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TEACHING STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE VOCABULARY WITH THE HELP OF SONG
Jalolova Feruza Normurodovna, National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulughbek, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
E-mail: missjalolova@mail.ru
Abstract. The current article is devoted to the investigation of usage of songs, music and lyrics in educational setting. Nowadays, foreign language teachers find using songs and music useful, because songs are perceived as motivating sources, thus beneficial in language learning. Tunes and lyrics infiltrates people's thoughts and they may stay in our memory for a long time. Hence, learning through songs may be a good method of vocabulary memorization because lyrics are sung repeatedly and catchy tunes help to remember them. It needs to be noticed that because of the easy access to music, everyone may benefit from it.
Key words: songs, vocabulary activities, interactive games, pre-study activities, while-studying activities, post-study activities.
There are various methods, styles and approaches of teaching foreign languages, particularly, English language to students. According to quick and effective teaching to learners with interactive games and various activities, classroom. Both of them are being considered as very beneficial approaches to teach youth. Music is a very effective tool that should play a larger role in the EFL/ESL classroom because it offers a great variety of materials those appeals to the students. Most students enjoy music and therefore it should increase their interest in learning a new language in a very entertaining way. Educators need to be willing to incorporate music in their lessons in order to better enhance their students' learning.
Music can be used to remove language barriers and should be implemented as early as the first grade. More music in every language classroom will inspire more students to become creative and independent. Music will allow educators and their students to understand each other and connect in a new way.
Songs are traditionally presented in three stages, with pre-study activities, -while-studying activities and post-study activities. This classification is very useful as the students may get involved and then consolidate the knowledge.
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The purpose of the pre-stage is to develop the students thematically, linguistically, educationally and psychologically for the activity. The learners may be introduced to the subject matter and key lexis, or any linguistics features from which they may benefit at a later step. The essential element of pre-stage is to create a reason for the students to want to listen to the song. Arevalo clarifies that the concept of prior knowledge is a part of the cognitive model of language processing. When people read or listen, they process the message they hear both bottom-up and top-down. The latter means using experiences and prior knowledge, whereas bottom-up processing means using the information people have about word meanings, sounds, and discourse markers like 'first', 'then' to bring together their comprehension of what they hear or read step by step.
During the second stage, which might be seen as the main focus of the lesson, the learners complete the activities and tasks which directly concern the song. Interestingly, the author gives the idea of grading tasks as the students familiarize with the song. For instance, when listening to "An Englishman in New York" by Sting, first activity might to be identify the subject matter of the song. Next, a later task might be dealing with specific information and intensive listening or reading by asking them for example, to tick sentences true of false. In this stage, the learners are very often perform activities simultaneously, their task may be to listen to a song and underline something in the text [2, p. 13].
Additionally, the students might be asked to reflect on its language and content after the comprehensive exploitation of the song. Arevalo is of the opinion that having a purpose for listening helps listen more efficaciously. He compares a listening activity to listening to a weather forecast and illustrates it with a desire to know whether to wear a coat or nor; thus the focus is on the temperature. That is to say, in this stage the teachers should explain their students what is the aim of the task. Essentially, the students may listen for details, for the main idea, and for making conclusions. Accordingly, the learners develop a sense of why they listen and which skill use to listen better. The lecturers may develop these skills by asking the students to focus on their purpose for listening every time they listen. This form of strategy is called training. The concept of knowing the reason of listening is a very efficient first strategy because it helps the students to organize and reflect on their learning.
The third stage usually involves follow-up activities that practise the productive skills of writing and speaking in different ways. Although the students might have been writing or speaking in order for example to discuss their personal experience of the topic, the aim and focus of the pre-stage is not the improvement of productive skills, but the means for motivation increment and introducing the general theme. In that stage, it is the text of the song that stimulates for further exercises which improve other language skills. The author gives an example of follow-up work to "She's leaving home" by the Beatles where the learners either write the letter the girl wrote for her parents, or roleplay the dialogue between the girl and her parents. At this stage the activities will almost exactly include the assimilation of previously-taught language with new languages and ideas recently introduced through the song.
