RESOURCES: SONGS

How can songs help in our EFL classroom?

Songs have been part of the human experience for as long as we can remember. As a great showman once stated, adults sing at religious services, bars, in the shower, and listening to the car radio. Songs have become an integral part of our language experience, and if used in coordination with a language lesson they can be of great value. Fortunately, with the expanding prevalence of the Internet and specifically the World Wide Web into both the classrooms and lives of students, access to music and lyrics has been made easier.

there is also a linguistic reason for using songs in the classroom. Some songs are excellent examples of colloquial English, that is, the language of informal conversation. A song such as "My Best Was Never Good Enough" by Bruce Springsteen is a prime example of a song that demonstrates colloquial language use. This song is full of phrases like "Every cloud has a silver lining." and "Every dog has his day. " Of course, the majority of language most ESL students will encounter is in fact informal. Using songs can prepare students for the genuine language they will be faced with.


Finally, two studies investigated the prevalence of pop music in the lives of EFL students. Both studies found that music is often the major source of English outside of the classroom. The exposure to authentic English is an important factor in promoting language learning. It relates directly to both the affective filter and automaticity. If students are exposed to songs which they enjoy, more learning is likely to occur since they may seek out the music outside of the classroom. The repetitive style of songs then helps to promote automatization of colloquial language.

So if there's ever an occassion where you can't get your students to learn something the usual way, try using a song instead, you might be surprised.

Tell us any experience with the use of songs that you've gone through that you found particulalrly revealing or interesting.
Check out our brand new DOWNLOADS WEBSITE, and click on DOWNLOADS to download the worksheets for songs and you can watch the video clip right below.
Please don't forget to comment.