Professional Documents
Culture Documents
April, 2010
Table of Contents
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Approach
1.2. Teaching
1.3. Music
2.1.4. Impatience
2.1.5. No acknowledgment
of the students
classroom
2.2. Difficulties for students
2.3.1. Pronunciation
2.3.2. Grammar
2.3.2.1. Tenses
2.3.2.5. Articles
2.3.3. Vocabulary
2.3.3.4. Collocations
3.1. Group
3.1.1. Location
understand it”
3.2.1.2. Phonetics
3.2.1.3. Pronunciation
3.3.1.5. Slang
3.5.2. Smile
CONCLUSIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES
PREFACE
Anatole France
English language in our country is many times considered as an extra subject inside the
curricula of national and private schools. English is usually placed under subjects as
mathematics or Spanish grammar, because it does not belong to our everyday reality.
Through the years, private schools in our country have developed a certain interest in
English as a service that is given to students by including special English programs inside
the annual teaching program or helping the students to improve their English with the
support of language institutes. Nowadays English has become quite popular, we can
consider that invasion that gets the students (as many other things) through the media.
Most of student’s exposure to English language came from media, such as television,
music and movies. Adolescents and teenagers are more exposed to English language,
even more than adults and children.
This is because (According to what Walter Isaacson* wrote on TIME magazine´s “100
most influential people” 2009 issue) “Teenagers look for role models and stars that can
catch their attention by using the well-known equation: rich + famous”
In our country, the same as the rest of the countries around the world; these stars and role
models are easily found in international TV, music and movies. The biggest exposure to
English for adolescents can be placed on TV and music.
Being these two items the most popular between teenagers; they become easy access
inside their houses. This constant and easy access to English language cannot be
supervised all the time by the parents, this is why it can create wrong ideas or grammatical
mistakes that are usually carried to school, where English teachers have to deal with
mistakes or questions originated by this indiscriminate exposure.
Curiosity helps in the learning process of English because it creates an interest that
teachers can use to involve their students in the class. Involving the students in the class
we need also the correct resources, such as videos, audios, flashcards, etc.
Having a large group of students I have realized that they do not have a good
predisposition to practice English or speak in English during classes. Their refusal to
practice English is caused by many reasons, between cultural, educational and familiar.
I have decided to use audio to increase the practice of English inside and outside the
classroom, using popular songs to create in the students an interest for English in order to
make them aware of the native pronunciation and the use of real English.
So this project as a goal to create a conscience about the proper use of music as a tool
that can help teacher to impart knowledge and accessible resources to students between
the age range that I present.
(*Walter Isaacson: American writer and biographer, CEO of CNN and managing editor of
TIME magazine.)
Chapter I
“The best way to know if students of English language had a real success in this learning
process is that Students can communicate properly in English having a good performance
in the 4 skills: Reading, writing, speaking and listening.”
Of the four skills, the listening is consider one of the most difficult skill to develop because
of the variety of sounds that we can find in the English language. The learning of the
language depends on how good and consistent is the approach to English language.
1.1. Approach:
Cambridge´s Advanced Learners Dictionary gives approach the following definition: “To
come near”* by using this definition we can say that approach is the action to come near to
something, in this case we are going to talk about the approach from adolescents between
the ages of 11 (eleven) and 12 (twelve) years old to English language. Approach in the
teaching field is also use to name the methods used in the teaching process:
“This approach was historically used in teaching Greek and Latin. The approach was
generalized to teaching modern languages.”**
Classes are taught in the students' mother tongue, with little active use of the target
language. Vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated word lists. Elaborate explanations of
grammar are always provided. Grammar instruction provides the rules for putting words
together; instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words. Reading of difficult
texts is begun early in the course of study. Little attention is paid to the content of texts,
which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis. Often the only drills are exercises
in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue,
and vice versa. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.
Lessons begin with a dialogue using a modern conversational style in the target
language. Material is first presented orally with actions or pictures. The mother tongue is
NEVER, NEVER used. There is no translation. The preferred type of exercise is a series of
questions in the target language based on the dialogue or an anecdotal narrative.
Questions are answered in the target language. Grammar is taught inductively--rules are
generalized from the practice and experience with the target language. Verbs are used
first and systematically conjugated only much later after some oral mastery of the target
language. Advanced students read literature for comprehension and pleasure. Literary
texts are not analyzed grammatically. The culture associated with the target language is
also taught inductively. Culture is considered an important aspect of learning the language.
1.1.3. The Reading Approach
“This approach is selected for practical and academic reasons. For specific uses of the
language in graduate or scientific studies. The approach is for people who do not travel
abroad for whom reading is the one usable skill in a foreign language.” **
The priority in studying the target language is first, reading ability and second, current
and/or historical knowledge of the country where the target language is spoken. Only the
grammar necessary for reading comprehension and fluency is taught. Minimal attention is
paid to pronunciation or gaining conversational skills in the target language. From the
beginning, a great amount of reading is done in L2, both in and out of class. The
vocabulary of the early reading passages and texts is strictly controlled for
difficulty. Vocabulary is expanded as quickly as possible, since the acquisition of
vocabulary is considered more important that grammatical skill. Translation reappears in
this approach as a respectable classroom procedure related to comprehension of the
written text.
