Experiences in teaching songs and chants for primary students of grade 4

THANH HOA EDUCATION & TRAINING DEPARMENT THANH HOA CITY EDUCATION & TRAINING OFFICE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE Topic: EXPERIENCES IN TEACHING SONGS AND CHANTS FOR PRIMARY STUDENTS OF GRADE The implementer: Dam Thuy Dung Position: Teacher School: Quang Phu Primary School Subject: English THANH HOA, 2019 INDEX INTRODUCTION 1.1 The reasons for choosing the topic PAGE 1 1.2 The purpose of research 1.3 The objects of research 1.4 The methods of research CONTENT 2.1.The behaviorist theory 2.2 Situation issues before applying experience initiative 2.3 The solutions of implementation 2.3.1 How to teach songs and chants 2.3.2 Types of songs and chants 2.3.3 Exploiting songs and chants 2.3.4 Song and chant contest 2.3.5 Problems 2.3.6 Six steps for making a song or a chant the focus of your class 2.4 The efficiency of the experience initiative CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 3.1 Conclusion 3.2 Suggestion 3 7 14 15 15 15 17 18 18 19 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The reasons for choosing the topic Since English has become an international language, more and more people learn English The importance of English as a world language has made people to learn English as early as possible Teaching English as a foreign language to young learners need special approach since young learners have special characteristics, they have their own way of learning The forms of fun activities for children are songs, chants and rhymes The main objective of this experience initiative is to emphasize the importance of using songs and chants in teaching of English as a foreign language to young learners Their functions, criteria for election and the way of presenting them to the class will also be analised Song, chants and rhymes are amazing tool for teaching language, especially to children Young learners pick up pronunciation, vocabulary, grammartical structures and rhymes of language English has become the main language of communication all over the world and early learning of English in the school context is becoming more common Teaching of English from primary education is very common many countries, icluding Viet Nam Learning English starts at the age of and Teaching children can be immensely rewarding, teachers who has experienced that can tell about it But it’s not fun and games all the time, and sometimes it’s just not that easy English teachers who wish to teach children must be aware of the challengesand difficulties they may encounter, and prepare accordingly But still the young age is different, children learna language faster than adults, they not learn through traditional language teaching methods Through fun activities children can learn a language better as learning becomes natural for them since these activities not make them conscious that they are learning a language Children can learn better through interresting activities and for this reason songs, rhymes and chants are very useful tools for teaching them a foreign language Actually these are the tools that help children learn in an enjoyable environment without making them feel the pressure of learning a foreign language Songs, chants and rhymes are full of lexicon, they are authentic language and students can take advantage of their repetition and musicality, contributing to the learning of expressions When students listen to them again and again they acquire and receive a great language input unconsciously They also help to create a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere, motivating students in the learning and introducing fun and happiness in the foreign language classroom Songs, chants and rhymes work wonderfully as a part of an ESL program for children, for a non-native speaker at the beginning stage it is clearly easier to sing or recite a rhyme in English than it is to communicte personal information, wants or needs The rhythm and rhymes naturally appealing to a child, the child is a eager to be a part of the rhythm and to participating in reciting the rhyme A class in which every child feels welcomed as a participating member is a vital factor in effective teaching Sharing part of the rhythm and to participate in reciting the rhyme A class in which every child feels welcomed as a participating member is a vital factor in effective teaching Sharing songs and chants are easy to memorize, the children derive visible satisfaction and confidence from this newly acquired fluency that comes so quickly Most primary school teachers generally use songs as a teaching technique and Carmeron (2001) claims that the use of songs and chants is also important for young learners in foreign language classrooms Likewise, Johnstone (2002) claims that teachers of young learners may make an important contribution to children’s early language education by introducing their classes to recorded songs, and Demirel(2004) claims that the most effective way to teach listening comprehension, pronunciation,and dictation to young leaners is through teaching songs After exploring and accumulating the experiences from colleagues, I have some experiences in teaching songs and chants and achieved quite effective results The students are more active and interested in learning English and more confident in speaking before the class This improves that my methods are right With the passion and the love for teaching English, I have studied and developed the research: "Experiences in teaching songs and chants for primary students of grade " 1.2 The purpose of research - The research applies the methods of teaching songs and chants to involve students