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Songs in the ClassroomJust like language, music is an essential part of a culture. Learning and putting a language in daily use would not be complete if one does not get a sense of the culture of that language. It is the same with english. Using songs in classroom could be an interesting and effective way for the students to get in touch with the soul of the language as well as absorb the language better. Though the teacher may have to spend time and pay attention to students? purpose, age, etc. to select the right song, it is obvious that music will bring a different atmosphere to the class. Music can shift the emotional state of both students and teachers. A good song can help students to relax in the meantime pushes them to concentrate more. This is the best state of mind to learn english. When the learning environment becomes more fun, more interesting and pleasant, students are more excited and motivated to discover the language. Memorizing new vocabulary and learning grammar can also be much easier with a nice melody. Moreover, lyrics of songs offer contemporary vocabulary, expressions and idioms. According to an article of Prof. Larry M. Lynch at EFL Teacher Training (1), students can benefit from the authentic and natural language with a wide range of accents. He also pointed out that song lyrics could be used in relating to situations of the world around us, which is very useful for students. When students sing together, it is believed that this could help them to establish a better relationship, to be more united and more comfortable with each other. Therefore, the use of songs in class not only helps students and teacher to have a better result of learning process but also has good effect on the feeling and relationship of everybody in the class. While the teacher can control the time length of songs, he/she needs to carefully select suitable songs that best serve students? needs and interest. It is advisable that the teacher learns about students? countries and culture in case the song lyrics contain sensitive and/or arguable issues. CELTA course tutor Ellie Keegan (2) stresses the importance of choosing songs with clear lyrics, suitable level of difficulty, useful language and could motivate respond from students. Songs can be used to teach vocabulary, grammar and extremely useful in helping students to improve their pronunciation along with listening and speaking skills. However, in order to get the best effect from using songs in the class, it is essential that the teacher has a well-prepared plan of activities for that song with a clear purpose in mind. Some suggestions for activities with songs includes filling the blanks while/after listening to a song; true or false; matching; comprehensive questions; using a flash card with a word from the song and raise it up when students hear that word; singing Karaoke; learning about the writes and singers of the songs; etc. Over all, using songs in class could be a very effective and useful method to improve the quality of learning process, which helps teachers and students enjoy more and achieve more. Reference: (1) http://www.eslbase.com/articles/songs (2) http://www.celta-course.com/songs.html http://www.eslgames.com/edutainment/songs.htm http://www.esl-lounge.com/songstop.shtml http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/forum-topic/study-english-singing-english-songs
