UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE EDUCACIÓN A DISTANCIA (UNED), MADRID,

ESPAÑA.

FACULTAD DE FILOLOGÍA

MÁSTER UNIVERSITARIO EN LAS TECNOLOGÍAS DE

LA INFORMACIÓN Y LA COMUNICACIÓN EN LA
ENSEÑANZA Y EL TRATAMIENTO DE LENGUAS

Elaboración Y Edición De Materiales Impresos Y

Audiovisuales

Activity 2: Creation of a Didactic Unit for Language Teaching

By

Mahdieh Fakhar Shahreza

Professors:

Dr. ELENA MARIA MARTIN MONJE

&
Dr. ESTEBAN VAZQUEZ CANO

September, 2023

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 Title: Multimedia-based English Language Teaching; The case of Youtube,
LyricsTraining, and Genius Lyrics

1. Introduction
Living in an ever-changing world, where the proliferation of different Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) has influenced and assisted different aspects of life,
education is not an exception. As highlighted by many scholars, one of the most widely used ICT
tools to make language education more attractive and enjoyable is the integration of video clips
(e.g. Wang & Chen, 2019, Pun et al., 2013). As accentuated by many researchers (e.g. Siegle,
2009), the instructional affordances of video technology in the context of classroom is
promising, especially in light of the 21st Century Learning Framework (Siegle, 2009). These
studies and many more have reported many positive achievements in student’s outcomes as a
result of the incorporation of video technology in instruction. Among various video hosting sites,
YouTube vidoes has been of the most commonly used sources of video based materials during
the last two decades which has many educational and instructional potentials and can enrich
language learning experience (e.g. Pun et al., 2013, Dizon, 2022; Yaacob, 2021). Hence, in this
didactic unit, we propose an innovative way to integrate YouTube videos into language teaching.
I name it innovative due to the fact that I have mixed it with other two digital tools in order to
make the most of using YouTube videos. More specifically, being designed to improve the
students’ English language proficiency in general, this unit is, also, a didactic unit for language
instructors who are searching for the ways to engage students with authentic content, improve
their language skills, and foster their cultural awareness. By using YouTube as a teaching tool,
students will improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills while immersing
themselves in diverse cultures and perspectives. They will also promote themselves in terms of
other language subskills such as vocabulary, pronunciation, grammatical knowledge, connected
speech, rhythm, intonation and etc.
This didactic unit is designed for the upper-intermediate Spanish university students
students studying Englsih as a Foreign Language (EFL) and we expect them to obtain the
following general and specific objectives.
2. Objectives
2.1. General Learning Objectives
1) Enhance overal English language proficiency skills in terms of Listening, Speaking,
Reading, and Writing
● More specifically, it helps to improve the students’ comprehension and listening
skills while they are actively engaged with the authentic song. This , in turn, can
enhance their understanding of the spoken English Language, including
pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, connected speech, and specific vocabularies
for specific context.

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 ● It can improve the students’ reading comprehension skills by requesting them to
read, analyze, and interpret the song lyrics, the other people’s comments on the
interpretation of the lyrics, and news reports about that songs.
● It improves the students’ writing skills by asking them to write creative and
criticall assignments
● It foster the students’ speaking skills by asking them to participate in the
discussion forums and to talk about the song that they listened to, its cultural,
aspects, etc.
● It improves the students’ grammatical knowledge ( for this pre-selected song, the
focus is on the simple present tense)
2) Increase the students critical thinking skills and reflective thinking skills
● The students will be asked to critically think and anaylze the interpretations of the
song, meaning, message, and the other people’s comments on the songs.
● At the same time, it can help them to improve their self-reflictions skills while
trying to critically analyze the lyrics and talk about their own ideas
3) Increase the students’ cultural awareness, intercultural competence, cultural
sensitivity, and cultural appreciation
● They will get insights about the social context in which the song has been sung,
its message
● It develops the students’ intercultural competence while teaching them to
appreciate the differences and respect the diversities and take into account the
equity.
● It persuade them to appreciate the music not only as a source for language
learning but as an art and as a form for expressing the culture
4) Increase the students’ digital literacy skills and multimedia learning
5) It can improve the students presentation and communication skills and
interpersonal relationship
● They will be ask to prepare their dicussion and present it in public and take part in
the discussion forums
● They will improve their interpersonal skills while they participate in discussion
groups to talk about the songs
6) Improve the students’ self-directed and autonomous learning
● We will ask the students to do some ho,mework assignments to make them
autonomous. For instance, they should search for the similar songs with the
similar themes
● They should search for the news reports about the songs
● They should read the other people’s comments and compare them

