MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

THE USE OF MUSIC IN TEACHING

ENGLISH
Diploma thesis

Brno 2007

Supervisor:

Written by:

Mgr. Jaroslav Such

Veronika Rosov

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION
Rosov, Veronika. The use of music in teaching English: diploma thesis. Brno:
Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and
Literature, 2007. Diploma thesis supervisor Mgr. Jaroslav Such.

ANNOTATION
The diploma thesis deals with the use of music in teaching English. The attention is
paid to songs, mainly focusing on their importance in language teaching both from
theoretical and practical point of view. It is supported by the research the main
subject of which is to find out if music helps to acquire and remember vocabulary.

ANOTACE
Diplomov prce se zabv vyuitm hudby ve vuce anglickho jazyka. Pozornost
je hlavn vnovna psnm, zamujc se hlavn na jejich dleitost ve vuce
jazyka, jak z teoretickho tak praktickho hlediska. Prce je podpoena vzkumem,
jeho hlavnm pedmtem je zjistit, zda hudba pomh s osvojovnm a
zapamatovnm si slovn zsoby.

KEYWORDS
Music, song, teaching, listening, poem

KLOV SLOVA
Hudba, Pse, vyuovn, poslech, bse

Declaration
I declare that I have written my thesis on my own and that I used the sources listed
in the bibliography. I agree that the work will be kept in the Masaryk University
library for study purposes.
Brno, 10th August 2007.

Signature:

Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to my supervisor Mgr. Jaroslav Such, and I would like to thank
him sincerely for giving me helpful and valuable advice. I appreciate his willingness
to consult my thesis anytime I needed it.
I would also like to thank all the students who took part in my research.

CONTENTS
Bibliographical description
Declaration
Acknowledgements
CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction practical point of view
2

3
4

5
7
8

MUSIC
10
2.1 The term music & songs
10
2.2 Music and its beginning
10
2.3 Definitions of music
11
2.4 Influence of music
11
SUGGESTOPAEDIA
13
SONGS
14
4.1 What makes a song a song?
14
4.2 Nature of songs
15
4.3 Why introduce songs in the classroom
15
4.4 The importance and the role of songs in language teaching
16
4.4.1 Cultural significance
16
4.4.2 Enjoyable drill
17
4.4.3 Songs as practice material
17
4.4.3.1 The help of songs when learning pronunciation
18
4.4.3.1.1 The help of songs focused on sounds
18
4.4.3.1.2 The help of songs focused on words
19
4.4.3.1.3 The help of songs focused on connected speech19
4.4.4 What can we do with a song in language teaching?
20
.4.5 Taking songs seriously
21
LISTENING
23
5.1 What is listening?
23
5.2 The importance of listening
24
5.3 Listening difficulties
25
5.3.1 Listening difficulties stemming from pronunciation
26
5.4 Formal informal speech
27
5.5 Teachers expectations of learners comprehension
27
SOME ASPECTS OF PLANNING AND TEACHING A LESSON28
6.1 Planning a lesson
29
6.1.1 Teaching aims
30
6.1.2 Motivation
30
6.1.3 Teaching aids and materials
31
6.1.4 Student groupings
32
6.2 Planning a listening lesson
33
6.3 Some aspects of teaching a listening lesson
33
6.3.1 Listeners expectations
34
6.3.2 Clear instructions
34
6.3.3 Feedback
35
POEM
36
7.1 The terms literature, poetry, poem
36

7.2 Why to teach literature

MEDINA RESEARCH
RESEARCH
9.1 Parts of the research
9.2 Description of researched groups
9.3 Planning the research lesson
9.4 Results of the first questionnaire
9.5 Description of the song lesson experiment
9.5.1 Description of the course of song- lesson
9.5.2 Results collection of song lesson experiment
9.5.3 Results of the second questionnaire
9.6 Description of the poem lesson experiment
9.6.1 Description of the course of poem lesson
9.6.2 Results collection of the poem lesson experiment
9.6.2.1 Results of the poem lesson worksheet
9.6.2.2 Results of the interview
9.7 Comparing the results of song and poem-lesson experiment
10 SUMMARY
8
9

37
39
41
41
42
43
43
47
49
50
50
53
56
57
57
59
60
61

Sources

63

Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Appendix 6
Appendix 7
Appendix 8
Appendix 9
Appendix 10
Appendix 11
Appendix 12
Appendix 13

67
70
73
75
77
78
79
80
81
83
84
85
86

1. INTRODUCTION

Language is a treasure that enriches my mind.

Music is a treasure that enriches my soul.
Teaching enriches my spirit.
Veronika Rosov

English, music, as well as teaching create a substantial part of my life and

have been its necessary components for many years. Also in the history and the
present of mankind, English, music and teaching represent important areas of human
activity and effort. Their importance, content, character, our attitude to them
likewise their use have developed for centuries and they are still regarded as a
bottomless well of new knowledge, ideas and information. I would like to have a
look into this well and try to find some information and connection concerning the
use of music in teaching English.

There are a lot of ideas, thoughts, and definitions about a language from
different points of view. When I gave it a deep thought, one striking metaphor
crossed my mind. As I wrote in the very first sentence, I consider a language the
most valuable treasure one can possess. Alexander Solzhenitsyns quotation about
language complements my idea splendidly: Own only what you can carry with you:
know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel
bag. 1
Confucius said that music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature
cannot do without. I not only like listening to music, but I also love making music
with the choir at concerts. It is the most pleasant, the most reliable, and the most
effective way how to get straight into humans heart and speak a language everyone
understands. When I ask people when and why they listen to music, their usual
answers are for example: I like listening to music when I feel extremely happy, I
listen to music, while studying because it creates agreeable, and motivating
atmosphere, I listen to music when I want to feel positive, but also I listen to

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2997.html

music when I am stressed or depressed because it makes me feel calmer, and

relaxed. My answer would be: I listen to music in various situations, and under
different conditions. Shortly, when I want to intensify my feelings or when I want
encouragement. Maybe this is the kind of pleasure Confucius named.
While music enriches my soul, teaching enriches my spirit. It evokes a nice
feeling of being helpful which motivates me incredibly. L. Dee Fink said that
teaching is helping someone else learn.2 If we imagine that a language is the
already mentioned treasure, and learners being treasure hunters, then teaching is
drawing, and providing carefully planned maps for learners, who are led to a certain
aim by the teacher, who should monitor, check if the learners are following the
instructions properly, and mainly help them if they get lost on their way heading for
the wealth of knowledge.

There are plenty of diverse ways how to teach, and learn a language. I would
like to find out if the power of music and its particular use can be one of the useful,
helpful and easily memorable ways how to acquire a language with ease and delight.
In other words if music can help us put the language treasure into the memory
bag.

1.1 INTRODUCTION PRACTICAL POINT OF VIEW

As I mentioned at the very beginning, music has been one of the necessary
components of my life for many years, as I have been singing in a choir for
seventeen years. This experience inspired me with my thesis theme idea.
Every year we sing a lot of new songs, and very often in different languages
such as Latin, Italian, Japanese, Welsh, Finnish, and others. Some of these
languages are difficult, and moreover their pronunciation is also specific and
exacting. Nevertheless, everyone is always able to learn a song without any bigger
problems, and moreover we are usually able to sing a song, which has not been sung
for a couple of years, plus, and that is the point, we remember the lyrics. Of course,
it depends on a few factors, which influence our ability to recall the words, such as
popularity of the song, motivation, choreography, time devoted to rehearsing, and

http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/quotes.htm

finally repetition. These factors played an important role while writing two
questionnaires and drawing up the research.

The first questionnaire consists of eight questions by means of which I

gained some useful information concerning the respondents tastes in music,
singing, and listening. The main goals were to choose the most appropriate song,
and to be sure the students and pupils like singing.

My research resulted from the questionnaire from which I chose a students

favourite song on which one lesson was based. This song was used in various
activities (see 8.5), and the students had the possibility to hear it five times and to
sing it at least twice. This fact has its significant meaning since repetition and
experience (here I mean singing) help with remembering. How much, for how long,
is there likelihood of recalling some words even without music, and can we also talk
about acquisition of some parts of a language? These are the questions I would like
to find the answers to. And since an inspirational idea of comparing a song with a
poem occurred in the course of the research, a poem was also used in various
activities (see 8.6) in one lesson.

From my own experience I know the power of music, and I am aware of

what it does to my mind and memory, yet I do not think I should expect the same
effect on everyone. There are miscellaneous factors that influence the process of
learning, and they will be taken into account when analyzing the research, as well as
the results of the second questionnaire, which serves as a feedback and gathering of
relevant pieces of information. Though I hope there will be enough evidence to
prove that my hypotheses about the ability of music to facilitate learning, and help
acquire vocabulary, are correct and will be tangible.

2. MUSIC
The very first section of the first chapter describes the terms song and music
in the way I will be using them in my thesis to avoid misunderstandings. In the
second section we will have a look at the beginning of music and the word music
proceeding with the possible definitions of music. Whilst the last section draws
attention to the influence of music and its use, the second chapter focuses on
suggestopaedia.
2.1 THE TERMS MUSIC SONGS
Throughout this thesis you will see the terms songs and music. They will be
used in the same way as in the book Songs in Action, written by Dale T. Griffee,
who defined them as follows: The word songs refers to pieces of music that have
words, especially popular songs such as those one hears on the radio. By music is
meant instrumental music, for example, symphonic, chamber, easy listening, or solo
instruments such as the organ, flute or guitar ( p. 3).

2.2 MUSIC AND ITS BEGINNING

A beginning is one of the most significant parts of everything that exists, and
that is happening around us, which moreover has some kind of reason. Since music
is an inseparable component of our lives, let us have a look at its beginning both
from the contentual and lexical viewpoint.
Speculation on the beginnings of music is endlessly fascinating, but no
certainty is ever likely to come of it. The first musical utterances in prehistoric times
were imitations of bird songs or other natural noises; they were formalized signals
of love, battle, or the hunt; they were rhythmic poundings on a hollow log or
vocalization more song than speech and possibly preceding both (E. Borroff, p. 3).
The word music comes from the Greek mousik (tekhn) by way of the Latin
musica. It is ultimately derived from mousa, the Greek word for muse. In ancient
Greece, the word mousik was used to mean any of the arts or sciences governed by
the Muses. Later, in Rome, ars musica embraced poetry as well as instrument
oriented music.3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_music

10

2.3 DEFINITIONS OF MUSIC

This topic is quite a tricky one, however, it is important enough to be
mentioned here. The perception of music and a definition coming from it vary from
country to country, from nation to nation, from person to person and from language
to language. In some languages there is even no word that would be translated as
music. Socrates said: I know that I know nothing. We also will know that we do
not know anything certain about a definition of music as there is not any unique
definition in the world.
In the following examples we can see the great disunity of opinions relating
to what music is. Wynton Marsalis said that music is sound organized in time.4
Michael Linton perceives music as the organization of sound and silence into forms
that carry culturally derived meanings, cultivated for aesthetic or utilitarian
purposes (ibid.). Gottfried W. Leibnitz considered music as nothing but
unconscious arithmetic (ibid.). According to Luciano Berio music is everything
one listens to with the intention of listening to music (ibid.). The Encyclopedia
Britannica offers a broader definition:
Music is an art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty
of form or emotional expression, usually according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody,
and, in most Western music, harmony. Music most often implies sounds with distinct
pitches that are arranged into melodies and organized into patterns of rhythm and metre.
Music is an art that, in one guise or another, permeates every human society. It is used for
such varied social purposes as ritual, worship, coordination of movement, communication,
and entertainment.5

I would like to conclude this paragraph with Jean-Jacques Nattiezs

definition of music that summarizes concisely this paragraph: By all accounts there
is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be.6

2.4 INFLUENCE OF MUSIC

The first of the six medicine-mens rules says that the sound is the principle
of everything. They used special drums and rattles to influence their bodies. The
sound influences breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, releases muscular stress,
influences body temperature, and increases endorfin level.
Music as one of the neuroleptic factors reduces the signs of nervousness of
children and teenagers by 30%. Music is used therapeutically, in psychiatry,
4

http://bigoldamp.squarespace.com/music-quotes/
http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9110117/music
6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_music
5

11

pediatrics and child psychiatry. With the aid of music neuroses and function failure
(stammer, dyslexia, dysgraphia) are cured. (www.dk-studio.net)
Mood music is very popular now, whether in the dentists surgery to relax
us, or in shopping centres to encourage us to buy. Heart surgeons now use music to
relax operating teams during long and stressful operations. In one London hospital
women can listen to music during childbirth to relax them.(T. Murphey, p. 37)
One of the most common examples, yet among the most prominent is the use
of music in films. It forms an essential part, which should evoke the atmosphere of a
particular situation, and mainly corresponding feelings such as calmness, wellbeing,
pleasure, joy, compassion, fear, thrill, tenseness, and others. Imagine, for instance,
the main soundtrack of the film Once upon a time in the west and the specific
feelings evoked by the sound of the mouth organ. From the written examples it is
certain, that music changes the atmosphere around us.
T. Murphey also says that music has the potential to change the
atmosphere, but what is more important than his confirmation of this fact is that in
this case he means the atmosphere in a classroom, and describes music as follows:
It seems to give energy where was none, and to spark off images when students
complain of having nothing to write about. Music is the stuff dreams grow on. (p.
37).

CONCLUSION
The past of music is really remarkable. The reason I have mentioned it is
because I think music must have some significant meaning when it goes together
with the mankind from the first.
Also the disunity of opinions is relevant here since it is evident that music
works differently on everyone and everyone perceives it in their own way.
It is obvious that music has some kind of power, which can influence
physical the same way as mental condition of our bodies. It can bring about specific,
required atmosphere, in which we react in a particular way. Moreover it can further
help recharge our minds.
After everything I have just listed one question still remains: How much are
we influenced by the power of music when learning languages? One possible
answer can be found in suggestopaedia, which will be dealt in the following chapter.

