Music can be an effective, engaging, and fun teaching and learning tool. Varying types of music in the classroom will introduce many new concepts and ideas to Adult ELLs. Using music lyrics to teach vocabulary, varying words forms, "slang," verb tenses, personal pronouns, etc., introduces learners to another way to learn English at home, on the subway, running errands, etc. It can also be a great classroom management tool. Use a song to introduce a new topic or to relax learners so that they quiet the mind to concentrate on the task-at-hand.

1. Using Music to Lower the Affective
Filter While Energizing Adult ELLs
Bernadette López-Fitzsimmons, M.L.S., M.A.
Meeting Challenges, Exploring Solutions in the Adult ESOL Classroom:
A conference for ESOL educators and program administrators
Co-sponsored by the English Language Studies Program at The
New School and the Literacy Assistance Center
The New School
Saturday, October 29, 2016

2. Today’s discussion about the Adult ESL Learner?
• How can music be effective & engaging in the Adult ESL class?
• Lowering the Affective Filter: the “Aural/Musical Learning Style” & other
Multiple Intelligences (MI)
• Community building & classroom management: Breaking the Ice!
• Songs & lyrics: Pop songs
• The “Mozart Effect” & other instrumental music
• Songs & activities
• Tips on selecting songs
• Q & A: Discussion

4. Lowering the Affective Filter
through Music for Adult ESL Learners
Three factors that influence the
Affective Filter
• Learner attitudes
•
• Learner motivation
• Learners emotions
(Krashen, 1994)
ESL Adults who have a ‘aural/musical’
learning style will benefit from learning
English through songs.
 Strong in singing
 Easily picking up sounds,
Remembering melodies & rhythms
 ESL Adult Learner who are
“aural/musical” learning style will
like
 to sing & hum,
 play instruments, &
 Listen to music.
 Other types of learners will also
benefit. (Gardner, 1983)

5. How can music be an effective, engaging
learning tool for Adult ESL Learners?
 Use music to create a motivational, learning environment
 Engage learners through active learning & fluid thinking
 Maintain learners’ attention: fun, entertaining, lively, etc.
 Build listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills
 Expand vocabulary and word forms
 Grammar lessons based on structures or context
 Increase cultural literacy & understanding of 21st-century
globalism
 Stimulate inquiry-based learning, asking questions

6. Community Building with Music:
Tearing down the barriers with some fun!
Music & Singing
Ice breakers
• Initiates conversation
• Creates smiles!
• Smiles bring laughter!
• Laughter brings
conversation!
• Conversation is oral
practice!
• Low Affective Filter!
• Shy individual who never
speaks, hoping no one notices
him/her
• Extravert who always wants
attention
• Intravert who limits his/her
participation
• Discussion, laughter, fun, etc.
• Motivational & Inspirational!

7. Songs & Lyrics: Corpus of Pop Songs
• Classroom activities focus on lyrics – vocabulary
building
• Pop songs contain commonly used short words
• Personal pronouns frequently used
• 94% of songs contain “I” as a referent
• Lyrics are written at the fifth grade level
• 25% of pop songs contain imperatives & interrogatives
• Time & place are imprecise, except in Ballads
• Words are sung slower than in oral speech
• Words that are sung have pauses and more utterances than in
speaking
• Constant repetition of words and word structures
influence learning & memory ((Murphey, 1992)

8. Effects of Pop Songs on Learning in Adult ESL Learners
• Lyrics in pop songs have fluid meanings
• Lyrics in pop songs allow for many interpretations –
similar to poetry (Moi, 1994)
• Freedom to interpret and analyze stimulates
“higher order thinking,” including
▫ “Critical thinking skills
▫ Self-reflection
▫ Synthesizing
• Most learners will relate to lyrics of songs (Murphey, 1992)
• Positive effect on lively discussions in
▫ Small group work
▫ Think pair share
▫ Turn-and-talk
▫ Eventually in whole class share

9. The “Mozart Effect” & Instrumental Music
• Music and language processing occur in the same area of the brain (Maess &
Koelsch, 2001)
• College students demonstrated improved short-term spatial reasoning
ability after listening to Mozart = “Mozart Effect” (Rauscher, Shaw, & Ky, 1993)
• Adult learners in South Africa, exposed to instrumental music during an
intensive English course, showed benefits in language learning (Puhl, 1989)
• Many educators report success using instrumental music as a
▫ Warm up
▫ Relaxation tool
▫ Background music for other language learning activities
▫ Inspiration for writing activities (Eken, 1996)
▫ Classroom management tool to transition to next activity

