methodology research paper

8/11/2019 Methodology Research Paper

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1. Introduction

Songs get young learners relaxed and free of negative emotions. There is a strange

phenomenon that describes how negative emotions greatly hamper language learning. Songs

have that magical effect and make the young students relaxed. Using songs for teaching young

learners of English can be greatly beneficial. They make the students more sensitive to the

sounds and the classes become more interesting and powerful. Teachers need to be careful,

however, with choosing the appropriate songs in accordance to the students age and level.

Recently, songs have become increasingly popular with teachers whose target audience is

younger learners. Whether the students sing the song themselves, or they hear it from a

recording, songs offer immense opportunities to motivate students and get their attention. It also

makes them feel content while acquiring knowledge. There are many researchers that claim that

music works as a mnemonic device since musical patterns of melody, harmony and rhythm

naturally groups sounds into units. Thus, content information put into song lyrics becomes

chunked through this intrinsic musical patterning.

Chunking is a crucial mechanism for memory coding and it is known to be effective for

learning and recalling. Musical chunking can be beneficial in two ways. It helps students manage

large amount of content easily, and it also makes the repeating of the content fun.

Psycholinguistic research show that songs easily activate the language acquisition and

learning in both hemispheres of the brain. Songs enter the human brain from the left ear to the

right hemisphere in a different way from the speech and therefore stimulate language learning in

the right hemisphere. The right hemispheres role in language processing has become more

active in eliciting the overall meaning and processing formulaic speech. Formulaic Speech is a


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type of speech consisting of expressions which are learned as unanalyzable wholes and

employed on particular occasions.

However, teachers have to be careful with the songs they choose. The musical lyrics have

to be appropriate. It is only recommended to use songs when the lyrics help in teaching the

targeted content and to motivate students. Playing music with lyrics while the teacher is speaking

or while the students are reading silently or writing may be confusing. The brains of the students

will most likely confuse because it is not clear which words they need to focus on.

2. The Young Learners

Children hear whole sentences when listening to songs. That way, they learn and

remember words and phrases while they subconsciously pick up on grammar and syntax. It leads

them to naturally use their new vocabulary in context instead of isolated syllables or words.

Songs are very useful for integrating language.

Songs that the students happen to like get stuck in their heads and lead to a constant cycle

of repetition and learning. Every time they hear or think about the song they heard in class they

learn more words and their meanings. Employing songs in class is a very refreshing alternative to

the standard reading comprehension exercises because they allow every student to become

actively involved. Songs are a great way of learning through repetition.

There are many classes in which the students are restless and there are some discipline

issues. Songs can provide amazing results in regards to discipline. Simply, putting a song on will

make the students settle down and pay attention. It is even better if they are the ones that will

sing a song together, and not merely listening to a recording. Music can provide better classroom

management.


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Language is a rather complex subject, and also, English is one of the most complex

languages. By using songs for teaching, teachers get a wider set of learning styles. Auditory

learners learn from songs very easily. The rhythm and phrasing provide the perfect vehicle for

teaching vocabulary and pronunciation, as well as delivering words in context. Kinesthetic and

tactile learners benefit from actions added to the songs. Teachers should work with the melody,

rhythm and lyrics to provide actions that will help the students absorb knowledge in a way that

makes the most sense to them. Visual learners benefit from story pictures or vocabulary

flashcards which are related to the songs lyrics.

Furthermore, songs give the students the chance to learn at their own pace. Instead of

being singled out, they can listen and participate at their own speed, joining in whenever they can

and learning from the group around them. They will slowly build up the courage to add new

words to their vocabulary and work on their pronunciation. It is a fact that songs are fun and that

means that the students will be motivated to work harder in anticipation of singing time. Singing

is an energetic activity which easily captures the students attention, especially if hand and body

motions are implemented. They can also be great memory aids. The lyrics, melody and the body

motions make it easier to remember the words, and the context provided aids in correct use of

grammar and syntax. Songs, especially for younger learners, have the tendency to get stuck in

the head and that could be a wonderful thing with regards to language learning. Consequently,

songs boost the students confidence levels and make language learning fun without a doubt.