12

3 SUGGESTOPAEDIA
Suggestopaedia, a teaching methodology developed by Dr Lozanov in Bulgaria,
claims to produce hypermnesia an excellent memory. Among its many innovations is the
use of background music during the reading of dialogues (of which the students have the
text and a translation). The dialogue is usually read twice, once slowly and once at normal
speed, to the accompaniment of background classical music and at about the same volume.
The idea behind using the music is apparently to relax students defences and to open up
their minds to the language. Music may also engage the right hemisphere of their brains
more, and make learning a more holistic experience. (T.Murphey, p. 37)

In a suggestopaedic course, music plays a large part in creating a pleasant

suggestive atmosphere, thereby facilitating the lessening or removal of antisuggestive psychological barriers. Music helps to create a state of receptiveness
induced by an apparent state of passiveness associated with a state of psychological
relaxation and concentration of superior cerebral activity. (http://eric.ed.gov)
Up to now, suggestopaedia has been the only method working with relaxation. Mainly
based on the discovery of the mirror neurons7 Ludger Schiffler (2003) has developed the
interhemispheric foreign language learning, using gestures and the mental visualization of
the gestures during the relaxation period. The intended purpose of suggestopedia was to
enhance learning by lowering the affective filter8 of learners. The method works not only
on the conscious level of human mind but also on the subconscious level, the minds
reserves. Since it works on the reserves in human mind and brain, which are said to have
unlimited capacities, one can teach more than other method can teach in the same amount of
time.9

In other words Dr Lozanov says that music, with help of a specific

suggestopedic classroom equipped deliberately with particular objects that work on
our peripheral perception10, prepares the best conditions for receiving new
information. Even though there are many factors, stimuli and conditions influencing
suggestopaedic learning, music plays one of the most relevant roles in its realization,
which is a fact that should not be missed out, but on the contrary it should be
stressed as the systematic introduction of music into pedagogy has proven to be an
innovation with numerous beneficial results.11

A mirror neuron is a neuron which fires both when an animal performs an action and when the
animal observes the same action performed by another animal. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the
behavior of another animal, as though the observer were itself performing the action.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neurons)
8
An affective filter is a learning blockage due to a negative emotional ("affective") attitude. It is a
hypothesis of second language acquisition, a field of interest of educational psychology.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affective_filter)
9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestopedia
10
Those stimuli which are for the most part not within the scope of conscious attention.
(http://archive.web.web.org.php)
11
http://www.eric.ed.gov

13

4 SONGS
No one knows why songs are powerful, but everyone knows from a
personal point of view they are, wrote Dale Griffee (p. 4) and I absolutely agree
with his statement. Songs contain the power of music as well as the power of lyrics.
While music touches our hearts, the lyrics and their words flow into our minds and
so they draw us into their own world. It grasps our imagination, emotions, and
intellect with equal force regardless of our language backgrounds (V. L. Holmes
and Margaret R. Moulton, p. 2).
In this chapter we focus on the explanation of what makes a song a song,
why we should introduce songs and their use in the classroom, the role of songs in
language teaching, cultural significance of songs and their nature, and we look at
songs as enjoyable drill plus practice material including the sections dealing with
help of songs when learning pronunciation, examples of activities that can be done
in language teaching, and some attitudes to using songs in language teaching.
4.1 WHAT MAKES A SONG A SONG?
As well as the title of this section, the following explanation is taken from
the book Songs in Action, written by Dale T. Griffee, who characterized a song as
follows.
Although songs have elements in common with speech and poetry, they are a unique form.
Both songs and speech are vocally produced, are linguistically meaningful and have melody.
Both songs and poetry use words to convey meaning, both are usually written down before
publication, both can be put to music and both can be listened to (e.g. poetry for poems and
a concert for songs).
Nevertheless, songs have their own identity and they function differently from
speech or poetry. It is possible to note at least three features of songs:
1)
Songs convey a lower amount of information than poetry. Even though poetry can
be heard, we usually read it, which permits longer and more dense information.
2)
Songs have more redundancy than poetry. Songs achieve redundancy by devices
such as the borrowing of lines from other songs, proverbs, catchphrases and clich as well as
alliteration. It is this high degree of redundancy that makes songs sound so simple,
especially when compared to the complexity and subtlety of poetry. The simplicity of songs
is not, however, a weak point. Because a song is heard for a short time, simplicity,
redundancy and a certain expectedness contribute to our understanding.
3)
Songs have a personal quality that makes the listener react as if the song were being
sung for the listener personally. We are joined through the direct quality of the song words
(unlike a movie actor in a film, talking to another actor) to the singer and through the singer
to others in the audience even if we are at home rather than at a concert. Thus songs have a
socially unifying feature for the selected audience. Songs create their own world of feeling
and emotion, and as we participate in the song, we participate in the world it creates. As
Mark Booth states, The song embodies myth and we step into it. (Dale T. Griffee, Songs
in Action, pp. 3, 4)

14

4.2 NATURE OF SONGS

There is one very interesting and remarkable idea relating to songs. It is
believed that a language is easier to express in songs than in speech. Julian Dakin
asserts that for most learners, singing or reciting a rhyme is much easier than
talking (p. 5), and T. Murpheys utterance is also very similar: It seems easier to
sing language than to speak it (p. 6). We can find some reasonable explanation for
this fact when considering the beginning of a childs life. The very first childs
utterances are sounds like humming, spluttering, muttering, whooping, which
resembles more the sound of singing than talking. T. Murphey (p. 7) writes more
precisely: The singing of songs resembles what Piaget (1923) described as
egocentric language, in which children talk, with little concern for an addressee.
They simply enjoy hearing themselves repeat. In the chapter about beginning of
music is written, that in prehistoric times the vocalization of song was more usual
than of speech, which might mean that singing was more natural than talking, and
which might mean there was and maybe there still is some natural inborn disposition
in everyone as far as the attitude to singing is concerned. And it could be that the
need for egocentric language never really leaves us and is fulfilled partly through
song (T. Murphey, p. 7).

4.3 WHY INTRODUCE SONGS IN THE CLASSROOM?

Mario Papa and Giuliano Iantorno offer very persuasive explanation.
Recent researches in the field of foreign language teaching have pointed out that
students motivation and interest are among the most important factors for the learning of a
foreign language. There are several means to improve the teaching effectiveness and to raise
the interest and motivation of the students. Recorded tapes, filmstrips, sound films, songs,
comics, newspapers and magazines are all familiar to teachers and students and they have
proved to be, in most cases, very effective because they are strongly related to everyday life.
We think that among these teaching aids, pop and folk song are materials that best reflect
young peoples concerns as they often relate to important trends in modern society. Young
people enjoy original folk and pop songs because of their authentic cultural content. (M.
Papa, G. Iantorno, p. 7)

Let us highlight a few examples of songs that became an inseparable part of

specific events in the past, and sometimes they can entirely characterize a given
period or some particular event. In the sixties it was, for example, the protest song
Where have all the flowers gone?, in the late sixties it was San Francisco,
which became the anthem of the hippie era, or in 1985 Lionel Richie and

15

Michael Jackson`s We Are the World, which was intended to raise funds to help
famine relief efforts in Ethiopia.12
Moreover there is one more advantage why introduce songs in the classroom
according to Mario Papa and Giuliano Iantorno claiming that singing is certainly
one of the activities which generates the greatest enthusiasm and is a pleasant and
stimulating approach to the culture of foreign people (M. Papa, G. Iantorno, p. 8).

4.4 THE IMPORTANCE AND THE ROLE OF SONGS IN LANGUAGE

TEACHING
In our time, it is hard to escape music and song as it occupies ever more of
the world around us: in operating theatres, restaurants and cafs, shopping malls
(muzak), at sports events, in our cars, and literally everywhere. It would seem that
the only place music and song is slow to catch on is in schools (T. Murphey, p. 4).
And it is exactly schools, that could use the best and the most the immense
potential a song disposes. Songs have a place in the classroom for helping create
that friendly and co-operative atmosphere so important for language learning, but
they can offer much more, claims D. T. Griffee, and I will try to complete his idea
by giving other instances of the importance songs have.

4.4.1 CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

In the previous chapter we referred to the cultural significance of some songs
in the past. However, it is also the present culture in more modern songs that has its
meaning. To sum up: Bringing a song into the classroom entails bringing the
culture of the song in with it. And thus songs can be used as a way of looking at a
culture and comparing it with other cultures (D. Griffee, p. 5). From this point of
view, it can be perfectly used as a cross-sectional topic.
I would like to add to this contemplation about the importance of cultural
background of songs in language teaching Dale T. Griffees statement. Songs are
part of what makes a generation a generation and the current generation is a global
12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_have_all_the_flowers_gone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_%28Be_Sure_to_Wear_Flowers_in_Your_Hair%29

16

generation rather than a parochial one. The world is evolving a common culture and
pop songs are its backbone. By using pop songs in your classroom, you and your
students are participating in the emerging world culture. (D. Griffee, p. 6)
Let the past remind us that it was already Jan Amos Komensk in the 17th
century, who included, in his teaching principles, the principle of connecting the
school with life. And using songs in language teaching is a great opportunity for
applying it.

4.4.2 ENJOYABLE DRILL

Jan Amos Komensk also demanded to maintain permanent jolly, creative
atmosphere. He said that cheerful mood is needed to avoid satiety and repugnance,
which is the right poison of teaching. Undoubtedly, songs definitely have the
ability to maintain jolly atmosphere. They provide variety and fun, claims T.
Murphey (p. 4), and a similar idea is to be found in My English Songbook, where the
authors write songs can provide an enjoyable change of routine in the classroom,
and they add that as well as being fun, they have a useful part to play in language
teaching (p. 5).
One of the basic principles when learning a language is a repetition:
Constant repetition is vital for the successful learning of a foreign language, is
stated in My English Songbook (p. 5), and I would like to add T. Murpheys
sentence, which says that songs may strongly activate the repetition mechanism of
the language acquisition device (p. 5).
It is common that too many drills make boring lessons, but a favourite song
can be repeated again and again with equal enjoyment (My English Songbook, p.
5).

4.4.3 SONGS AS PRACTICE MATERIAL

Song can be used in a lot of various ways (see 3.4.4). All the skills such as
listening, reading, writing and speaking can be practised, the same way as linguistic
areas starting with vocabulary, grammatical structures, and ending with rhythm,
stress, fluency and pronunciation.
The rhythm of the verse helps the learner to put the stress in the right places,
creating a natural flow of language and building up fluency. At the same time the presence

17

of rhyming words and such poetic device as alliteration13 and onomatopoeia14 help to focus
on certain sounds, thus giving valuable ear-training and help in pronunciation. In the
syntactical area a song gives us the opportunity to repeat the same structural item many
times, thereby aiding correctness and fluency of expression. (Sheila Aristotelous Ward, p. 7)

Songs are also especially good at introducing vocabulary because they

provide a meaningful context for the vocabulary. However, it depends on the
choice of songs since there are also some songs without meaningful context. From
the grammatical point of view, they provide a natural context for the most common
structures such as verb tenses and prepositions (D. T. Griffee, pp. 5, 6).

4.4.3.1 THE HELP OF SONGS WHEN LEARNING PRONUNCIATION

Songs can be very helpful as far as learning pronunciation is concerned.
They provide the authentic language with all its traps (such as connected speech,
different pronunciation of the same sound, or difficult pronunciation of some words)
laid for learners, who should be exposed to it as much as possible to strengthen their
ability to understand it. In the following subsections we will concentrate on three
areas of difficulties in pronunciation (sounds, words, connected speech), and on
explaining why songs can be useful when the learners are caught into these traps of
language.

4.4.3.1.1 THE HELP OF SONGS FOCUSED ON SOUNDS

Sounds are the smallest unit from which words are formed and can be
categorised as vowels and consonants.15
For the learners of English some sounds may be difficult to pick out because
they do not exist in their mother tongue, and they have to learn to physically
produce certain sounds previously unknown to them (ibid.). Even though it may be
a difficult task for some learners, it is quite important because it can sometimes
happen that incorrectly pronounced sounds strain communication, and it can also
change a phrases meaning (ibid.).
Songs can help learners because the rhymes in songs provide listeners with
repetition of similar sounds, and when the students choose to listen to songs time
13

A structuring device characterized by the reiteration of the initial consonant at the beginning of two
consecutive or slightly separated words. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration)
14
A word or a grouping of words that imitates the sound it is describing, suggesting its source object.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia)
15
* http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/song_pron.shtml

18

and again, they are indirectly exposing them to these sounds16, repeating them,
getting better at recognizing them, and finally producing them.

4.4.3.1.2 THE HELP OF SONGS FOCUSED ON WORDS

Words are combinations of sounds which form together to give meaning. A
word is uttered in syllables, usually one emphasised syllable (the stress) and the rest
weak (unstressed) (ibid.).
There are several difficulties that may be encountered by a learner. Firstly,
each English word has its own stress pattern, with very complex rules to guide
learners. Secondly, even when the same words exist in both languages, the
number of syllables is not always identical. And lastly weak syllables are central
to English (ibid.).
There are both several difficulties and several ways songs can support
practising these problems. Words in songs fit the music, helping learners associate
the number of syllables / stress in these words, with memorable rhythms. Songs
contain endless examples of weak syllables, helping to convince learners of the way
English is pronounced (ibid.).

4.4.3.1.3 THE HELP OF SONGS FOCUSED ON CONNECTED SPEECH

Connected speech is the natural way we speak, linking together and
emphasising certain words, rather than each word standing alone (ibid.).
Connected speech plays a very important role in English as it is the way
English is usually spoken, but unfortunately not always in English lessons. Many
learners are accustomed to hearing a very careful, clear pronunciation of words,
such as native speakers might use when talking very emphatically or saying words
in isolation (S. Rixon, p. 38). However, native speakers usually connect the words.
And when the words are used in a connected natural utterance, some of their
sounds are different to those used in very careful speech, and they may become
harder for learners to recognise (S. Rixon, p. 39). The problem is that the learners
normally learn words individually and, especially at lower levels, tend to
pronounce each word separately.17 Concerning this problem Shelagh Rixon claims
that words pronounced in isolation often sound very different from the same words
16
17

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/song_pron.shtml
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/song_pron.shtml

19

said in connected speech, so there is little point in concentrating too much on single
words said out of context (p. 30). Another problem is that learners frequently
misconceive contraction as being incorrect, only used in slang.18 But as said a
while ago, a native speaker says the words separately either on purpose or when
talking emphatically, which means that connected speech is natural, normal and
widely used.
Songs help learners practise the described subject matters because they
provide real and catchy examples of how whole phrases are pronounced often to
the extent that students find it difficult to pick out individual words. The music
further emphasises the flow of the words. Moreover, songs, like other spoken
texts, are full of contractions (ibid.).