in learning English well - Creating the language circumstance to communicate in English and promote students to actively participate in communicative activities; offering some solutions and methods for teaching songs and chants - Exchanging and sharing some experiences in teaching songs and chants for young learners 1.3 The objects of research Research Time : School Year 2018-2019 Research Location: Quang Phu Primary School Research Object: "Experiences in teaching songs and chants for primary students of grade " The respondents of the research: With this research I focused on the primary students, especially the students of class Systematizing some theoretical issues about the procedures and activities in teaching songs and chants in for young learners according to the communicative approach Exploring the present situation of teaching songs and chants at Primary School and suggesting some techniques in teaching songs and chants to develop speaking and listening skill for elementary students, helping them be more confident to communicate in English 1.4 The methods of research - Method of literature review - Method of survey (Questionnaire) - Method of secondary data - Method of statistical analysis CONTENT 2.1.The behaviorist theory Behavorist is a theory of learning that was influential in the 1940s and1950s, especially in the United States.With regard to language learning, the best-known proponent of this psychological theory was B.F.Skinner (1957) Traditional behaviorists hypothesized that when children imitated the language produced by those around them, their attempts to produce what they heard received “positive reinforcement” This could take the form of praise or just successful communication Thus encouraged by their environment, children would continue to imitate and practice these sounds an patterns and quantity of the language the child hears, as well as the consistency of the reinforcement offered by others in the environment, would shape the child’s language behavoir This theory gives great importance to the environment as the source of everything the child needs to learn First of all we will want the classroom to be bright and colourful,with windows the children can see out of, and with enough room for different activities to be taking place We might expect them to be working in groups in different parts of the classroom, changing their activity every ten minutes or so “We are obviously”, Susan Halliwell writes : “not talking about classrooms where children spend all their time sitting still in rows or talking only to the teacher” (1992) Because children love discovering things, and because they respond well to being asked to use their imagination, they may well be involved in puzzle-like activities,in making things, in drawing things, in games, in physical moverment or in songs There are many reasons for using songs and chants in teaching English as a foreign language in primary schools Naturally, “children really enjoy learning and singing songs” (Phillips 1993: 100) and have fun doing rhythmic activities while reciting rhymes But there are deeper psychological, cultural and linguistic aspects A familiar way of language acquisition Children grow up with songs and chants and develop their first language by them Apart from being the most important spoken language, songs and chants are the first experienced parts of communication in the children’s mother tongue They listen and react to nursery rhymes and finger games spoken and often acted by their parents They go to sleep with lullabies sung by their closest care-givers or try to imitate little songs by babbling So songs and chants give them an intimate feeling, a special connection with their human environment and influence the acquisition of their first language in an important way Analogous to the development of the mother tongue, the following points also support foreign language acquisition : - Music, rhythm and rhymes produce a positive live feeling - They motivate to learn and to be active - Children not understand all words but not feel inhibited - Rhythm supports vocabulary and structure learning The holistic approach Songs and chants are both means and content of foreign language acquisition There is no gap between the language used in lessons and that used in real-life situations Each understanding and each reacting are progresses in language learning Songs and chants stimulate the hemispherical interaction Busy with songs and chants the left hemisphere (vocabulary, structure of the language) and the right hemisphere (rhythm, feelings, mimic, gesture, senso-motoric etc.) work together and make learning more effective So it is small wonder how quick students are at learning songs and chants The holistic approach also means that songs and chants are connected with other learning and living areas like sport, literature, music and art Motivation by songs and chants Pupils’ motivation to learn “largely depends on the teaching methods and the teacher’s personality” (seminar script from 24/04/01: 2) If the teacher skillfully uses songs and chants the pupils usually are highly motivated Songs and chants are relaxing, they vary the lesson’s progress, they provide fun and action “and encourage harmony within oneself and within a group” (Murphey 1992: 8) So the pupils are learning with fun and more effectively than without these forms Even shy or slow learning children are given encouragment by singing or speaking in choir and so they feel able to speak in a foreign language Provision of meaningful vocabulary Songs and chants present a lot of linguistic material in a natural linguistic context So they support the monolingual and contextual approach