However, everything is not that simple. Most of the songs are far too paces and complex

for use as a teaching tool. If the words are spoken too fast and the children cant discern them it

will take too much time and a large number of repetition before the students acquire them

properly which can easily lead to frustration and defeat. Furthermore, the average song contains


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too many words and they vary greatly in terms of difficulty. If the words are too hard and

complex, again, frustration and defeat are the most likely results.

By now, it has become completely clear that choosing the appropriate songs and lyrics is

no easy task. On the contrary, it is a very complex and critical task. There are many songs that

are too fast, others contain very difficult words, or the entire context is confusing to the students.

That is especially true for younger learners at the beginning levels. The method of teaching

English through songs can be as damaging as it can be beneficial for the students. Teachers need

songs that are tailor-made for teaching English to young learners. The songs need to be repetitive

with simple words and phrases.

3. Activities

There are indefinite possibilities about how to employ songs in the classroom. Here are

some general activities:

3.1 Focusing activity

Start with a focusing activity. It could be anything that gets the students attention and

makes them think about the subject of the song. Make them think about the title of the songs in

pairs. A picture that relates to the subject can further make the students think and pay more

attention to the subject.

3.2 Highlighting activity


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Place a selection of important words connected with the song and the topic on the board.

Have the students discuss in pairs about the meaning of the words. Afterwards, have the students

write simple sentences using certain words. They can also circle, or highlight the words.

3.3 Stopping activity

The teacher writes a group of words on the board. Then, the students read a text or listen

to a recording and every time they notice one of the words written on the board they should shout

stop!

3.4 Stripping activity

The teacher cuts the songs into strips. Each student gets a strip and is asked to memorize

it. Then they hide the strips. Each of them stands up and tells the part of the song they received.

Then the students could organize themselves in the correct order or they can just place the strips

on the board, also in the correct order.

3.5 Drawing activity

The students can be asked to draw a simple painting as they hear the song and then

compare the results with their peers.

3.6 Fill-in-blanks activity

This is arguably the most popular classroom activity. However, this is not as simple as

handing out worksheets full of gaps to the students. The teacher can omit the rhyming words or

adjectives etc. But whatever the teacher does needs to be planned properly and in advance.

3.7 Spot the difference activity


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This activity can easily get the students attention and get them involved. The teacher

should change a number or words in the lyrics and ask the students to correct them as they spot

them while listening to the song. The number of the concerned words should not be more than 8.

3.8 The Singing Telephone.

Focus: Listening Comprehension

Age: All

Level: All

Materials:

1. CD of an age-appropriate story-song i.e. a story that tells a story. Most of the

vocabulary should be familiar to the students. If more than 10% of the vocabulary words

are unfamiliar the teacher should present the vocabulary before continuing with the

activity.

2. CD Player

3. Overhead projector

4. Handouts of lyrics

5. Transparency of song lyrics

Steps:

1.

Organize the students into groups of five students each. Have students take a paper and

pencil with them, and then move them to the front of the room to form rows that face the

blackboard.


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2. Take one student from each row into a back room or outside the classroom. Play the

recording of the song for the students. Once the students have heard the recording they

return to the classroom and stand at the very end of their groups row.

3. Now engage the students in an activity that is similar to the game Telephone. First, ask

the returning students to whisper a summary of the story-song to the person next to them.

This person then whispers the story-song summary to the person next to them. This

process continues until everyone in their row has heard the story. Immediately after a

student has recounted the story-song to their peer, he or she should write a summary. This

will provide the students with an opportunity to write as well as speak. The story should

be conveyed in Telephonefashion from one student to the next until they have all heard

the story.

4. Now call for student volunteers to share their story-song summaries with the larger

group. You and the students will be amused as you listen to the renditions of the same

song.

5.

Finally, project the transparency containing the song lyrics and distribute the handouts.