“This method is based on the principles of behavior psychology. It adapted many of the
principles and procedures of the Direct Method, in part as a reaction to the lack of
speaking skills of the Reading Approach.” **
New material is presented in the form of a dialogue. Based on the principle that language
learning is habit formation, the method fosters dependence on mimicry, memorization of
set phrases and over-learning. Structures are sequenced and taught one at a
time. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills.
Teaching points are determined by contrastive analysis between L1 and L2. There is
abundant use of language laboratories, tapes and visual aids. There is an extended pre-
reading period at the beginning of the course.
Great importance is given to precise native-like pronunciation. Use of the mother tongue
by the teacher is permitted, but discouraged among and by the students. Successful
responses are reinforced; great care is taken to prevent learner errors. There is a
tendency to focus on manipulation of the target language and to disregard content and
meaning.
1.2. Teaching:
Is the process of giving information and imparting knowledge, so we are going to focus on
the English language teaching and it´s orientation to be taught by using music.
TEFL mixes L1 with L2, being able to give explanations and aswers based on the L1, in
this case; L1 is Spanish.
This project is going to be focused on TESL, the school chosen to do the investigation
works with the TESL to get bilingual Student at the end of the school program.
1.3. Music:
Is the art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative
composition, as through melody, harmony and rhythm. Music is considered also a
universal way of communication, we can transmit feeling and ideas with the help of music.
That is why we have different genders of music and different topics in their lyrics that give
the listener a message previously given by the composer or writer.
(Source: Owen, Harold (2000). Music Theory Resource Book. Oxford University Press.)
The music does not transmit the composer´s idea but this rarely is understood entirely for
the listener as it was thought by the creator.
The artificiality of the musical stimulus (in listening drills) may give rise to a kind of
"structured speech"; which is marked by lack of interaction in a real sense.The content
presented by "meaningless drills" may teach learners that listening is a waste of time.
Only hearing is required to complete meaningless drills. Language learning may be
presented as a tedious process.
When using "meaningless drills" e.g. minimal pairs for pronunciation, teachers should
remember to convince learners of the importance of phonology, stress and intonation or
any other features of language systems which might be isolated from meaning for the
purpose of practice. Students should be given the reason behind the repetition and
focusing on the words on some feature of paragraph, sentence or word.
e.g.
Awkward consonant clusters or diphthongs. Communication often fails at motor skill level
(e.g. poor pronunciation of certain phonemes).
(Source: Lalas, J. & Lee, S. (2002). Language, Literacy, and Academic Development for
English language Learners. Pearson Educational Publishing.)
Music is frequently used by teachers to help second language learners acquire a second
language. This is not surprising since the literature abounds with the positive statements
regarding the efficacy of music as a vehicle for first and second language acquisition. It
has been reported to help second language learners acquire vocabulary and grammar,
improve spelling and develop the linguistic skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
According to educators of second language learners, music is advantageous for still other
reasons. First, for most students, singing songs and listening to music are enjoyable
experiences. The experience is so pleasurable that it is not uncommon for students to
“pester” their teacher so that they can sing again and again. Also, as students repeatedly
sing songs, their confidence level rises. Furthermore, by engaging in a pleasurable
experience, learners are relaxed and their inhibitions about acquiring a second language
are lessened. Yet, while they are more relaxed, they are also more attentive than usual,
and therefore, more receptive to learning. Through songs, students are exposed to
“authentic” examples of the second language. Furthermore, target vocabulary, grammar,
routines and patterns are modeled in context.
(Source: Jalongo and Bromley, 1984, McCarthey, 1985; Martin, 1983, Mitchell, 1983,
Jolly, 1975)
The idea of using musical resources to teach English relies in the fact that music is a
reachable resource of English, it is an easy and universal way to be exposed to the
language in an informal way and even outside the classroom giving some independence to
the students when studying English by themselves.
If we want to label the use of music inside the teaching process or identify it with a specific
method, we could locate it inside the audio-lingual method.
This method is based on the principles of behavior psychology. It adapted many of the
principles and procedures of the Direct Method, in part as a reaction to the lack of
speaking skills of the Reading Approach.
New material is presented in the form of a dialogue. Based on the principle that language
learning is habit formation, the method fosters dependence on mimicry, memorization of
set phrases and over-learning. Structures are sequenced and taught one at a
time. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills. Little or no grammatical
explanations are provided; grammar is taught inductively. Skills are sequenced: Listening,
speaking, reading and writing are developed in order. Vocabulary is strictly limited and
learned in context. Teaching points are determined by contrastive analysis between L1
and L2. There is abundant use of language laboratories, tapes and visual aids. There is an
extended pre-reading period at the beginning of the course. Great importance is given to
precise native-like pronunciation. Use of the mother tongue by the teacher is permitted, but
discouraged among and by the students. Successful responses are reinforced; great care
is taken to prevent learner errors. There is a tendency to focus on manipulation of the
target language and to disregard content and meaning.
In the case of using music to learn English we have to be aware of the vocabulary, needed
to permit individual control over the meaning of the information conveyed. When not
permitted there is a danger that all that is being practiced is pronunciation. Drills which
lean heavily on automatic responses without reference to appropriate contexts may give
rise to little or no naturalistic speech.