4.4.4 WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A SONG IN LANGUAGE TEACHING?

Automatic usual and simple answer to this question could be: A word-gapfill. However, the answer is not so single valued. And hopefully, the following
selected list of Tim Murphey (and references to other sources of activities) will be
convincing enough to prove that the answer can be much longer.
What can we do with a song in lesson?

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
15)
16)
17)
18)
19)
20)
21)
22)
18

Listen
Sing, whistle, tap, and snap fingers while we listen
Sing without listening to any recording
Talk about the music
Talk about the lyrics
Talk about the singer / group
Use songs and music to set or change an atmosphere or mood, as background
furnishing
Use songs and music to make a social environment, form a feeling of community,
dance, make friends
Write songs
Perform songs
Do interviews
Write articles
Do surveys, make hit lists
Study grammar
Practice selective listening comprehension
Read songs, articles, books for linguistic purposes
Compose songs, letters to singers, questionnaires
Translate songs
Write dialogues using the words of a song
Use video clips in many ways
Do role-plays (as people in the song)
Dictate a song

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/song_pron.shtml

20

23)
24)
25)
26)
27)
28)
29)
30)
31)
32)

Use a song for gap-fill, cloze, or for correction

Use music for background to other activities
Integrate songs into project work
Energize or relax classes mentally
Practice pronunciation, intonation, and stress
Break the routine
Do choral repetition
Teach vocabulary
Teach culture
Learn about your students and from your students, letting them choose and explain their
music
33) Have fun. (T. Murphey, pp. 9, 10)

If we look at this list carefully, we can see that all four skills (speaking, reading,
listening, and writing) can be very well and equally practised.
The number of books and web pages providing inexhaustible quantity of
ideas and precise instructions what to do with a song in a classroom has increased
recently. Let us mention some of them.

Dakin, J. Songs and Rhymes for the teaching of English.1992

Griffee, D. T. Songs in action. 1995
Macmillan publishers. My English Songbook. 1981
Murphey, T. Music & Songs. Oxford University Press, 1992
Ward, S. A. Dippitydoo. Songs and activities for children. 1980
Rixon, S. Tip Top. 1992

<http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Cakir-MusicalActivities.html>
At these web pages musical activities for young learners of EFL are to be found.
<http://www.topenglishteaching.com/directory/activities/songs/using_songs/article
.htm>
At these web pages there are some activities to promote comprehension.
<http://www.isabelperez.com/songs.htm>
At these web pages songs with related activities are to be found.

4.4.5 TAKING SONGS SERIOUSLY

Even after the long, but not exhaustive, list of what can be done with a song,
many teachers would still have doubts about using songs as a full-value teaching
material because they consider songs as a sort of leisure time activity, which cannot
be taken seriously. Tim Murphey and Suzanne Medina hold different opinion.

21

Music and song can be as useful as, and sometimes more than, conventional
classroom materials. But it is often suspect because it is so enjoyable and so little used.
Louis-Jean Calvet (1980) says that the idea that language learning cannot be enjoyable is
outdated. Nevertheless, many teachers and students cling to the attitude that if something is
fun, you cannot be learning. Like medicine, these people think, if it does not taste nasty, it
cannot be doing you any good. (T.Murphey, p. 16)

Nevertheless, in 1993, Suzanne Medina conducted research (see more in

section 7) focused on the effects of music on second language vocabulary
acquisition by means of which it was proved that music helped the children who
were taking part in the research in vocabulary acquisition. She claims that if music
is a viable vehicle for second language acquisition to the same extent as other nonmusical means, then songs can no longer be regarded as recreational devices, having
little instructional value. Consequently, educators might consider giving music a
more prominent role in the second language curriculum.19

CONCLUSION
This chapter drew attention to the features of songs, to deeper contemplation
about them and their use. Accordingly, it is obvious that songs have a lot of qualities
supporting their significance in language teaching. Songs naturally motivate
students, they can evoke positive atmosphere and they have considerable cultural
significance, as well as they present an inexhaustible source of materials practising
pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary plus all of the four skills.
However, there are three facts I regard as the greatest advantages of songs,
which together - make this formula: Griffees conveying meaning plus personal
quality of songs plus enjoyable drill equals the ability of songs to repeatedly evoke
particular feelings, ideas and experiences, which are more easily memorable and
retroactively visualizable. The music ties words and motion together and increases
memorability (T. Murphey, pp. 121, 122).
Malvina Reynoldss quotation will concisely close this chapter about songs:
Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes
you feel a thought.20

19
20

http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/01.htm
http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/MALVINA/homep.htm

22

5 LISTENING
The principle condition of working with songs lies and depends on listening,
which represents here the main medium of receiving information. A lesson with a
song is based closely on listening, and therefore it is necessary to mention the basis
of listening, its importance, and some difficulties, that can be encountered.
This chapter focuses on listening, and includes sections dealing with possible
descriptions of listening, the importance of listening, listening difficulties stemming
from pronunciation, and formal versus informal speech and teachers expectations of
learners comprehension.

5.1 WHAT IS LISTENING?

Listening is a complex skill which operates at various levels. It is a skill
which involves a series of different strategies and micro-skills that we use at
different times for different purposes, state J. McDowell and Ch. Hart, who
describe these strategies and micro-skills as follows.

When we listen, we make use of information we already have about the topic being
spoken about. The more we know, the less intensively we have to listen.
We use the information we already have about the topic, and about how the language
works, to anticipate and predict what is coming.
We normally listen selectively rather than listening to every word. We listen for key words
and expressions that give us clues to meaning, and not to every single word as many learners
tend to do.
As we listen and select information, we store it in short-term memory so that we can
reinterpret it in the light of what is to come. We then store it in long-term memory, in the
form of messages rather than in actual words. (McDowell, J., Hart, Ch., Listening Plus, p. 7)

At this point it is worth mentioning a few words about catchy songs because
they are closely related to short-term and also long-term memory. Certainly
everyone has already experienced personally the phenomenon of catchy songs
special and particular sorts of tunes, which, after hearing them, can stay in ones
mind sometimes only for a while, sometimes for few hours, but sometimes also
forever. Keith Duffy describes this phenomenon in terms of brain itching and brain
scratching (mentally repeating a song). He carried out research, where the test
subjects were played snippets of familiar songs that had segments removed.
Participants said their brains filled in the gaps in fact, they heard the removed
parts of the songs in their heads. This was especially true in songs that had lyrics
as well as songs which evoked strong visual memories in participants. Paul Barsom

23

wanted to find out what exactly causes that initial itch. Even though he regards it
as a pretty intangible thing he claims that certain kinds of musical gestures or
combinations seem to plug readily into our memory, like molecules coming together
in a chemical reaction. In spite of the fact that P. Barsom listed some factors that
might cause a song to be catchy such as a certain familiarity, a cultural connection
between music and listener, and repetition, there is no formula for catchiness.21

Since the ideas of what listening is vary, let us give another explanation for
comparison. Michael Rost defines listening in terms of the necessary components,
which listening consists of.
discriminating between sounds
recognising words
identifying grammatical groupings of words
identifying pragmatic units expressions and sets of utterances which
function as whole units to create meaning
connecting linguistic cues to paralinguistic cues (intonation, stress) and to
nonlinguistic cues (gestures) in order to construct meaning
using background knowledge and context to predict and then to confirm
meaning
recalling important words and ideas (M. Rost, pp. 3, 4)

And he adds that successful listening involves an integration of these component

skills (p. 4).

5.2 THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING

The pupils, students, learners of a language usually say that speaking is the
most important skill to master. But hardly anyone is aware of the fact that before
speaking we usually have to listen to be able to react then. And even if speaking
precedes listening in a form of asking or saying something, in most cases this act
involves expectation of response, which is, again, listening. So, we can definitely
agree with Michael Rost, who wrote that progress in listening will provide a basis
for development of other language skills (M. Rost, p. 3).
No one knows exactly how listening works or how people learn to listen
and understand. It is a skill which seems to develop easily for mother-tongue
listening, but requires considerable effort where listening in a foreign language is
concerned, claims Mary Underwood (p. 1), who also says that listening is the
activity of paying attention to and trying to get meaning from something we hear.
21

http://www.physorg.com/news69003006.html

24

To listen successfully to spoken language, we need to be able to work out what

speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways on particular
occasions, and not simply to understand the words themselves (p. 1).
Jeremy Harmer describes three main reasons why it is also important to teach
listening to spoken English. One of the main reasons for getting students to listen
to spoken English is to let them hear different varieties and accents rather than just
the voice of their teacher with its own idiosyncrasies. In todays world, they need to
be exposed not only to one variety of English (British English, for example) but also
to varieties such as American English, Australian English, Caribbean English,
Indian English or West African English (J. Harmer, p. 97). This is a cogent
argument for involving listening to songs in a classroom, since the songs provide an
inexhaustible quantity of different varieties of English. However, this advantage
does not relate just to songs, the students can be exposed to spoken English through
the use of taped material which can exemplify a wide range of topics such as
advertisements, news broadcast, poetry reading, plays, speeches, telephone
conversations and all manner of spoken exchanges (J. Harmer, p. 98).

The second major reason for teaching listening is because it helps students to
acquire language subconsciously even if teachers do not draw attention to its special
features. Exposure to language is a fundamental requirement for anyone wanting to learn it.
Listening to appropriate tapes provides such exposure and students get vital information not
only about grammar and vocabulary but also about pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, pitch
and stress.
Lastly, just as with reading, students get better at listening the more they do it!
Listening is a skill and any help we can give students in performing that skill will help them
to be better listeners. (Harmer, J., p. 98)

5.3 LISTENING DIFFICULTIES

I have been teaching for six years, and whenever I imagine my students
listening to something, either to me or to a tape, their puzzled, frustrated and
powerless expressions of their faces come to my mind. Even though they usually say
speaking is worse than listening, they do not have such difficulties with speaking
like with listening. Even if they make mistakes while speaking, the counterpart
usually gets the meaning. But as far as listening is concerned, there is no counterpart
to help them, and they have to rely only on their own ears. Unfortunately, it happens
very often that they get lost in what is being said to them, and they get angry, sad
and helpless. My own experience can also confirm Jim Scriveners statement

25

saying: Even if someone knows all the grammar and lexis of a language, it does not
necessarily mean that they will be able to understand a single word when it is
spoken (J. Scrivener, p. 170). And the main learners problems according to them
are:
people speak too fast to follow;
they cant tell where words start and stop;
people pronounce words they just dont recognise;
they cant work out details of what is being said;
they cant get even a general sense of the message;
they dont know what attitudes people are expressing;
they cant pick out those parts that are most important for them to
understand. (Scrivener, J., p. 170)

At least four from these mentioned problems stem from English

pronunciation, so let us have a brief look at the difficulties stemming from
pronunciation (S. Rixon, p. 37).

5.3.1 LISTENING DIFFICULTIES STEMMING FROM

PRONUNCIATION
There are four main sources of listening difficulty:
1 The weak relationship between English sounds and the way they are spelt in the written
language.
2 Changes in sounds when they occur in rapid, connected speech.
3 The rhythm pattern of English speech.
4 Different ways of pronouncing the same sound. (S. Rixon, p. 38)

All these sources of listening difficulty can be well practised on songs. There are
various exercises using the lyrics of songs such as for instance a gap-fill, ordering
the parts of the text, reading and comprehension, by which means the first difficulty
may be practised. The students can see the written language, and immediately hear
the difference while listening to it. As far as the connected speech and rhythm are
concerned I dare say that songs are one of the best types of exercises practising
these sorts of problems. When we sing, the words are naturally connected together
to fit the melody with the help of rhythm, which represents an enormous help and
support for learners. The fourth difficulty is closely connected with the first one.
The lyrics of songs can be used as a material, in which the students, while listening,
should find the same sounds pronounced differently.

26

5.4 FORMAL INFORMAL SPEECH

Many language learners have limited experience of English language in
informal situations. In their lessons they tend to use formal language because this is
expected when teachers and students talk to each other, and so they have difficulty
in understanding informal spoken discourse (M. Underwood, p. 14).
Nevertheless, when we imagine the conversations in everyday situations, we
usually use informal spoken language, and, moreover, we use it naturally. Therefore
we can conclude that learners of English should not be taught only formal speech,
and informal speech should be involved in their learning, as well.
Songs can serve as a very good and inexhaustible source full of informal
spoken language that is used commonly in everyday English (see for example the
song That dont impress me much in appendix 9).

5.5 TEACHERS EXPECTATIONS OF LEARNERS CONPREHENSION

Goodith White wrote an interesting article about listening comprehension,
which is worth mentioning not only because of surprising information, but also
because of the question at the end of her article.

A study of Bone (1988) of native speakers showed that people often listen at only 25 per
cent of their potential and ignore, forget, distort, or misunderstand the other 75 per cent.
Concentration rises above 25 per cent if they think that what they are hearing is important
and/or they are interested in it, but it never reaches 100 per cent. Do we therefore expect too
much of language learners, especially when there is no guarantee that the students are
interested or motivated, since they have usually played no part in deciding what they listen
to, or why they are listening? (G. White, p. 7)

Even though it is almost certain that Goodith White wrote and meant this
question as a rhetorical one, which does not require any answer, I want to answer, at
least, to myself in order to avoid great expectations and subsequent disappointment
before playing the next listening exercise to my students. I did expect too much!
Songs offer the teacher the possibility to let the students choose what they
want to listen to, and in doing so, increase their motivation and concentration (see
the quotation above 25 per cent). And moreover, as Tim Murphey says it gives
them some responsibility, and involves them in the lesson more (p. 14).

27

CONCLUSION
According to what has been written about listening, there is a considerable
evidence to suggest that listening is a skill worth paying great attention to.
Listening consists of many McDowell and Harts micro-skills or M.Rosts
necessary components, which can be called building bricks, and which must be
well-made and well-put to build a strong wall part of a house called language.
(S. Hanuovs didactics lesson)
Shelagh Rixon claims that the principal aim of listening comprehension
practice is not to provide a model for oral production, but to strengthen the ability to
understand spoken messages (p. 13). On the other hand, I think that songs include
both practice to strengthen the ability to understand and they are excellent models
for oral production.

