Using Songs as a Teaching Tool in the Japanese University EFL Classroom

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Using Songs as a Teaching Tool in the Japanese University EFL Classroom

著者 TRAUB Toby

出版者法政大学言語・文化センター

journal or

publication title

Journal for Research in Languages and Cultures

volume 17

page range 119‑129

year 2020‑01‑30

URL http://doi.org/10.15002/00022988

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Popularmusiccanbeavaluabletooltoincreasemotivationandlis- tening comprehension,introducenew vocabulary,and build writing, speaking,andreadingfluency.Aswell,itcanloweraffectivefilters,and increaseclasscohesion.

ThefollowingisanapproachthatcanbeusedtoteachEnglishLis- teningthroughsongs.Thismethodusesmusicvideos.Simplemodifica- tionscouldbemadeiftheteacherweretoprefertomakeitanaudioonly.

Purpose

Thepurposeofthisactivityistobuildvocabularylisteningrecogni- tionandretrievalability.New vocabularyistaughtand,perhapsimpor- tantly,moreauralexposurestoknownvocabularywillhelpautomatethe cognitivetaskofvocabularyrecognition（Schoepp,2001）.

QuickGuide

LearnerEnglishlevel:Highbeginnerandabove Learnermaturity:Highschoolandabove Classsize:anyclasssizeisacceptable Preparationtime:45minutespersong Activitytime:3045minutes

Materials:Computer,orsmartphone.a/vequipment,printer

Usi ngSongsasaTeachi ngTool i ntheJapaneseUni versi tyEFLCl assroom

TobyTraub

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Preparation

stepone:decidewhichsongtouse,basedonyourstudents・age,andper- ceivedinterests.

Somefactorstoconsiderare:

● Youngpeopletendtopreferatleastsomenew music,soalookat theBillboardtop100hits,wouldbeadvisable.

● Thesonghastohaveenoughnew vocabularyforyourstudentsto actuallylearnsomethingnew.HeyJudemightbeagoodconfi- dencebuilderforlowerstudentsbutthereisreallynotthatmany new vocabularytoteach.LoseYourselfbyEminem,ontheother hand,hasplentyofnew vocabulary.However,someofthatvo- cabularyissoidiomaticthatitmaynotbeuseful,especiallyfor lowerlevellearners,andthatisalsoafactorthatshouldbeconsid- ered.

● Foroptimalresults,lyricsshouldbereasonablyintelligibletoa nativespeaker.Ifthelyricsaretoofast,ortoogarbled,thenitbe- comesanexerciseinvocabularymemorization,ratherthanlisten- ingrecognition.

● A mixofclassicalpop,Christmasmusic,songsfrom musicals,and moviesoundtracksworkwell.Themorerecognizablethebetter.A goodstandardis,wouldthestudentslikelytobeabletohum alongto thesong.A nicevariety with aslightemphasisin currentpop musictendstoworkwellfortraditionaluniversitystudents.Shift- ingthatemphasismoretowardoldersongs,thathavestoodthetest oftimemightbeabetterchoiceforcontinuinged.students.

● Don・tbesurprisedwhensome,orallofyourstudentsdonotrecog- nizeasongorartistthatyouthinkeveryoneintheworldmust know.Thesongmaystillbeagoodchoiceifyouthinkthatsong hasculturalvalue,oryoujustwanttosharesomethingofyourself

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withthestudents.

● Avoidnonsensephrasesthattheartisthasmadeup.Youwillnot wanttospendfiveminutestryingtoexplain whata・cross-fire hurricane・is.Istilldon・tknow.Youmayjustchoose・hurricane・, andavoidtheissuealtogether.

Steptwo:FindthevideoonYoutube.Ifyoudon・twanttousethevideo becauseyoudon・tlikeit,YoucanuseastreamingservicesuchasSpotify, orApplemusic.

Stepthree:findthelyricsusingasearchengine.Youshouldlookatsev- eralsourcesbecausesomeofthem getitwrong.Listentothesongyour- selfandlookatseveralsourcesforthelyrics.Youmayhavetolistento aliveversionofthesongtohearaclearerenunciationofthelyrics.

Stepfour:cutandpastethoselyricsintoawordprocessingprogram,and makeaclozeactivitybysubtractingthewordsorexpressionsyouwould liketoteach.Keepinmindthelevelofthestudent.Itmaynotbeuseful forbeginnerlevelstudentstorecognizesomeinfrequentlyusedwords andidioms.Youcanuseyourowndiscretion,butIhavefounditisbest toerronthesideofeasiness.Whiletheymayknow aword,itstillmight beachallengetorecognizeitinthecontextofasong.

