI.
Tell students to look at the first verse of the lyrics and find all the
comparatives and superlatives and put them in the table filling the other two
forms of the adjectives.
Answer key
adjective
comparative
superlative
great
greater
the greatest
much, many
more
the most
good
better
the best
3 minutes
VII.
Ask students to think about their lives and write one thing that they are glad
about.
Answer key
Students own answers
3 minutes
VIII.
Answer key
47
Level:
Aim:
Time:
45 minutes
Material:
a CD player
a CD with the song
a copy of handout for each student
bilingual dictionary for each student
Assumptions:
I.
Play the song for students and ask them to fill in the missing words.
Answer key
Time; play; me; love; love; cant; love; me;
10 minutes
II.
There are two similar or confusing words in each sentence of this exercise.
Ask students to choose the correct one. Tell them to look at the lyrics where
they can find some of the expressions to help them. Explain the differences
between words they may seemingly mean the same such as single and alone.
Answer key
48
falls; serious; single; broke up; crawls; bite; breath; touch; alone; sank; crushed;
sleeves; clumsy; cool; crazy; like
20 minutes
III.
Ask students to describe situations that make them feel clumsy. They may
prepare their answer and write them down or they can have a discussion
about it in classroom.
Answer key
Students own answers
15 minutes
Level:
Aim:
Time:
45 minutes
Material:
a CD player
a CD with the song
a copy of handout for each student
bilingual dictionary for each student
49
Assumptions:
Students should already know all the irregular verbs that appear in
the lyrics. This song has been chosen to please just one student in
the group but since this is quite a famous song and there are
couple of students who like rock music, they might eventually
enjoy this song.
I.
Play the song and let students fill in the missing words.
Answer key
Come; home; me; lost; good-bye; so; but; everyday; dont; me;
8 minutes
II.
The table includes irregular verbs that appear in the lyrics of the song. Ask
students to fill in the other forms of the irregular verbs as well as their Czech
equivalents.
Answer key
Verb
Past simple
Past participle
esky
see
saw
seen
vidt
come
came
come
pijt, pijet
go
went
gone
jt, jet
be
was/were
been
bt
take
took
taken
vzt, brt
drive
drove
driven
dit
have
had
had
mt
lose
lost
lost
ztratit
find
found
found
najt
make
made
made
udlat, vyrobit
tell
told
told
ci
stand
stood
stood
stt, vystt
take
took
taken
III.
Ask students to write down two things that they cannot stand doing.
Answer key
Students own answers
5 minutes
50
IV.
Answer key
1. hypnotized
2. ride
3. tell lies
4. turn around
5. cry
6. heart
7. go by
8. selfish
9. made
10. apart
11. hurt
12. take
13. stones
14. fire
15. strange
16. seems
Solution: Prince of Darkness
17 minutes
V.
Ask students to read the lyrics and answer the two questions.
Answer key
Where is Ozzy going? He is going home.
Has he changed? Yes, he has.
2 minutes
Level:
51
Aim:
2 x 45 minutes
Material:
a CD player
a CD with the song
a copy of a handout for each student
a bilingual dictionary for each student
Assumptions:
I.
Play the song and have students fill in the missing words. It may be
necessary to play the song more than once or twice since students may have
problems following the text.
Answer key
sometimes; you; smile; be; is; why; crazy; dollars; CD; TV; sing
20 minutes
II.
Before starting analyzing the lyrics of the song, to help students understand
what the song is about, ask them who or what is Hailie. Eminems fans will
know the she is his daughter. Also, ask them who is Eminem refering to
when he says mommy and daddy. Make sure that students know that by
52
mommy and daddy he means himself and his wife. Have students read the
phrases and try to quess their meaning based on the context of the lyrics and
what they know about Eminem.
Answer key
Straighten up little soldier stiffen up that upper lip. Be strong. Dont cry.
Ima give you the world. I am going to give you the world.
Papa was a rolling stone. Your father cannot live in one place and keep longterm
relationships with people.
To develop a habit. To become dependant on some substances.
Witness something first hand. See something with your own eyes.
It backfires on me. What I do turns against me.
10 minutes
III.
Ask students what they think a piggy bank is. Tell them to use their
imagination and to compare the word with the Czech language because there
is a similar term in their mother tongue.
Answer key
prastko (na penze)
1 minutes
IV.
Read the sentences with students and ask them to look at the lyrics to find
the described words.