6 SOME ASPECTS OF PLANNING AND TEACHING A LESSON

Teaching is not only a complicated process of transferring the information,
but it is also a process about establishing relationships, forming new ideas, finding
new ways, and shifting the borders of ones world of knowledge. A teacher is the
one, who has the power to push these borders, but there are various factors, we will
focus on in this chapter, influencing this pushing.
From the beginning of this thesis we have been mainly dealing with music
and songs, their significance, advantages and their possible use in language
teaching. We wrote about various ways how to use a song in a classroom. So if we
do not want to use only the, already mentioned, word-gap-fill, but precisely on the
contrary, we want to use everything songs offer, and base a lesson on a song, there
are several factors that can considerably influence the fruitfulness of such a lesson.
These factors are planning a lesson including teaching aims, motivation, teaching
aids and materials, student groupings, and teaching, in our case, a lesson based on
listening, including listeners expectations, clear instructions and feedback. The
following sections, having these titles, discuss the basic theory of these factors, and
they are connected with practical examples from my research.

28

6.1 PLANNING A LESSON

Planning is a thinking skill wrote Jim Scrivener (p. 109), who also gives a
very good advice what to do while planning a lesson when he says: Let your mind
wander and explore a number of ways that material and learners can meet. Just
enjoy them and keep wandering (p. 111). His advice is well-founded because there
are a lot of areas the teachers should think about before a lesson. According to Cora
Lindsey and Paul Knight we need to decide:
-

What the goals or aims of the lesson are

what resources to use
whether to adapt the coursebook, if we are using one to supplement, leave
out, or replace activities and materials to make them more appropriate for our
learners and our teaching methods
which types of activities the learners will do
how the learners will interact with the teacher and each other
the sequence of activities
the timing and pacing
how best to use the classroom (p. 103).

Some experienced teachers think and believe that they do not have to prepare
a lesson plan, but most teachers go on preparing lessons throughout their careers,
even if their plans are very informal (J. Harmer, p. 121). Lesson based on a song
demands having a lesson plan because even though it is a good material, it is raw
material, which needs working up to get the best of it in a lesson.
There are several good reasons for being prepared for every lesson both for
students and for teachers. Two convincing Jeremy Harmers reasons for having a
lesson plan from the students point of view are: 1) Evidence of a plan shows them
that the teacher has devoted time to thinking about the class. 2) It gives students
confidence: they know immediately whether a teacher has thought about the lesson,
and they respond positively to those who have (p. 121).
Jim Scrivener offers two compelling reasons for having a lesson plan for
teachers. 1) The better prepared a teacher is, the more likely it is that he/she will be
ready to cope with whatever happens. 2) Planning increases the number of options
and in doing so, increases chances of a successful lesson (p. 109).
In the following sections we will focus on some specific areas closely related
to teaching which should be taken into consideration when planning a lesson.

29

6.1.1 TEACHING AIMS

Oxford dictionary defines aim as the purpose of doing something; what
somebody is trying to achieve (Oxford Dictionary, p. 26).
When we substitute the inexplicit words in this general explanation by more
specific ones, we will get a possible definition of a teaching aim, which is: teaching
aim = the purpose of teaching; what a teacher is trying to achieve.
Before every lesson it is useful to state the aims of a lesson, as said before,
what we want to achieve. There are various kinds of aims, but the most important
aim usually concerns intended student achievements: things that they will have
learned, skills they will have improved, points they will have reached by the end of
the lesson (J. Scrivener, p. 124).
Cora Lindsey and Paul Knight distinguish language aims including three
areas of vocabulary, functions, and grammar. Skill aims reading, listening,
speaking, and writing. And subsidiary aims these are the language or skills that
your learners practise but which you are not specifically concentrating on in the
lesson (p. 104). As already mentioned in sections 3.4.3 and 3.4.4, with the help of
songs a lot of different areas such as all the skills, grammar, vocabulary,
pronunciation can be practised, so any of these aims is suitable for a lesson with a
song, and can be set. It is just important to make it clear which will be the main aim
to focus on in a lesson. In my research both lessons (song and poem lesson) had the
main language aim, which was vocabulary acquisition, and skill aims focused on
listening, reading, and speaking in a song-lesson, and reading, listening, writing and
speaking in a poem-lesson. Subsidiary aims were grammar and pronunciation.
Setting a teaching aim is the first necessary and important step of a lesson
plan. The next steps are making up suitable motivation, choosing and preparing
materials and aids we will be using, and deciding about classroom management.
These are also the titles of the following subchapters we will concentrate on.

6.1.2 MOTIVATION
Every activity we do is motivated by something. Either it is our own need,
feeling, wish, idea, interest (intrinsic motivation) or it is a duty, necessity, order, or
promised reward (extrinsic motivation), the motivation is the basic and first kick
to do something. In the process of teaching it is one of the most important tasks for
teachers, especially those teaching children who, in comparison with adult learners,
30

usually lack the motivation for learning, which is a claim based on my own
experience. Teachers have to provoke interest and involvement in the subject even
when students are not initially interested in it. It is by their choice of topic, activity
and linguistic content that they may be able to turn a class around. It is by their
attitude to class participation, their conscientiousness, their humour and their
seriousness that they may influence their students. It is by their behaviour and
enthusiasm that they may inspire. (J. Harmer, p. 8)
I would go so far to say that motivation is an utterly essential part of
successful learning and teaching. When we are well-motivated we try to do our best,
which is the best presumption for a good result. Jeremy Harmer also says that
highly motivated students do better than ones without any motivation at all (p. 8).
Songs can help the teacher with the initial motivation because the fact itself
that they are so pleasurable to listen to is motivational enough, moreover, see in
section 4.5, motivation can be increased if we let the students choose their songs,
which is a fact I used in my research.

6.1.3 TEACHING AIDS AND MATERIALS

Teaching aids and materials are necessary components of teaching and there
are three main ways in which these materials can be used: as a supplement to a core
course book, as self-learning material, and as modular course material (J. Revel
and B. Breary, p. 6). There is a wide range of teaching aids and materials such as
flashcards, posters, pictures, games, books, magazines, newspapers, videotapes,
films, songs, pelmanism, quizzes and many others we can choose from. When
choosing teaching materials several criteria have to be taken into account. Jane
Revel and Barry Breary write that materials should be creative, interesting,
fluency-focused, task-based, problem-solving focused, humanistic, and learningcentred (p. 6). According to my experience I would also add adequate,
understandable and well-prepared. In both of my research lessons I tried to equip
my materials with as many of these characteristics as possible, and visuals, the
best-known sensory aids (E. W. Stevick, p. 106), were largely used because as
Penny Ur writes visuals have an important function as aids to learning, simply
because they attract students attention and help and encourage them to focus on the
subject in hand (p. 30).

31

Traditionally the most frequent use of visual aids has been simply to
illustrate what words are saying (E. W. Stevick, p.106). However, recently, miming
and acting have also become popular visual aids. Penny Ur claims that if the visual
aids are conspicuous, colourful, humorous, dramatic, or in motion so much the
better: striking and stimulating visual aids are likely to heighten students
motivation and concentration (p. 30). These were used in various forms in my
poem-lesson (see more in section 8.6).
At this point I will let my experience speak again. Sometimes it may take
time to prepare something nice, entertaining, useful, and at the same time instructive
(I mean for instance diverse cards, pelmanism, games etc.). Nevertheless, it is worth
investing our effort! When there is something the students can touch, can move, can
play with, it seems (to me) that they are feeling more at ease, as though just the idea
of playing would calm them down from the demanding process of studying,
involving the threatening thoughts of being always prepared, not making a mistake,
and hard thinking. The described process of studying is nicely and ingeniously
hidden in games the students like and appreciate very much.

6.1.4 STUDENT GROUPINGS

There are four ways how to organise students when teaching them. They
can work as a whole class, in groups, in pairs, or individually (J. Harmer, p. 20).
However, students preferred ways of working differ from one to the other, and this
is why all these organizational forms of work should be used and alternated. Every
form has its advantages and disadvantages which are suitable for one student, but
inconvenient for other. Let us highlight some of them.
On one hand, a whole class arrangement is the best because of time sparing,
easy monitoring, and having students attention, on the other hand the students are
usually passive. Groupwork and pairwork seem to have many advantages. In
groups and pairs students tend to participate more equally, and they are also more
able to experiment and use the language than they are in a whole-class arrangement
(J. Harmer, p. 21). However, some students may feel ashamed and uncomfortable to
speak in front of other people. The advantages of solowork are: It allows students
to work at their own speed, allows them thinking time, and they can go back to
considering their own individual needs and progress (J. Harmer, p. 21). On the
contrary, when it is used very often the students get bored.
32

On the basis of the fact that every student prefers different form of work, I
combined all four sorts of groupings in both of my research lessons.
6.2 PLANNING A LISTENING LESSON
In the previous section it has already been pointed out that setting teaching
aims, preparing teaching aids, making up suitable motivation and students grouping
are necessary components of the process of planning a lesson. These are also,
undoubtedly, valid for planning a listening lesson, so there is no need to mention
them again. On the other hand we can be more specific, since the main aimlistening has been chosen. According to Shelagh Rixon there are three main
considerations when planning a listening lesson:
1) Choosing one of the types of listening experience that you have previously
identified as relevant or interesting for your students
2) Finding exercises that both fit what the passage has to offer and practise skills
connected with listening that will be useful for your students
3) Bringing these exercises together and putting them into a sequence which
forms a coherent lesson. (S. Rixon, p. 63)

As far as the first consideration is concerned I let the students choose their
favourite songs whereby their interest was aroused, and then I chose the most
suitable song according to particular criteria (see 8.4 question 4).
The exercises were all closely connected with the song. Except for the main
aim to practise listening, reading and speaking were also included. Even though
writing was not in the song-lesson, there are some activities connected with songs
focusing on writing (see 3.4.4).
The exercises in the research concurred and formed a coherent listening
lesson (see 8.5).

6.3 SOME ASPECTS OF TEACHING A LISTENING LESSON

During teaching a lesson a teacher must be aware of many facts s/he has to
adapt according to the existing situation. So it may very well happen that during one
lesson the teacher may also serve as a psychologist, an actor, a singer, or a DJ (those
who does not sing, and play music). Nevertheless, his / her main role, which is also
a part of just mentioned transformations, is to be a facilitator someone whose
priority is to help the students and to make learning easier.

33

The following subsections will discuss some possibilities of making listening

lesson easier, dealing with listeners expectations, clear instructions and feedback.

6.3.1 LISTENERS EXPECTATIONS

Imagine several common situations from everyday life, such as for example
shopping, being at the doctors, meeting a friend, celebrating a birthday, travelling
by train, or listening to well known songs. In all these situations we usually know
what the conversation is going to be about, and we expect particular words phrases
or sentences, and as far as songs are concerned it is undoubtedly true, as well. Who
in the world would not finish automatically the sentence We will, we will ..!
Who among Czechs does not know what Karel Gott will put sugar in? But when
students sit in a classroom and the teacher says Listen to this, and then switches on
the cassette recorder, the students may have no idea what to expect. Even if the
sounds and words are familiar, they may still be unable to understand because they
lack certain kinds of knowledge necessary for them to comprehend, stated Mary
Underwood (p. 30), who also considers this act as being unfair to the listeners. So,
before listening, students should be tuned-in so that they know what to expect,
both in general and for particular tasks (M. Underwood, p. 30). In other words, the
students should be given a reason to listen.
This tuning-in or pre-listening activities represent one of the facilitators
possibilities how to make the listening easier.

6.3.2 CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS

The presence of clear instructions is completely necessary in everything we
are doing. Because how can something be done without knowing what exactly
should be done and how? This problem of lacking clear instructions exists
everywhere at work, at school, at home, and causes various troubles. In the prelistening phase of a lesson it can cause students to switch off and not attempt to
do anything, and this in turn distracts those who are trying to perform the task. All
the students should understand what they have to do before a teacher starts to play,
read or speak the listening text (M. Underwood, p. 32). Without doubt, it also
concerns songs. In spite of the fact that songs are enjoyable enough to listen to
without any other specific reason if the teacher wants to use the potential of songs

34

fully in order to achieve the lesson aim, clear instructions are one of the
presumptions how to succeed.
However, there is something more to add when giving instructions. Even
when the teacher thinks he / she gave clear instructions enough for everybody to
understand, it does not have to mean that the situation corresponds to his / her
supposition. Therefore the teacher should check the instruction.

6.3.3 FEEDBACK
Everyone was once a child and everyone, certainly, experienced the need for
praising or evaluating something they had done (for example a painted picture,
recited poem, built castle etc.), and also the disappointment when this need was not
satisfied. Actually, this need has never left us. Of course, it is not so intensive like in
childhood, but the need still remains. Thinking deeply, it even seems that this need
is reintensified as far as students are concerned. No wonder. Learning simply
demands praise, correction and evaluating. Jeremy Harmer (p. 10) expressed it more
precisely saying that: Giving feedback involves praising students for things they do
well, and offering them the ability to do things better where they were less
successful. It involves teachers in judging their students responses to correction so
that they can act accordingly. And so students want to know the correct answer
immediately they have done a task, are frustrated if it is delayed, and may very well
lose some of their interest by the time it does appear (P. Ur, p. 29). Therefore after
every activity in both research lessons a feedback followed - in various forms.
Reading and writing do not need immediate feedback because the students can
reread the relevant material, but speaking and listening, however, need to be
reacted immediately (P. Ur, p. 28). The reason for the need to be checked
immediately is that what a listener has heard is still echoing somewhere in their
mind and there is still a possibility of hearing it again (P. Ur, p. 28).

CONCLUSION
This chapter started with a thinking skill of planning a lesson, which is a
process running in a teachers mind and which consist of many other thoughts. The
name of the first thought is a teaching aim an abstract spot, where the students
should find a piece of, already mentioned, language treasure. For this journey it is
necessary to prepare good nutrition called motivation, and moreover make clear
35

signposts, write a well-arranged brochure, build an information desk, in short,

prepare teaching aids and materials that can help them on this journey. And finally
decide which parts of this journey will be shared by the whole class, group, pairs,
and which parts the students will have to go through individually.