Vocabulary needs to be revised or checked over and over again, the main goal of
students is to be able to communicate that is why they need to have at hand the proper
and enough vocabulary resource in order to express their ideas in the way that they are
created inside their minds.
Sometimes, the repetition drills, the classic ones, are just a way to improve the
pronunciation in a mechanical way, what happens with the songs is that these are a nice,
active and interesting way to learn new words, and it is also quite attractive for students
that are not so enthusiastic about the learning of a new language.
One opinion about learning English through music from the Cameroonian English teacher
Kisito Futonge, owner of a web page of teaching articles:
“English songs can be used for a wide variety of ESL learning and teaching activities.
They can start discussions on a topic or even become the centre of debate. Songs are
also great for teaching listening. One of my favorite exercises with music is completing the
blanks as students listen or listening and choosing the correct words from two words than
rhyme, for example cry and try. Most English songs sometimes sacrifice grammar for
smooth rhyme. This makes them very good grammar teaching tools. You can teach new
vocabulary with songs and students would understand them better within the context of
the song. These are just a few of many ideas for using songs in ESL/EFL teaching.”
Teaching is a learning process for both students and teachers. While teachers may make
progress in the first years of their career, learning should never stop. Learning stopping is
a dangerous sign indicating that the teacher needs to do something new to continue being
a better teacher. Here are some mistakes that are common found in classrooms.
When someone is just beginning to teach, speaks too quickly. The students cannot
understand the teacher. When the teacher thinks that he/she is talking in a natural pace,
for the students it was too quick, as the teacher is used to speak in a fluent way, the
students have trouble following the rhythm of the teacher.
(Source: Adolph Paul - Difficulties and challenges in teaching English as the second
language – Articlebase.com)
If the goal of learning English is to be able to communicate in a fluent and clear way as
you were a native speaker, the teacher, when teach has to be careful with the
pronunciation and the naturally when speaking.
Sometimes, because we English in a regular way, we tend to run words together. If some
students are going to be able to understand you even though you speak in a fluent regular
way, it is not recommendable to exceed your students’ abilities. A way to correct this
mistake would be to decrease your enunciation in tandem with your students' increasing
ability.
(Source: Adolph Paul - Difficulties and challenges in teaching English as the second
language – Articlebase.com)
A classic way to check is students understood the class given, is to ask them if they
understood. The common answer is yes, many times this “yes” only means that they heard
you. Sometimes students say no, and you can explain the topic again. Far more often,
however, students will reply affirmatively without having understood. When teachers first
started teaching ask this question very often. As the time goes by you will understand that
is only one possible meaning when they reply. To confirm my students have understood,
check the information given with drills and questions referred to main and specific point
about the class.
(Source: Jin, L., & Cortazzi, M. (1998). "The culture the learner brings: A bridge or a
barrier? In M. Byram & M. Fleming (Eds.), Language learning in intercultural perspective:
Approaches through drama and ethnography. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University
Press.)
2.1.4. Impatience
Many times, we do not wait for students to speak. The result is obvious- improper
communication. Communication consists of three important aspects- speaking, listening
and assimilating. If we keep on speaking without giving out students a chance to speak,
we would never be able to address the weak points of the students.
2.1.5. No Acknowledgement
How often do you acknowledge the answer given by your students? Everyone loves being
noticed. Teachers, therefore, should acknowledge the questions, answers and even
doubts of their students.
Any one of them can easily derail the students' efforts in language acquisition and
learning or cause them serious problems. So, review these areas, make any needed
adjustments to your teaching practice. Do not be a block to your learners' progress.
2.1.6. Do not adapt materials to the learning style and characteristics of the
students.
Unfortunately, the learning style most reflected in the classroom is that of the teacher. It is
paramount that concepts and material be presented in a way most suitable for the
learners.
"Student learning styles may be an important factor in the success of teaching and may
not necessarily reflect those that teachers recommend."
Why? Because teachers use their own preferences in the class room, not necessarily
those of the students. Do an analysis of your class group’s learning characteristics, then
apply the results to your teaching.
A course book is usually not intended to be a "bible", but all too often teachers follow it
"religiously". They do nothing else, nor include outside materials in their teaching. If you
read the teacher's notes that typically accompany an English or language text, you will
most likely note that the course book is intended to be a guide for teaching with
supplementary materials widely used to expand, deepen or reinforce presented materials
and themes. Use the course book sequence as a guide. Freely supplement its exercises
and course materials with your own creations or at the very least with materials adapted
from other sources. Plan your lessons and materials to meet the needs, learning styles
and characteristics of your learners.
2.1.8. Do not encourage and promote language practice outside the classroom.
Many of our students do not speak that well. They come to us to learn. Learning to speak
a foreign language is a challenge, especially in a country where the target language is not
part of the daily life.
Language teaching practice often assumes that most of the difficulties that learners face in
the study of English are a consequence of the degree to which their native language is
different from English. Spanish native speakers have some words in common with English
language. Despite of students´ native language there is always interference between L1
and L2 in basic languages of English learning.
Spanish native speakers students, for example think in Spanish and the main goal of
English learning is to be able to communicate in L2; in this case English.
Even when they are learning grammatical rules, it is hard for the students to express or
create ideas in English.
The famous phrase “To learn English you must think in english” becomes an obstacle in
this basic level of learning.
