Using songs to engage and teach English learners

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LESSON PLANS OF A MATERIAL ( USING SONGS IN TEACHING
LANGUAGE )
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DR INTAN SAFINAS BINTI MOHD ARIFF ALBAKRI

ARTICLE 1
LESSON OUTLINES
Year 11; Issue 2; April 2009, ISSN
1755-9715
Using Songs in the English Classroom
Hans Mol, Australia
Hans Mol is a writer, trainer and teacher working from Australia. He is
published worldwide for young learners, teens and adults. His next book
(Grammar for Young Learners) is published by OUP in 2009. He is co-
director of www.supasongs.com and fracasenglish.com. E-mail:
hans@fracasenglish.com, connexxions@bigpond.com
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Songs in the classroom: a useful tool
Types of songs
Which learners like songs?
Why are songs so suitable?
What can you do with songs in the classroom?
Practical tips and tasks for using songs
References
Songs in the classroom: a useful tool

Songs are part of daily life for most people. Who doesn’t enjoy music at
home, while travelling or studying, or even at work? Language teachers can
use songs to open or close their lessons, to illustrate themes and topics, to
add variety or a change of pace, present new vocabulary or recycle known
language. But how do songs actually benefit your students? In the first part
of this article we look at the theoretical background to these questions; in
the second half we look at what we can do with songs in the classroom.
There is strong practical evidence supporting the use of music in the English
language classroom; there is also a growing body of research confirming
that songs are a useful tool in language acquisition. In fact musical and
language processing occur in the same area of the brain. (Medina, 1993)
Types of songs
There are many types of songs which can be used in the classroom,
ranging from nursery rhymes to contemporary pop music. There is also a lot
of music written specifically for English language teaching. A criticism of the
latter is that they often lack originality and musical appeal but there are good
examples to be found of stimulating, modern, ‘cool’ music, appealing to the
real tastes of language learners. ‘Real’ music that the children hear and play
every day can be extremely motivating in the classroom, too. However, the
lyrics may not always be suitable: they may, for instance, contain slang or
offensive words, there may be grammatical mistakes and they may only
marginally teach the language points you want to focus on.
Which learners like songs?
Howard Gardner once said: “It’s not how intelligent you are, but how you
are intelligent.” No two students learn in exactly the same way. In any
classroom there will be a mix of learning styles, and one student may ‘use’
more than one style, depending on what the task or topic is. To appeal to
these differences is a huge teaching challenge. Gardner distinguished eight
styles of learning, and students in his ‘aural/musical’ category will have a lot
of benefit from learning through songs. They are strong in singing, picking
up sounds, remembering melodies and rhythms; they like to sing, hum, play
instruments and listen to music.
This is not to say that learners with other learning styles cannot benefit from
songs. Of course they can, because in the activities we develop with songs
we can dance and act (physical learning style), read, draw and do puzzles
(spatial intelligence) tell stories, and write (verbal learning styles).
Why are songs so suitable?

We can’t generalise, but research has found that pop songs have
characteristics that help learning a second language: they often contain
common, short words; they are written at about 5th
grade level (US); the
language is conversational, time and place are usually imprecise; the lyrics
are often sung at a slower rate than spoken words and there is repetition of
words and grammar. (Murhpy, 1992). Furthermore, songs are also known to
lower the “affective filter” or, in other words, to motivate learners to learn.
So, what positive contributions to language learning can songs make?
Socio-emotional growth
You’ll often find learners of any age singing together socially – when they
are visiting friends, at a party or in karaoke bars. Teenagers and young
adults seem to know an endless number of songs by heart and share them
continuously through the Internet and portable music players. Even though
it’s not always easy to copy this spontaneous love of music in the
classroom, singing songs in and with a class is a social act which allows
learners to participate in a group and express their feelings, no matter what
their English is like.
Physical development
Songs provide a great opportunity for young learners to move around.
Clapping, dancing and playing instruments stimulate memory, which makes
it possible for learners to hear chunks of language as they sing and use
them in different situations later. Older learners can also benefit from
clapping, dancing, rocking, tapping, and snapping their fingers to music and
songs.
Cognitive training
We all know the phenomenon of the song-that-is-stuck-in-my-head. With the
right kind of song it is easy to simulate that in the classroom. Interacting with
songs again and again is as important to language learners as repeatedly
practicing a tennis technique is for a tennis player. The skill which develops
from this is called ‘automaticity’. Learners get to know what to say and to
produce language rapidly without pausing.
Cultural literacy