7. POEM
The original idea, at the beginning of my diploma thesis, was to concentrate
fully on the use of music in teaching English, and to support the idea of positive
influence of music in language teaching, both from theoretical and practical point of
view. My intention was to carry out research based only on a song, however, during
my investigation an interesting subject matter, proposing a comparison of the
influence of song with a poem, appeared. Because it turned out it could be beneficial
for my thesis, I carried out research based on a poem (see 8.6) which not only
helped when evaluating the final results, but it also enriched me and my teaching in
many directions. Let us now have a brief look at the theoretical background of
literature supporting its incorporation into language teaching. The first section
explains the terms: literature, poetry and poem, and the second section gives various
explanations and reasons why to teach literature.

7.1 THE TERMS LITERATURE, POETRY, POEM

Since in the following sections these terms will be used variously, let us
explain them properly with the help of Oxford Dictionary.
Literature pieces of writing that are valued as works of art, especially novels,
plays and poems (p. 751)
Poetry a collection of poems; poems in general (p. 973)
Poem a piece of writing in which the words are chosen for their sound and the
Images they suggest, not just for their obvious meanings (p. 972)

The explanations were provided to bear in mind that these terms are in
hyponymic relation, which means that a poem is a part of poetry which is a part of
literature, so using the terms literature or poetry always includes the presence of a
poem, as well.

36

7.2 WHY TO TEACH LITERATURE

Who among us cannot recite a short poem or nursery rhyme learned long
ago? Ask V. L. Holmes and M. R. Moulton, who provide the explanation of this
phenomenon. Firstly, poetry sticks with us because it resonates in our hearts and
minds, and secondly poems often adhere to predictable patterns of rhythm and
rhyme, they are pleasurable and easy to recall (V. L. Holmes and M. R. Moulton, p.
2).
Literature language surrounds us in many different ways and is to be found
in many daily practices (e.g. playground rituals, verbal games, jokes, songs, and
advertisements jingles). (R. A. Carter, p. 7)
V. L. Holmes and M. R. Moulton offer explanation of language acquisition
through poetry, and they give reasons for using poetry in language teaching.
Children are often introduced to poetry early in their lives by parents, grandparents, and
other caretakers who chant nursery rhymes or sing lullabies to soothe their childrens
anxiety all before the youngsters have any consciousness of linguistic forms. Many
children learn their first words from poems because the sounds of poetic language, with its
patterns of rhythm, rhyme, and cadence, intrigue them and make them listen carefully.
Linguists suggest that early knowledge of syntax comes from children listening to language
forms from their environments. More often than not, those forms are poetic. Poetry teaches
children to listen, develop vocabulary, learn to read and write, and think creatively. For
some of the same reasons that poetry is useful in acquisition of a first language, it is an
effective way of learning and reinforcing the sounds and structures of a second, or even
third, language. Through listening to poetry, second language learners can reinforce target
language learning in a natural way. (V. L. Holmes and M. R. Moulton, p. 3)

According to R. A. Carter there are three main reasons for teaching literature.
These are: the cultural model, the language model, the personal growth model.
a)

The cultural model

Teaching literature within a cultural model enables students to understand and appreciate
cultures and ideologies different from their own in time and space and to come to perceive
tradition of thought, feeling, and artistic form within the heritage the literature of such
cultures endows.
b) The language model
The main reason is to put students in touch with some of the more subtle and varied creative
uses of the language. There is much to be gained in terms of language but a main impulse of
language-centred literature teaching is to help students find ways into a text in a methodical
way and for themselves.
c) The personal growth model
The main goal is to try to help students to achieve an engagement with the reading of
literary texts. The personal growth is rewarding because it results from learning how to
appreciate and evaluate complex cultural artefacts; it is fulfilling because it is stimulated by
an understanding of our society and culture and of ourselves as we function within that
society and culture. (R. A. Carter, p. 2, 3)

37

Alan Duff and Alan Maley offer another three types of justification for using
literary texts: linguistic, methodological, and motivational.
a)
b)

c)

Literary texts offer genuine samples of a very wide range of styles, registers,
and text-types at many levels of difficulty.
Literary texts are open to multiple interpretations. This ready-made opinion gap
between one individuals interpretation and anothers can be bridged by genuine
interaction.
Literary texts are non-trivial, they deal with matters which concerned the writer
enough to make him or her write about them. This genuine feel of literary
texts is a powerful motivator, especially when allied to the fact that literary texts
so often touch on themes to which learners can bring a personal response from
their own experience. (A. Duff & A. Maley, p. 6)

There is an inexhaustible amount of poems from which we will choose a few

examples on which we will demonstrate Carters models and Duff and Maleys
justification for using the poems in language teaching.
Tradition of thought, feeling, and artistic form of the cultural model can be
demonstrated on Elizabeth Barret Brownings poem How do I love thee? (see
appendix 9). The methodical way of the language model can be presented on the
poem used in the research (see section 8.6 and appendix 7). For the personal growth
model see for instance the poem written by Rudyard Kipling If (see appendix 10).
From the linguistic point of view nursery rhymes are nice examples of wide range of
styles, registers, and text-types at many levels of difficulty (see some examples in
appendix 11). There are a lot of poems that offer multiple interpretations and are
very personal. In appendix 12 two examples are to be found. The first poem is To a
stranger by Walt Whitman and the second by William Butler Yeats Leda and the
swan.

Although the explanations and given reasons for teaching literature are
convincing looking through TEFL / TESL writings in the seventies or early
eighties, we find surprisingly little about the teaching of literature. Nevertheless,
during the 1980s the situation has changed quite radically and literature is
undergoing an extensive reconsideration within the language teaching profession.
(R. A. Carter, p. 1)

38

8. MEDINA RESEARCH
Suzanne Medina is a professor of School of Education in Carson, California,
who conducted research in an area similar to what I am interested in, in my diploma
thesis. Her pieces of knowledge and findings support my research which is the
reason why there is a reference to her investigation.
She carried out research focused on the effect of music on second language
acquisition. Her research was based on a story song. The theoretical support was
largely based on Krashens second language acquisition hypotheses, which we will
highlight the main ideas from.
Two best known Krashens hypotheses, from his five, are the Input and
Affective filter hypotheses. According to Krashens Input Hypothesis, new,
unfamiliar vocabulary is acquired when its significance is made clear to the learner.
Meaning is conveyed by providing extralinguistic support such as illustrations,
actions, photos, and realia. This in turns results in what Krashen refers to as
comprehensible input since the linguistic input is made comprehensible to the
second language learner (S. Medina). In the Affective Filter hypotheses Krashen
says that the extent to which linguistic input is received from the environment
largely depends upon the learners affect, that is his inner feelings and attitude.
Negative emotions, functioning much like a filter, can prevent the learner from
making total use of the linguistic input from his environment. Therefore, if he is
anxious, unmotivated, or simply lacks confidence, language acquisition will be
limited. Music evokes positive emotions which can lower the affective filter and
bring about language acquisition. (S. Medina)
The research was carried out in a group of 48 second grade limited-Englishproficiency children. These were divided into four groups, each of which had
different presentation of the story song that was sung or spoken with or without
illustrations. After the four-day treatment there was the first test to measure
vocabulary acquisition and the second test was two and half weeks later in order to
determine the short-term and long-term effects of music and illustrations. Despite
the fact that when evaluating the data Medina consulted various factors (e.g. high
proficiency and low proficiency subjects) the results show that while the effect of
illustrations was seemingly quite powerful, it was the addition of music which
appeared to boost the positive effects of the illustrations. (S. Medina)

39

There is another theory supporting the use of music in language classrooms,

which should be mentioned. It is Howard Gardners theory of multiple intelligences
that is based on his conviction that there exist eight distinct intelligences: musical,
spatial, logical, linguistic (verbal) logical-mathematical, bodily-kinaesthetic,
interpersonal and intrapersonal and naturalist (S. Medina). It seems that they are
independent of one another, so if some difficulties appear in one of these
intelligences, it does not mean they will appear in the others. Most individuals are
usually very good at only one or two of these areas. Gardner claims that it is the
responsibility of educational institutions to cultivate these intelligences because
historically schools have focused on the development of only two of these
intelligences: linguistic and logical/mathematical skills. Using music as a vehicle for
second language learning is consistent with Gardners theory, and furthermore,
those students who are strongest in this musical intelligence will experience more
successful instruction. (S. Medina)

40

9 RESEARCH
The practical part of my diploma thesis will be dealing with research I
carried out in the time span of seven months, with 53 subjects (students), in four
different groups (see 7.2). The research consisted of five different parts (see 7.1) by
means of which I wanted to find out the answer to the question if music can help the
learners with vocabulary acquisition, and to what extent.
The first two sections describe in detail the parts of my research and the
researched groups. The third section provides the results of the first questionnaire,
the fourth section covers the song-lesson experiment describing the sequence of
activities, the course of the lesson in the groups, evaluation and its results. The fifth
section describes the poem-lesson experiment including the sequence of activities,
description of the course of the lesson, evaluation, plus results. At the end of this
chapter a comparison of the results will be provided.

9.1 PARTS OF THE RESEARCH

My research consisted of two questionnaires, two pieces of research the
first based on a song, the second based on a poem, and two collections of results.
The very first part of the research represented the first questionnaire by
means of which I needed to find out what attitude to music the students had, and
mainly what kind of music they liked, what kind of music they did not like, which
song was their favourite, and if they liked singing. These items of information were
the most significant, and the song-research was based on them.
After the questionnaire followed the research based on a song. This song had
been chosen by the subjects of research, or song chosen by myself fitting into their
favourite genre. This song was used in a sequence of different activities (see 7.5)
during one lesson (45 minutes). The research was carried out in January.
The third part consisted of two short activities before the second
questionnaire, and the questionnaire itself that was focused on students evaluating
the lesson, and especially on gaining results from the first research. Strictly
speaking, how many words, phrases, or sentences the students recalled without and
with the song after two months.
The next part was a lesson based on a poem I had chosen according to
particular criteria (see 7.6), and that was used in various activities (see 7.6) during
one lesson (45 minutes). This research lesson was conducted in April.
41

The last part included a worksheet with pictures next to which the students
were supposed to write the denotations and the worksheet also included lines where
they could write anything extra they remembered from the poem (other words,
phrases, or sentences). At the end I did an interview evaluating the lesson in
comparison with the previous lesson based on song. These data were gathered in
June.

9.2 DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCHED GROUPS

As said before, the research was carried out in four different groups which
differed in age, number of males and females, and level of English, which are
factors that might have influenced the research, and therefore they should be
described more accurately.
1) Secondary school group (SSG)
It was the ninth class of secondary school in Nov Jin consisting of 18
pupils (6 girls/12 boys) at the age of 14/15. The boys were hockey players,
which can have some influence on some results. They were pre-intermediate
learners of English. This group of pupils knew me because I did my teaching
practice in their class during three weeks.

2) Grammar school group (GSG)

The students at the grammar school in Nov Jin were in their first year of
studying. There were 16 students (9 girls/ 7 boys) at the age of 15/16 in this
class. They were intermediate learners of English. These students had not
known me before the research.

3) Language school group A (LSGA)

This group consisted of 9 students (6 men/ 3 women) between 25-46 years
old. They were pre-intermediate learners of English. I have been teaching
this group for four years.

4) Language school group B (LSGB)

This group consisted of 10 students (6 men/ 4 women) between 2851 years
old. They were intermediate learners of English. I have been teaching this
group for five years.
42

9.3 PLANNING THE RESEARCH LESSON

In the theoretical part I expressed the opinion that if a lesson is based on a
song in order to use its full potential, and to get the best of it (in our case to find out
if a song has the ability to help acquire vocabulary more easily, or to greater extent
than any other way of teaching, in our case a lesson based on a poem), the teacher
should think about a lesson plan, and prepare it.
The basic rules I followed, when planning a listening lesson, were already
described in the theoretical part (see 5.2), but still there were some more I took into
consideration while planning my research lessons based on a song. These were:
the most important is the input of information which can be visual, auditory,
tactual, and kinaesthetic
Diversity, movement and repetition must be involved

And some rules written by renowned authors.

A good lesson needs to contain a judicious blend of coherence and variety (J.
Harmer, p. 122)
If a listening text is to be repeated a number of times, there must be a clear and
definite purpose for listening each time (M. Underwood, p. 32).
Tasks should be success-oriented (P. Ur, p. 27).
At the level of teaching sequence we have to ensure the presence of three
elements, Engage, Study, Activate (J. Harmer, p. 126).

9.4 RESULTS OF THE FIRST QUESTIONNAIRE

Seeing that the foundation for the following section (Description of the songlesson experiment) is the questionnaire, let us have a look at its results.
Explanatory notes: F female
M male
T total (in groups)
Total all respondents

SSG secondary school group

GSG grammar school group
LSGA language school group A
LSGB language school group B

1) Do you like listening to music?

ALWAYS
SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB
TOTAL

USUALLY

SOMETIMES

SELDOM

NEVER

5
7
2
1

10
5
2
3

15
12
4
4

1
2
1
3

1
2
3
2

2
4
4
5

0
0
0
0

1
0
1
1

1
0
1
1

0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0

68%

65%

66%

32%

26%

28%

0%

9%

6%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

43

This question was the most significant since the research was not only based
on listening to music, but its main aim was to find out if music can help when
learning vocabulary. The results show that the vast majority of younger learners
(SSG and GSG) always like listening to music. Approximately half of the adult
learners in LSGA and LSGB like always, or usually listening to music. Even though
there is one person in three of these four groups that likes listening to music only
sometimes, there is nobody who does not like listening to music, which is a very
positive fact.
2) What kind of music is your favourite?
SSG

Pop
music

F
M
T
Hip-hop F
/
M
Rap
T
Country F
M
T
Rock
F
M
T
Drum & F
base
M
T
(Heavy) F
metal
M
T
Jazz
F
M
T
Reggae F
M
T
Techno F
M
T
Brass /
F
folk
M
music
T

5
0
5
0
5
5
0
0
0
1
1
2
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
0
3
3
0
0
0

GS
G

4
2
6
0
4
4
0
0
0
3
1
4
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0

3) Is there any kind of music you do not like?