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3. Methodology
The methodology used for this didactic unit, which incorporates YouTube videos,
LyricsTraining, and Genius Lyrics for English language teaching, is primarily communicative
and learner-centered. Here's a short summary of the key aspects of the methodology
1. Communicative Approach: This methodology prioritizes real-life communication and
language use. Students engage in language activities that mirror authentic situations, such
as listening to songs, discussing lyrics, and expressing their opinions.
2. Task-Based Learning: Learning activities are structured around tasks that students
perform using the target language. In this unit, tasks involve listening, comprehending,
and responding to song lyrics, promoting language use in context.
3. Multimodal Learning: Multimedia elements, including audio and video from YouTube
videos, enhance the learning experience by providing visual and auditory context. This
multimodal approach caters to various learning styles.
4. Student-Centered Learning: The unit encourages students to take an active role in their
learning. They choose songs they find interesting, set learning goals, and participate in
discussions, fostering autonomy and responsibility for their language development.
5. Cultural Integration: The methodology integrates cultural elements found in the songs,
exposing students to diverse perspectives and contexts. It promotes cultural awareness
and sensitivity.
6. Collaborative Learning: Group discussions, pair work, and peer feedback activities
facilitate collaborative learning. Students interact with peers, share insights, and learn
from each other.
7. Creativity and Expression: Students are encouraged to express themselves creatively
through tasks like writing song interpretations, creating their lyrics, or performing song
covers. This promotes self-expression and artistic engagement.
8. Formative Assessment: Ongoing formative assessment is integrated into the unit,
allowing students to monitor their progress and receive feedback to improve their
language skills continually.
9. Authentic Materials: Authentic songs and lyrics from YouTube, LyricsTraining, and
Genius Lyrics provide real-world language input, exposing students to natural language
usage.
This methodology aims to create an engaging and interactive learning environment where
students actively use English in meaningful contexts, fostering language acquisition, cultural
awareness, and digital literacy skills.
4. Materials and Resources
Three main ICT tools will be used in the current didactic unit which are explained as follows:
1. LyricsTraining platform as an educational learning platform through which we have
access to the lyrics of the song and the process of language learning is gamified by using
a quiz game function of the app. These platforms enable us to develop new gap filling
tests (multiple-choice items and written open ended items) based on the instructional

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 goals of the course. The multiple-choice items will be corrected automatically and the
written items need to be evaluated by the teachers. If the students do not know the
answers of the questions they can click on the skip bottom and answer the next question.
Regarding the current course, the focus is to improve students’ grammatical knowledge
of simple present tense, to increase their knowledge of new vocabularies, and their part of
speech as adjectives and nouns, to improve the students’ pronunciation skills by asking
them to re-sing the song by using some apps like Karaoke software (which can transform
songs without lyrics and enable to sing with the background music) and to check their
pronunciation of the new vocabularies and their understanding of the connected speech.
2. YouTube video clip of a song entitled “They don’t care about us” by by Michael
Jackson. The reason for the selection of the song lies is because of its focus on raising
awareness about racism and human rights as two important Cultural Issues. More
specifically, “The song is in fact about the pain of prejudice and hate and is a way to draw
attention to social and political problems. I am the voice of the accused and the attacked.
I am the voice of everyone. I am the skinhead, I am the Jew, I am the Black Man, I am
the White Man. I am not the one who was attacking. It is about the injustices to young
people and how the system can wrongfully accuse them.” – Michael Jackson on “They
Don’t Care About Us.”
3. Genius platform is used to provide annotation and interpretation of the song Lyrics to
decode the underlying message of the song, to improve the students’ critical thinking
skills through comparing their own interpretation with the platform interpretation, and to
increase the students’ awareness of “racism” and “human rights” as two cultural aspects,
and to improve their writing skill.
5. Work sessions and evaluations
Here is a step-by-step lesson plan for teaching English as a foreign language using YouTube
videos, LyricsTraining, and Genius Lyrics in four class sessions. The plan includes introductions,
activities, and assessments for each session, as well as an overview of feedback and evaluation.