Answer key
witness; soldier; jeweler; promise; nightmare; shoot; ring; argue; mockingbird;
break into
10 minutes
V.
Tell students to finish the three sentences with the three words: puzzled,
scared, proud.
Answer key
a) scared
b) puzzled
c) proud
4 minutes
Tell students to learn the vocabulary that they have learned so far at home so
that they can continue with the following exercises.
53
2nd lesson
VI.
Tell students to try to read the three words. Have them think about what
words these three words sound like and what words could they represent.
Answer key
gonna; you; I am going to
4 minutes
Get students to read the lyrics again. Go through the lyrics with students and
help them to understands the difficult parts. Then have them answer the following
questions.
25 minutes
VII.
Answer key
b) his daughter
1 minute
VIII.
Based on the lyrics and what students know about Eminem, have them finish
the sentence. Eminem and his wife:
Answer key
b) have problems.
1 minutes
IX.
Ask students which of the three answers describes the content of the verse.
Answer key
a) third verse
b) first verse
c) second verse
2 minutes
X.
Ask the group that read the second verse to answer this question.
He had no money. He spent one Christmas crying because he did not have enough
money to buy his children presents. He lived in a slum and his wife tried to save
some money for their children, but someone stole the money. He and his wife were
fighting and Eminem left his family to live somewhere else. Then, he went to
California where he met Dr. Dre and became succesful. However, he could not
spend time with his family. His wife became dependant on some substances and he
54
felt he had failed as a father again and tried to comfort his children. He was not
happy.
10 minutes
XI.
Answer key
No, he is not.
1 minute
XII.
Ask the group that read the third verse what was it about. What would
Eminem do for his children?
Answer key
d) do it all.
1 minutes
Level:
Aim:
Time:
45 minutes
Material:
a CD player
a CD with the song
a copy of a handout for each student
a bilingual dictionary for each student
Assumptions:
The lyrics may be a bit difficult for students because the lyrics are
quite poetic, but this song is one of students favourite songs
should guarantee students interest.
I.
Play the song and ask students to fill in the missing words.
Answer key
55
Have students read the clues and fill in the crossword. All the words needed
for this crossword can be found in the lyrics of the song. Tell students to
look at the lyrics. This will help them.
Answer key
1. nightmare
2. shadow
3. morgue
4. creep
5. waste
6. valley
7. indecision
8. treason
9. unsuspecting
10. stare
Solution: Tom DeLonge
15 minutes
III.
Ask students to look at the first column of three words that they should know
and then, have them guess the meaning of the related words in the second
column.
Answer key
Background pozadi
Darkness tma, temnota
Insides - bicho
4 minutes
Tell students to look at the lyrics and get them answer the following questions.
IV.
Answer key
He feels sad and depressed.
7 minutes
V.
Answer key
56
He feels this way because his girlfriend left him and he misses her.
3 minutes
VI.
Answer key
He counts webs from all the spiders catching things and eating their insides.
2 minutes
VII.
Answer key
Yes, he does.
2 minutes
VIII.
Answer key
Students own answers
4 minutes
Level:
Aim:
Time:
45 minutes
Material:
a CD player
a CD with the song
a copy of a handout for each student
a bilingual dictionary for each student
57
Assumptions:
as the other songs since it has been chosen to please only one
student and it is not a current hit and it is expected that the rest of
the class will not know this group nor the song, therefore they
might not be as interested in it. There is quite a number of new
words, but most of these words should not cause troubles because
they are similar to Czech equivalents.
I.
Before playing the song, tell students that there are some words in italics in
the lyrics and that they are supposed to underline the word they are going to
hear in the song. Play the song. Check the words with students. Write them
on the blackboard.
Answer key
Saturday; dance; baby; should; eyes; galaxy; ecstasy; cosmic; forty; call; step; care;
galaxy; time
10 minutes
II.
Tell students to find the words described in each verse of the lyrics.
Answer key
First verse
1. heaven
2. across
3. land
4. clear
5. umbrella
6. check
7. beam
8. cos
Second verse
1. right
2. distant
3. encounter
4. list
5. all the same
6. other
58
7. world
8. step in
9. all around
10. flounder
11. hyperspace
Third verse
1. rest
20 minutes
III.
Answer key
TV series called Star Trek.
3 minutes
IV.