Stepfive:makeawordlistonanotherpageoronthesamepagewithall ofthewordsthatyouhavesubtractedinthecloze.And,youcansubtract clustersofwordsaswell.Youdon・tnecessarilyhavetoomitonlythenew vocabularythatyouhavetaught.But,Itshouldmatchperfectlywiththe numberofavailablespacessotheycancrossthem offastheygo.（see Appendix2）

Stepsix:usingthevocabularythatyouhavechosen,makeamatching activity.Iusuallychoose8-12words,orexpressions.（seeAppendix3）

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Stepseven:makeananswerkeytotheclozeactivity.Thiswillsimplybe aprintoutofthelyrics.Itshouldbemadesothatthestudentscaneasily identifywhichwordshadbeenomittedinthecloze.（seeAppendix4）

Stepeight:Trytofindasimplebioofthesingerortheband.Thisisan especiallynicewaytoaugmentthelesson,ifitisasingerissomeonethey areunfamiliarwith.Youcanputalittlereadingcomprehensionquiz.

And,thosesamequestionscanbeputonaquizlater.（seeAppendix1） Procedure

Step1:Givestudentsthebio,andgivethem timetoreaditsilentlyand answerthequestions.Havethestudentsreadthebioaloudlinebyline, aswellasthequestionsandanswers.（58minutes）

Step2:givestudentsthematchingactivity.Allow them tousedictionar- ies.（5minutes）

Step3:Pairthem upandletthem helpeachother.Thenteam them upif necessary.（5minutes）

Step4:review theanswerstothematchingactivity,anddoa・listenand repeat・choralrepetitionwithanychallengingwords.（12minutes）

Step5:dim thelightsintheroom andplaythevideofullspeed,beginning toend,justforentertainmentvalue.Youdon・twanttoruinthevideoor songthefirsttimebystoppingitallthetime.Idon・trecommendhanding them theclozeuntilafteryouhaveplayeditonceallthewaythrough.

Otherwisesomeofthem willnotgetthefulleffectofthesong,andthe video.（35minutes）

Step6:turnthelightsbackup.Playthesongthewholewaythrough

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beginningtoend.Ifthesonghasalongoutrowithnolyrics,youmay considercuttingthatpartoff.

Step7:playthesongagainpausingabout5secondsaftereveryblankin theclozeactivity.（6minutes）

Step8:allow them toworkwiththeirneighborstodiscusswhatthey thinktheyheard.（3minutes）

Step9:playthesongagainbutpausingonly2secondsaftereachblank.

Or,youmightconsidernotpausingdirectlyaftertheblank,butpausing inthenaturalbreaksofthesong.（5minutes）

Step10:allow them toworkinpairsandorgroupstoshareanswers（3 minutes）

Step11:givethem theanswerkey,andhavethem checktheiranswers.（3 minutes）

Step12:playthesongagainfullspeed,andtellthem tofollowalong,read- ingthelyricsasthesongplays.（3minutes）

Thismethodcanbeusedasaone-offactivity,inaCommunication course.Studentswillusuallyfindthistobeawelcomebreaktothetext- bookgrind（Lo& Li1998）.

Or,anentirecoursecanbemadeusingtwooftheseper90minute class.Testingcanbedonebyusingone,oracombinationofallofthese:

a.choosingafew ofthevocabularyfrom eachsongforamultiple choicetest.Thesewillallcomefrom thevocabularysheetsyou havegiventhem.

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b.choosingoneormoreofthesongstheyhavealreadydonemakea testandmakeitamultiplechoiceforeasiergrading.Choosing differentwordstoomitwillforcethem toknow thewholesong ratherthanjustalistofwords.Don・tunderestimatethem.Japa- nesestudentsseem tolovememorizingthings.Ihavehadstu- dentswhocouldreciteword-for-wordthelyricstoLoseYourself, byEminem,whichhadtheaddedbenefitofgettingthem allpsy- chedupforthetest.

c.Youcanuseanaudioeditortoaddalisteningcomponenttothe test.IcurrentlyuseAVSaudioeditor.Ichooseasectionwitha guitarriff,pianomelody,ordrum rollratherthansomethingwith lyricsandmakeamultiplechoicebasedonallofthesongswedid duringthesemester.Thismaynotseem todirectlybenefittheir Englishlisteningskillsbutcanaddacomponentoffun,whichcan loweraffectivefilters.（Krashen,1981）

Ifyouarereallydaring,asIam,andyouliketohavefunwithyour job,youcanhavethem singitwithyou.Theymaybereluctantatfirst, soyoushouldmakesuretotellthem theydon・thavetobeagoodsinger.

Thenyouletthem diptheirtoeinthewaterbysaytheyonlyneedtosing themainlineinthechorussuchas・Don・tStopMeNow・.Ifindthatonce theygetusedtotheidea,theywillvoluntarilytrytosingalongwith wholesongandyoutheteachershouldalsoofcoursebesinging.When thisworks,anditusuallydoes,whatyougetisamagical,unforgettable experiencethatyourstudentswillenjoy.

Clappingalongwiththebeatisanotheroptioninsomesongs,andthe studentsseem toenjoythataswell.

Iwouldwarnyouthatyoumighthavesomuchfundoingthisthat youmightforgetyouareteaching,andthestudentsforgettheyarelearn-

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ing.But,afterall,thatisreallythepoint.Theselessonsrequirequiteabit ofpreptime,buttheycanberecycledyearafteryear,andfitinwellwith avarietyofcoursedescriptions,andyougainaneconomyofscale,inthat sense.