in teaching a foreign language Words in songs and chants are meaningful to the learner, which influences the acquisition in a positive way “In general they use simple conversational language with a lot of repetition” (Murphey 1992: 7) Therefore songs and chants stick in the learner’s mind and the words and expressions used are memorized more easily Besides, songs and chants provide many possibilities for constant repetition and revising as important mechanisms of the language acquisition Support for phonetic development “Poems, rhymes, chants and songs could be used to give a feeling for the rhythm of the spoken language Many well-known rhymes make use of the iambic pentameter, the natural rhythm of the English language” (Straeter-Lietz 1999: 9) Practising intonation through reciting rhymes and poems is mostly funny and very effective To vary the sometimes boring pronunciation teaching it is a proven remedy using rhymes and rhythmic chants, e.g with minimal pairs The cultural aspect Music is a powerful stimulus for student engagement precisely because it speaks directly to our emotions while still allowing us to use our brains to analyse it and its effects if we so wish According to Lo and Li(1998), songs are able to change the monotonous mood in the class and with the smoothing effect of music; they provide a comfortable class environment so that students can devolop their lingual skills more easily Besides, utilizing songs in class environment amuses students, helps them feel relaxed and get rid of their negative attitudes towards a foreign language while learning a lingual structure through a song (Saricoban, 2002) A piece of music can change the atmosphere in a classroom, it can amuse and entertain Children have a natural taste for music and because of that English language teachers around the world use such enjoyable and supportive means for children to improve language learning and acquisition.(Cakir, http://iteslj.org, 1999) Music and poetry are also an essential part of foreign language learning for young learners (Philips 1993:100) Murphey believes that music has the power to engrave itself into ur brains, stating that “song work on our short or long term memory” and are therefore adequatetools for using in the language classroom(1992.p.3) 2.2 Situation issues before applying experience initiative Teacher of young learners use music, namely songs and chants, ubiquitously in the English classroom Though songs and chants are commonly used, teacher may not fully aware of the benefits of music in the young learner classroom The Vietnamese educational system believes in a well-balanced education for all, cooperative behavior, group discipline, and conformity to standards General Education for Children Education is widespread in Vietnam The Vietnam Ministry of Education is instrumental in developing and maintaining national curriculum guidelines as well as supporting materials It is common for Vietnamese children to participate in additional activities not provided by the public school Vietnamese children also participate in many arts or sports activities such as music lessons, commonly, dance, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming and painting These activities create greater motivation forstudents and a broader school experience Music is part of the educational system from kindergarten through high school level, with several private and public schools focusing on arts training The Ministry of Education provides arts education in the schools, museums, libraries, and other institutions, providing the most official supportand patronage of the arts Though music books boast a variety of musical genres, theministry favors traditional arts and crafts and "high culture ."Music education in Vietnam begins with its youngest children Before children enter school, many are exposed to music through TV programs.Vietnamese Broadcasting Corporation provides publically funded programming They have many educational TV programs for children One of their most popular programs, The Vietnamese Voice Kids has been running for many years Hosted by many children, the program invites many young learners to particpate in singing songs and dancing Vietnamese culture and the educational system are unique in many ways By understanding of the educational system, the power of groups, the challenge ofdeveloping independence, individuality, and creativity, the influence of perfectionism, the perception of Vietnamese uniqueness and its influence on language and the importance of music, both Native English speaking teachers and Native Vietnamese speaking teachers might be able to teach English language to children more effectively Analysis of my school’s result in teaching and learning English in recent years showed that our average score in speaking and listening has been consistently lower than those schools in urban areas It was a situation that was of concern and motivated the examination of the school’s approach to the teaching of speaking and listening Our school is a public primary school in a rural area in Thanh Hoa province It is a large school with around 799 students, ranging from to 10 years old There are three to four classes in each year levels, meaning that collaboration among teachers is extremely important to ensure consistency in learning programs Songs and chants are taught in Lesson 1, Lesson and Lesson in English 3,4,5 After several years of teaching the book Tieng Anh 4, I found that many students can not speak or listen well However, they like singing and dancing during the lesson Songs and chants use melody, strong rhythm and simple vocabulary to arouse children's interest and attention They set