There is a list of words connected to space and physics that are similar to
their Czech equivalents. Tell students to guess their meaning.
Answer key
Ecstasy extze
Cosmic kosmick
Galaxy galaxie
Questar nzev njak planety
Solar system solrn systm
Teleport teleportovat
Transmit pemstit se
Frequency frekvence
Scan snmat
Gravity gravitace
Magnetise magnetizovat, ovlivnit, upoutat, okouzlit
Transporter dopravnk, transportr
Radars radary
Laser - laser
8 minutes
59
V.
Tell students to think about the songs they have done before and ask them if
they can think of a song with similar lyrics and name the similarities.
Answer key
Rihanna Dont Stop the Music
The song is also about a boy and a girl meeting at a discoteque.
4 minutes
Level:
Aim:
Time:
45 minutes
Material:
a CD player
a CD with the song
a copy of handout for each student
bilingual dictionary for each student
Assumptions:
I.
To make sure students understand the meaning of the words that they
are supposed to fill in the lyrics later, ask them to make a sentence
using each word from the box.
Answer key
60
Let students guess where the words should be in the lyrics. Then play
the song for students to check their ideas. Check the words with
students and write them on the blackboard.
Answer key
Dont; city; she; am; is; hard; loves;
8 minutes
III.
Answer key
c); a); b); b); a)
6 minutes
IV.
The singer often uses the pronoun she. But what does it refer to? Ask
students.
Answer key
The city
4 minutes
V.
Answer key
Students own answers
20 minutes
61
these three groups were the only ones available to the author, therefore the songs could
not have been piloted with any other students.
The most well-behaved class with good attitudes to learning is the seventh grade.
There are hardly any disciplinary problems and most students enjoy learning and
express their interest in the language. They are active most of the time and work hard
even during "normal" lessons. These students were excited about learning vocabulary
through songs, enjoyed doing all the exercises and were very active. The students liked
the activities so much that they asked to continue in them in the following year and even
tried to analyze lyrics of their favourite songs on their own. Their only weakness was
that their level of English knowledge was quite low and therefore they did not always
get the deep understanding of some of the lyrics. However, this could be easily solved
by having the teacher go through the lyrics and help them with the difficult parts. Foe
example, the teacher can give them a number of possible topics that this song might be
about and have them choose the correct answer.
The eighth grade is a class with big disciplinary problems. There were only few
students active during the lessons throughout the year and the new approach of using
their favourite music to teach them English has not changed their attitude towards
learning very much. It has changed only those students who liked the particular song
that we were working on at that time while the rest of the class continued disrupting the
lesson. The problem with this class was that the students who caused the most trouble
and have the worst attitudes toward English were not interested in music and if they
were, it was Czech music that they were interested in. Those students were making fun
of the artists or the song and sometimes even refused to do a song that was by an artist
they did not like. Therefore these activities did not motivate them the way it was
expected and since those students cause the most problems, which this method did not
solve, the quality and atmosphere of the lessons did not improve that much.
The ninth grade consists of students similar to those in the eigth grade. There are
also many students with disciplinary problems and hardly any interest in English and
learning in general. However, there was one big difference. Most of the students love
music and in this case, the method of using popular songs in English was succesful. It
helped to motivate them, get their attention and most of the students really enjoyed the
activities and were interested in the content of the songs. However, the fact that their
learning habits and attitudes towards English had of poor quality meant that their level
of English was not as high as it could have been if their attitudes had been better.
62
Therefore they sometimes struggled with the lyrics because their vocabulary did not
match the level they were supposed to have reached. They were supposed to be at preintermediate level and they did not understand elementary English.
However, there was one positive aspect common for all the classes. The song
worksheets were the only worksheets that students asked for if they missed a lesson,
even though there is a slight suspicion that they might have asked for it in order to have
the pictures of their favourite stars. Nevertheless, this should be mentioned and taken
into account because having the worksheet increases the possibility of them looking at
the lyrics and learning something from them even if they asked for it for the wrong
reasons.
Another fact worth mentioning is that some students even expressed their
interest in looking for more lyrics. They asked the teacher to show them how to look for
lyrics on the internet, which should also be considered as an achievement because it
proves that this method motivated them into exploring more lyrics.
1
1
1,5
63
Secondly, the average mark from tests on each song is presented in order to find
out which songs were most successful and which ones seemed to cause students the
most difficulties. The entries in the chart are made according to how effective the
particular song proved.
