Listening to music in a foreign language can make learning fun, what else can it do?

From a non-linguistic perspective, language is more than just words. Language and culture are intertwined. As many learners will tell you, they fell in love with the culture before deciding to pursue the language!

When you share your culture's music with a student, you’re sharing how native speakers express themselves. As well as teaching new vocabulary, music reflects the country’s lifestyle, attitudes, and values. Research from Degrave (2019) has also shown how music can reduce foreign language anxiety, help develop musical intelligence, increase motivation and sustain attention.  From a more linguistic perspective, music can help students’ listening comprehension, pronunciation, and master new vocabulary without feeling burdened by memorization.  

 

So, how can you use music to teach a language?

 

Cloze the lyrics

  1. Find a song with words or phrases that your student struggles with or has just recently learned.
  2. Identify the key words or phrases you would like your student to memorize.
  3. Delete those words in the lyrics and replace them with blank gaps.
  4. Print out the lyrics and ask your student to fill in the blanks while listening to the song. The student may want to listen multiple times depending on the level of difficulty.
  5. Give feedback and correction. 
  6. Sing the song together with the student and correct their pronunciation.

 

Play "What happened?”

  1. Before introducing a new song to your student, go over the new vocabulary.
  2. Listen to the song with your student.
  3. Ask your student what the song is about. How does the singer feel? What cultural characteristics do they notice in the song?
  4. Provide feedback and review new words.
  5. Sing the song together with your student and correct their pronunciation.

 

My Song

  1. Choose a song that your student knows.
  2. Ask your student to create variations to the song and make it personal. They don’t have to keep the original meaning of the song, but they should be grammatically correct.
  3. Provide feedback.
  4. Sing the song together with your student and correct their pronunciation.

Learn more tips about how to use music in online language teaching on British Council.

 

Some tips about how to choose a song:

  1. Teach your national anthem.
  2. Choose a song that uses slang expressions.
  3. Choose a song that uses a new tense/grammar you have introduced.
  4. Use songs to add variety to your reading comprehension lessons. Students can read lyrics and discuss the main idea and theme.
  5. Teach Christmas vocabulary through traditional carols.
  6. Write or choose a classroom themed song.
  7. Choose animal and alphabetical songs for kids.

Even though music is a fantastic teaching tool, bear in mind that not all students learn effectively with music. Just like normal listening practice, music can be actively or passively listened to. Ask your student what they prefer.

Have you used music to teach your students? How was it? Let us know in the comments. 

 

References:

L.Williams (2018). 5 Ways to Use Music in Your Online Language Teaching. [Online]. Available at: https://www.lindsaydoeslanguages.com/5-ways-to-use-music-in-your-online-language-teaching/

Degrave (2019). Music in the Foreign Language Classroom: How and Why? Journal of Language Teaching and Research 10(3):412.

English Club (2021). Using Music in the ESL Classroom. [Online].Available at: https://www.englishclub.com/teaching-tips/music-classroom.htm