Eg.
La blusa verde
In English the adjective goes before the blouse
Many students confuse the rules and use the grammatical order as if they were
speaking English:
Other mistakes are pronouncing certain sounds incorrectly or with difficulty, and confusing
items of vocabulary known. This is known as L1 transfer or "language interference".
However, these transfer effects are typically stronger for beginners' .
It is important to remember that learning a second language involves much more than
learning the words and the sounds of a language. Communication breakdowns occur not
only due to the more commonly understood syntax and pronunciation difficulties but
because when we learn a new language we also learn a new culture. What is perceived as
right, normal and correct in one language and culture does not always "translate" into a
second language...even when the vocabulary is understood. Communication breakdowns
may occur as a result of cultural assumptions regarding age, forms of
address, authority and respect, touching, eye contact and other body language, greetings,
invitations, and punctuality to name just a few.
(Source: La Perla, Joann, "Order, Chaos and Gentle Revolutions: A Brief and Personal
History of ESL Instruction for Immigrants", 1986-10-25, paper presented at Union County
College's conference, "Literature and the Immigrant Experience" (Cranford, NJ, October
25, 1986).)
2.3.1. Pronunciation:
The precise number of distinct vowel sounds depends on the variety of English. Many
learners, such as speakers of Spanish, Japanese or Arabic, have fewer vowels, or only
pure ones, in their mother tongue and so may have problems both with hearing and with
pronouncing these distinctions.
“In its syllable structure, English allows for a cluster of up to three consonants before the
vowel and four after it (e.g., straw, desks,glimpsed). The syllable structure causes
problems for speakers of many other languages. Japanese, for example, broadly
alternates consonant and vowel sounds so learners from Japan often try to force vowels in
between the consonants (e.g., desks /desks/ becomes "desukusu" or milk shake /mɪlk
ʃeɪk/ becomes "mirukushēku").
(Source: Ogden, Charles K. (1934), The System of Basic English, New York:
Harcourt, Brace & Co., and Templer, Bill (2005), “Towards a People’s English:
Back to BASIC in EIL”, Humanising Language Teaching September 2005.)
Native English speakers frequently replace almost any vowel in an unstressed syllable
with an unstressed vowel, often schwa. For example, from has a distinctly pronounced
short 'o' sound when it is stressed (e.g., Where are you from?), but when it is unstressed,
the short 'o' reduces to a schwa (e.g., I'm from London.). In some cases, unstressed
vowels may disappear altogether, in words such as chocolate (which has four syllables in
Spanish, but only two as pronounced by Americans: "choc-lit".)
Stress in English more strongly determines vowel quality than it does in most other world
languages (although there are notable exceptions such as Russian). For example, in some
varieties the syllables an, en, in, on and un are pronounced as homophones, that is,
exactly alike. Native speakers can usually distinguish an able, enable, and unable because
of their position in a sentence, but this is more difficult for inexperienced English speakers.
Moreover, learners tend to overpronounce these unstressed vowels, giving their speech
an unnatural rhythm.
2.3.1.5. Stress timing
English tends to be a stress-timed language, this means that stressed syllables are
roughly equidistant in time, no matter how many syllables come in between. Although
some other languages, e.g., German and Russian, are also stress-timed, most of the
world's other major languages are syllablle, with each syllable coming at an equal time
after the previous one.
Phonological processes together with indistinct word boundaries can confuse learners
when listening to natural spoken English, as well as making their speech sound too formal
if they do not use them.
2.3.2. Grammar
2.3.2.1. Tenses
English has a relatively large number of tenses with some quite subtle differences,
such as the difference between the simple past "I ate" and the present perfect "I have
eaten." Progressive and perfect progressive forms add complexity.
Learners of English tend to find it difficult to manipulate the various ways in which
English uses the first auxiliary verb of a tense. These include negation (e.g. He hasn't
been drinking.), inversion with the subject to form a question (e.g. Has he been
drinking?), short answers (e.g. Yes, he has.) and tag questions (has he?). A further
complication is that the dummy auxiliary verb do /does/did is added to fulfil these
functions in the simple present and simple past, but not for the verb to be.
English also has a significant number of modal auxiliary verbs which each have a
number of uses. For example, the opposite of "You must be here at 8" (obligation) is
usually "You don't have to be here at 8" (lack of obligation, choice), while "must" in
"You must not drink the water" (prohibition) has a different meaning from "must" in
"You must not be a native speaker" (deduction). This complexity takes considerable
work for most English language learners to master.
English is known to have a relatively high degree of idiomatic usage. For example, the
use of different main verb forms in such apparently parallel constructions as "try to
learn", "help learn", and "avoid learning" pose difficulty for learners. Another example is
the idiomatic distinction between "make" and "do": "make a mistake", not "do a
mistake"; and "do a favor", not "make a favor".
2.3.2.4. Articles
English has an appreciable number of articles , including the definite article the and the
indefinite article a, an. At times English nouns can or indeed must be used without an
article.
2.3.3. Vocabulary
Word derivation in English requires a lot of rote learning. For example, an adjective can be
negated by using the prefix un- (e.g. unable), in- (e.g. inappropriate), dis- (e.g. dishonest),
or a- (e.g. amoral), or through the use of one of a myriad of related but rarer prefixes, all
modified versions of the first four.