Session 1: Introduction to LyricsTraining and Genius Lyrics

Objective: Introduce LyricsTraining and Genius Lyrics to the students as two of the two tools
that we are going to take advantage of them during this mini-instructional course. Then, we help
them to create and connect to this digital tools step by step.
Introduction:
● We will welcome students and briefly explain the main and submain goals of the course
● We will elaborate on the importance of using songs for language learning.
● Activity 1: I will instroduce the LyricsTraining for my students.
Demonstrate how to access LyricsTraining.
● We will assist the students step-by-step in setting up their LyricsTraining accounts.

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 ● We will do a sample exercise and complete it together as a class to show them how it
works.
● I will assign a short LyricsTraining exercise for homework. More specifically, I ask the
students to go home and choose one of their favorite songs that they wanted to memorize
and learn it in the past and test how they can work with this digital tool.
● Activity 2: 1: I will introduce the Genius Lyrics for my students.
Introduce Genius Lyrics and its features.
● I will show my students how to search for songs and find their lyrics
● I will explain in details how annotations work.
● I will allow my students to explore the lyrics of their favorite song on Genius Lyrics as
homework.
Assessment and Homework:
Formatively assess students' engagement and understanding during the introductions.
Check that students have successfully set up their LyricsTraining accounts.
Review their homework assignments and ensure they know how to access and explore lyrics on
Genius Lyrics.

Session 2: LyricsTraining Activity and Vocabulary Building

Objective: Enhance listening skills and expand vocabulary through LyricsTraining.
Introduction:
● Firstly, we will review the purpose of LyricsTraining and Genius Lyrics with the students
● Secondly, we will discuss the advantages of listening to songs for language learning.
Activity 1: Pre-task or Warm-up activities:
1) The students will be given a link in which they are asked to collaboratively make a
mindmap of the words connected to music and racism
2) Then, we will ask the students the following questions as the warm up questions:
3) What’s your favorite type of music?
4) Who is your favorite singer?
5) Can music and songs be used for purposes other than enjoyment? If yes, can you name
some of the hidden messages that can be transferred through the songs?
Activity 2: Main task of the study
1. Working with YouTube
- The link of the video-clip song entitled “they don’t care about us” will be sent to
the students and they will be asked to watch the video for the first time to get a
general understanding of the song.
- Then, the students have 10 minutes to write down
- What was the general idea of the song?
- How do they feel after listening to the music or impressions do the music have
on them?
- They will discuss their answers to the questions.

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Activity 3: LyricsTraining Exercise and Vocabulary Building
Then, the students will receive the link to the LyricsTraining Platform to watch the song with its
lyrics. At this stage, the students have to do some exercises previously designed by myself. More
specifically,
● The learning objective is to emphasize accuracy and encourage students to compete for
the highest score.
● They will conduct the LyricsTraining exercise as a class. Which are as follows:
● A test of simple present verbs (the students will be told to select the verbs and nothing
will be mentioned about its tense (simple present tense)
● A test of adjectives
● A test of nouns
● A test of language expressions
● A test of connected or short speech
● A test of vocabularies related to the racism
● Then, we will discuss new vocabularies that appear in the song: The purpose is
vocabulary building in which
1) We ask the students to select and research five unfamiliar words from the song.
2) We will encourage them to find definitions and example sentences.
3) They will share and discuss their chosen words in pairs or small groups.
Assessment and Homework:
● We will assess students' performance in the LyricsTraining exercise, focusing on accuracy
and completion.
● We will evaluate their ability to explain the meanings of the vocabulary words they
researched.
● We will ask them to do additional LyricsTraining exercises for homework, focusing on
their facorite songs.

Session 3: Analyzing Lyrics and Song Interpretation

Objective: Analysis of the song lyrics for meaning and interpretation.
Introduction:
● We will review the purpose of analyzing lyrics for language learning.
● We will discuss the role of cultural context in understanding songs.
Activity 1: Song Analysis:
● The selected song with its meaningful lyrics will be played again.
● Then, we encourage students to listen carefully and discuss their interpretations.
● After that, I will give a print of the song lyrics to the students and ask them to interpret
them according to their prior knowledge
● As mentioned in previous sections , The students can click on each line that they do not
know its meaning, and then a comprehensive explanation of the whole paragraph will be

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 provided. They can read the Genius annotation, like or dislike, comment on it, and edit
the annotations and suggest an improvement to the interpretation of the song Lyrics and
get IQ, and then share it with others to have a discussion about it. After providing some
revisions and getting IQ points, I can start a challenge between the students to see who
can do the most correct revisions and can get more points.
● Then, I will ask the students to compare their interpretations and understandings with the
website interpretations, talk about their similarities and differences.
● They should also analyze the song's themes, metaphors, and cultural references as a
group.