Name of the artist and the song
Average mark
1,2857
the Bridge"
2. Blink 182 "I Miss You"
1,4375
1,7333
Coming Home"
4. Fergie - "Clumsy"
1,9285
2,2142
2,25
8. Eminem - "Mockinbird"
2,5
Music"
Thirdly, the test results were divided by grades. An average mark in tests on
vocabulary learned from coursebook were compared to the average mark in tests on
vocabulary learned through songs.
Grade
vocabulary learned
vocabulary learned
through songs
through coursebook
1,9148
1,588
2,1406
1,931
1,617
Finally, the overall results are presented. The average mark of all students in
tests on coursebook vocabulary was compared to the average mark in tests on
vocabulary learned through songs.
Average mark in tests on vocabulary
64
2,0297
1,6956
65
who have different tastes. And last but not least, some students kept on losing the
worksheets and had nothing to learn from for the tests.
As mentioned above, in general, there is about 0,4 difference between the
average mark on vocabulary learned through songs and vocabulary learned through
textbook in the ninth and seventh grade with the seventh grade scoring slightly better in
both tests since there seem to be better students there. There was little difference
between those two marks in the eighth grade which was probably caused by the fact that
the most troublesome students are not that interested in music and kept on disrupting the
lessons in the same way as they normally do. The non-existant improvement in the
atmosphere during the lessons showed through in the results staying the same.
The most effective proved to be songs by Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Blink 182 and
Ozzy Osbourne. There are several reasons as to why these three songs were the most
successful. "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chilli Peppers was probably the easiest song
as far as grammar is concerned and there were not that many new words to learn. Blink
182s "I miss You" was voted by the students as one of the favourite songs. The lyrics
for Ozzy Osbournes "Mama Im Coming Home" were probably also not as demanding
for the students.
The three songs that caused the most problems were Jamiroquais "Cosmic
Girl", Shakiras "Dont Bother" and "Mockingbird" by Eminem. However, it is not
surprising that these three songs failed. The lyrics for Jamiroquais "Cosmic Girl" were
probably too abstract for students to understand and full of unusual vocabulary and even
though students were not required to learn the difficult words connected to physics, this
song caused them difficulties. Since the songs were selected to fit the taste of all
students who had filled the questionnaire, this song was chosen only because of one
student who mentioned it as his favourite. The rest of the class did not know the song
and since it is not a current hit, it is not played frequently on the radios so they only got
to hear the song in the classroom, which probably was not enough to make the other
students remember the song and its lyrics and learn the new vocabulary.
The lyrics for Shakiras "Dont Bother" are not that difficult, but since this song
was piloted in the seventh grade, the lyrics might have been demanding for them since
the students level of English is the lowest and there were quite a number of new words
for them.
Eminems "Mockingbird", which had the worst results, also has the most
difficult and the longest lyrics. The difficulty of this song may have also been caused by
66
the author who overrated the students level of English due to the fact that she started to
teach them that year and did not know them that well. This song and Eminem are very
popular among students thats why it was chosen for the nineth grade whose level of
English is supposed to be the highest. Even though the students enjoyed the lessons with
this song very much, they still did not succeed learning the new vocabulary.
Nevertheless, there was one big achievement reached with this song that the test results
did not reveal. It was the only song whose lyrics nobody was able to follow as Eminem
was rapping. His rapping seemed too fast at first and his accent unintelligible and it took
several playings before the students were able to understand it. Later on, it cause no
problems and the students got used to it. They found out that it is even possible to
understand rappers.
This method is, however, highly successful if students like the particular song.
The test results on vocabulary learned through music of students who listed the song as
their favourite were excellent. The average mark on five out of eight songs was 1. The
worst results were found in those songs that were not successful in general, Eminems
"Mockingbird" which was the most demanding song, Shakiras "Dont Bother" where
students did not succeed as well, and surprisingly, Blink 182s "I miss You" which was
voted as one of the most popular songs. Nevertheless, Blink 182s score was spoiled by
one of the most troublesome students of the ninth grade described above. If it were not
for him, the average mark would have also been 1.
Putting all the test results aside, the greatest achievement of this experiment was
that the students of the seventh grade want to continue with this method, have already
handed in this years lists of their favourite songs and artists of their own accord and
demand to include songs into English lessons. Some students have already started to
analyze, translate and try to understand lyrics of their favourite songs on their own.