The history of English has resulted in a very large vocabulary, essentially one stream
from Old English and one from the Norman infusion of Latin-derived terms. (Schmitt &
Marsden claim that English has one of the largest vocabularies of any known language.)
This inevitably requires more work for a learner to master the language.
2.3.3.4. Collocations
Collocations in English refer to the tendency for words to occur regularly with others. For
example, nouns and verbs that go together (ride a bike/ drive a car). Native speakers tend
to use chunks of collocations and the ESL learners make mistakes with collocations in
their writing/speaking which sometimes results in awkwardness.
• Student-centred phases, in which the students are listening and talking to each
other.
Chapter III
3.1. Group:
The group of adolescents chosen to be analyzed and follow to proof the approach that you
can get though music consist in 4 classroom.
“A problem with any culture in the world is that people will always seek out their own kind.
In any major city of the world there are enclaves where people of similar ethnic
backgrounds set up home and businesses. There have been numerous cases of
immigrants living in Australia or the United States for more than twenty years who still do
not speak any English. In these insular societies there is no pressure to learn ESL when
there is no need to. Admittedly, many immigrants come to the West seeking work or a
better life, and the need to earn a living will preclude any formal study. Therefore they pick
up English on the job. Children of immigrants, however, often speak their parents' tongue
fluently and sometimes allow themselves to pick up their parents' accents as well. This is
not a problem, but acquiring their parents' linguistic errors in English is.”
3.1.1. Location:
Villa Maria del Triunfo has a total land area of 70.57 km². Before the district was created in
1939 in that area we could find two human settlements known as Tablada de
Lurin and Villa Poeta José Gálvez Barrenechea. Created by construction workers came
from outside Lima and their families.
In 1961 was officially created as a District, having a large population (over twenty
thousand families registered in the city hall).
This is my first years an English teacher in Trilce Institution. I have been assigned the high
school level, 1st year A, B, C and 2nd year B.
Being this a large group students and due to the location of their school and the place
where they lived, they are not exposed to English regularly. The closest foreign language
institute is in another district and most of the student´s parents are not able to cover the
fee of these institutes.
From a group of 120 students only two have a access to English language institutes after
school classes, they are not use to listen music in English or even like tv shows or movies
in English spoken language.
If they have the chance to watch an American or European movie, they prefer to watch it
with the subtitles on, or change the spoken language to Spanish (their mother tongue).
In previous occasions I have recommend them several options to have access to native
English, but they refuse to speak, practice or even listen English outside the school.
I also have to deal with wrong ideas about English brought many times from house
because of parents that think that English is nothing but an “extra” subject:
3.1.3.1. “We live in Peru, we do not speak English therefore we do not need
English”:
The students´ idea about their realities is always an obstacle in English class. Based on
the fact that English is not our official mother tongue they do not pay enough attention or
importance to it. They do not even consider English a part of their reality in a future.
Many times, I have found that students’ arguments do not have a solid background or
defense beyond their own words, usually based on their personal thoughts. An example of
this is the fact that students refuse to watch movies or TV shows in native English because
they cannot understand the language. Huge contradiction, if you do not know or there is an
obstacle between you and the information the correct reaction would be of investigation or
curiosity to know new words.
Students hardly ever practice English outside the school, many times this is because the
embarrassment they feel about their mistakes in pronunciation, most students feel shy
when it’s their turn to speak in the classroom, their friends are watching and between the
adolescence the opinions of our friends is the most important opinion. If students make a
mistake and friends make fun of it students are going to feel ashamed and are going to
refuse to speak English inside or outside the classroom.
3.1.3.4. “I am never going to travel outside our country that is why I will never
use English”
Students who refuse the idea of English language as a part of their reality, consider that
this is just part of a foreign reality, that only belongs to English speaking countries. And the
only way to get in touch with English is by travelling outside the country.
Despite of the Stock Market Crash that USA had to face on 2008, the migration from our
country to USA never changed or decreased their numbers. People still want to chase the
“American Dream” and they continue travelling, so by statistics Peru is still tie to USA as a
target country for emigration.
We often listen about peruvian students winning mathematic or science contest, but when
have we listened about a Peruvian winning an English related contest? Never; in our
country national education is oriented to put English language is a second level, under
mathematics, Spanish and grammar.
In 2008, the education minister José Antonio Chang decided to modify the National
Curricula Design of Regular Basic Education* in order to improve the national school´s
students level school when graduating. But he included this modification only in High
School level, letting primary school lost in the same old fashion curricula where English is
just an “extra”.
We cannot correct entirely the fact that English has been relegated in our national schools,
but privates school do what they can (or what students demand) by giving high levels of
English programs as a way to offer a better service that national schools.
3.3.1.6. “I do not speak English, therefore I should not have any contact with
it”
The ultimate excuse to refuse to participate in English class is the personal one, when
students lack of real reasons to create obstacles between English language and them,
they tend to give personal reason such as “I do not like English” or “I am not good at
English”, many times this are just other ways to create a wall between the second
language, here there is not much that the teacher can do, taking the classroom as a group.
It is much better to deal with this in a personal way, knowing each students worries about
the language would be ideal, but in this case a large group as the one that I handle I have
to deal with these in small groups of students.
