How You Can Benefit If You Use Songs in Your Teaching
Music is an important element in our lives. When you’re on your way to work, you turn on the radio. When you’re too tired to do anything, you choose a song from your playlist and play it to make you feel relaxed. Human beings are emotional by nature. Music offers encouragement and the strength that one needs. Its importance cannot be taken for granted. It is a tool that connects people of all ages, nationality, and culture. It’s not odd to see a child listening to an old rock musician’s song. Also, it’s not surprising to see an Indian woman listening to Taylor Swift despite the differences in their cultures. I believe using music as a tool to teach English to foreign students have many advantages.
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elif Ç. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Conquering Frustration
First of all, lessons can be boring for both the teacher and the students after a while. The teacher will get tired of talking and giving out worksheets to students every day. The students will lose interest and they will not be motivated at all. Many experts, share the opinion that children are more motivated and stimulated in the foreign language class when authentic materials like songs, rhymes, etc. are included. Also, some songs are so fun to memorize for children. Some times they don’t even have to try to memorize it, it will get stuck in their heads immediately. So if you want your students to remember a phrase but they keep forgetting it, find a song that contains the phrase you want to teach. It will be beneficial for sure.
Also Read: The 4 Most Important Reasons Why Is English So Challenging for Chinese Learners
Creating a Comforting Atmosphere
Secondly, when the students hear the music, they will feel relaxed. Because a lesson can cause anxiety in many students due to some reasons like the fear of being unsuccessful. An English lesson should be involved in a combined effort to reduce the stress in the classroom by providing the essential conditions so that the students learn English with lots of fun.
Also Read: My Experience of Child Development in the Classroom
Learning Native Accents
Lastly, using songs in the classroom is a great way for students to hear different accents and enrich their vocabulary. For example, if the teacher is American, it would be beneficial for students to find a song by a British singer and make the students listen to it. So when they run into a British person, they will be familiar with his way of talking. As it’s mentioned above, it’s also a good way to enrich the students’ vocabulary. They will hear a word that they don’t know and they will be curious about the meaning. After finding out the meaning of the word, the next time they hear the same song, they will understand the full sentence which will motivate them.
Also Read: How much does a TEFL course cost?
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As a conclusion, using songs in the classroom has many benefits for both the students and the teacher. It will facilitate the teacher’s duty to teach. The lesson will not be torture for the students, it will be fun. The students will be more comfortable in the classroom. It will allow students to hear different accents. By listening to an English song, the students can add new words to their vocabulary. It’s believed to be an excellent way of teaching and the experts recommend teachers to use it.
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