Unfortunately this is not the case of the eighth grade as a whole, whose students seemed
untouched by this method, though there were some exceptions. Two students asked to
continue with the songs. There is no information on how it has effected the students of
the ninth grade, who have left the school, but some positive aspects were already
noticed towards the end of the school year when some students asked the teacher how to
look for the lyrics on the internet.
And as it has already been mentioned, an improvement in the atmosphere during
the lessons and bigger involvement of students when students worked on these songs
should also be considered as an achievement because in many cases the songs helped
67
with the disciplinary problems. Teaching more focused students definitely leads to
better learning by all involved.
68
Conclusion
The objective of the work was to test and measure the effectiveness of teaching
vocabulary through music. This work is divided into two parts, a theoretical and a
practical part. The aim of the theoretical part was to provide scientific findings on
related subjects.
As the results of students test results show, the tested method proved to be
uneffective in general. However, a more detailed analysis of these results revealed
highly positive aspects of this method as well as some achievements. The method of
teaching vocabulary through music led to excellent results when students were tested
on vocabulary of their favourite songs. Students who listed the particular song as their
favourite reached for most songs an average mark 1. The average mark on two songs
was higher than the average mark from tests on vocabulary learned through coursebook,
while one of the two songs reached a number one in the students chart. Based on these
findings, it can be said that teaching vocabulary through music is highly effective if
students like the song.
As mentioned earlier, there were other positive aspects of this method. The
atmosphere during the lessons was better than during ordinary lessons. The students
were more focused and more interested. Some pupils expressed their interest in
searching and working on more lyrics of their favourite songs and one class, the seventh
grade has requested to continue with this method in the following school year. Some
pupils even started to work this way on their own, which is probably more important
achievement than the marks themselves because it added another dimension to ther
language learning process.
To sum up, this method is highly effective if the song used is the students
favourite. However, the overall results of this method were worse than if students
studied vocabulary through their coursebook, though it should be taken into
consideration that the songs were piloted with below-the-average students with very
poor attitudes towards learning and yet some positive results and aspects were achieved.
It may also be that the findings are just a result of the initial fuzziness period that
Thornbury warned of (2002:30).
69
RESUM
Diplomov prce Uen slovek hudbou se zabv pouvnm populrnch psniek
jako metody vuky slovek. Clem bylo otestovat, analyzovat a vyhodnotit efektivnost
tohoto zpsobu prce. Prce je zaloena na hypotze, e uen je efektivn, jsou-li ci
motivovni a zaujati. Zjem m zajistit uit jejich oblbench anglickch a americkch
psniek. Skladby byly vybrny na zklad dotaznk, kter vyplnili studenti, na nich
bude tato metoda testovna. S vyuitm vdeckch poznatk popsanch v teoretick
sti prce byla k textm jednotlivch psn vypracovna rzn cvien, je mla za cl
procviit a objasnit novou slovn zsobu. Efektivnost metody byla zjiovna pomoc
test. ci byli zkoueni ze slovn zsoby zskan prostednictvm vybran psniky a ze
slovn zsoby, kterou se nauili z uebnice. Vsledky tchto test byly porovnny
z nkolika hledisek a na zklad tohoto srovnn byla vyhodnocena efektivnost metody.
Krom vsledk test byl popsn i prbh vuky a zmna pstupu k k anglitin.
RSUM
The diploma thesis called Teaching Vocabulary through music deals with
using popular songs as a method of teaching vocabulary. The aim of this work was to
test, analyze, and evaluate the effectiveness of this kind of teaching method. This work
is based on the hypothesis that only motivated and interested students learn effectively.
It is the using of popular songs that should quarantee students motivation and interest.
The songs were chosen based on a questionnaire completed by the students with whom
this method was tested. The exercises for the lyrics of the chosen songs were created
based on scientific findings described in the theoretical part. The objective of these
exercises was to explain and practice the new vocabulary. The effectiveness of this
method was determined through tests. Students were tested on vocabulary learned
through songs and vocabulary learned though the coursebook. The test results were
compared and analyzed from several points of view and, based on this comparison, a
conclusion on the effectiveness of this method was drawn. Apart from the test results,
the course of a lesson and any changes in students attitude toward English were
described.
70
Works cited
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1967. 392 s.
LINHART, Josef. Zklady psychologie uen. Praha: Sttn pedagogick nakladatelstv,
n. p., 1982. 250 s.