Here I see cultural and educational problems, students come from schools where the
English subject was just teach once a week in a very basic level, even with that low level
of knowledge they have not develop any like or interest in acquire the language as a
second language or practice it outside.
Villa María del Triunfo is considered by the local police as a place where violence and
gangs have settled being considered as a big problem for adolescent´s education.
The local police created a program last year “Safe Schools” where members of the police
went to the national and private institutes giving speeches about security and against
gangs.
( Jose Carlos Jhon Erazo - Escuelas seguras villa maria del triunfo- emagister.com
Copyright © 1999/2000 - Grupo Intercom - 27/04/2009)
Actually in Trilce´s 1st year High school classrooms I can fin 3 groups of students:
Students who have been in Trilce since Primary and are still studying here, so they have
a basic background in English. This group is formed by the 30 or 35 % of students.
New Students, In the change from primary school to high school there is a raise in the
number of students, many students from other schools change to Trilce looking for
demanding classes usually in mathematics and science area. This group is formed by the
60% or 65% of students.
Students that have access to English language institutes such as ICPNA or Britanico, in
this group we can find only 5 or 10% of the students.
As the days were passing I had the opportunity to know students a little better and could
indentify their weak points.
3.2.1.3. Pronunciation: With constant repetition drills they learn and listen
the correct pronunciation of the words over and over again and even with
this constant repetition they have mistakes in pronunciation such as:
Eg.
Because they pronounce the English words thinking in Spanish and relating
the Spanish sounds to their reading in English.
3.3. Things to be aware of when we use songs to teach english
The process of choosing a song to work with adolescents has to be done days before the
class is given and it must be done following some rules:
Eg.
The song has a slow rhythm easy to follow for the students but the words are not
so known for a group of adolescents between 11 and 12 in a lower-intermediate
like the group in observation, it would be better if we do a vocabulary explanation
before the listening if we want to include this song in class, in order to avoid
sudden questions in the middle of the drill or students chatting and asking their
classmates about the new words.
3.3.1.2. Age and Gender of students: If well as a drill, every student should
participate in the listening activity, it would be much better if students feel
motivated about the song they are going to work with, so to get a better
result it would help to locate the music preferences of the students based
mostly in their age and gender and the last trends according to bands and
singers.
Eg.
Even though for adult people who know the meaning of the song My Way it
represent a huge moment in the music culture, for students between 11 and 12
years it does not mean the same that it does for melomaniac people, because of
the difference in ages.
3.3.1.3. Relationship with the class: Even though the listening activities are
usually independent drills it would be very useful to check the lyrics first to
look for words that match with the vocabulary previously done in class, at
least a couple of words to establish a relationship between this drill and the
rest of the class.
Eg.
( Source: Last Kiss - Composed by: Wayne Cochran / Version by: Pearl Jam /
Year: 1999)
If we are having a class about verbs in past, we can link the material used for
teaching grammar with the song presented here, or we can use them as a practice
for the topic of verbs in past tense.
“When I ___________ (wake up), the rain _________ (is) pouring down
There ___________ (are) people standing all around
Something warm rolling through my eyes
But somehow I _____________ (find) my baby that night
I ________________ (lift) her head, she _____________ (look) at me and
_______________ (say)
"Hold me darling just a little while."
I _____________ (hold) her close, I ______________ (kiss) her our last kiss
I found the love that I ______________ (know) I would miss
But now she's _____________ (go), even though I hold her tight
I _______________ (loose) my love, my life that night.”
(Source:)
Year: 1999
The students must be exposed to the language; but not all English language musical
material is appropriate for students between 11 and 12 years. Most are adult topics or
ideas that the students do not consider yet.
Eg.
Slang:
Is defined by the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary on its 2010 Edition as “A kind
of language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech, made up typically
of short-lived coinages and figures of speech that are deliberately used in
place of standard terms for added raciness, humor, irreverence, or other
effect.”
Usually in rap or hip hop songs the composers and singers use and abuse slang and
offensive language in order to capture the massive attention to their records.
Eg.
If the lyrics are not so fast to follow, which is common with rap and hip-hop songs, slang
makes it difficult to complete the task or understand the lyrics, because of the changes in
the word meanings.
If you are using traditional songs such as lullabies (children songs), try and pre-teach as
much of the language in previous lessons as you can. Do not teach it as a prelude to a
song, just let the few of the words fall in naturally during the previous couple of lessons.
(This idea also works well with drama plays or picture books). If you are teaching a song
specially written for teaching ESL or EFL, you can probably introduce all the language at
the beginning of the day´s lesson.
The main reason songs work so well is that many kids are what is called "Musically
Intelligent". It simply means that new phrases stick in their memory if it is accompanied by
a melody. It is the same thing that happens when you hear a brand new catchy song on
the radio and you cannot get it out of your head.
But although musical intelligence is very common, some kids are also intelligent in
different ways and we have to try and incorporate as many types as we can into the class.
So for kids who are more physical we add in gestures and actions for each line of the song
or we can include changes in the voice tone and play with the sounds, maybe emphasize
some words or try to do the gesture of each word from the lyric. It is very often a good idea
to let the kids choose the gesture, that way it becomes their own. As they own it they
remember it much more easily.
