Teaching listening with songs

CHAPTER II PECULARITIES OF USING SONGS AS MEDIA OF LEARNING


2.1 USING SONGS AS MEDIA OF LEARNING
Students are encouraged to use their musical knowledge to participate actively in the learning process. In this case, songs are a good way to help learners gain confidence in their language learning (Şahin, 2008). Orlova (2003) ranked the methodological purposes of using songs in teaching listening comprehension:
a. Practicing the rhythm, stress and the intonation patterns of the English language.
b. Teaching vocabulary, especially in the vocabulary reinforcement stage.
c. Teaching grammar, teachers while investigating the use of the tenses especially favor songs.
d. Teaching speaking. For this purpose, songs and mainly their lyrics are employed as a stimulus for class discussions.
e. Teaching listening. Music can be helpful for comprehension.
f. Developing writing skills. It means a song can be used in a type of ways; for example, speculation as to what could happen to the characters in the future, writing a letter to the main character, etc.
Despite the fact that the number of publications devoted to the subject continues to expand year after year, and no one can deny the power of songs and music to inspire students' creativity, I believe there are still numerous aspects of music in the classroom that are disregarded. To begin with, songs, particularly chants, are quite popular among teachers whose target audience is young students, but older students are less likely to be exposed to music. Second, despite the fact that a song is an inseparable unity of music and lyrics, the musical component is frequently underestimated and ignored.

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  Songs may be utilized well in an intermediate class to teach speaking to future EFL teachers, as evidenced by my own teaching. The following are the key reasons for this:
  
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  Songs, as a cultural phenomena, can introduce students to the target language community's musical and cultural trends.
  
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  Songs are part of a synthetic genre that contains both words and music, and these two elements can be used to encourage students to speak English in class.
  
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  Songs can contribute in the development of esthetic appreciation in students by assisting them in shaping their artistic tastes and creating a critical evaluation of the songs they listen to and discuss.
  
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  In order to be able to use songs effectively in their own teaching in the future, prospective English teachers should be introduced to them as part of a teacher training program.