Using songs and music in the classroom

Songs and music are part of daily life for most people. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has rightly said, "Music is the universal language of mankind." Really songs and music can play a significant role in the classroom particularly in language classroom. It can change the atmosphere in the room within seconds. 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. In fact musical and language processing occur in the same area of the brain (Medina, 1993). 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 later 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 taste of language learners. 'Real' music that the children hear and play every day can be extremely motivating in the classroom. Research has demonstrated that singing has multiple benefits. It is universally agreed that it should be central to any musical education, but it can also support other areas of educational learning and wider school life. Using songs to support subject and topic learning can provide a more varied and creative lesson, but it can also help to reinforce what is being taught.
Research has also found that pop songs have characteristics that help learning a second language. 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. Learners of any age sing together socially - when they are visiting friends. Teenagers and young adults seem to know an endless number of songs by heart and share them continuously through any media. 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. 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. Now 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, humour, and regional and cultural differences' (Lems, 2001).  
The World Voice Programme is a pioneering initiative of the British Council, Dhaka, Bangladesh which aims at working in this line. It endeavours to promote arts in school education and uses music through singing to support the development of musicality and contribute towards a wider learning. It will promote sharing of British expertise in singing education with classrooms globally and to promote an exchange of skills, knowledge  and understanding between all participating countries, support colleagues from around the world who wish to learn more about singing leadership techniques, provide a network where countries can forge long-lasting working relationships, provide resources which teachers and young people can use in the classroom and last but not the least celebrate singing as a fundamental  global expressive art. The World Voice Project was launched in Bangladesh with a four-day workshop on singing, held from 17 to 21 August 2014. The workshop was led by Dr. Ian Young (Artistic Director, World Voice Project) with around 60 participants including school student (age group 11-13) school music teachers and independent music trainers across Bangladesh. During the workshop sessions, the school children have learned English songs as well as Bangla song 'Amra shobai Raja'-taught by Bangladeshi Musician. The sessions were joyful, lively and interesting as Dr. Ian Young, engaged a step by step approach to explain the background as well as geographic, historic or cultural context of each song. In addition to this he emphasised correct body posture, proper breathing, voice modulation and accuracy in pronunciation. The students were fascinated with the new words and phrases that they learnt while learning the songs.
World Voice aims to share global expertise in singing education with classrooms globally and to promote an exchange of skills, knowledge and understanding between all participating countries,  to increase knowledge and understanding of diverse cultures, with an emphasis on authenticity, to provide a network for countries  to forge long-lasting working relationships, to provide  resources which teachers and young people can use in the classroom, to celebrate singing as fundamental global expressive art. 50,000 school children from 200 schools will have the opportunity to sing as part of their schooling -using song to learn about music, culture and to reinforce wider study. 400 teachers will have face-to-face training opportunities, of which over 30 will be trained as master trainers. There will be at least 50 songs-two per country plus additional UK songs-added to a World Song book which will be made freely available world-wide.
When learners listen to songs whose mother tongue is not English, they become familiar with word stress and intonation, the rhythm with which words are spoken or sung. This enables learners to remember chunks of language which they can use in their conversation or in writing. Listening, speaking, reading and writing can be practiced in the classroom using songs and music. Songs sung in English are listened to around the world and students can often feel real progress in their level of English when they  sing along to the chorus or even just to be able to separate what at first seemed to be a constant stream of words. Songs provide a valuable source of authentic language and there are many ways to exploit them in the classroom.
It happens that some people may not like art, dancing, reading or movies but almost everyone likes one kind of music or another. Studies have shown that music -(i) improves concentration (ii) improves memory (iii) brings a sense of community to a group (iv) motivates learners (v) relaxes people who are overwhelmed or stressed (vi) makes learning fun (vii) helps people absorb materials (viii) breaks the ice in a class where students do not know each other or are having difficulty  to communicate  (ix) changes the mood (x) teaches and builds vocabulary and idioms (xi) reviews materials -background music improves memory (xii) teaches pronunciation and intonation (xiii) teaches reading comprehension (xiv) inspires a class discussion (xv) teaches listening for details and gist.
Students learn to be attentive listeners which is a skill that helps their phonological awareness, phonemic awareness and overall fluency. Wiggins says that simple songs when coupled with a book nurtures auditory and visual discrimination, eye-motor coordination, visual sequential memory, language reception and most importantly promotes comprehension and dialogue. It is developmentally appropriate and so joyful that our students will not realise how much they are learning through music. Actually, music makes learning a great adventure. Music will connect our students, particularly the struggling ones, to the joy of learning which we cannot usually do.  Chris Brewer says 'Music stabilises mental, physical and emotional rhythms to attain a state of deep concentration and focus in which large amounts of content information can be processed and learned.''
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

The writer is Programme Manager, BRAC Education and Vice-president of  Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association (BELTA), email: [email protected]