10. “Mozart Effect” continued . . .
Other instrumental music
▫ Jazz
▫ New Age
▫ Zen & Meditation
▫ Indigenous Melodies

12. Oral Activities
 Small Group Recital of lyrics
 Choral Recital of lyrics
 Individual Recital of lyrics
 Reading practice using song’s lyrics
 Summarize song’s meaning
 Discuss in pairs or small groups
 Write meaning down
 Research the singer or musician
 Introduce technology such as using
PowerPoint for presentation
 Student presentations on singer or
musician
 Other students can complete response
sheets about each presentation
 What did you enjoy about the song?
 What did you learn from the song?
 What did you dislike about the song?
 What other ideas do you have about the
song?
• Songs introduce supra-
segments – how rhythm, stress,
intonation affect the
pronunciation of English in
context
• Songs introduce the expansion
& shrinking of streamed English
speech
• Pronunciation practice, especially
when there are many phonemic
differences
• Pronunciation practice,
especially when the are
extreme
prosodic differences

13. Listening Activities
with Music
 Listen to a song
 Give students a graphic
organizer to write the main
ideas gleaned from the song
 Ask Adults ELLs one
question about each stanza
or verse
 For lower English
proficiency levels use
pictures in lieu of words
 Use a song to initiate a
new topic to stimulate
interest (similar to using an
anticipatory slip)
GIST
 Sum up the meaning of the
song
 Pose a question about the song
 Give multiple choice questions
about the song.
SCAN
 Questions: Give students a worksheet with
five specific questions to answer as they
listen.
 Complete the Sentences: On the board,
write the first half of three sentences from
the song.
 Fill in the Blanks: Provide students with a
gap-fill worksheet to complete as they listen.
Provide a word bank, if necessary.

14. ESL Listening Activities & Music
Advanced Listening Comprehension
Correct the Sentences:
• Provide a set of slightly incorrect statements about the song.
• Have students correct the statements as they sing.
• True or False:
• Give out a set of True or False statements about the song.
• Be sure the True statements are paraphrased to test comprehension
of the lyrics.
• As students listen they must choose from True or False statements.
Matching:
• Tell students to complete a matching task as they listen to the song.

15. Music for Adult ESL Learners
Listening to songs & note-taking practice
 Think Pair Share and/or small group
work  Whole Class Share
 Give students a graphic organizer so
that they can write new vocabulary
 Invite student to take notes as they
listen to the song
 Discuss the ideas they wrote down in
pair share, small group work, & whole
class share.
The Cornell Note-taking Method: Image
courtesy of PrintablePlanners.net

16. Reading & Writing Activities
• Many songs tell a story
• Re-write or re-tell a story to practice narrative writing
• Practice direct and reported speech in a synopsis
Direct quoting & paraphrasing
Summarizing & synthesizing
Reading & writing
Researching & citing sources
Presenting or reporting

17. Vocabulary Building Activities
• Pop songs use high frequency
lyrics
• Lyrics express emotions
• Effective for word study
• Reinforces words previously
learned
• Introduces previously learned
words in a different context
• Songs can be taught in a series
• Each one conveying different
messages
• Adult ESL Learners can teach the
class their group’s song & its
meaning
• Some songs have idioms
• Time to discuss idioms in pre-
listening stage
Example:
“Morning has broken,” by Cat
Stevens
 Good song to practice the Present
Perfect Tense

18. Songs
Cultural Knowledge Activities
• Songs offer a wealth of information
such as
▫ Human relations
▫ Ethics
▫ Customs
▫ History
▫ Humor
▫ Emotions, conflicts, peace,
etc.
• Songs introduce regional & cultural
differences.
▫ Country Music
▫ Rap
▫ Hip Hop
▫ Folk
▫ Gospel & religious
Example
• Martin Luther King, Jr.’s
“I have a dream”
speech on streamed video
• Recordings of freedom songs
from the civil rights movement
• Songs can be used with
photographs & video footage
• Songs can be introduced with other
songs or poems
• Figurative language should be
discussed in the pre-listening stage

19. Tips on selecting songs for Adult ESL Learners
• There are ESL songs for ESL
learners, both Adult &
Children.
• Pop songs have to be selected
carefully to avoid slang and
offensive language.
• Examples of pop songs with
worksheets are listed at the
end of the presentation.