Now that most music is accessible to almost anyone anywhere, either
through radio, CDs, DVDs and downloads from the Internet, learners can
enjoy songs from all corners of the globe. Songs used in English classes
can, in that way, shed light on interesting musical traditions in countries, but
can also teach teens, young adults and adults to appreciate other cultures.
For adult learners they can be “a rich mine of information about human
relations, ethics, customs, history, humor, and regional and cultural
differences’ (Lems, 2001).
Language learning
In a world where non-native speakers of English are likely to produce the
majority of songs in English, learners have the opportunity to listen to
pronunciation in a wide range of varieties of the language. Songs will help
learners become familiar with word stress and intonation, and the rhythm
with which words are spoken or sung also helps memorization. Again, this
will enable learners to remember chunks of language which they can then
use in conversations or in writing. As language teachers, we can use songs
to practice listening, speaking, reading and writing.
What can you do with songs in the classroom?
The sky is the limit! There are a few things to keep in mind: simple,
repetitive songs often contain a recurrent grammatical pattern which is
useful to teach (especially with younger children). More difficult songs often
contain interesting vocabulary and idioms. Also there is often a message, a
theme, or a story underlying a song which students can discuss, explain,
debate, and write about at almost any level.
Practical tips and tasks for using songs
Focus it
Start with a focusing activity: anything that will get students thinking about
the subject of the song. Have them think about the title of the song, in
groups of pairs. Find a picture that relates to the subject of the song and
have students make guesses about it.
Highlight it
Put a selection of important words from the song on your board. Have
students ask each other what the words mean. Then, have students in
groups write or tell a quick story that uses the words. You can also get
students to circle, underline or highlight specific words or word categories.

Stop it
Again, write a selection of words on the board. Students must shout STOP
any time they hear one of the new words. You could also stop the song
before a word you want them to guess.
Lip sync it
Have students lip sync the song before a team of judges in a Class Idol
show. This allows them to become familiar with the words, rhythm, stress
and intonation before actually singing the words out loud.
Strip it
Cut the song into strips. Give each student one strip to memorize. Students
put the strips in their pockets. They get up and tell each other their part of
the song, without looking at their part or showing their part to anyone else.
Students then organize themselves in the right order, speak the song and
then listen and check. You can also have students put the strips on a table
in order.
Question it
Have students ask each other questions about the song (about the words,
about the topics or about characters in the song). For more advanced
students you could choose two songs of a similar theme, and split the class
into two teams. Have each group listen to their song and draw up a list of
(open or True/False) questions. Pair each student with a member of the
opposite team and have them take turns asking their questions.
Gap it
You can prepare a gapped version of the lyrics and let students complete
them before listening and then check afterwards.
Write it
Have students write a letter to the main character or the singer, send an
answer to a person referred to in the song, rewrite the song as a story, write
a story which began before the story in the song and led to it, or write a
story which will continue after the song.
Change it
Change words (adjectives, adverbs, nouns -names, places or feelings), and

invent new lyrics for the melody. If you have karaoke versions of the songs
you can then let students sing their own versions.
Draw it
Get students to draw or collage the song and compare the visualisations in
class.
The possibilities are endless. Music and songs are fun, and most people
enjoy them. Make songs a regular feature in your lessons!
References
Lems, Kirsten, Using Music in the Adult ESL Classroom, ERIC Digest, 2001.
Medina, Suzanne L, The Effect of Music on Second Language Vocabulary
Acquisition, ‘National Network for Early Language Learning’, Vol 6-3, 1993.
Murphy, T (1992), The discourse op pop songs, TESOL Quarterly 26”(4),
770-774.
Please check the Methodology and Language for Primary Teachers
course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Methodology and Language for Secondary Teachers
course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Teaching through Music and Visual Art course at Pilgrims
website.

SUMMARY OF ARTICLE 1
This article is telling us about the usage of songs in teaching English Language
and the grammar as well in order to get the children to learn English better. Based on
the article, there are a lot of benefits of using songs in teaching grammar ( part of
language ). One of the benefit is to let the children feel enjoyable to learn grammar
because children are commonly like to listen to the songs . In addition, most of the
teachers use songs at two stages of learning, there are during the introduction and the
ending of the lesson too. Furthermore, songs can motivate the children by attracting
their interest towards learning grammar as well as the language too. According to the
article, most of the people recently like to listen to contemporary pop music which is it is
a new phenomenon in education especially in English Language Learning. The pop

songs have certain short words which are conversational, time and place are imprecise.
This is happens because we have different types of learners which involving the mix
abilities people such as the beginner, medium and fast learners. This kind of varieties
would be one of the factor why the usage of songs is good in learning grammar. A lot of
reasons why do we use songs to teach grammar. Firstly, the lyrics are sung with its
slower rate then the spoken words. This is telling that this material is considering the
beginner learners too in order to master the grammar items. Unforgotten, the repetition
of the words make them familiar with the language as well as the grammar items too.
Regardless the songs are suitable to be used especially when the children or people
visiting their friends at some special occasions such as parties and karaoke. The
teenagers and the young adults also usually share the songs continuously through the
Internet and any portable music players. Basically, the use of songs allow the students
to move around because it needs them to do some actions such as clapping, dancing,
playing instruments and so on and it also attract the older to do the same things. So,
songs need a bit physical movements to enjoy the songs and the content of the
grammar items included in the songs. And at the same time, to make the songs are
meaningful and related to the grammar items. There are so many activities can be used
in teaching grammar. For instance, step 1, by asking some questions for brainstorming
the ideas about the songs heard. Another activity is by drawing pictures to visualize the
content or man points of the songs, stripping the sentences of the lyrics to have the
sequencing activity and gapping activity which is allowing the pupils to fill in the blanks
with the correct words highlighted from the lyrics of the songs.