This recommendation is just an optional one. Just as some kids are more physical, some
learn more visually. More effective than simply writing the lyrics on the board, a colourful
picture card to illustrate each lyric is recommended. Now we have actions, melody and
pictures for each new word or phrase.
This is the key stage and the one that most teachers miss out. Even if the kids already
know the English, and have all the gestures and can see all the pictures, if you simply play
the CD and say "Hey, let's sing!" they are all going to give you some very strange looks.
The key is to go through the song phrase by phrase without any backing music. Do the
actions and point to the picture cards and make sure everyone can get a basic grasp of
the melody. Do not worry if you cannot sing well, in most countries it is the effort that the
kids see and appreciate. In fact the will often appreciate bad singing more than good
singing.
If you have a particularly tricky song, start off slow and slowly build up the speed. The
point here is that by the time you have finished you should be up to or just a little bit faster
than the recording on the CD. You will be astounded at how fast the kids can get with this
method.
Being my group of students a large teenagers group I must deal with the fact of shyness,
embarrassment and the friends’ opinion, they are more interested in what are the friends
are going to think if they sing that in if they are doing it right or wrong.
What I do with my students is make them all sing together first with music and then without
music in a slower rhythm, mixing their singing with their thoughts about the lyrics content
and message.
In the cappella section you will hear the kids getting better at the English but also sloping
off in their concentration. That is when you kick in the music, make sure the arrangement
is energetic and the kids will found it quite interesting and catchy. Do not exaggerate with
the volume, because students tend to low the voice volume when they can only listen to
the CD. Keep the gestures and actions in there and usually after just one run through the
song they will have all the new language permanently imprinted in their brains. They will
probably ask to sing it again, which is fine, but no more than twice, you want to keep them
wanting more for next time.
FOCUS: Vocabulary
Grammar – Future tense
AGE: All
LEVEL: Basic
MATERIALS
1. Handout with the lyrics
2. CD/Mp3 with the song
3. Flashcards or markers to write the words vocabulary on the board.
STEPS
1. Give the students lyrics. Go over the meaning of each song lyric. As you say each target
vocabulary word, point to the corresponding illustration card or word written on the board.
Before listening:
Full lyrics:
Complete the Listen to this part of the song and fill in the spaces with the
prepositions in the box
3.4.2. Smile
FOCUS: Speaking
AGE: 11 - 12
LEVEL: Basic
MATERIALS
STEPS
1. Teach key vocabulary words that are found in the song. Use flashcards or worksheets
to allow for additional vocabulary practice.
Before listening:
2. Show lyrics on the overhead projector. Then play the CD. As students listen to the song,
they can quietly read the song lyrics on the overhead or projector.
After listening:
3. To make certain students fully comprehend the song’s lyrics, go through the lyrics
without the benefit of music. Occasionally pause, and then ask comprehension questions.
Play the song a second time.
4. Divide students into small groups of three or four.
Full lyrics
Other option of exercise is to practice beside the speaking are these to improve
abstract vocabulary focused on happy and sad feelings.
1. Listen to the first part of the song and fill in the gaps with the words in the box:
3. Find all the words you can relate to good or bad feelings. Write them in separate
columns. Use the dictionary when necessary.
3.4.3. Smells like teen spirit
FOCUS: Writing
AGE: 11 - 12
LEVEL: Basic
MATERIALS
1. Projector.
2. Power Point Presentation with the lyrics.
3. CD/Mp3 with the song.
Full lyrics:
INSTRUCTIONS:
• Simple Future
• Simple Present
• Present Continuous
• Present Perfect
• Simple Past
This love ....................(has taken) its toll This love ....................(take) its toll on
on me; me;
And her heart ....................(break) in front And her heart ....................(break) in front
of me. of me.
I ....................(have) no choice, 'cause My pressure on your hips,
Conclusions:
Despite of the rhythm, lyric contents and genre, music is always going to
create expectations between the students. It is something unusual for
them. They are used to classes limited to the use of book and notebook,
and listening to popular songs that makes them feel like that is a
memorable situation, therefore they remember more details that when
they are just been taught in the classic regular way.
For specific topics, where the students can follow the class easily it is good to
use music as a enforcement resource, but when the topic contains a lot of
grammar knowledge and rules this probably is going to create an obstacle.
Music is a resource that cannot be used everyday in the classroom. As it is
something uncommon, it must be preserved as this. We can use music drills as
a way to reinforce good advance and good behavior of our students. If they
have good progress during the week or month, we can use the music drills as a
prize, letting them choose the song from our song bank.
Music drills have to more supervise when they are done in large
groups:
I handle a large group of students, who are easily distracted by any kind of
comments outside the lesson plan. If they found a word that they consider
funny or interesting, they were going to express it without thinking that this
might be a reason of distraction for the rest.
I also had to deal with group work in the classrooms during listening, which
sometimes became an occasion to chat while working.
Music is motivational:
Students found the act of singing happy and energetic, I have seen that this is
not a common action for them, most of my students felt ashamed of singing
because they do not consider themselves good singers, after a couple of drills
where the main goal was getting them relaxed enough to sing without worrying
for teachers’ or friends’ opinion I got at least 90 % of students singing aloud.
Before the investigation I thought that to identify with music was an exclusive
thing for people who can understand English language fully. My students
proved me wrong and they told me that some of the song that were used
during classes make them remember about personal situations where they
were involved with the feeling represented in the song.