Activity 2: Genius Lyrics Annotations

● We ask the students to use Genius Lyrics to explore annotations for the song.
● We persuade them to read and comment on annotations related to the song's meaning.
● The, they should share interesting findings and interpretations with the class.

Assessment and Homework:

● We will evaluate the students' participation in the song analysis discussion and the quality
of their interpretations.
● We will monitor their engagement with Genius Lyrics and assess their ability to use and
read annotations.
● We will ask the students to analyze a new song using Genius Lyrics for homework.
● To check their understanding of the new vocabularies and expressions, I will give them a
multiple -choice quiz available at the following QR Code.

Session 4: Creative Tasks and Presentation

Objective: Fostering the creativity and presentation skills through creative tasks related to the
song.
Introduction:
● We will explain the importance of creativity in language learning.
● We will discuss the upcoming creative tasks and presentation.
Activity 1: Creative Tasks:
● I will ask the students to select a song and do some creative tasks related to the analyzed
song (e.g., write a short story inspired by the lyrics, create artwork, rewrite the lyrics).

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Activity 2: Presentation:
● Then, I will ask my students to present their creative tasks to the class.
● I will explain that I expect clear communication, organization, and creativity for this final
task.
● I will aslo persuade peer feedback during presentations to take them into account for their
final evaluation.
Assessment and Homework:
● I will evaluate the creativity and effort that the students have put into the tasks.
● I will assess their presentation skills, including clarity, organization, and engagement.
● I will assign the follwoing final project or assessment: I will ask them them to write an
essay of up to 500 words about a valuable cultural lesson that they have learnt from the
song and to talk about and to compare it with any other similar song in theri own country
of origin, use the vocabularies and expressions that they have learned during these
sessions.
Final Assessment and Evaluation:
● I will conduct the final assessment of their writing which aligns with the unit's learning
objectives.
● I will evaluate their' overall progress and language development over the course of the
unit.
● I will provide constructive feedback on their strengths and areas for improvement.
Feedback:
I will offer ongoing feedback throughout the unit to guide students' development.
● I will encourage self-assessment and reflection on their language learning journey.
● I will create a supportive and interactive learning environment.
By following this lesson plan, students will not only improve their language skills but
also develop their creativity and critical thinking abilities. The assessments and feedback
mechanisms ensure continuous improvement throughout the unit.

6. Final Evaluation
In oerder to carry out a formative evaluation, the students during the whole four sessions of the
class will be monitored in terms of the following activities:
● Their engagement and participation in the class activities
● Their group work and collaborations with their classmates
● Their comments and feedbacks on proposed issues
● Their responses to the warm-up questions and the questions posed during the class
activities
● Their interaction with peers and the teacher
● Their attitudes and respects to the diversities (cultural, ethical , etc.).
In order to conduct the summative evaluation,
● The students’ critical writings will also be examined.

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7. References
​ Alawadh, H. M., Alabrah, A., Meraj, T., & Rauf, H. T. (2023). English Language Learning via
YouTube: An NLP-Based Analysis of Users’ Comments. Computers, 12(2), 24.
​ Dizon, G. (2022). YouTube for Second Language Learning: What Does the Research Tell Us?.
Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(1), 19-26.
​ Pun, M. The use of multimedia technology in English language teaching: A global perspective.
Crossing Bord. Int. J. Interdiscip. Stud. 2013, 1, 29–38. Wang, H. C., & Chen, C. W. Y. (2020).
Learning English from YouTubers: English L2 learners’ self-regulated language learning on
YouTube. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 14(4), 333-346.
​ Yaacob, A., Amir, A. S. A., Asraf, R. M., Yaakob, M. F. M., & Zain, F. M. (2021). Impact of
Youtube and video podcast on listening comprehension among young learners. International
Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 15(20), 4-19.
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