LSG
A

LSG
B

total

2
4
6
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

1
3
4
0
0
0
1
1
2
2
2
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

55%
29%
40%
0%
29%
17%
9%
3%
5%
27%
19%
22%
0%
3%
2%
0%
3%
2%
0%
0%
0%
0%
6%
4%
0%
13%
8%
0%
0%
0%

44

Pop
music

F
M
T
Hip-hop F
/
M
Rap
T
Country F
M
T
Rock
F
M
T
Drum & F
base
M
T
(Heavy) F
metal
M
T
Jazz
F
M
T
Reggae F
M
T
Techno F
M
T
Brass /
F
folk
M
music
T
No
F
M
T

SSG

GS
G

0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
3
10
13
0
1
1

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
1
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
4
5
9
0
0
0

LSG
A

LSG
B

total

0
0
0
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
0
2
2
1
2
3

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
5
7
1
0
1
0
1
1

0%
0%
0%
0%
6%
4%
5%
6%
6%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
18%
3%
9%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
36%
15%
25%
36%
55%
47%
5%
13%
9%

These two questions can be evaluated together as they closely relate to each
other. The purpose of these questions was to find out the favourite music style of the
majority in each class in order to choose a suitable song, and to know which music
styles are not much-favoured. The outcomes show that pop music and rock are the
most preferred in every group and brass music with techno the least.
4) What is your favourite English song? (See below the questions 7 and 8)

5) Do you like more English or Czech songs?

ENGLISH
SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB
TOTAL

CZECH

F
4
8
1
1

M
9
7
4
2

T
13
15
5
3

F
2
1
2
3

M
3
0
2
4

T
5
1
4
7

64%

71%

68%

36%

29%

32%

6) How often do you listen to English songs?

VERY OFTEN
SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB
TOTAL

OFTEN

SOMETIMES

SELDOM

NEVER

F
2
2
1
2

M
3
2
2
2

T
5
4
3
4

F
3
5
0
1

M
4
3
2
2

T
7
8
2
3

F
1
1
2
1

M
3
1
1
2

T
4
2
3
3

F
0
1
0
0

M
1
0
1
0

T
1
1
1
0

F
0
0
0
0

M
1
0
0
0

T
1
0
0
0

32%

29%

30%

41%

36%

38%

23%

23%

23%

5%

7%

6%

0%

3%

2%

The results of questions number five and six indicate whether the
respondents prefer English to Czech songs and the frequency they listen to English
songs and in doing so indirectly exposing them to the sound of songs (see more
section 3.4.3.1.1). It is obvious that younger learners prefer more English to Czech
songs than the adult learners, however, students in every group listen to English
songs, except for one secondary pupil.

45

7) Do you play or did you play any musical instrument?

YES
SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB
TOTAL

NO

F
5
6
1
0

M
0
5
2
3

T
5
11
3
3

F
1
3
2
4

M
12
2
4
3

T
13
5
6
7

55%

32%

42%

45%

68%

58%

As we can see the group of boys from the secondary school extremely
increases the percentage of those who do not, or did not play any musical
instrument, which may be the consequence of the fact, that they are hockey players.
8) Do you like singing?
ALWAYS
SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB
TOTAL

USUALLY

SOMETIMES

SELDOM

NEVER

F
2
4
2
1

M
1
2
0
2

T
3
6
2
3

F
3
2
0
1

M
0
3
3
0

T
3
5
3
1

F
1
2
1
2

M
1
0
0
3

T
2
2
1
5

F
0
1
0
0

M
2
1
2
1

T
2
2
2
1

F
0
0
0
0

M
8
1
1
0

T
8
1
1
0

41%

16%

27%

27%

19%

22%

27%

13%

19%

5%

19%

13%

0%

32%

19%

This question was very important since singing was a part of the research
and was regarded as a significant instrument of repetition (the song was sung three
times). The chart shows positively that in three groups the respondents like singing
in general, however in the secondary school group the number of pupils who do not
like singing is quite high, which became evident during the song-lesson experiment
(see more 7.5.1).
4) What is your favourite English song?
The answers to this question differed in every group from student to student.
These are some examples of favourite songs in the groups.
SSG London Bridge, Fergie; No woman no cry, Bob Marley; Pump it, Black Eyed
Peas; Californication, Red Hot Chilli Peppers; Perfect, Simple Plan
GSG Perfect, Simple Plan; Numb, Linkin Park; Was it all worth it, Eminem
LSGA Beautiful Day, U2; Perfect Day, Lou Reed, Swanheart, Nightwish
LSGB Let it be, Beatles; Sorry, Madonna; Daylight, Cold Play

46

For the song-lesson experiment in SSG as well as in GSG I chose the song Perfect
by Simple Plan because, firstly, in both groups the choice of popular music
prevailed, secondly this song was mentioned several times by the students in the
questionnaire, and lastly the lyrics of the song were suitable for pre-intermediate and
intermediate learners. For LSGA group the song Perfect Day by Lou Reed was
chosen and for LSGB Let it be by Beatles because of the same reasons mentioned
above.
9.5 DESCRIPTION OF THE SONG LESSON EXPERIMENT
The lesson consisted of seven different activities, one of which was repeated
three times. This was the order of the activities:- Grab a word; Cut up lyrics;
Singing; Translation; Find the word; Singing; Underline these phrases;
Comprehension check; Singing.
1st activity GRAB A WORD
Aim to tune the students in. To have fun (T. Murphey, p. 10).
Description
Twelve words from a song plus four arbitrary words were chosen, written on big
pieces of paper with points (100-300) under each word, and stuck on the board.
Students were standing in front of the board and while the first listening they were
supposed to grab a word immediately they had heard it or thought they had. Before
playing the song, I read all the words loudly. Unknown words were not translated.
At the end the students were instructed to take and keep their grabbed words with
them.

These were the chosen and arbitrary words in each song:

Perfect: - grow up, disapprove, along, proud, gonna, wanna, lasts, pain, feel, hero,
far, alright, friend, bag, promise, way
Perfect Day: - feed, movie, glad, hang on, park, dark, later, all, fun, forget, keep,
good, walk, bad, ball, mood
Let it be: - words, darkness, people, world, chance, cloudy, light, tomorrow, music,
sound, trouble, hour, love, friend, say, swear

47

2nd activity CUT UP LYRICS

Aim to practise listening comprehension
Description
The students, in pairs, were given cut up lyrics of the song, and while the second
listening to the song they had to put it into the right order. If they were successful,
there was a message on the back of the pieces (Well done!). After this they had to
find the words they took from the board in the text, and count the points on them.
The winner got a small chocolate.
3rd activity SINGING
Aim to practise pronunciation and intonation, and have fun (T. Murphey, p. 94)
Singing songs in unison produces a sense of community and increases
student confidence in the language (S. Medina).
Description
Students and I sang with the lyrics.
4th activity TRANSLATION
Aim to practise language awareness when translating
Description
Groups of three students were given one part of the lyrics (every group different
part) with translation of 2 / 3 difficult words on small cards, and they tried to
translate this part freely in a time limit of approximately 4 minutes, then every group
read their version of translation.
5th activity FIND THE WORD
Aim to practise the vocabulary of the song, to get the students into motion
Description
Eight most difficult words were chosen (in one case ten), written on big pieces of
paper, and stuck on the walls in the classroom. The students chose randomly the
explanation from my hand, and had to find the right matching word.

These were the words they had to find the explanation to:
Perfect: - waste, wanna, disapprove, proud, pretend, pain, hero, seem, stand, gonna
Perfect Day: - feed, reap, sow, glad, hang on, keep, movie, weekender
48

Let it be: - agree, darkness, trouble, until, broken heart, wisdom, whisper, shine
6th activity SINGING
Aim to repeat pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, to have fun(T. Murphey, p.
94)
Description
Students and I sang with the lyrics.
7th activity UNDERLINE THESE PHRASES
Aim to repeat the vocabulary, to practise orientation in the text
Description
The students had to underline the expressions in the text I wrote on the board in
Czech. Then I checked the correct answers.
8th activity COMPREHENSION CHECK
Aim to practise speaking, comprehension of the text
Description
The students were supposed to answer the questions related to the lyrics of the song.
9th activity SINGING
Aim to repeat singing the song with bigger confidence
Description
Students and I sang with the lyrics.

9.5.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE OF SONG LESSON EXPERIMENT

The same sequence of activities was done in every group. Even though this
experiment was basically for all four groups the same (except for the chosen song),
the course of the lessons differed.
The SSG was the liveliest. The first and the second activity were without any
problems, the pupils were enjoying the games with competitive mood. The first
singing was a little bit shy, and even though the second and the third singing were
stronger, not everyone was singing which corresponds with the answers in the first
questionnaire, where eight boys wrote they never liked singing. The first troubles
appeared in the fourth activity translation. The pupils found it difficult to produce
49

a coherent text, but this was basically the aim, to show them how difficult it is to
translate something meaningfully into Czech even when they understand. However,
their age and level of English might have been a part of the troubles.
As far as the GSG is concerned the lesson ran without any problems, on the
contrary, the students were very active, and everybody was singing with pleasure
from the very beginning.
The lessons in LSGA and LSGB were very similar. Some difficulties
appeared in the fourth activity translation, mainly in LSGB whose lyrics to Let it
be were more difficult. Their first singing was quite cautious, but during the last
singing everyone sang.
When I evaluate these lessons in general, every lesson ran very well, and the
most important fact was that the majority of students was singing. In my opinion, all
of the lessons were very positive, relaxed, and I had a very good feeling after every
lesson. How much these lessons, based on a song, helped the students acquire the
target vocabulary, and how the students perceived and felt during the lesson, are the
questions that will be answered in the next sections.

9.5.2 RESULTS COLLECTION OF THE SONG-LESSON EXPERIMENT

The data were gathered two months after the song-lesson experiment, in
March. It consisted of three parts. At the beginning the students were instructed to
recall the song-lesson and to write as many words, phrases, or sentences as they
remembered from the song. This activity was necessary because after that the
students were asked to sing the song (without handouts with lyrics), and compare
the amount of words they recalled without and then with music. There were four
more questions in the second questionnaire asking the students specific evaluating
questions relating to the song-lesson. The number of students in each group was the
same, except for the secondary school group where one boy was absent.

9.5.3 RESULTS OF THE SECOND QUESTIONNAIRE

Explanatory notes: F female
M male
T total (in groups)
Total all respondents

SSG secondary school group

GSG grammar school group
LSGA language school group A
LSGB language school group B

50

1) What was the song-lesson like for you? (Circle all the answers you agree
with)
INTERESTING

ENJOYABLE

NORMAL

BORING

SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB

F
4
6
3
3

M
4
5
6
5

T
8
11
9
8

F
3
4
1
2

M
4
4
3
3

T
7
8
4
5

F
1
0
0
0

M
4
0
0
1

T
5
0
0
1

F
0
0
0
0

M
0
0
0
0

T
0
0
0
0

TOTAL

73%

67%

69%

45%

47%

46%

5%

17%

12%

0%

0%

0%

These numbers say that the vast majority of the respondents perceived the
song-lesson as interesting and enjoyable, which corresponds with the theory where
the fact that songs are highly enjoyable has been mentioned several times. The
students also described this lesson as: splendid, relaxing, and English through
games.
2) Was the song-lesson instructive?
YES
SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB
TOTAL

NO

F
M
T
F
M
T
6
8
14
0
3
3
8
6
14
1
1
2
3
6
9
0
0
0
4
6
10
0
0
0
95% 87% 90% 5% 13% 10%
While all the adult students in language school groups think the song-lesson

was instructive, and they learned something, some of the younger students have
different opinions. Nevertheless, there was no one who would not recall at least
something from the song (see more questions number 5, 6).

3) Did the song-lesson go quickly?

YES
SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB
TOTAL

NO

F
M
T
F
M
T
5
8
13
1
3
4
7
7
14
2
0
2
3
6
9
0
0
0
4
5
9
0
1
1
86% 87% 87% 14% 13% 13%

51

Eighty - seven percent of all respondents wrote that the lesson went quickly.
The highest number of those who did not perceive the course of the lesson as quick
can be seen in the secondary school group.
4) How did you feel during the lesson? (Circle all the answers you agree with)
POSITIVE

RELAXED

NORMAL

STRESSED

NEGATIVE

SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB

F
2
4
2
3

M
3
3
2
3

T
5
7
4
6

F
3
5
3
4

M
5
5
4
4

T
11
10
7
8

F
3
2
0
0

M
5
3
1
2

T
8
5
1
2

F
0
0
0
0

M
0
0
0
0

T
0
0
0
0

F
0
0
0
0

M
0
0
0
0

T
0
0
0
0

TOTAL

50%

37%

42%

68%

60%

69%

23%

37%

31%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

The results of this question clearly show that most of the students (69%) felt
relaxed, and moreover during this lesson many students felt also positive. Despite
the fact that some students wrote normal, there was nobody who would have felt
stressed, or negative, which is a very satisfying result. To this question more
students comments were added: e.g. I felt at ease, during good songs I have a
unique mood, rather indefinable, it was very pleasant.
5) Were you able to recall any words, phrases, or text without melody?
YES
1 20 WORDS

SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB
TOTAL

NO

SOME PHRASES

SOME SENTENCES
/ TEXT

NOTHING

F
3
1
2
2

M
6
3
2
1

T
9
4
4
3

F
2
5
1
1

M
4
0
4
3

T
6
5
5
4

F
1
3
0
0

M
1
4
0
2

T
2
7
0
2

F
0
0
0
1

M
0
0
0
0

T
0
0
0
1

36%

40%

39%

41%

37%

39%

18%

23%

20%

5%

0%

2%

According to this chart there was only one woman who did not recall
anything without the melody which makes only 2% of the 52 respondents. The
prevalent majority (98%) recalled some words, phrases, or sentences which is an
important fact.