up a situation where children learn and remember the target language unconsciously From those factors, I find that songs and chants use melody, strong rhythm and simple vocabulary to arouse children's interest and attention They set up a situation where children learn and remember the target language unconsciously So if we use songs and chants in teaching English for young learners, the pupils will understand and remember the lesson easily and effectively Although, it might be difficult to get the class used to the new songs and chants, we wiil find that all children like them very much We have to take advantages of love to enrich the lanuage – teaching environment There are numerous variations of activities and teachers are advised to choose what best suits their learners The quality survey and students’ classification: Based on the present situation of students in class 4, the level of all students is acquired after a few weeks of the school year with the methods of teaching songs and chants to develop speaking and listening skill I had 40 minutes to test students in class 4A to survey and classify the students The following will show the result in the students’ speaking and listening skills : Class 4A The numbers of students 44 Excellent (A) Good Fair (B) (C) 10= 22,7% 16= 36,4% Poor Fail (D) (F) 10=22,7% 8=18,2% After doing the survey, I have classified the students and immediately applied the methods and experiences which I accumulated over the years to improve the teaching and learning quality 2.3 The solutions of implementation In this part of the research I will suggest some techniques in using songs and chants for teaching English This research is by no means comprehensive; rather it is an opportunity for sharing what I know about new perspectives in teaching songs and chants for young learners 2.3.1 How to teach songs and chants The following guidelines are not meant to be dogmas According to the specific situations they could be varied by the teacher Guidelines for teaching chants: For presentation songs or chants should be played from a CD or spoken by the teacher and the actions should be demonstrated Then the teacher should check if the students understood the content It is not necessary to translate word by word but the students should know what the rhyme or chant means This step can be supported by visual aids Now the students learn the text step by step In the literature are to be found two tried and tested methods: the snowball principle and the echo principle The snowball principle means that the teacher says a sequence becoming longer and longer After each saying the students repeat that sequence in chorus For example: (from Unit 1: Nice to see you again – Lesson – Page – Tiếng Anh 4) Good morning to you Good morning to you Good morning to you Good morning, dear Miss Hien Good morning to you Good morning to you Good morning to you Good morning, dear children Good morning to you The echo principle (see Schmid-Schönbein 2001: 120, 121) means that the students as a group imagine they are an echo in a mountain wood, a valley, another country etc The teacher shouts a sequence and the students repeat the teachers sequence It is expedient to build up a longer structure from its end For example: (from Unit 2: I’m from Japan – Lesson – Page 13 – Tiếng Anh 4) Where are you from? Hi I’m Mai from Vietnam Hello, Mai Nice to meet you Hello I’m Akiko from Japan Hello, Akiko Nice to meet you Hi I’m Hakim from Malaysia Hello, Hakim Nice to meet you Hello I’m Linda from England Hello, Linda Nice to meet you Both methods can also be supported by visual aids If there are any actions they should be done by the students while learning the text because it is easier to learn them together Longer texts can be learned verse by verse in the following lessons Now the children say the whole rhyme in chorus, in groups or alone and the actions Guidelines for teaching songs: The order and the way of teaching songs is similar to teaching chants At first the song should be sung by the teacher or played from a CD once or twice while the students only listen They begin to understand and to absorb the tune and the rhythm During the next playing or singing the students can clap the rhythm or hum the tune Before learning the text step by step (see 2.3.1.) the teacher should check the understanding and explain the words the children did not understand Then the students sing the song several times, at first supported by the teacher’s voice, later without the teacher’s support When and how to use songs and chants? Song and chants can be used at the beginning, during or at the end of any lesson We may use them in many different ways in the language classroom: as short warm-ups to start our lessons, to introduce new language, to revise and practice language, to change the mood or to get everyone’s attention When using music within our English classroom, we must select congs that are suitable for the age group we are teaching and make clear which language aspect we are going to practice or reinforce (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, etc.) We can build up the following record chart which will help us to analyse the full potential of each song and chant If we use songs and chants regularly, we can see that all four skills (speaking, reading, listening,and writing) can be very well and equally practiced 2.3.2 Types of songs and chants There are a lot of different types of songs and chants with special characteristics But not all are useful for primary school students The teacher has to check the suitability according to the size of the text, the vocabulary, the structure and his didactic intention * Types of songs: Finger play songs The content of these songs can be illustrated by the children’s finger movement They support the acquisition of gesture meaning and the use of nonverbal expressions They also develop the children’s senso-motoric abilities For example: “Hickory dickory dock ”(from websites on the internet) Hickory dickory dock Hickory, dickory, dock, The mouse ran up the clock The clock struck one (in the next verses two, three …), The mouse ran down, Hickory, dickory, dock Princess slept for a hundred years, long long ago A great big forest grew around, grew around, grew around, A great big forest grew around, long long ago A handsome Prince came riding by, riding by, riding by, A handsome Prince came riding by, long long ago He chopped the trees down one by one, one by one, one by one, He chopped the trees down one by one, long long ago He woke the Princess with a kiss, with a kiss, with a kiss, He woke the Princess with a kiss, long long ago So everybody’s happy now, happy now, happy now, So everybody’s happy now long long ago Topic songs Many songs support the acquisition of vocabulary according to a special topic like “The days of the week”, “ The months of the year”, “The weather” or “The family” If they not fit in with other categories they are called “topic songs” For example: Look outside (for the topic “The weather”) (from websites on the internet) Look outside Look outside, look outside, it’s sunny out today It’s sunny outside, it’s sunny outside, it’s sunny out today According to the real weather can be sung instead of “sunny”: cloudy windy, rainy, foggy, snowy.etc * Types of chants: Chants are taught “to practise the sounds, rhythms and stress patterns of English and in some cases to practise a structure” (Phillips 1993: 108) The didactic background of some types of chants is similar to the types of songs described Above therefore we list the types of chants without detailed descriptions unless there is not a corresponding type of songs Finger play rhymes For example: Incy Wincy Spider ( from websites on the internet) Incy Wincy Spider climbed up a water spout Down came the rain and washed the spider out Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain And Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the spout again While saying the rhyme the fingers play the spider, an arm is the water spout The fingers show the rain The sun is shown by a big arm wave Counting rhymes Sometimes a little trick is necessary to choose one from among the children without causing a squabble Choosing rhymes are very useful for that They connect random selection with rhythmic speaking and train the vocabulary Choosing rhymes (counting-out rhymes) For example: Apples, peaches (from websites on the internet) Choosing rhymes: Apples, peaches 12 Apples, peaches, pears and plums, Tell me when your birthday comes! While saying a game leader point at a child at each syllable The last child tells its month of birth, e.g “March” The next children say the month beginning from January January, February, March The last child is the chosen one Action rhymes For example: (from Unit 5: Can you swim ? – Lesson – Page 34 Tieng Anh ) Can you sing? Can you sing? Yes, I can I can sing Can you swim? No, I can’t I can’t swim Can you swing? No, I can’t I can’t swing While saying this chant the children the action with rhymes Jump rope rhymes The children like rope skipping This rhythmic activity is often connected with these simple poems Jump rope rhymes support the acquisition of numbers or simple sentence structures For example: (from Unit 4: When’s your birthday? – Lesson – Page 27 - Tieng Anh 4) Months of the year ! January, February, March Now it’s time to start April, May and June Sing a happy tune July, August, september Let’s play together October, November and December Remember, Remember, Remember While saying this rhyme the children can clap their hands Rhymes for special occasions For example: (from Unit 15: When’s your birthday? – Lesson – Page 34 - Tieng Anh ) What you at Tet? We buy flowers And decorate the house 13 We clean the floor And we wear new clothes We go out And run along the street We see our family And all our friends Clapping rhymes The reciting of these very rhythmic rhymes is supported by hand clapping Each clapping rhyme has its own pattern how to clap hands with a partner standing opposite These rhymes support the development of a feeling for rhythm for the language and, moreover, they train the right pronunciation of vocabulary For example: “A sailor went to sea, sea, sea” (from websites on the internet) A sailor went to sea, sea, sea A sailor went to sea, sea, sea, To see what he could see, see, see, But all that he could see, see, see, Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea The children stand in pairs facing each other and clap in time to the rhythm of the words Ball bouncing rhymes They train the feeling for rhythm and the concentration both on reciting and ball bouncing For example: “Number one, touch your tongue” (from websites on the internet) Number one, touch your tongue Number two, touch your shoe Number three, touch your knee Number four, touch the floor Number five, learn to five Number six, pick up sticks Number seven, go to heaven Number eight, over the gate Number nine, touch your spine Number ten - it again While saying this rhyme the child bounce its ball and tries to the described action Topic rhymes For example: “Take a snowball” (about the topic “Winter”) (from websites on the internet) Take a snowball Take a snowball, 14 Put it on the ground, Push it, roll it, Make it big and round Look, your snowman is big and tall But has no eyes, no nose at all Two stones will