Ministry of higher and secondary specialized education of the republic of uzbekistan

CHAPTER II The effective strategies of listening-teaching

2.1 Teaching listening skills to young learners

through “Listen and Do” songs
The problems that we encounter were mentioned. To solve these issues songs is one of the answers. There are so many methods, strategies and approaches teaching listening for A2 level learners. To my mind, songs is the most effective way for young learners. “It’s true that listening skills are the most important outcomes of early language teaching”²⁵. “Songs can be one of the most enjoyable ways to practice and develop listening skills. Any syllabus designed for teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) to young learners (YLs) typically contains songs, chants, and rhymes”²⁶.

Klein argues that “teaching young learners is different from teaching adults. Young learners tend to change their mood every other minute, and they find it extremely difficult to sit still. On the other hand, children show greater motivation than adults to do things that appeal to them. It therefore helps if the teacher is inventive and selects a wide variety of interesting activities, especially with songs”²⁷.

From given information, we may feel the significance of the songs for teaching especially, to A2 level learners. The rhythmic and repeated nature of songs that support language acquisition, as well as the delight that the correlation of melody and content offers to the learning activity, are the most obvious elements of songs that promote language acquisition. Children have a strong sense of rhythm and have not yet experienced the worry that comes with learning a new language. There are a lot of plus point of using songs in EFL classes

In the below an emphasize will be put on the advantages of utilizing songs in listening-teaching.

1.Primary practice requires the use of songs.

The majority of elementary school instructors utilize songs as a teaching tool. “The use of songs and rhymes is also important for young learners in foreign language classrooms”²⁸. “The most effective way to teach listening comprehension, pronunciation, and dictation to YLs is through teaching songs”²⁹.

2.Songs help to create a welcoming and natural atmosphere in the classroom.

“According to Cullen, “songs are significant teaching tools in teaching ESL/EFL because, as most teachers find out, students love listening to music in the language classroom and they often hold strong views about music. This affinity with music makes songs vital tools to create a safe and natural classroom ethos and to overcome feelings of shyness and hesitation on the part of the learners”³⁰.Young learners' learning qualities also reflect a desire to form a strong emotional bond with their teacher. The students and the teacher are physically involved in the same acts, so they have common experience as they sing Listen and Do songs. Students' education, particularly language instruction, should be viewed as a collaborative effort in which they should be encouraged to participate physically, emotionally, and cognitively. The ideal way to create this type of learning environment is for the teacher to create a safe, nonthreatening environment in which students can experiment with language.

3.Songs allow for a lot of repetition and practice.

Songs provide excellent opportunities for repetition and practice that might otherwise be tedious. Repetition of language is pleasurable—such as repeating choruses, or singing cumulative songs where each verse borrows words from a previous verse. “This repetition, most often accompanied by physical actions, helps learning and in turn leads to familiarity so that children feel comfortable with the foreign language”³¹.

“By singing songs pupils gradually internalize the structures and patterns of the foreign language as well as the specific language items that the teacher wants them to learn”³².

4.Songs allow for the use of natural language.

According to Sharpe, songs provide an occasion for real language use in a fun and enjoyable situation. She claims that “singing is a vital part of the life of a young child, inside and outside the school, and incorporating the foreign language into this fundamental activity is another way of normalizing it”³³. Young children readily imitate sounds and often pleasurably associate singing and playing with rhythms and rhymes from an early age.

Schoepp believes that the following three patterns emerge from the research on why songs are valuable in the ESL/EFL classroom:

1. “Affective reasons: A positive attitude and environment enhance language learning. Songs are an enjoyable activity that contribute to a supportive, non-threatening setting with confident and active learners.

2. Cognitive reasons: Songs contribute to fluency and the automatic use of meaningful language structures.

3. Linguistic reasons: In addition to building fluency, songs provide exposure to a wide variety of the authentic language students will eventually face in nonacademic settings”³⁴.

From the above mentioned information I came to conclude that songs are more beneficial to teach listening ability for both young and adult learners owing to the wide range of benefits. Songs are essential for improving comprehension, intonation, stress and rhyme. Furthermore, songs are great enjoyment for everyone, they increase people’s mood and physical condition changes to positive sides and in that case it will be much easier to comprehend better the listening task. The best thing about songs in teaching listening is that they are great chance for repetition and practice more.

While teaching we have to take into consideration a number of words.

A word of caution is necessary when teaching songs. As language teachers, we must always remember that teaching the target language is our first obligation. We should not be carried away by the music and rhythm of songs, no matter how fun and enjoyable song activities are for young learners. Our primary responsibility is to teach the target language, not singing skills. As a result, if songs are employed ineffectively, they can easily devolve into mere amusement and delightful pauses in the school day, leading to boredom and a loss of interest in the long run. The language teacher should have a thorough understanding of why and how to employ a song. Only when songs are well integrated into a curriculum and carefully selected for the cognitive and linguistic needs of students can songs be an effective means of developing children's language skills.

Kirsch states that listening activities should be based on meaningful, appropriate, and authentic texts (e.g., a story, song, or poem) that assist listening and remembering and that match the language and grade level of pupils”³⁵.

Ersöz suggests that teachers should be careful to choose songs that:

• “contain simple and easily understood lyrics

• link with a topic or vocabulary that learners are studying in the class

• contain repetitive lines

• allow children to easily do actions (to help emphasize meaning)”³⁶.

Actually the utilizing the songs during the lessons is an appropriate way, but all types of songs are not suitable for learners’ age, outlook. That is why teachers should be careful for choosing songs.