52

6) Were you able to recall any words, phrases, or text with melody?
YES
1 20 WORDS

SSG
GSG
LSGA
LSGB
TOTAL

NO

SOME PHRASES

SOME SENTENCES
/ TEXT

NOTHING

F
0
0
0
2

M
3
0
1
0

T
3
0
1
2

F
4
5
3
2

M
6
2
5
4

T
10
7
8
6

F
2
4
0
0

M
2
5
0
2

T
4
9
0
2

F
0
0
0
0

M
0
0
0
0

T
0
0
0
0

9%

18%

12%

64%

57%

60%

27%

30%

29%

0%

0%

0%

As we can see in this chart the amount of vocabulary the students recalled
with music considerably increased, mainly as far as phrases are concerned.
CONCLUSION
According to the results of the second questionnaire the song lesson
experiment can be summarized. The lesson was interesting for 69 percent of the
respondents and 46 percent perceived it as enjoyable. For 90 percent the lesson was
instructive and 87 percent wrote that the lesson went quickly. Moreover, 69 percent
of the students were feeling relaxed and 42 percent also positive during the lesson.
Nobody felt stressed or even negative. Furthermore, the charts number five and six
partly answer the main question of this diploma thesis if music helps with
vocabulary acquisition and to what extent. The numbers in chart five say that there
were 39 percent of the students who recalled some words, 39 percent recalled some
phrases and 20 percent recalled some sentences without music. The amount of
vocabulary dramatically increased with the help of music, mainly as far as phrases
are concerned (by 21%). These numbers will be further compared with the results of
the poem lesson experiment (see 8.6.2).

9.6 DESCRIPTION OF THE POEM LESSON EXPERIMENT

The poem was selected according to a number of criteria. At its most basic
level, in the poem, used for this research, had to be a clear concrete story for easier
comprehension (because some poems are abstract and can be interpreted and
understood variously, which was not demanded) and the poem had to be short.
Additional criteria were also met. At the end of each verse there was a word which
rhymed with the word at the end of the next verse. The poem had vocabulary

53

appropriate for pre-intermediate and intermediate students of English and contained

at least 9 words unfamiliar to some of the students.
The lesson consisted of eleven different activities which followed in this
sequence:- Guessing the title; Write a poem; 1st Recitation of the poem; Fill-in the
rhyming words; Checking + 2nd Reciting; Students recitation; Drama activities;
Comprehension check; Word drill; Expressions with mind; Rap.
1st activity GUESSING THE TITLE OF THE POEM
Aim tuning in
Description
The picture of the serial Lost was shown to the students who were supposed to
guess the title of the poem.
2nd activity WRITE A POEM!
Aim to share a composition task, to use language creatively (T. Murphey, p. 80)
Description
The students, in pairs, were asked to write 2 4 lines of a poem with the title Lost.
After having it written they recited their short poems in the class.
3rd activity 1ST RECITATION OF THE POEM
Aim to have the idea what the poem is about
Description
The students were given handouts with the poem without the rhyming words.
On the board there were two posters with the poem written on them (without the
rhyming words). Under them there were four pictures illustrating some words of the
poem. In addition, there was a poster where the rhyming words were written. These
were read, however not translated.
The students were asked to listen and watch me carefully, while I was reciting the
poem, without saying the rhyming words, but showing, or miming them. When I
was reciting the poem I used the pictures and miming to show them the meaning of
the words.
4th activity FILL-IN THE RHYMING WORDS
Aim to practise language awareness
54

Description
The students were asked to fill in the rhyming words. After their filling in we
checked their answers together, and stuck the rhyming words (written in red) into
the poem on the board. The words the students still were still not sure about were
described more precisely.
5th activity STUDENTS RECITATION
Aim to practise pronunciation, and rhythm of the poem
Description
We recited the poem loudly together.
6th activity DRAMA ACTIVITIES
Aim to practise the words through drama, experience; to have fun (T. Murphey,
p. 10)
Description
Three groups of two were given different situations from the poem written on small
cards. They had to perform them, and the other guessed. The rest of the students,
who were not involved into performing a situation, got a card with only one word of
the poem which they had to mime.
7th activity COMPREHENSION CHECK
Aim to practise speaking, comprehension of the poem
Description
The students were supposed to answer the questions related to the poem.
8th activity WORD DRILL
Aim to memorize the rhyming words through drill
Description
The instruction was to say the rhyming word which rhymed with the one I said (e.g.
I said: Fence, the students: Dense). I kept on saying and repeating the words till
the moment I was sure everyone was saying the right rhyming word.
9th activity 2ND STUDENTS RECITATION
Aim to practise the rhyming words
55

Description
The rhyming words were removed. I recited the poem without them, but asked the
students to say them instead of me.
10th activity EXPRESSIONS WITH MIND
Aim to learn other common, useful phrases
Description
Three other expressions with mind were explained. These were Mind the gap /
Mind the step / Mind your head.
11th activity RAP22
Aim to use the rhythm for better memorizing the target vocabulary; to have fun
(T. Murphey, p. 10)
Description
Firstly I rapped the poem alone to get the students into the rhythm, and then we
rapped together.

9.6.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE OF POEM-LESSON EXPERIMENT

The poem with the same sequence of activities was used in every group. The
course of the lesson did not differ so distinctively like in the song-lesson, but still
there were some differences among the four groups.
The pupils in the SSG were really enjoying drama activities, but they were
excited by rapping (mainly boys). Writing the short poem caused some troubles at
the beginning because they were worried about making mistakes and about the form
of their poems as they had never been writing an English poem before. Therefore I
told them to write anything that came to their minds. Even though their poems were
not without mistakes, they made sense and were witty (unfortunately I did not write
them down, and I do not remember them to be able to present them). The target
vocabulary of the poem Lost was more difficult for them than for the students at the
grammar school, and it took more time to explain it, but this fact did not hinder the
final comprehension of the poem.
22

Rap is the rhythmic delivery of rhymes. Sometimes it has been claimed to be a backronym of the
phrase Rhythmically Applied Poetry, or Rhythm and Poetry. Rap describes quick and slangy
speech or repartee long predates the musical form. Rapping can be delivered over a beat or without
accompaniment. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapping)

56

The poem-lesson with the GSG passed very well, without any problems.
Their poems were the best from all four groups, and even though I did not write
them down, two poems stuck in my mind. The first was I lost my eye, and I cannot
cry, and the second was I lost my puppy and I was sad, but then I found it under
the bed. While reciting their poems there was very comfortable atmosphere in the
classroom.
The course of this lesson in LSGA and LSGB was also very pleasant.
However, the troubles appeared in totally different activity than in previous groups.
It was the word drill when they had to say the rhyming words. It took them much
more time to say them without looking at the board. As far as writing a poem is
concerned the students had the biggest difficulties to make something up. From
these two groups only one poem stuck in my mind: I am lost, I went to the post,
and met a ghost.
In spite of the fact that the poem-lesson experiment was carried out only in
order to provide results that could be comparable with the results of the song-lesson
experiment, I was very nicely surprised by the course of the lessons, which
convinced me to use this way of teaching more often. I do not only think it is a very
nice way to break the routine, but it also turned out to be useful vehicle for
different purposes: vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, speaking, listening, reading,
language awareness, critical thinking, literary appreciation, and writing (V. L.
Holmes and M. R. Moulton, p. 1).

9.6.2 RESULTS COLLECTION OF POEM - LESSON EXPERIMENT

The last data gathering took part in June. Firstly, the students were given a
worksheet with pictures (see appendix 8) from the poem next to which they were to
write the denotations. Moreover there was a special place, on this worksheet, where
they could write anything extra they recalled from the poem. After this activity I
held an interview the main subject of which was to compare the song-lesson with
the poem-lesson.

9.6.2.1 RESULTS OF THE POEM LESSON WORKSHEET

When evaluating the poem lesson worksheet some criteria were taken into
account. These were: - incorrect spelling was disregarded if the meaning was
obvious
57

before students filling in the worksheet it had been said to

write the words from the poem (if they remembered), so
when they wrote below picture 4 (see appendix 8) go, or
run instead of wander, or fall instead of faint
(picture 7), I did not count these words because they were
not in the poem

when the students wrote just some parts of the pictures,

such as in pictures 1 and 5 (see appendix 8) climb instead
of climb up, or match instead of strike a match, I
counted these words because they were the part of the
poem

The items in the chart (e.g. 1 word, 3 words etc.) do not refer to the numbers
of pictures on the worksheet (see appendix 8). The words written below the pictures
were counted together with the words written extra. Those who wrote extra words
mentioned the title of the poem Lost, way, and slowly. As far as the phrases are
concerned only one was mentioned in a few cases (strike a match). Few students
also wrote some sentences. Either it was I lost my way, or Mind the wet paint.

0 WORDS

1 WORD

2 WORDS

3 WORDS

4 WORDS

5 WORDS

SSG

GSG

LSGA

LSGB

TOTAL

5%

7%

6%

5%

23%

15%

23%

19%

21%

32%

10%

19%

27%

23%

24%

5%

58

6 WORDS

7 WORDS

8 WORDS

PHRASE/S

SENTENCE/S

10%

8%

5%

10%

8%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

9%

6%

8%

9%

10%

9%

In this chart we can see certain differences among the four researched
groups. The grammar school group recalled the highest amount of vocabulary, and
on the contrary the secondary school group recalled the lowest number of words.
The language school group B was slightly better than language school group A.
According to these results it can be said that the students achievements correspond
with their level of English.

9.6.2.2 RESULTS OF THE INTERVIEW

The interview is an investigative method, which enables to record not only
facts, but also to get deeper into the respondents motifs and attitudes (P. Gavora,
p. 110) This method was chosen for the results collection of this research because
spontaneous, personal answers (P. Gavora, p. 110) were required. Moreover, the
contact face to face should guarantee the true and sufficient answers (P. Gavora, p.
110).
The interview was conducted after the result collection of the poem lesson
worksheet. The main subject was to find out which lesson the students liked more
and why. Let us have a look at its results in the following chart.

59

Question: What did you like more: the song lesson or the poem lesson?

SONG - LESSON

POEM - LESSON

SSG

13

GSG

14

LSGA

LSGB

TOTAL

85%

15%

In three groups there were some students (15% of all respondents) who
preferred the poem lesson. The explanations for their choices were that the poem
lesson was more entertaining with the drama activities than the song - lesson, the
lesson went more quickly, and they liked the final rapping more than singing.

It needs to be said that evaluation of the poem lesson results turned out to
be more complicated than I had expected, and other ideas of collecting the results
came to my mind when evaluating the data. Firstly, there could have been one more
activity after filling in the worksheet - we could have tried to rap the poem (like we
sang the song), and perhaps the students would have recalled more words. Secondly,
after these two activities (worksheet + rapping) the students could have been given
another questionnaire including the questions similar to the last two questions in the
second questionnaire (see appendix 3), which would be: Were you able to recall
some words with / without rhythm? Furthermore, it would have been easier to
evaluate the questionnaire which would have made it possible to arrange the results
in better way.

9.7 COMPARING THE RESULTS OF SONG AND POEM LESSON

EXPERIMENT
This section will compare the results of the two research lessons (the second
questionnaire providing the song lesson results and the poem-worksheet plus
interview providing the poem lesson results), focusing on the amount of words,
phrases, sentences the students recalled and students feelings during the lesson.

60

The outcomes of the research lessons show that only 2 percent of the
students did not recall any word after the song lesson. As far as the poem lesson
is concerned this number is higher by 4 percent. Considerable differences can be
seen in the amount of recalled phrases and sentences. Thirty-nine percent of the
students were able to recall some phrases from the song, but only eight percent from
the poem. Twenty percent were able to recall some sentences from the song, and
nine percent from the poem. According to these outcomes the question if music
helps with vocabulary acquisition can be answered saying that it does. Furthermore,
eighty five percent respondents preferred the song lesson since they felt relaxed
(69%), positive (42%), the lesson was interesting for 69 percent and enjoyable for
46 percent of students.
10. SUMMARY
Music and songs in the context of teaching English were the areas which the
main attention of this thesis was devoted to. We analysed their importance,
character, use and in doing so we got deeper into the bottomless well of knowledge
from which some information was taken out - to show and explain particular
connections among these areas. This information was also supposed to support both
the theory holding an opinion that music has the ability to help acquire and
remember vocabulary and subsequent research seeking to prove this assertion.
The beginnings of music, various theories about music and a lot of examples
from everyday life have shown that music belongs to mankind from its very first and
it is a common and necessary part of our lives. There is a special power hidden in it,
which can bring about required atmosphere, evoke particular feelings, moreover,
influence physical as well as mental condition of our bodies. As someone wise said
that even though all remains mystery, its power should be used to its fullness.
One of the best examples of how to use this mysterious power of music also
in language teaching is songs that were used in the research of this thesis. The
outcomes of the investigation have proved that music has the ability to help acquire
and remember vocabulary. Furthermore, music incredibly helps to recall the lyrics
of songs when listening to them, and thus encourages learners confidence in
language.
The teachers can, by using songs in lessons, also contribute a great deal to
help learners improve listening skills because teachers who make it clear that they

61

believe in the value of listening work and who plan and conduct listening sessions in
a purposeful way will find that their students grow in confidence and soon begin to
experience the pleasure that listening successfully can bring (M. Underwood, p.
28).
What speaks in favour of using songs in language teaching is also the fact
that, according to the research results, the students perceived the lessons with songs
as interesting, instructive, positive, relaxing and enjoyable and nobody experienced
redoubtable J. A. Komensks satiety and repugnance poison of teaching.
Songs can become a tool which we can use to animate and facilitate
language learning and acquisition stated Tim Murphey (p. 16), and Mario Papa
with Guiliano Iantorno concisely described this tool saying that it is an exceptional
teaching tool: in fact, students will take songs outside the classroom and will go on
performing them long after the lesson has finished, purely for their own pleasure.
Songs are unforgettable, can last a lifetime and become part of ones culture (M.
Papa & G. Iantorno, p. 8).
I am convinced of the truthfulness of their statement as in my case songs
create an indispensable part of my culture and life. They cherish both a treasure of
music that enriches my soul and a treasure of language that enriches my mind.
Songs enrich the world I live in.