and a carrot, too Now, Mister Snowman, how are you? 2.3.3 Exploiting songs and chants Songs and chants can be exploited by other activities after learning and often use The aim is to enjoy the increase of knowledge but also to practise listening skills and the vocabulary The following ideas are taken from Phillips (1993: 112,113) Song or chant pictures The teacher shows the children pictures that illustrate the content of a song or a chant - some with gaps or mistakes After listening, singing or reciting the children should find the mistakes or complete the pictures If a song or a chant tells a story, the illustrating pictures could be cut out and mixed The children listen to the song or chant and put the pictures in the right order It can be done at the blackboard or on a handout Find the word Before playing or singing a song or reciting a chant the teacher asks the children to listen for a certain word Then they write down the number of times this word occurs To train the listening skills another possibility is to sing or recite wrong words in the texts The children compare with their own knowledge and write down the number of mistakes Mixed-up lines or words To promote reading skills and knowledge about sentence structure the teacher can copy the text from textbooks or other sources, cut it out and mix the order of words or lines The children listen and put the lines or words in the correct order again 2.3.4 Song or chant contest The English teacher organises a contest where the children recite their favourite chants or sing their favourite songs They can perform it alone or in groups A jury choose the best performer but all children involved should get an appreciation to keep up their motivation It is also possible to celebrate a “Day of the English language” where the children can show their knowledge in songs, chants and plays There are no limits for the teacher’s ideas 2.3.5 Problems Beside the many advantages there are also problems in using songs and chants for English teaching Not all teachers are able to read notes and to work out new songs Therefore songs should be an important element in further vocational teacher training Besides, the department of education should provide 15 enough money for CDs and appropriate equipment for English lessons A good help for quite unmusical teachers is to transfer new texts into well-known melodies Some authentic rhymes or songs contain old expressions or dialectal or distorted linguistic material Therefore teachers should check their collected material for useful and suitable content 2.3.6 Six steps for making a song or a chant the focus of your class My intention here is to provide a basic outline you can use with any song Remember, these are just suggestions so make sure to keep the profile of your learners in mind Step 1: Listen to the song or the chant That’s it – start things off by just listening It’s important to remember that this is supposed to be a fun activity; don’t make it too serious or boring As an alternative, you can show a video clip if you have one – in fact, I strongly recommend it, as it will cater to more learners’ learning preferences Ask learners if they’ve heard it before, and don’t overload them with tasks at this point; simply let them enjoy the music Step 2: Ask some questions about the title Here are a couple of examples of the types of questions you can ask for teaching the chants in Unit 4: When’s your birthday? – Lesson – Part Let’s chant “ How many months are there in a year?” “ What are they?” “ What is the first/ second… month of the year?” “ Which month you like best?” Months of the year ! January, February, March Now it’s time to start April, May and June Sing a happy tune July, August, september Let’s play together October, November and December Remember, Remember, Remember Such questions tend to work really well as conversation starters, so group three or four learners together and then get feedback from each group on their thoughts If you think it would help, make this your first step, i.e., before the initial listening Alternatively, prior to having listened to the song you can teach a couple of words and give a simple task for the first listening My favourite strategy is to give three or four words from the song and ask to them to listen out for the words that rhyme with them You could also brainstorm possible rhymes before listening 16 Step 3: Listen to the song again, this time with lyrics This time, you should give learners the chance to read the lyrics to the song At this point you might one or more of the following activities: - Learners can just read the lyrics while they listen They can possibly highlight unknown words for later discussion - You can make a lyric worksheet as a gap fill; learners fill in the gaps as they listen - You can make cut-out strips of selected missing words and again make a lyric worksheet as a gap fill; this time learners match the word strips to the gaps as they listen Step 4: Focus on a particular verb tense or aspect of grammar Virtually every song centres on a particular verb tense This is too good an opportunity to pass up in terms of uncovering the grammar My suggestion is to start with questions such as these: - After “ Let’s” is what types of verbs: Verb-ing, Verb-bare infinitive or Verb-to infinitive ? This acts as a springboard for discussing the function of a specific tense, as well as examining its form Furthermore, it often tends to raise awareness of grammatical flexibility and ‘poetic licence’ in the construction of song lyrics Students often expect songs to obey the grammatical rules that have been drummed into them In a surprisingly large number of cases, this can lead to