MURPHEY, Tim. Music & Song. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 1st published
1992. 151 s. ISBN 0 19 437055 0
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n.p., 1959. 1st published 1959. 314 s.
THORNBURY, Scott. How to Teach Vocabulary. Essex: Pearson Education Limited,
2002. 185 s. ISBN 0582 429668
VOLN, Jan. English through Songs. Praha: LEDA s.r.o. 1997. 1st published 1997.
ISBN 80 85927 28 4
Electronic sources:
American Music Therapy Association. 10 Aug 2008. <http://www.musictherapy.org/>
Blodget, Tom. Teaching the Target Language Through the Lyrics of Melodic Music.
Songs for Eatching. Using Music to Promote Learning. 25 Aug 2008.
<http://www.songsforteaching.com/musicapaedia/teachingtargetlanguagethroughlyri
cs.htm>
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Brown, Nyssa. Lamb, Deborah. Parallels Between Music Learning and Language
Acquistion: From Fluency to Literacy. CARLA. Nov 2004.. 20 Aug. 2008.
<http://www.carla.umn.edu/immersion/acie/vol8/Nov2004_MusicandLanguage.html
>
Communicate Aproach Modern Foreign Languages. Second Language Acquisition. 9
Apr 2002. 15 Aug 2008. <http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mflwww/seclangaqu.html>
Music In th EFL Classroom. Ernies. EFL Songs Page. 21 Aug 2008.
<http://www.lingolex.com/userpages/music.html>
Farrug, Daine. How Music Helps Language Learning. Suite101. 22 Jan 2008. 20 Aug
2008.
<http://languagestudy.suite101.com/article.cfm/why_use_music_to_learn_language>
Lake, Bob. Music and Language Learning. 20 Aug 2008.
<http://www.dtae.org/adultlit/connections/music.html>
Language Learning Advisor. 25 July 2008. <http://www.language-learningadvisor.com/use-music-to-improve-language-skills.html>
Medina, Suzanne L. The Effects of Music Upon Second Language Vocabulary
Acquisition. (ERIC) ESL through Music. 2000. 20 Aug 2008.
<http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/02.htm>
Medina, Suzanne L. The Effects of Music Upon Second Language Vocabulary
Acquisition. (FLES) ESL through Music. 2000. 20 Aug 2008.
<http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/01.htm>
Medina, Suzanne L. Using Music to Enhance Second Language Acquisition: From
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<http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/06.htm>
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Inc. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>
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Eminem. "Mockingbird." Curtain Call. Aftermath., 2005.
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Red Hot Chily Peppers. "Under the Bridge." Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Warner
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Shakira. "Dont Bother." Oral Fixation Vol. 2. Sony., 2006.
73
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix No. 1 Dr. Suzanne Medina Email
Appendix No. 2 Questionnarie
Appendix No. 3 The Evalution of the Questionnaire
Appendix No. 4 Blink 182 "I Miss You" Worksheet
Appendix No. 5 Eminem "Mockingbird" Worksheet
Appendix No. 6 Fergie "Clumzy" Worksheet Worksheet
Appendix No. 7 Jamiroquai "Cosmic Girl" Worksheet
Appendix No. 8 Ozzy Osbourne "Mama Im Coming Home" Worksheet
Appendix No. 9 Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge" Worksheet
Appendix No. 10 Rihanna "Dont Stop the Music" Worksheet
Appendix No. 11 Shakira "Dont Bother" Worksheet
Appendix No. 12 Depeche Mode Picture
Appendix No. 13 Depeche Mode fans - Picture
74
APPENDICES
75
Questionnaire
Dear students,
in order to make English classes more enjoyable for you and, hopefully, more effective,
I have decided to use some of your favourite music to teach you English, especially
vocabulary. I would like you to fill in this questionnaire so that I am able to choose the
right songs for you. If you fill in this questionnaire honestly, you are very likely to be
rewarded by having the opportunity to listen to, get to know and understand the lyrics of
some of your favourite songs.
In filling this questionnaire, please do not put in any Czech singers, groups or songs. We
are learning English and we will not need any Czech music.
Thank you for filling in this questionnaire.