62

SOURCES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, A. and Lynch, T. Listening. Oxford University Press, 1988
Carter, R. A. Teaching Literature. New York: Longman, 1991
Dakin, J. Songs and Rhymes for the teaching of English. Harlow: Longman Group
Ltd, 1992
Duff, A. and Maley, A. Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992
Gavora, P. vod do pedagogickho vzkumu. Brno 2000
Griffee, D. T. Songs in action. Hertfordshire: Phoenix, 1995
Harmer, J. How to Teach English. Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1998
Hedge, T. Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991
Holmes, V.L. and Moulton, M.R. Writing Simple Poems. Cambridge University
Press, 2001
Komensk, J.A. Didaktika Velk. Brno, 1948
Lindsay, C. and Knight, P. Learning and Teaching English. Oxford University
Press, 2006
Macmillan publishers. My English Songbook. University of York/Macmillan Press,
1981
McDowell, J. and Hart, Ch. Listening plus: authentic recordings with tasks to
develop listening skills and teacher training. Edward Arnold (Publishers), 1987
Murphey, T. Music & Songs. Oxford University Press, 1992
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2000
Papa, M./Iantorno, G. Famous British & American songs. Longman Group Limited
1979
Revel, J. and Breary, B. Listening Advanced. Oxford University Press, 1988
Rixon, S. Developing listening skills. Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1986
Rosen, M. Childrens Poetry. London: Kingfisher Books, 1985
Rost, M. Listening in action. Prentice Hall International, 1991
Scrivener, J. Learning Teaching. Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2005
Stevick, E.W. Teaching and learning languages. Cambridge University Press, 1982
Underwood, M. Teaching listening. Longman Group Limited, 1989

63

Ur, P. Teaching Listening Comprehension. Cambridge University Press, 1992

Ward, S. A. Dippitydoo. Songs and activities for children. Longman Group Ltd,
London 1980
White, G. Listening. Oxford University Press, 1998

64

WEBLIOGRAPHY
Affective filter [online]. SEE AT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affective_filter>
Alliteration [online]. SEE AT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration>
BROWNING, B. Elizabeth. How do I love thee? [online] SEE AT
<http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/269.html>
Definition of music [online]. SEE AT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_music>
DORRELL, Philip. Music Perception [online]. SEE AT
<http://www.1729.com/blog/MusicPerception.html>
EBONG, Balbina and SABBADINI, Marta J. British Council, Cameroon
Developing pronunciation through songs [online] SEE AT
< http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/song_pron.shtml>
Hudba a jej vliv na tlo a mysl [online]. SEE AT
<http://www.dk-studio.net/eblog/1142348400-hudba-a-jeji-vliv-na-telo-amysl.php>
KIPLING, Rudyard. If. [online] SEE AT
<http://www.swarthmore.edu/~apreset1/docs/if.html>
MEDINA, Suzanne. Acquiring Vocabulary through Story-Songs [online]. SEE AT
<http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/01.htm>
<http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/05.htm>
<http://www.forefrontpublishers.com/eslmusic/articles/06.htm>
Mirror neuron [online]. SEE AT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neurons>
Music [online]. SEE AT
<http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9110117/music>
Nursery rhymes [online]. SEE AT
<http://www.nurseryrhymes4u.com/>
<http://www.rhymes.org.uk/>
Onomatopoeia [online]. SEE AT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia>

65

Quotations [online]. SEE AT

<http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2997.html>
Quotations on music [online]. SEE AT
<http://bigoldamp.squarespace.com/music-quotes/>
Quotations on Teaching, Learning, and Education [online]. SEE AT
<http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/quotes.htm>
RACLE, Gabriel L. Music, Pedagogy, Therapy: Suggestopaedia [online]. SEE AT
<http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detai
lmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED158583&ERI
CExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED158583>
Rap [online]. SEE AT
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapping>
REYNOLDS, Malvina. Song Lyrics and Poems [online]. SEE AT
<http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/MALVINA/homep.htm>
ROEDERER, Juan G. Course on the perception of music by the human brain
[online]. SEE AT <http://www.acoustics.org/press/137th/roederer.html>
San Francisco (be sure to wear flowers in your hair) [online]. SEE AT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_%28Be_Sure_to_Wear_Flower
s_in_Your_Hair%29>
Suggestopedia [online]. SEE AT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestopedia>
We are the world [online]. SEE AT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World>
What makes a song catchy? [online]. SEE AT
<http://www.physorg.com/news69003006.html>
Where have all the flowers gone? [online]. SEE AT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_have_all_the_flowers_gone>
WHITMAN, Walt. To a stranger. [online] SEE AT
<http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/to_a_stranger.html>
YEATS, B. William. Leda and the swan. [online] SEE AT
<http://www.online-literature.com/yeats/865/>

66

APPENDIX 1

DOTAZNK
Mil holky, mil kluci,
jmenuji se Veronika Rosov a studuji poslednm rokem na Pedagogick Fakult v
Brn. V m zvren diplomov prci budu zkoumat vztah mezi anglitinou,
hudbou a vmi.
Prosm vs, abyste odpovdli na nsledujc otzky.

Vk: ........................ (napi slo)

Pohlav:

kluk

holka

(zakroukuj)

1) Poslouch rd/a hudbu? (zakroukuj jednu z odpovd)

a) vdycky ano
b) vtinou ano
c) nkdy
d) zdka
e) nikdy

2) Jak druh hudby m nejradji? (zakroukuj jednu z odpovd)

a) populrn
b) hip-hop / rap
c) country
d) rock
e) drum and base
f) metal / heavy metal
g) jazz
h) reggae
i) techno / tekno
j) dechovku / lidovou hudbu

3) Je njak druh hudby, kter nem rd/a? (zakroukuj jednu z

odpovd)
a) ano

67

Pokud ano, napi kter ? (Pouij nzvy z otzky .2)

................................
b) ne
4) Jak je tv nejoblbenj anglicky zpvan psnika? Nzev psniky
napi anglicky nebo esky. Pokud nev nzev, napi skupinu nebo
zpvka, kter ji zpv.

..

5) M radji psniky zpvan anglicky nebo esky? (zakroukuj jednu z

odpovd)
a) anglicky
b) esky

6) Jak asto poslouch anglick psniky? (zakroukuj jednu z odpovd)

a) velmi asto
b) asto
c) nkdy
d) zdka
e) nikdy

7) Hraje nebo jsi hrl/a na njak hudebn nstroj? (zakroukuj jednu z

odpovd)
a) ano
Pokud ano, napi:
jak:
................................................
jak dlouho:
.................................................................................................
b) ne

8) Zpv rd/a? (zakroukuj jednu z odpovd)

a) vdycky ano
b) vtinou ano
68

c) nkdy
d) vtinou ne
e) nikdy

Dkuji Ti za vyplnn dotaznku a tm se na dal brzkou spoluprci!!!

69

APPENDIX 2

DOTAZNK
Mil studentky, mil studenti,
jmenuji se Veronika Rosov a studuji poslednm rokem na Pedagogick Fakult v
Brn. V m zvren diplomov prci budu zkoumat vztah mezi anglitinou,
hudbou a vmi.
Prosm vs, abyste odpovdli na nsledujc otzky.

Vk: ........................ (napite slo)

Pohlav:

mu

ena

(zakroukujte)

1) Poslouchte rd/a hudbu? (zakroukujte jednu z odpovd)

a. vdycky ano
b. vtinou ano
c. nkdy
d. zdka
e. nikdy

2) Jak druh hudby mte nejradji? (zakroukujte jednu z odpovd)

a. populrn
b. hip-hop / rap
c. country
d. rock
e. drum and base
f. metal / heavy metal
g. jazz
h. reggae
i. techno / tekno
j. dechovku / lidovou hudbu

3) Je njak druh hudby, kter nemte rd/a? (zakroukujte jednu z

odpovd)
a. ano

70

Pokud ano, napite kter? (Pouijte nzvy z otzky

.2)............................
b. ne

4) Jak je Vae nejoblbenj anglicky zpvan psnika? Nzev psniky

napite anglicky nebo esky. Pokud nevte nzev, napite skupinu nebo
zpvka, kter ji zpv.

..

5) Mte radji psniky zpvan anglicky nebo esky? (zakroukujte jednu

z odpovd)
a. anglicky
b. esky

6) Jak asto poslouchte anglick psniky? (zakroukujte jednu z

odpovd)
a. velmi asto
b. asto
c. nkdy
d. zdka
e. nikdy

7) Hrajete nebo jste hrl/a na njak hudebn nstroj? (zakroukujte

jednu z odpovd)
a. ano
Pokud ano, napite:
jak:
................................................
jak dlouho:
..............................................................................................
b. ne

71

8) Zpvte rd/a? (zakroukujte jednu z odpovd)

a. vdycky ano
b. vtinou ano
c. nkdy
d. vtinou ne
e. nikdy
Dkuji Vm za vyplnn dotaznku a tm se na dal brzkou spoluprci!!!

72

APPENDIX 3

DOTAZNK
Mil studentky, mil studenti,
V lednu letonho roku jsem vs jednu hodinu uila na zklad vmi vybran psn.
Prosm, abyste mi v nsledujcch esti otzkch poskytli zptnou vazbu na tuto
hodinu.

Vk: . (napite slo)

Pohlav:

mu

ena

(zakroukujte)

1) Jak pro vs byla hodina s psnikou? (zakroukujte odpovdi, se

ktermi souhlaste)
a) zajmav
b) zbavn
c) normln
d) nudn
Jin: ..

2)

Byla pro vs hodina naun? (zakroukujte jednu z odpovd)

a) ANO
b) NE

3) Utekla vm hodina rychle? (zakroukujte jednu z odpovd)

a) ANO
b) NE

4) Jak jste se ctili v prbhu hodiny? (zakroukujte odpovdi, se ktermi

souhlaste)
a) pozitivn
b) uvolnn
c) normln
d) ve stresu
e) negativn
Jin: ..
73

5) Byli jste schopni si vybavit njak slova / frze / text bez melodie?
(zakroukujte jednu z odpovd)
a) ANO (Pokud ANO, zakroukujte jednu z odpovd)
mezi 1 20 slovy
urit frze
urit vty / text
b) NE

Jin:

6) Byli jste schopni si vybavit njak slova / frze / text s melodi?

(zakroukujte jednu z odpovd)
a) ANO (Pokud ANO, zakroukujte jednu z odpovd)
mezi 1 20 slovy
urit frze
urit vty / text
b) NE

Jin: ..
...

Dkuji za spoluprci a peji vm hodn spch ve studiu anglitiny!

Veronika Rosov

74

APPENDIX 4
PERFECT SIMPLE PLAN

Hey dad look at me

Think back and talk to me
Did I grow up according to plan?
And do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do?
But it hurts when you disapprove all along
And now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't pretend that
I'm alright
And you can't change me
'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
I try not to think
About the pain I feel inside
Did you know you used to be my hero?
All the days you spent with me
Now seem so far away
And it feels like you don't care anymore
And now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't stand another fight
And nothing's alright
'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

75

Nothing's gonna change the things that you said

Nothing's gonna make this right again
Please don't turn your back
I can't believe it's hard
Just to talk to you
But you don't understand
'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I cant be perfect

76

APPENDIX 5
PERFECT DAY LOU REED
Just a perfect day
Drink Sangria in the park,
And then later, when it gets dark,
We go home.
Just a perfect day,
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later, a movie, too,
And then home.
Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
Just a perfect day,
Problems all left alone,
Weekenders on our own.
It's such fun.
Just a perfect day,
You made me forget myself.
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good.
Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
You're going to reap just what you sow,
Youre going to reap just what you sow

77

APPENDIX 6
LET IT BE - BEATLES
When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Yeah there will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Ah let it be, yeah let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be
I wake up to the sound of music,
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Yeah let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah let it be
Oh there will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah let it be
Oh there will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Ah let it be, yeah let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

78

APPENDIX 7
LOST JAMES GODDEN
In a terrible fog I once lost my way,
Where I had wandered I could not say,
I found a signpost just by a fence,
But I could not read it, the fog was so dense.
Slowly but surely, frightened to roam,
I climbed up the post for my nearest way home,
Striking a match I turned cold and faint,
These were the words on it, Mind the wet paint.

79

APPENDIX 8

80

APPENDIX 9
THAT DON'T IMPRESS ME MUCH SHANIA TWAIN
I've known a few guys who thought they were pretty smart
But you've got being right down to an art
You think you're a genius-you drive me up the wall
You're a regular original, a know-it-all
Oh-oo-oh, you think you're special
Oh-oo-oh, you think you're something else
Okay, so you're a rocket scientist
That don't impress me much
So you got the brain but have you got the touch
Don't get me wrong, yeah I think you're alright
But that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night
That don't impress me much
I never knew a guy who carried a mirror in his pocket
And a comb up his sleeve-just in case
And all that extra hold gel in your hair oughtta lock it
'Cause Heaven forbid it should fall outta place
Oh-oo-oh, you think you're special
Oh-oo-oh, you think you're something else
Okay, so you're Brad Pitt
That don't impress me much
So you got the looks but have you got the touch
Don't get me wrong, yeah I think you're alright
But that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night
That don't impress me much
You're one of those guys who likes to shine his machine
You make me take off my shoes before you let me get in
I can't believe you kiss your car good night
C'mon baby tell me-you must be jokin', right!
Oh-oo-oh, you think you're special
Oh-oo-oh, you think you're something else
Okay, so you've got a car
That don't impress me much
So you got the moves but have you got the touch
Don't get me wrong, yeah I think you're alright
But that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night
That don't impress me much
You think you're cool but have you got the touch
Don't get me wrong, yeah I think you're alright

81

But that won't keep me warm on the long, cold, lonely night
That don't impress me much
Okay, so what do you think you're Elvis or something...
Oo-Oh-Oh
That don't impress me much!
Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-No
Alright! Alright!
You're Tarzan!
Captain Kirk maybe.
John Wayne.
Whatever!
That don't impress me much!

82

APPENDIX 10
HOW DO I LOVE THEE?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

83

APPENDIX 11
IF
Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

84

APPENDIX 12
NURSERY RHYMES
SNOW
The snow comes down
In the dark of night.
When we awake,
The world is white.

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Little Johnny wants to play;
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!
A WISE OLD OWL
A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

CHRISTMAS IS COMING
Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat
Please to put a penny in the old man's hat;
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny then God bless you!

85

APPENDIX 13
TO A STRANGER
Walt Whitman

Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me as of a dream,)
I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,
All is recall'd as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured,
You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a girl with me,
I ate with you and slept with you, your body has become not yours only nor left my
body mine only,
You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass, you take of my
beard, breast, hands, in return,
I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you when I sit alone or wake at night
alone,
I am to wait, I do not doubt I am to meet you again,
I am to see to it that I do not lose you.

LEDA AND THE SWAN

William Butler Yeats

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still

Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By his dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast
How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
How can anybody, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?
A shudder in the loins, engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.
Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?

86