Busting the myths:
I have been able to erase or correct some of the myths that students create
about the use of English:
At the beginning of the music drills, students explain what the song was about
by translating the title. After many drills they found out that translation is not
the same as meaning. They do not have a vast vocabulary but with some
words they try to show their ideas and thoughts about the song worked.
Eg.
They cannot express complete sentences yet, but they have the idea of what
vocabulary to use. They also have learnt that they do not need to translate
every single word that they read, it is more important to understand the
content of the song than translate it all.
By giving students homework based on the song, they started to ask each
other questions about the song outside classroom, a couple of my students told
me they were practicing the song “I got a feeling” by Black Eyed Peas for a
future school performance. Not all the students have the same predisposition
to practice the language outside the class. But the number has increased in the
last months.
With the use of music as a resource in class I also raise up the level of
the classes and homework, at the beginning the students were shocked
because they thought they could never catch the rhythm with the class.
As they were pushed to improve, they did it, in different ways, in
different areas but they are improving different skills.
One of the homework given after the listening drills was to investigate about
the writer of the song and the story behind it. In many cases there were only a
couple of students who brought the biography, I encourage them to go to the
front and read it to their classmates. They started to look for more songs from
the same artist and his or her biography, if there was something interesting or
unusual in the life of a singer they asked me about it.
Eg.
Student: What is the meaning of “pedophile” I read that Michael Jackson was
accused of being that.
Ate, Lima
Appendix n°3
Jorge Bernal Salas Nº 7080 (Av. Independencia, San Gabriel, V.M.T., Lima)
Villa María (Av. El Triunfo 634, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, Lima)
7054 (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, LM)
Colegio Nacional 6011 (Nueva Esperanza, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima)
Eloy G. Ureta (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, LM)
Fe y Alegría # 23 (Vallecito Bajo, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima)
Fe y Alegría # 24 (San Grabriel Alto, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima)
Héroes de la Breña (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, LM)
Jorge Basadre Grohmann 6073 (Tablada de Lurín, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima,
LM)
José Carlos Mariátegui (San Gabriel, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima)
José María Arguedas (José Carlos Mariátegui, San Gabriel, Villa María del
Triunfo, Lima, LM)
José María Arguedas 6024 (Tablada de Lurín, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, LM)
Juan Guerrero Quimper (Urb. José Gálvez, Villa Maria del Triunfo, Lima)
Juan Valer Sandoval 6093 (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima)
Julio C. Tello 6060 (César Vallejo, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, LM)
La Inmaculada 6022 (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima)
Manuel Scorza Torres 6081 (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima)
María Milagrosa (Nueva Esperanza, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, LM)
Mariano Melgar Nº 6019 (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima)
Nuestro Salvador ( Villa Maria del Triunfo, Lima)
Orden Soberana y Militar de Malta (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima)
Prolog - Colegio Pre Universitario (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, LM)
República del Ecuador (Nueva Esperanza, Villa Maria del Triunfo, Lima)
Salamanca (Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, LM)
Santa Rosa 7073 V.M.T. (Villa Maria del Triunfo, Lima)
Stella Maris (Tablada de Lurín, Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, LM)
Túpac Amaru II Nº 7055 de VMT (Villa Maria del Triunfo, Lima)
(Source: Municipalidad de Villa Maria del Triunfo | Jr. José Galvez # 895
Todos los Derechos Reservados M.V.M.T. 2009)
Appendix N°4:
_____________________________________________________________________
(Source: REDEM, Red Mundial Educativa, Av. Sucre 365 - Oficina Nº 301 Magdalena del
Mar - Lima17 - LIMA - PERU )
Appendix n°5:
I.E.P. “MAGÍSTER”
DIRECTORA: Lic. Rita Rojas Pumacayo
Ubicación: Av. José Carlos Mariátegui
Zona: José Carlos Mariátegui
Disposición y actitud del Director: Muy buena
Accesibilidad de la Zona: Óptima
Niveles Educativos : Inicial - Primaria – Secundaria
Centro de Cómputo: Cuenta con un centro de cómputo
_____________________________________________________________________
I.E.P. “MARIANISTA”
DIRECTOR: Lic. Lidia Oré
Ubicación: Av. El Triunfo N° 436
Zona: Cercado
Disposición y actitud del Director: Muy buena
Accesibilidad de la Zona: Óptima
Niveles Educativos : Inicial - Primaria – Secundaria
Centro de Cómputo: Cuenta con un centro de cómputo
_____________________________________________________________________
(Source: REDEM, Red Mundial Educativa, Av. Sucre 365 - Oficina Nº 301 Magdalena del
Mar - Lima17 - LIMA - PERU )
Appendix n° 6:
List of songs:
Kevin Nield
Faculty LTA Co-ordinator
Sheffield Hallam University
•Involvement
•Problem-solving
•Activity
•Motivation –“deep”rather than “surface”or “achieving”.
•Application and transfer
•Knowing why
•Purposeful
•Learning styles accounted for.
Principles of “Good”Teaching
2.Is well-prepared
(Source: Kevin Nield, Faculty LTA Co-ordinator, Sheffield Hallam University – Class
management)