ARTICLE 2
Chinese Culture University
This workshop demonstrated how to use movie songs to make grammar teaching more
appealing to the learners and more effective in language acquisition. Despite
widespread adoption in EFL classes, songs have rarely been used with specific
reference to the acquisition of grammar. Based on the presenters’ experience of using
songs in EFL classes, this workshop showed how to teach both word and sentence
grammar in a number of ways. Techniques demonstrated included blank filling, multiple
choice, matching, dialogue, and sentence making. Numerous movie songs in DVD
format were gleaned to meet the illustrative purposes of this workshop. Rationale and
guidelines with respect to using these various ways of using songs to teach grammar
were also provided for best teaching and learning effect.
Introduction: A Personal Testimony
Inspired by the encouraging suggestions of their students, the presenters of this
workshop began to use songs in their English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes
fourteen years ago at Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan. Since then, their use
of songs in the classroom has undergone three stages of development and maturation.
The first stage was the one in which
they adopted music straightforwardly and was with only a general purpose in mind. That
is, songs were employed mostly for relaxation, for fun, and for hearing something
different from the teacher’s lecturing.
As years went by, the presenters, sensing that the direct use of songs seemed
insufficient for apparent instructional effects, started seeking more meaningful ways of
using songs in the EFL classroom, although they were still deemed as supplementary or
subordinate to the textbook. At this stage, the adoption of songs for instruction was
made mainly out of the presenters’ own creation or imagination. One of the most
frequently designed activities was blank filling, in which the students are asked to listen
to the songs and fill out the missing words. The purposes attached to the song activities
were quite limited, mainly for pronunciation or listening drills.

Over the past five years, the presenters commenced looking for reinforcement from
the professionals, which sent them into the third stage of using music in the EFL
classroom. For example, in May 2001, in Taipei they attended a workshop held by the
world-renowned Carolyn Graham on using songs in the EFL classroom. In addition,
they read widely those journal articles and books on teaching English through music.
The use of songs now became more professional, focused on one specific segment or
aspect of language learning for each song. Moreover, special emphasis was placed on
not only enhancement of student motivation but also relevancy of songs to the course
objectives.
What we have known and done about adoption of songs for language acquisition is
quite meager, and more possibilities and effective ways are still to be unveiled. This
workshop aimed to introduce DVD technology and different sources of songs, and to
demonstrate how to design various types of activities for using songs to teach grammar.
Literature on Using Songs to Teach Grammar
Like ice and fire, both grammar and songs are divergent in nature: One is full of
regularities and even ice-cold boredom, while the other is full of fire-like emotions and
inspirational melodies that enchant one. Nevertheless, the marrying of these two
radically different elements into the family of language instruction has been proved
successful. One of the examples is Learning English by Singing in which Professor Shih
(1997) of Taiwan collected 101 songs with commentaries and general instructional
guidelines. This book was targeted at the children or EFL beginners, although not
specifically referring to grammar instruction. Another book Singing, Chanting, Telling
Tales by Carolyn Graham (1992) also examined the use of songs to teach functions and
structures. Moreover, in her Using Authentic video in English Language Teaching: Tips
for Taiwan’s Teachers, Professor Katchen (1996) of National Tsing-hwa
TSAI & LIN:
USING MUSIC TO TEACH GRAMMAR
University in northern Taiwan examined music videos. She devoted one chapter to
discussing the use of music videos for instruction in general, although grammar was
only peripherally mentioned (99). Professor Fox (1995), in his “On Common Ground:

Why and How to Use Music as a Teaching Aid,” pointed out the close tie between music
and language acquisition from the perspective of therapy and religion. He also
discussed how three EFL textbooks use songs to teach grammar (100). Celce-Murcia
and Hilles (1988) went a step further to deepen the relationship of grammar and songs,
providing useful selection guidelines, teaching procedure and examples. Perhaps
nowhere has the bond between songs and grammar been more tightly bridged than
Cranmer and Laroy (1993) who devoted one chapter to exploration of using music to
teach grammar in their Musical Openings: Using Music in the Language Classroom.
Eight types of using songs to teach grammar are enumerated with preparation,
procedure, and suggestions very usefully and clearly made.
DVD Technology
The movie songs in the DVD format have the following four fundamental functions:
The Subtitles Function
This allows the user to select any of the subtitles already available on a given disc.
Press the “Subtitles” button and use the guide arrow to choose the desired subtitle
option. Not every music dick, however, is installed with the subtitle function.
The Language Function
This allows for a selection of the output language type. Unfortunately, it can only
produce the language as labeled on the cover page of the disc. There are always
limitations according to each product sold. In English Karaoke, there are two choices,
one with only English subtitles and rhyme, the other with English subtitles and sound.
The Advance Function
The Use of this function enables the user to skip to individual scenes or chapters on the
disc. Most DVDs include a scene index, providing easy location of the required
scene/chapter. The button labeled “Go To” or “Forward” typically provides the advance

function. This function may also prove useful for various student-centered activities,
such as asking learners to forward the chapter to a favorite song that they would like to
learn.
Chapter Repeating Function
If the teacher intends to show a song many times with or without visual support, this
function does help. When the song is being played for the first time, press this button,
and it will be repeated as many times as needed.
TSAI & LIN:
This very powerful function enables the teacher to continuously repeat a single scene.
Different Sources of Songs
Songs are available from two main sources:
1. the audio channel, such as cassette tapes, CDs and DVDs
2. both audio and video channels, such as the musical DVDs and DVD films
Theme Songs in the Special/Extra Features
Most DVDs provide the function of extra/special features, such as theme songs,
costumes galleries, behind the screens, posters, actors’ background information, and
commentaries. In the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” for instance, inserted in
DVD format is the theme song titled “A Love Before Time” sung by Co Co Lee in MTV
style.
Live Concert in DVD Format

Most songs are presented by the original singers, for instance, “Charlotte Church: Voice
of an Angel, Pavarotti” and “The Corrs.” The students enjoy learning songs from the live
concerts as they can witness the singers on the screen. As the live concert DVD
musicals usually do not provide English subtitles or written scripts, the teacher can
assign students to do the lyrics of their favorite songs. It is recommended that the song
be played three times, first with sound and image, next with sound only, and the third
time with both or either.
English Karaoke
Songs in this type of DVD musical, sung by the original singers only in audio channel,
are presented with background images either with sounds and subtitles or only with
English subtitles, word by word, for the viewer to sing. Much cheaper than the live
concert DVDs, the Karaoke DVD discs provide a wider variety and combination of
songs, such as pop songs, movie them songs, and old love songs. Besides, they
provide English subtitles which students can take advantage of for singing and learning
English.
Theme Songs in the Film
Most feature films present songs with the plot going on, so that the viewer can
understand the background information of the song. However, this type of song usually
is not shown in its entirety, so audiotapes or CDs are needed to play the complete song.
It is recommended that this type of songs be played first with sound and image and the
second or third times only with the sound through audio channel.
The four movie songs selected for this workshop are: “A Love Before Time” (“Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon”); “Green, Green Grass of Home”; “How Do I Live” (“Con Air”);
and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (“Greasy”).
TSAI & LIN:
Four Steps of Using Music to Teach Grammar

1. Pre-use or getting into media stage: Teacher selects grammatical points and song
lyrics and design appropriate tasks or exercises.
2. Input or working from media stage: Teacher presents/elicits designated
grammatical points.
3. Focus or working with media stage: Teacher plays the song and students are
asked to do the exercise while listening to the tapes.
4. Transfer or working out of media stage: Teacher checks the answers and makes
necessary explanation. Class discussion follows. Students are encouraged to ask
questions and asked to do follow-up assignment by using what the media has just
presented. (Adapted from Donna M. Brinton, 459)
Activity Design
Five types of activities based on the lyrics are introduced here: blank-filling, multiple-
choice, matching, dialogues, and sentence making. The former three types are
mechanic drills aimed at the conceptual instill and habituation of the targeted grammar,
while the other two are communicative types of drills aimed at enhancing students’
active and natural use of the language learned from the lyrics.
Blank-filling
Most widely used by the EFL teachers, the blank-filling exercise is especially suitable for
recognizing the eight parts of speech. Each may be focused on practice of one or more
grammatical points. Usually each blank has only one word to be filled, and the word
may be guessed through both context and grammatical relationship. The blank may be
followed by a cue in the parentheses. For example:
Fill in the blank with the appropriate verb form:
If the sky _________(open) up for me, and the mountains __________
(disappear),
If the seas _________(run) dry, __________(turn) to dust and the sun
__________(refuse) to rise,
I would still find my way, by the light I see in your eyes.
The world I know _______(fade) away, but you stay. (“A Love Before Time”)