Lo,R.&Li,H.C.（1998）.Songsenhancelearnerinvolvement.EnglishTeaching Forum,36,811,21.

Schoepp,K.（2001）.ReasonsforUsingSongsintheESL/EFLClassroom.The InternetTESLJournal,VII（2）.

Krashen,S.D.（1981）.Secondlanguageacquisitionandsecondlanguagelearn- ing.New York,NY:Pergamon.

A wordaboutcopyright:asfarasknow,repurposingsongstobeusedforedu- cationalpurposesfallsundertheFairusedoctrine.Thelyricsarefreelyavail- ableon theinternet,and thevideosthemselvesaremonetized,sothatthe copyrightholderreceivesrevenueeverytimethesongisplayed.

（AcademicEnglish／市ヶ谷リベラルアーツセンター兼任講師）

References

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Appendix1

William HarrisonWithersJr.（bornJuly4,1938） isanAmericansinger-songwriterandmusician who performed and recorded from 1970until 1985.Herecordedseveralmajorhits,including

・Lean on Me・,・Ain・tNoSunshine・,・UseMe・,

・JusttheTwoofUs・,・LovelyDay・,and・Grand- ma・s Hands・. Withers won three Grammy Awardsandwasnominatedforfourmore.His lifewasthesubjectofthe2009documentary filmStillBill.HewasinductedintotheRock andRollHallofFamein2015.

Withers,theyoungestofsixchildren,wasborninthesmallcoal-mining townofSlabFork,WestVirginia.Hewasbornwithastutterandhassaid hehadahardtimefittingin. RaisedinnearbyBeckley,hewas13years oldwhenhisfatherdied.WithersenlistedwiththeUnitedStatesNavyat theageof18andservedfornineyears,duringwhichtimeheovercame hisstutterandbecameinterestedinsingingandwritingsongs.

1.How oldisBillWithers,now?

a.13 b.81 c.80 d.18

2.How manytotalGrammynominationsdidBillWithersreceive?

a.3 b.4 c.7 d.9

3.Whatspeechproblem didBillWithershave?

a.Fork b.fittingin c.singing d.stuttering 4.BillWithers・fatherwasproudofhismusicalsuccess.

a.true b.false

5.How longwasBillWithersintheNavy?

a.18years b.13years c.9years d.4years BillWithers

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Appendix2

Iseethe morning

raindrops gotta wasted

fall castles

I beauty darling spend

you love makeit rainbows

fall sky

things sun crystal

tears morning sometime

shining dew time flowers justthetwoofus

window time

late one Andthe ofitall

Iswhenthe comes through Tomakethose inmymind WhenIthinkofyou

AndIwantto some withyou Justthetwoofus

Wecan ifwetry Justthetwoofus

Building inthe Justthetwoofus

and

Welookfor notimefor water・sallthatis Anditdon・tmakeno grow Good mightcometothosewho Notforthosewhowaittoo

We goforallweknow

Justthetwoofus,wecanmakeitifwetry Justthetwoofus

Justthetwoofus,buildingcastlesinthesky Justthetwoofus

YouandI

Ihearthecrystalraindropsfall Onthe downthe Anditbecomesthe

And whenthe comes

AndIseethemorningsun

Iwanttobethe withyou.

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Appendix3

1.mind A.abighouseforaking 2.raindrop B.notusedefficiently

3.castle C.wateronthegrassonacoolmorning 4.wasted D.asharedroom thatlinksotherrooms

5.dew E.succeed

6.tear F.thecollectionofourthoughts,oursoul. 7.bepatient G.waterthatcomesfrom oureyes 8.hall H.goodthingscometothosewhowait 9.rainbow I. colorfularchaftertherain

10.makeit J.aclearstone

11.crystal K.oneunitofrainwater 12.stutter L.aspeechproblem.

13.fitin M.beaccepted,andgetalongwithyourpeers

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Appendix4

BillWithers ― JustTheTwoOfUsLyrics

Iseethecrystalraindropsfall Andthebeautyofitall

Iswhenthesuncomesshiningthrough Tomakethoserainbowsinmymind WhenIthinkofyousometime

AndIwanttospendsometimewithyou Justthetwoofus

Wecanmakeitifwetry Justthetwoofus Justthetwoofus

Buildingcastlesinthesky Justthetwoofus

YouandI

Welookforlovenotimefortears Wastedwater・sallthatis

Anditdon・tmakenoflowersgrow

Goodthingsmightcometothosewhowait Notforthosewhowaittoolate

Wegottagoforallweknow Justthetwoofus

Wecanmakeitifwetry Justthetwoofus Justthetwoofus

Buildingcastlesinthesky Justthetwoofus

YouandI

Ihearthecrystalraindropsfall Onthewindow downthehall Anditbecomesthemorningdew Anddarlingwhenthemorningcomes AndIseethemorningsun

Iwanttobetheonewithyou.