20. Example:
Song for High Beginning-Intermediate
Adult ESL Learners
Paul Simon’s lyrical poem, “El Condor Pasa,”
set to
Andean flute melody by Daniel Robles

21. Example:
Song for High Beginning-Intermediate
Adult ESL Learners
Pre-listening activities Writing Prompts
“I’d rather be a sparrow than a
snail.”
• Introduce new vocabulary
• Read the lyrics aloud in whole
class share
• Discuss the lyrics
• Listen to the Paul Simon’s
song
• Follow the writing prompts to
complete the sentences.
• I’d rather be _______ than
_____________.
• I’d rather be ___________
than ________________.
 The first prompt requires two
parallel nouns or adjectives.
 The second prompt requires
adding a verb along with nouns
or adjectives.

22. Example:
Adult ESL Response to “El Condor Pasa” Activity
• “I’d rather be water than fire.”
• “I’d rather be an unknown
person than a famous one.”
• “I’d rather stay in childhood than
grow up.”
Teaching Moment
• Seemingly restrictive, limited
activity
• Creative, poetic, & fun!
Sentence-leveling can be
expressive, using poetic song
lyrics as a model.

23. Take-ways: What ideas have we gleaned today?
• Teaching with music is useful in Adult ESL Classes
• Helps to lower the Affective Filter
• Effective teaching & learning tool with a lot of
diversity
• Wide variety of music, lyrics, songs, etc., can be used
in many different ways
▫ Reading & writing, listening & speaking
▫ Grammar, vocabulary, presenting, writing & reading
• Expressive, creative, pensive, reflective, & fun!

24. Thank you!

25. ContactInformation
Bernadette López-Fitzsimmons
Manhattan College
blf7980(at)gmail.com
718 862-7981
International English Language Program Research Guide

29. Lessons with Songs & Worksheets:
Selected Websites
• Isabel’s ESL Site: English as a Second or Foreign Language:
Primary and Secondary Education
▫ Teaching with songs
• ESL Galaxy: Songs & Worksheets
• Busy Teacher: Free ESL Songs for Teaching
• ESL Kids World: An ESL Children's Resources Site!
▫ (songs & worksheets)
• ESOL Courses: Free English Lessons Online
▫ Songs to learn English from Pre-Intermediate to Intermediate Song Quizzes

30. YouTube Videos:
ESL Lessons with Songs
• Rock Talk: Using hit songs in the ESL Classroom
• Learn English ESL Irregular Verbs Grammar Rap Song!
StickStuckStuck with Fluency MC!
• Alphabet Song | ABC Song | Phonics Song (rap version)
• Daily Activities | Present Tense | ESL Classics - songs for learning
English
• Songs for ESL Students
• Best song to learn English
• Learn English with Songs - Winter Song - Lyric Lab
▫ Word list for Winter Song

32. The “Mozart Effect”:
Music for Concentration & Focus
• Linking Words with Mozart
• Lullaby - Mozart Bedtime Sleeping Music for Kids
• Classical Music for Studying Concentration –
• Study Music Mozart - Music for Reading Piano
• Classical Music for Studying and Concentration --
• Mozart Study Music | Relaxing Music for Studying
• The Best of Mozart Violin Sonatas Classical
• Music for Studying Música Clásica
• 3 Hour Classical STUDY MUSIC:
• The Best of Mozart for Studying, Homework, Essay Writing

33. Instrumental Music:
Concentrating, Relaxing, Reading, & Writing
 Study Music Alpha Waves: Relaxing Studying Music, Brain Power, Focus
Concentration Music
 Instrumental music for working in office easy listening
 Native American Flute Music |
 Canyon Flute Melody | Relax, Study & Ambience
 Carlos Nakai: Earth Spirit
 Native American Flutes - Forest Sounds - New Age
 Calming Music: Nature Sounds, Zen Music
 Yo Yo Ma Playist - Yo Yo Ma Best - Yo Yo Ma Collection

34. Works Consulted

35. Works Consulted

36. Works Consulted continued …
Moriya, Y. (1988). English speech rhythm and its teaching to non-native speakers.
Paper presented at the annual convention of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages. Chicago. (ED No. 303 033)
Murphey, T. (1992). The discourse of pop songs. TESOL Quarterly, 26(4), 770-774.
Poppleton, C. (2001). Music to our ears. American Language Review, 5(1), 23-26.
Puhl, C. A. (1989). Up from under: English training on the mines. (Report on 1988
research project conducted at Gold Field Training Services). Stellenbosch, South
Africa: University of Stellenbosch. (ED No. 335 864)
Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G., & Ky, K. (1993). Mozart and spatial reasoning. Nature, (365)
611.
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