Multiple-choice
The multiple choice activity, which seems easier than blank-filling to design and to do,
may be devised with two or more choices, and may be done before, during or after
listening to the music. For example:
TSAI & LIN: USING MUSIC TO TEACH GRAMMAR How do I get through one
night without you
If I (have, had) to live without you
What kind of life (will, would) that be
Oh and I, I need you in my arms
Need you to hold
You’re my world, my heart, my soul
If you ever (leave, left)
Baby you would take away everything good in my life. (“How Do I Live”)
Matching
Another mechanical but frequently used exercise; the matching exercise usually
consists of a list of words that have to go with the blanks in the selected lyric. The
following example is a drill on recognizing the three types of clauses.
Match each underlined clause with one of the three types of clauses listed in the
front:
A. Noun Clause
B. Adjective Clause
C. Adverbial Clause
They asked me how I know ( )
My true love was true.
Oh, I of course replied
Something here inside
Cannot be denied.
They said someday you’ll find
All who love ( ) are blind.

Oh, when your heart’s on fire ( )
You must realize
Smoke gets in your eyes ( ). (“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”)
Dialogues
Students are asked to produce dialogues based on the grammatical elements of the
song heard. They have to gain a considerable understanding of the grammatical
components of the song before making meaningful dialogues. For example, the
dialogue assignment of the song “A Love Before Time” may be: Write eight to ten
sentences of dialogues between two lovers who would most likely be talking to each
other as revealed in the song. There is much room for students to exercise their
imagination and for the teacher to expect various dialogues.
TSAI & LIN:
Sentence-making
Aimed at putting students’ sense of sentence into practice, this exercise may be
designed by imitating some of the grammatical elements or structures of the sentences
in the song. The song serves as a point of departure for making similar or better
sentences. The sentence structures of the lyrics must be well grasped before they can
be used for sentence making by the students. Take “Green, Green Grass of Home.”
There is one sentence “Down the road I look, and there runs Mary/Hair of gold and lips
like cherries,” which includes several grammatical elements that worth being drilled,
such as the reverse sentence structure (“down the road I look” and “there runs Mary”),
the compound sentence, the adjective phrase (“of gold”) and simile (“like cherries”).
Students may be asked to make similar sentences by imitating one or more or all of the
grammatical components of the above sentence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both presenters would like to claim, first, that an EFL teacher does not
have to be a good singer or musician to use songs in the classroom. Next, we
recommend that we make every song pedagogically meaningful and purposeful. Third,

it is very important to grasp the fundamental qualities and special traits of songs before
we can make the best of them to meet our demands. Finally, in selection and use of
songs, we must take into account such factors as student backgrounds and relevancy to
the course syllabus, and linguistic skills to be trained. It is only when these aspects are
aptly weighed can we enhance student learning motivation, and bring English learning
by songs from a relaxing and lively process to a fruitful effect.
TSAI & LIN: USING MUSIC TO TEACH GRAMMAR
References
Celce-Murcia, M. & Hilles, S. (1988). Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar.
New York, N. Y.: Oxford University Press.
Cranmer, D. & Laroy, C. (1992). Musical Openings: Using Music in the Language
Classroom. Essex, England: Longman.
Brinton, D. M. (1991). The use of media in language teaching. In Celce-Murcia, M. Ed.,
Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. pp 454-472.
Fox, T. R. (1995). On common ground: Why and how to use music as a teaching aid.
The Hwa Kang Journal of TEFL. No. 1, May 1995, 77-116.
Graham, C. (1992). Singing, Chanting, Telling Tales: Arts in the Language Classroom.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Katchen, J. E. (1996). Using Authentic Video in English Language Teaching: Tips for
Taiwan’s Teachers. Taipei: The Crane Publishing Co., Ltd., 92-102.
Shih, Y. (1997). Learning English by Singing. Taipei: Crane Publishing Ltd.

This article is telling about some ways of teaching grammar which is a part of
language. Most of the ways are related to the people’s interest which are more attracted
to listening to the music. There are varieties of activities can be designed to use songs
such as multiple choices which is good to be done. For example, the pupils are asked to
choose one of the two provided answers that related to the grammar part ( has and
have ). After listen to the song twice, the pupils need to circle the correct choice which is
directly extracted from the lyrics of the song heard. After all, multiple choices activity is
easier than filling in the gap or blanks activity because filling in the gap needs them to
memorize all the words from the lyrics and this is the weakness of it. Despite of having
those kind of activities, songs can be used in matching activity by matching the
underlined words to the choices given. ( Choice A- Adverb. Choice B- Adjectives and
Choice C – Nouns ). Other than that, we can create a dialogues based on the songs
heard or sung. For example, the song of A Love Before Time.. The students are allowed
to think and create eight dialogues which are related to a couple who is in love each
other. Here, we will be getting varieties of answers or lists of dialogues pertaining to the
song heard. Next is the sentence making activity which need the pupils or students to
use some of the words from the lyrics heard to create some new sentences for example
by using the similes seen from the lyrics of the songs. Those kind of activities as stated
above would encourage them to enjoy the songs in term of educational element plus
enjoying the feel and the tune of the songs too. The article also has shown that a
workshop has been done related to the use of songs in teaching grammar. There are so

