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Date Posted: 05:02:14 05/23/07 Wed
Author: Francidéa
Subject: Task three

UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE MINAS GERAIS
FACULDADE DE LETRAS
ENGLISH TEXT PRODUCTION
PROF. ADRIANA TENUTA
FRANCIDÉA B. DE M. FREITAS

Songs as a resource for learning English Grammar.

Teachers are often confronted with situations in which several students declare “out and loud” that they hate taking English lessons. Although it may be frustrating, this situation can also make the teacher think why it happens so often and among a great number of students of second language courses. Apparently, this feeling of hatred is caused by the difficulty students have to acquire grammar items. The teacher can ask him/herself how to prepare a lesson to introduce new grammatical items avoiding frustration and boredom.
There are several techniques, resources and approaches to help teachers prepare an effective lesson. Some will be appreciated by certain groups of students according to their age, profession, interests and necessities. So, teachers have to bear in mind that a choice must be made so as to focus on the students profile and on the objectives to be achieved in a particular lesson. One of the various techniques and resources available is the use of songs to teach grammatical items and other skills. There are some steps to be followed that may help teaching to be meaningful and effective.
First of all, the teacher must select a song in which its content is appropriate for the audience and for the grammar item to be taught. This is very important since the main objective is to teach grammar and also because the students cannot be exposed to a type of language that is not adequate to a school environment, such as cursing and sexual language.


Secondly, the song must be in a length and rhythm that students can follow without difficulty, this will make students feel comfortable thus making the activity enjoyable.
The teacher, then, should ask some questions to arouse students’ curiosity and to prepare them for the theme of the song. After that, the students should listen to the whole song and try to recognize words that are familiar to them.
Thirdly, the students should listen to the song once more, but this time to try and find the grammatical item to be presented. A good example is the song “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”, performed by the Irish band U2. It is perfect to teach the “Present Perfect tense”. The teacher can ask students to circle all the sentences that contain have+ past participle of the verb, then he/she explains how to use it, when to use it, its form, how to make interrogative, negative, how to give short answers and all the important features of this particular tense.
After following all the steps mentioned before, the teacher should play the song again, but this time to explain new vocabulary or to clear students doubts. Students can sing along if they feel like it. It is a very good idea to encourage them to sing, this way they would be practicing the speaking part as well having fun.
Since the problem was finding grammar to difficult or boring to be learned, music can be considered a pleasant, funny and effective way of learning things naturally. It can surely make the class more lively and likely to be a successful one. So, let’s learn while having fun.
Consulted bibliography:
CELCE-MURCIA, Marianne. Techniques and resources in teaching grammar. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1988.

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