Using songs is an effective way to teach English as it appeals to humans' natural fondness for music. Songs expose students to authentic language and make learning fun. They can be used to improve vocabulary, grammar, and accents. The teacher should select songs with clearly articulated lyrics that students can relate to, avoiding slang or obscure cultural references. Effective classroom activities using songs include fill-in-the-blank exercises, identifying mistakes in lyrics, and rearranging verses.

1. USING SONGS IN THE
ENGLISH CLASSROOM
Using songs in teaching English is unquestionably very natural, very
scientific. No one can deny that as humans, we have a special ear for music.
Try teaching alphabets to a child and you will realize that the child picks them
up faster and memorizes them better if you sing them out for her.
This is the precise reason
that rhymes and verses
are the chief modes of
teaching the basics - both
numerical lessons and
linguistic lessons - to a
child in the early years of
life. Actually, the melody
echoes in the child's mind
and the child soon grows
familiar with the music and
with the accompanying
word or number.
Seen from that angle,
English language
teaching programs are
cashing in on this human fondness for music and using songs in teaching
English .
There are yet other, more valid reasons for using songs in teaching English .
Songs are generally a real source of authentic language and since a large
fraction of the world populace listens to English songs, it will be more fun than
hard work for the learners to acquire mastery in English if, as a teacher, you
try using songs in teaching English .
.
As said, songs are a powerful means of teaching English and you can use
songs as a classroom activity to enrich your students' English vocabulary, to
improve their grammar and accents.
Graciela Bilat
Directora Dpto. Inglés
Hans Christian Andersen School

2. Using songs in teaching English can be very effective, provided you are quite
selective with the songs. Choose songs that are good to listen to - not a
loud, earsplitting background score overlapping the singer's voice, rather soft
renderings with each word, each syllable being clearly articulated.
Equal emphasis should also be laid on the theme of a song. However, choose
songs that your students can associate with. Go for plain, simple language;
avoid songs that have slang and cultural references or else you'll have a tough
time in the classroom. Whilst using songs in teaching English to young learners,
stick to songs that involve them both physically and mentally.
Some surefire classroom activities using songs in teaching English are as
follows:
• Fill-in-blanks is the most popular classroom activity. However, this is not
as simple as handing out worksheets full of gaps to your students. You
can omit the rhyming words or adjectives, etc. but whatever you do
needs to be properly planned.
• Spotting the mistakes is another game you can involve your students
in. Change a few words (not more than 8 to 10) in the lyrics and ask your
students to correct them as they listen to the song. Here again, you will
have to choose the words sensibly. A nice idea will be providing the
antonyms. You can use synonyms in case you are using songs in
teaching English to adult learners.
• Changing the order of verses is a real interesting activity for young
learners.
• Group discussions, cooking up story lines and dialogues and even
video shoots are other interesting pursuits you can plan for your high-
grade students. Engage your lower level students in preparing comic
strips and pictorial representation of songs.
.
Graciela Bilat
Directora Dpto. Inglés
Hans Christian Andersen School