Then, play the CD of the song, so everyone can hear the original story song. Play the

song at least twice.

6. (Optional) Ask students to swap papers so they can read what others have written. An

alternative is for the students to turn in the written summary so the teacher can review it.


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4. Lesson Plan

Overall lesson aims:

a) Topic aims: Revision and practicing parts of the human body.

b) Vocabulary aims: Revision of previously learned words.

c) Pronunciation aims: Drills for proper pronunciation of previously learned vocabulary.

d) Grammar aims: Forming sentences about parts of the body.

e) Skill aims: Developing listening by hearing a song about parts of the body. (Head,

shoulders, knees, and toes); Developing speaking through chants, proper pronunciation of the

body parts through drills, communication with the teacher as well as with fellow students.

f) Function aims: Gaining the ability to differentiate between various parts of the body as

well as their proper pronunciation.

g) Communication aims: Communicating with the teacher, communication with fellow

students by working in pairs, group work and whole class activities.

Classroom interaction patterns: Whole class learning, working in groups, individual work.

Teaching materials: name cards, flashcards, CD with a song about parts of the body, lyrics to

the song (modified with pictures alongside each body part).

Teaching methods: Eclectic approach (TPR, Audio-Lingual etc.).

Anticipated problems: Discipline problems, problems differentiating between body parts,

difficulties with proper pronunciation of the parts of the body.


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Stage Stage Aim What teacher does What students do Timing

1. Lead Ina) Introduction

b) Ice breakerc) follow up

a)Getting to knowthe student names

b) listening a song(head, shoulders,knees, and toes)

c) Chanting andmemorizing the

lyrics to the songby simultaneouslylooking at the

lyrics withpictures.

a) After introducinghimself T asks the

SS write their names onname cards.

b) T plays the

song(2times) in theCD player and instructs

the children to listen.T chants the lyrics ofthe song for clearer

pronunciation.(T distributes the lyrics

before the song inwhich there is a picturealongside every body

part)c) T plays the song 2

more times instructingthe students to sing thesong the first time withhim and thesecond/third time

without the T.

a) S write theirnames on a name

card and write theirname on it.

b) S listen to the

song carefully andfollow what the

teacher does.

a) 4 minb) 6 min

c) 6-10min

Presentation Revision and

memorizing partsof

the body throughdrills with the useof

flashcards

(T puts the

flashcards on theblackboard )

a) T touches a flashcardand says the appropriateword.

b) He instructs theSS to listen and

immediately repeat( whole class )c) Afterward individual

SS are chosen to say theword that the teacher

points to.

a) SS listen and

watch as T performsthe activity.

b) Then every SSsays the word thatthe teacher says.

c) Individual SSfrom each row sees

where the teacherpoints and says theappropriate word.

10 min

Revision Students visually

connect the newwords with

pictures

T plays the song and

tells the students theyneed to point or touchthe body part when they

hear the wordrespectively

S follow the

instructions and pointor touch thenecessary body part

when they hear theword.

5-10

min

Game Revision andRelaxation

T gives the instructionsfor a classical Simonsays game. T plays therole of Simon and theSS need to follow his

commands.

SS follow thecommands of Simon(the teacher).

5 min


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5. Conclusion

Using English songs in English Language Teaching will emancipate full mental and affective

power in language learning and promote language awareness. Listening to songs can knock

down the learners desire to grasp the target language. Pedagogically, effect ive learning consists

in active engagement with language. English songs are wonderful materials in this respect.

English language students are easily moved and motivated by the singers, the music, and the

language in general. These intrinsic merits thats songs possess also recommend themselves as

effective materials of instruction in English language teaching classrooms. If they are used

properly by the teacher, English songs are excellent means whereby the students will cultivate

interests and high motivation in the target language as well as develop linguistic intelligence and

language awareness.


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Table of Contents

1. Introduction ... 1

2. The Young Learners ...... 2

3. Activities 4

4. Lesson Plan .... 8

5.

Conclusion ... 10


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methodology research paper

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