many types of songs can be used such as video movie songs, DVD Technology Songs,
Live Concert, Karaoke and Theme Songs of Movies. Anyway, based on some
testimonial used, it is said that the use of direct song is insufficient anymore.The use of
songs now became more professional, focused on one specific segment or aspect of
language learning for each song. Moreover, special emphasis was placed on not only
enhancement of student motivation but also relevancy of songs to the course
objectives. In conclusion, there are so many advantages of using songs in teaching
grammar but it all depend on how the process takes place and use the best steps in
order to get a sufficient grammar lesson through the songs heard.
ARTICLE 3
Songs can be a useful tool when teaching ESL because they give
students the opportunity to listen to someone other than you, their
teacher.
Often students become familiar with how one person sounds and
may have difficulties understanding others. Songs can be a
challenge for students because they are often faster than an

instructor’s speech however they can also be enjoyable and serve
to reinforce certain aspects of English.
How To Proceed
• 1
Grammar
Often songs can be used to practice
particular grammar points. Some textbooks spend
enormous amounts of time on particular topics and creating
new activities may become challenging so songs are
something you can turn to. You can find song
worksheets and suggestions for certain English grammar
points right here, on BusyTeacher.org. Using songs in ESL
classes has become quite common. For instance, when
teaching the present perfect tense (here’s a great article
on teaching it!), songs such as “I Still Haven’t Found What
I’m Looking For” by U2 and “We Are the Champions” by
Queen may be appropriate. Students are unlikely to grasp
the entire meaning of the song but giving a brief summary or
including the translation would be beneficial. When using
songs, it is common to have a worksheet where students
must fill in certain words. For this present perfect lesson, you
can remove the present perfect verbs altogether and have
students try to fill in the blanks with the appropriate words. If

this is too challenging, including the present tense of each
verb will assist students immensely.
• 2
Mad Libs
Mad Libs are a great way to practice parts of speech. You
can really use any passage to make a Mad Libs activity but it
can be fun to use songs too. For example, you can use
“Frosty the Snowman” to make your worksheet. Simply take
the song and delete particular words leaving blanks for your
students, this will be the second worksheet they receive.
Then make up a list with parts of speech that correspond to
the blanks. If the first blank is “Frosty the ________man”
then the first word in the list would have to be a noun. To
conduct this activity, give students the list with parts of
speech and have them work individually, in pairs, or in
groups to complete it. When they have finished, give them
the second sheet and have them fill in the blanks with their
words. Usually the result is very funny. Seeing as you used
a song to create this activity, you can finish the class by
listening to the song and having students write down the
missing lyrics.
• 3

Holidays
Using songs in your holiday lessons can be fun too! Songs
such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer can be easily
explained even to beginner and lower intermediate students.
There may not be a particular point to using the song in your
class besides to conduct a listening activity using a popular
holiday song, but sometimes that is sufficient and your
students are sure to enjoy it. If your students are willing, it
may be appropriate to practice singing the song too. Some
classes will enjoy such an activity and some certainly will not
so it is important to gauge how your students will respond.
• 4
Discussion
Certain songs can be used to lead into discussions. This
type of activity would be appropriate for more advanced
learners. You can use a song such as “Another Day in
Paradise” by Phil Collins for this purpose. Initially, have
students listen to the song and complete a fill in the blank
exercise. Listening to the song several times would be
appropriate but once the answers have been checked, have
students read the lyrics trying to understand the meaning of
the song. You can ask general questions to test
comprehension. If you are not exactly sure what kinds of
questions will be appropriate, you can start off with very
simple ones such as “Is this a happy song?” and when

students say “No” ask them why not? This can lead into a
discussion about people’s indifference, homeless people, or
something similar.
When choosing songs, please be aware of their speed.
The song “Last Christmas”, for example, can be useful however if
you choose a version which is much too fast, students will not be
able to follow along. This song, by WHAM, is a good speed for
ESL learners. Organizing your worksheets so that the verses are
clearly laid out will also help students because even if they get
lost during one verse, they can be prepared when the next one
begins. Songs should generally be played at least twicebefore
checking the answers and then once again after the correct
answers have been given so that students can listen carefully to
parts they missed.
Songs are just another way to add some variety to your lessons
and expose students to a different culture’s music.
Article 3 is telling about steps of using songs in the classroom especially in
teaching grammar in English Language. It is said that songs are useful tools because
they give the opportunities for the students to listen to someone other than the teacher.