the enlightening discovery that rules can be broken! Step 5: Focus on vocabulary, idioms and expressions We’ve noted that many songs bend the rules of grammar It’s also useful to focus on the creative and artistic use of vocabulary we encounter in lyrics Start with questions like these (again, for Queen’s classic song ‘We are the champions’): - What does “ It’s time to start” mean? - What does “ Let’s play together” mean? - What does “ remember” mean? Go through the meanings, illustrating with other examples if necessary Songs often serve as really good contexts for phrases and idioms, but it’s good to make sure that the meaning is clear As with grammar, years of misunderstanding can come to light in this way! Step 6: Round things off with some creativity Creativity is an important part of maintaining motivation but it shouldn’t be limited to the teaching approach Depending on the factors highlighted in the first part of this post (age, language level, cultural specifics, etc.), you might want to try finishing things off with an activity that stimulates creative thought Here are a few examples of things you can to get the creative juices flowing: - Write another verse of lyrics, maintaining the same mood and style as the original This can be done individually or in groups These new lyrics can be 17 presented to the rest of the class Perhaps several groups can work on this to come up with a completely new set of lyrics for the whole song - A song tends to give you the perspective of the singer Write a response (this can be a paragraph, i.e., not necessarily in lyric form) from the point of view of the person the song is being sung about, or any other protagonist - Have the learners plan a music video for the song In groups they decide the location, the characters, and what happens Then each group explains their idea to the rest of the class and the learners vote on the best one The results can be surprising, as they frequently come up with an interpretation that hadn’t even occurred to you! 2.4 The efficiency of the experience initiative After applying successfully the methods and procedures to teach sóng and chants, the students’ improvement in speaking and listening skills can be seen clearly The result in the second semester of the school year 2018-2019 shows the increase in the percentage of students who can improve listening and speaking skills sucessfully What is especially pleasing is the impact of pronunciation in class as there are fewer students who can not pronounce correctly than the beginning of the first semester The significance of the methods of teaching songs and chants can be seen when examining the percentage of students with a reading age above their chronological age since the program’s implementation Comparing with the result survey at the beginning, I find that the recent result is better than the old one The following chart will show the result: Class 4A The numbers Excellent of students (A) 44 16 = 36,4% Good (B) 17 = 38,6% Fair (C) 8= 18,2% Poor (D) 3= 6,8% Fail (F) To sum up, the improvement of the students’ skills has been a resounding success The consistency and clarity it has afforded in teaching songs and chants for primary students has been worth the time and effort My students are capable and ready for explicit teaching of songs and chants are highly motivated by their success in learning English Just as we take great care in decorating our classrooms to make them warm and conducive to learning, we should think about how we are decorating our classrooms with audio Learning a foreign language can be stressful for anyone, especially young learners Fun, simple English songs and chants playing as students enter the classroom help create a welcoming environment.The following photographs are linked with the class’s atmosphere of which the photographs are to be found in the appendix CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 3.1 Conclusion Songs and chants have an important function in teaching English as a foreign language in primary schools Beside games and visual aids they support by virtue of their typical characteristics the language acquisition for younger learners Songs and chants combine important didactic claims like the holistic, 18 the monolingual and the contextual approach with fun, activity and motivation Almost incidentally the children become familiar with parts of the foreign culture and see them as enrichment for their own life According to the guidelines for teaching songs and chants and depending on the concrete situation the teacher can vary the way of teaching these forms It should not be forgotten to back up the basic vocabulary before introducing a song or chant or making sure that the content is understandable The teacher should provide different possibilities for the students to comprehend the text The English teacher can choose from among a lot of types of songs and chants with special characteristics and different actions Each teacher should collect useful songs and chants on which he can fall back If he or she knows the possibilities to exploit these orms the teacher should be able to use songs and chants successfully in English lessons We know from our experience that children love English songs and chants All teachers should see this big advantage and use songs and chants as an permanent part of their English lessons not only in primary school We as teachers also enjoy singing, dancing and reciting with our children in class because it gives us the chance to influence the children’s development in a positive way and to intensify relationship to our children In conclusion, songs and chants make large vocabulary background, like expressions and