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Interestingly, Arevalo notices that usually when the teachers think of listening activities, they have inclination to think of the learners listening to a recording and doing an activity. However, the teachers may use post-listening tasks to check apprehension, evaluate listening skills and use of listening strategies, and also continue the knowledge gained to other contexts. A post-listening activity might relate to a pre-listening task, such as predicting, may transfer what has been learnt to writing, reading, or speaking activities, or may extend on the topic or the listening text [1, p.
5].
Here are a few ideas presented quickly. The activity is related simply to listening to a song and then discussing what happened in the song, to sharing students' interpretations, or reactions to that piece of music. Printed lyrics may be distributed to students as to help them take part in discussions.
Activities for exploiting songs and texts
Students predict the content of the text by reading is title. Omit words and replace them with a relevant drawing. Students identify the missing words before reading or listening to the text.
Students read a gapped text and fill in the blanks. Students create or complete charts or diagrams about the text.
Students read or listen to the text to extract the information to write a summary. Students write a summary of the text.
Jumble the words/letters of the title of the text for the students to reconstruct. Students write and give a speech on the topic.
Students identify the meaning of words/ expressions as used in the text. After the song/text is finished, students predict what happens next.
Students predict possible vocabulary items which may appear in the text. Use the text as a springboard to initiate discussions to develop students' ideas about the topic.
Students brainstorm the vocabulary which might be associated with the topic. Students describe/discuss pictures related to the topic.
Students listen to the song and take dictation. Design activities on the text which are similar to examination questions.
Students perform the song. Students sing the song and record it. Play it again and improve on pronunciation.
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A well-known exercise that can be done with a song is gap filling. Learners are handed out sheets of paper with the lyrics of a song and while listening their task is to write the heard words. Scrivener writes that this activity is very common and calls it a cliché. He suggests varying this task, for example by changing it into a pre-listening activity where students are to predict the missing words. Another song oriented activity is song jumble. Students put in order certain lines of a song that are jumbled. After that, learners listen to the song and compare their guesses. This activity may also be done with pictures, which they have to put in order while listening to a song. Next activity proposed by the author is called action movement and it is addressed to students of lower levels. Learners listen to one line at a time and invent mimed actions. They teach each other and then all present their versions. However, some tasks can be more challenging, for instance, students may be asked to create their own lyrics to the tune [6, pp. 98-100].
Finally, Scrivener mentions about ideas for using music on its own in the classroom. A teacher may use music to set the mood, especially at the beginning of a lesson. Also, when a lecturer wants their students to talk about something at the beginning of a lesson to warm them up, he can play music, too. An interesting proposal is that of playing music while students are doing 'dull' activities. Moreover, background music may be used to set the scene when students work on a specific task, for example 'space' music played while discussing life on other planets. Simply, music may be used for relaxation between demanding activities. Davanellos enumerates forty activities arranged around songs and music in a linguistic classroom. Some of these activities were described above. Every teacher may choose the most favourable and apply them in his own practice. Obviously, activities connected with songs may take various forms but definitely they should be conducted in an enjoyable and pleasing way.
References:
1. Arevalo Edgar Alberto Reina. The use of songs as a tool to work on listening and culture in EFL classes, 2010.
2. Davanellos Akis. Songs in: English Teaching professional, 1999.
3. Edgar A., Reina A., The use of songs as a tool to work on listening and culture in EFL classes. New York, 2010.
4. Kurtoglu E., Ideas for Using Songs in the English Language Classroom, in: English Teaching FORUM 34, 1996.
5. Schoepp Kevin. Reasons for Using Songs In the ESL/EFL Classroom. The Internet TESL Journal, 2001.
6. Scrivener Jim. Learning Yeaching. Oxford, 2005.