In fact, students are more familiar with the sounds rather than listening to the same
speech in their daily lesson. But, listening to the songs are a bit challenging because it
is faster than a human’s speech however , they also can be enjoyable to enhance their
language. Generally, to proceed the use of songs as our material in teaching language,
a few steps need to be done or considered such as the grammar part of the songs. For
example, the use of textbooks are enormous amount of time but not the songs. This is
because, songs are something that can be turn to some enjoyable or fun elements. For
example, when the teacher is teaching Present Perfect Tense, songs such as I Still
Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2 and We Are The Champions by Queen
could be appropriate or suitable to be used in the classroom. In fact, the students are
unlikely to get the meaning of the entire of the songs but they are able to give some
brief summary of the songs heard or sung and relate them to the content of the lesson
on that particular time for example in learning Present Perfect Tense. The next step is
using Mad Libs which is really practical and useful because it is one of the great way to
practice parts of speech. Some words can be deleted and the students are required to
fill in the blanks with the suitable or correct words pertaining to the songs. But, the most
important thing is, the teacher should focus on certain topic or item that the teacher
wants to stress on. For example, if the teacher is focusing on Nouns, so the teacher
needs to delete the noun words and leave them blanks. So that, it is easier for the
students to guess the answer by refreshing the words which are under the nouns
categories. Next step is by singing out the song. It is very suitable for the beginner and
the intermediate students in order to gauge their respond and interest toward learning
grammar. This is easier to be done because the students feel enjoyable and interested
to sing the song too and at the same time, they are gaining something and practicing
the grammar items found from the lyrics of the songs. The last step is discussion on the
content of the songs which leads them to talk about the content of the songs that the
writer wants to say. This kind of session will test their comprehension skill whether they
are having a meaningful listening and understanding the songs too. In conclusion, the
three articles are mostly showing the advantages of using songs in teaching language
as well as grammar to the students in schools. I do agree with their points because I
have implemented this material in my language class. As a result, majority of the

classes are enjoyed in using songs in the lessons and have improved in their reading,
listening and speaking, and reading skills.
I have gone through the experience of using songs in teaching grammar in my Year 3
class at SK Haji Mat Dahan, Pendang. There are 14 pupils in the class and I really
surprised that they really enjoyed and have changed in their attitude toward English.
This is because, to them, English is a critical and a dull subject. Previously, it was very
difficult to get their response or answers in English Language. But, is has changed after
I have tried this material ( using songs ) in my lessons especially in teaching grammar
item to the pupils. It is not an easy task since they are average learners which come
from mix abilities level too. When teaching the singular and plural nouns, I have used a
song of Five Little Ducks in my classroom. At the moment, they were not so attracted
toward the topic of that day. But, after listened to the song of Five Little Ducks, they
started to enjoy to imitate the sounds of ducks and finally they were able to repeat after
the song correctly. To me, that is the best chance to me to use the song to get their
participation and their response toward the learning content ( Singular and Plural Nouns
). And, finally, they were enjoyed the lesson and as the result, they are able to different
between singular and plural by creating some simple sentences ( written and orally )
which are showing the singular and plural words or nouns. What a big surprise to me,
now, they are able to correct their pronunciation toward the use of plural nouns by not
forgetting to say the plural nouns with the sound of /s/ at the end of the words. ( e.g :
Five little ducks went out one day…Over the hill and far away..Mother duck said..quack
quack quack..But only four little ducks came back. )
REFERENCES
Retrieved on 7th
May 2013 at http://busyteacher.org/3855-how-to-teach-using-
songs.html

Retrieved on 7th
May 2013 at :http://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr09/less01.htm
ASSIGNMENT 2
PORTFOLIO
A) LESSON PLAN OF ENGLISH KSSR YEAR 3 ( 1st
)
CLASS / TIME Year 3 / 8.15 am – 9.15 am
Focus Listening and Speaking and Reading
Topic Pet’s World
Content Standard 1.1 By the end of the 6 year primary schooling,
pupils will be able to pronounce words and speak
confidently with the correct stress, rhythm and
intonation.
2.2 By the end of the 6 year primary schooling,
pupils will be able to demonstrate understanding of
a variety of linear and non linear texts in the form of
print and non print materials using a range of
strategies to construct meaning.
( lyrics )
Learning Standard 1.1.3 Able to listen to, say aloud and recite rhymes,
tongue twisters and sing songs, paying attention to
pronunciation, rhythm and intonation.
2.2.2 Able to read and understand phrases and
sentences in linear and non linear texts.