useful sentences They help to develop listening and speaking skill Songs will help learners become familiar with word stress and intonation, and the chants with which words are spoken or sung also helps memorization And once memorized, children repeat it again and again They also hear informal or colloquial English that they may encounter outside the classroom and they become familiar with parts of the foreign culture, seeing it as enrichment for their own life Affectively, it is good to stimulate children’s interest in the new language, to bring fun and variety to learning, to provide a relaxed atmostphere, to motivate to learn to be active, to give an encouragement, even children are shy or slow learning, coming out and losing their embarrassment “ Children are active learners and thinkers.” (Piaget, 19701) “ Children learn through social interaction.” (Vygotsky, 1962) “ Do not train children to learn by force and harsness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each (Plato) This research investigated the methods of teaching songs and chants for primary students, lesson delivery and sequence of content and learning expectations used by teachers of English at Quang Phu Primary School This research brings broader understanding of strategies for teaching songs and chants to students whose first language is not English The rationale for the study stems from the need to gain greater international perspective of the 19 teaching of English learners Results reflect analysis of classroom observation field notes of forty - four students of class 4A To sum up, the research provides some methods to improve teaching songs and chants for primary students in order to form the habit of using English words that contributes to improve the quality of students' skills in particular and English for academic subjects in general This research does reveal some promising practices but more research is needed 3.2 Suggestion To the leaders: To enhance the capacity of teachers in teaching English, the leaders should organize the training courses for the English teachers regularly Through the training courses, teachers have the opportunity to exchange and learn their experiences Acknowledgments: I am grateful to the Ministry of Education and Training for publishing the book Tieng Anh 3,4,5; for valuable discussions and innovative ideas and techniques of teaching songs and chants during the program I would also like to thank the experts of Thanh Hoa City Education and Training Office, my colleagues at Quang Phu Primary School, for providing helpful comments for the research Finally, I would like to encourage Vietnamese teachers to have more confidence in teaching English songs and chants even though we are not native speakers of English With full advanced preparation, including practicing English and designing effective teaching activities, we can all be experts in teaching English Sincerely thank you! Certified by the Principal Quang Phu, April 10th 2019 I declare that this is my experienced initiative I not copy the other person's content Written by Dam Thuy Dung REFERENCES Vietnamese Educational Publisher - Tieng Anh (2017) Ministry of Education and Training Murphey, T (1992) Music and song Oxford University Press Harmer, J (2003) The Practice of English Language Teaching Harlow: Longman Graham, C (1992) Singing, chanting, telling tales New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc 20 Grant, L (1993) Well said: Advanced English pronunciation MA: Heinle & Heinle Lo, R & Li, H.C (1998) Songs enhance learner involvement English Teaching Forum, 36,8-11,21 Saricoban, A & Metin, E (2000) Songs, verse and games for teaching grammar, The Internet TESL Journal Retrieved 11 th January 2011 from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/SaricobanSongs.htlm Halliwell, S Teching English in the primary classroom (1992) Longman Group UK Limited Richard, J C, and T.S.Rodgers (2001) Approaches and methods in language teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 10 Phillips, S.(1993) Young learners Oxford: Oxford University Press 11 http://learnenglishkids.bri 12 https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/songs 13 https://www.lingokids.com › English for Kids › Songs 14 kids-songs.tv/ 15 https://agendaweb.org/songs/english-songs-for-kids.html DANH MỤC SKKN ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG SKKN NGÀNH GD&ĐT HUYỆN(TP), TỈNH VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả: Đàm Thùy Dung Chức vụ công tác: - Tổ phó Tổ Đặc thù - Trường TH Quảng Phú – TP Thanh Hóa 21 TT Tên đề tài SKKN Biện pháp để phát triển kỹ nghe nói cho học sinh lớp thơng qua hội thoại Kinh nghiệm dạy hội thoại nhằm phát triển kỹ nghe nói cho học sinh lớp Experiences in teaching pronunciation for primary student Experiences in teaching pronunciation for primary student Cấp đánh giá Kết đánh XL(Ngành GD giá xếp loại cấp Huyện/Tỉnh; (A, B C) Tỉnh) Phòng GD&ĐT A Quảng Xương Năm học đánh giá xếp loại 2009 - 2010 Sở GD&ĐT Thanh Hóa B 2009 - 2010 Phòng GD&ĐT TP Thanh Hóa A 2013-2014 Sở GD&ĐT Thanh Hóa B 2013-2014 22 ... research: "Experiences in teaching songs and chants for primary students of grade " 1.2 The purpose of research - The research applies the methods of teaching songs and chants to involve students in. .. situation of teaching songs and chants at Primary School and suggesting some techniques in teaching songs and chants to develop speaking and listening skill for elementary students, helping them... reasons for using songs and chants in teaching English as a foreign language in primary schools Naturally, “children really enjoy learning and singing songs (Phillips 1993: 100) and have fun doing