I. Make a top ten list of your favourite singers and groups.
1. _________________________
2. _________________________
3. _________________________
4. _________________________
5. _________________________
6. _________________________
7. _________________________
8. _________________________
9. _________________________
10. _________________________
II. Make a top ten list of your favourite songs.
1. _________________________
2. _________________________
3. _________________________
4. _________________________
5. _________________________
6. _________________________
7. _________________________
8. _________________________
9. _________________________
10. _________________________
III. Which of these musical genres do you like the most? You may tick as many genres
as you wish.
a) pop
b) rock
76
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
m)
heavy-metal
punk
funk
rap
hip-hop
country
classical music
opera
jazz
musicals
other: _________________________
IV. Which of these musical genres do you like the least? You may tick as many genres
as you wish.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
m)
pop
rock
heavy-metal
punk
funk
rap
hip-hop
country
classical music
opera
jazz
musicals
other: _________________________
V. How often do you listen to your favourite music? Please tick just one answer.
a) everyday
b) several times a week
c) a few times a month
d) I dont listen to music.
77
Chart position
1
2
3
4
5
VII.
Number of votes
6
4
3
2
1
Chart position
1
Number of votes
2
"Clumsy"
Haddaway "What Is
Love"
Hillary Duff - "Hey Now"
Christina Aquilera "Beautiful"
Kelly Clarkson - "Because
of You"
Pink - "Dear Mr. President"
Pink "Just like a File"
Rihanna "Dont Stop the
Music"
Shaggy- "Mr. Bombastic"
Timbaland - "Way I are"
VIII.
Chart position
1
2
3
4
5
IX.
Number of votes
10
6
4
3
1
Chart position
1
2
3
4
5
X.
Musical genre
Hip-hop
Pop
Rap
Rock
Jazz
Classical music
Musical genre
Country
Funk
Heavy Metal
Punk
Jazz
Classical music
Rock
Number of votes
6
5
4
3
2
Number of votes
6
2
Everyday
Several times a week
79
Chart position
1
80
Number of votes
3
VII.
Chart position
1
VIII.
Number of votes
2
Chart position
1
2
3
4
5
6
IX.
Musical genre
Hip-hop
Rock
Pop
Rap
Heavy-Metal
Punk
Funk
Jazz
Number of votes
9
8
6
3
2
1
Chart position
1
2
3
4
Musical genre
Opera
Country
Heavy Metal
Classical music
Jazz
Musicals
81
Number of votes
9
8
7
6
Punk
Funk
Hip-hop
Rap
Pop
Rock
X.
3
1
Number of votes
11
1
Everyday
Several times a week
VI.
Chart position
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
82
Number of votes
6
5
3
VII.
83
Chart position
1.
2.
3.
84
Number of votes
4
3
1
Pavemore "Misery"
Baiencese
Peter Pable "Step Up"
Placebo - "Every"
Plan White ts - "Hey There
Delilah"
Rihanna "Dont Stop the
Music"
Rihanna Feat. NeYo - "Hate
that I love You"
Samantha Jade "Step Up"
Scooter "The Bottom"
Sex Pistols "EMI", "Good
Save the Queen"
Snoot Dogg - "Xibith"
US5 "Work Your Body"
Usher "Caught Up"
Usher "Yeah"
Xzibit "Get Your Walk
On, Bye Now"
VIII.
Chart position
1
2
3
4
5
IX.
Number of votes
12
7
6
4
1
Chart position
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
X.
Musical genre
Hip-hop
Pop
Rock
Punk
Rap
Heavy Metal
Funk
Jazz
Musical genre
Opera
Country
Classical Music
Musicals
Jazz
Heavy Metal
Funk
Rock
Rap
Pop
Punk
Number of votes
13
11
8
7
6
4
3
2
Frequency
Everyday
A few times a month
Number of votes
15
1
Overall results
The total number of students who filled the questionnaire is fifty.
VII.
VIII.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5
IX.
Number of votes
7
6
5
4
3
3.
86
Number of votes
4
3
X.
XI.
Number of votes
31
19
18
10
7
5
3
1
XII.
Musical genre
Hip hop
Pop
Rock
Rap
Punk
Heavy Metal
Jazz
Funk
Classical music
Musical genre
Country
Opera
Classical music
Heavy Metal
Jazz
Musicals
Funk
Punk
Rap
Rock
Pop
Hip hop
Number of votes
25
22
20
19
18
17
15
13
7
5
4
Frequency
Everyday
Several times a week
A few times a month
Number of votes
46
3
1
87
88