Learning outcomes To be able to :
i- listen to the song of Five Little Ducks carefully.
ii- read the sentences ( lyrics ) of the song with the
correct pronunciation, intonation and stress.
Teaching aids Props ( hill ), Puppets of ducklings ( made of
polysterin ), Masks of flowers and Mother Duck.
Reflection / Impact All the Year 3 pupils were able to:
a) listen to the song carefully.
b) sing the song and pronounce the words correctly
and accurately.
ACTIVITIES STRATEGIES NOTES
Set Induction ( 5 min )
( sounds of ducks
quacking )
Stage 1 ( 20 min )
- Listen to the sounds of the
quacking.
- Pupils try to guess the
animals with the sounds
heard.
- Talk about the physical of a
duck.
- Listen to the full version of
the song.
- Repeat after the song.
- Read the lyrics of the song
with the correct stress,
Some of them imitate the
sounds….( quack
quack….)
Title : Five Little Ducks

Stage 2 ( 5 min )
Stage 3 ( 25 min )
pronunciation and intonation.
- Take turn in reading the
lyrics ( group reading )
- Pupils sit in a group of 3 to 4
- Discuss on how to sing the
song correctly.
- Pupils perform their singing
in front of the class ( in groups
)
- They have to take turn to
perform their singing.
- While the first group sing out
the song in front of the class,
the rest of the groups will
listen to their singing carefully.
- Then, give some comments
or compliments toward their
singing. ( stressing on their
pronunciation, intonation,
rhythm ).
- Repeat the same steps from
the first group to the last group
( performing/singing and
commenting/complimenting )
Group discussion
Perform their singing
Commenting /
Complimenting

CLOSURE ( 5 min ) - All the groups combine in
one group ( in front of the
class )
- Sing out the song joyfully.

Lesson Plan ( 2nd
)
CLASS / TIME Year 3 / 8.15 am – 9.15 am
Focus Language Art and Grammar
Topic Pet’s World
Content Standard 4.3 By the end of the 6 year primary schooling,
pupils will be able to plan, organize and produce
creative works for enjoyment.
5.1 By the end of the 6 year primary schooling,
pupils will be able to use different word classes
correctly and appropriately.
Learning Standard 4.3.1 Able to produce simple creative works with
guidance based on :
( c ) action songs
5.1.1 Able to use nouns correctly and appropriately :
( c ) singular nouns
( d ) plural nouns
Learning outcomes To be able to :
i- produce and perform an action song of Five Little
Ducks in front of the class ( the whole class of Year
3 )
ii- use the singular and plural nouns correctly and
appropriately using the action song has been
created and performed in front of the class.

Teaching aids Props ( hill ), Puppets of ducklings ( made of
polysterin ), Masks of flowers and Mother Duck.
Reflection / Impact All the Year 3 pupils were able to:
a) produce and perform the action song creatively
and attractively.
b) pronounce the singular and plural nouns
correctly to show the different between singular and
plural
c) create 5 simple sentences using any singular and
plural nouns ( written and orally ).
ACTIVITIES STRATEGIES NOTES
Set Induction ( 5 min )
( song of Five Little Ducks
– with vocals )
Stage 1 ( 20 min )
- Listen to the song of Five
Little Ducks.
- Pupils try to sing along.
( whole class )
- Pupils sit in a big group .
- Discuss about the song
heard and sung.
- Try to think of and talk
about the ideas to perform
Sing together ( whole
class )
Title : Five Little Ducks

Stage 2 (25 min )
the song accurately,
creatively and attractively.
- Make use of some masks
and props given by the
teacher to have a good
performance of an action
song.
- Body gestures,
movements will be used
too.
- Divide their own
characters or parts. ( the
Mother Duck, Ducklings,
Flowers )
- Work in groups
- Perform out their action
song in front of the class
- Teacher helps the pupils
to record the performance.
- Finally, watch the
recorded performance and
try to correct some
Group discussion
Masks and props
Performance of an action
song
Post Mortem ( orally )O

CLOSURE ( 10 min )
pronunciation or mistakes. (
where necessary especially
to the pronunciation of the
singular and plural nouns )
- Pupils create 5 sentences
using the other singular and
plural nouns ( out of the
lyrics of Five Little Ducks )
Orally
APPENDICES
A) LYRICS
Five little ducks went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said quack quack quack
quack
Only four little ducks came back.
One little duck went out one day
Mother duck said quack quack quack quack
None of the 5 little ducks came back.

B) PICTURES ( MASKS, PROPS )
Four little ducks went out one day
quack
Only three little ducks came back.
Poor Mother duck went out to find
Mother duck said quack quack
All of the five little ducks weren’t
found
Three little ducks went out one day
quack
Only two little ducks came back.
Oh my mother..Oh…my mother
Where are you..Where are you
We cannot find you
We cannot find you
We miss you……We miss you
Two little ducks went out one day
quack
Only one little duck came back.
Sad mother duck went out one day
Mother duck said quack….quack
All of the five little ducks came back…..

C) URL OF THE VIDEO ( ACTION SONG )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f7JopnepQ8

Using songs to engage and teach English learners

Using songs to engage and teach English learners

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