Using Music (Chants, Rhythms and Rhymes) in the Foreign Language Classroom
Using music, chants, rhythms and rhymes to teach foreign language is like having a secret (stealth) weapon! Not only does my "research" of 40 years of teaching, prove it; scientific research proves that using music (and singing) is twice as effective as traditional foreign language learning. The words learned through music sticks to the learners brains effortlessly.Even brain research shows that music is great for language learning. Unfortunately not all language teachers have been enlightened as to the efficacy of using music in the classroom. In my many years as a conference presenter, I have met people who don't use music, chants, rhythms or rhymes in their Spanish, French, Italian, ESL , German classroom. Their reasons are that they "don't have time " to do so, they "don't know how to", their "students don't like to sing" and a few other sad excuses. I feel sorry for their students, but I also realize that if they read this blog (and the blogs that follow) they might, fortunately for their students' sake, change their minds.
WHY USE MUSIC TO TEACH?
Maracas like those used
in Cantos, Rimos y Rimas
ALL HUMANS NEED MUSIC. All cultures throughout the ages have
embraced and developed music, rhythms and even rhymes. These range from simple
drum beats with gourd maracas to complex symphonies. As individuals, our love for music and rhythm begins even
before birth. We hear or feel the heartbeat and later the breathing of our
mother, and continue developing our love further when our mothers sing, say
silly things in a sing-song voice and rhymes (“This little piggy went to market…”)
MUSIC IS GREAT FOR LEARNING – Howard Garner writes that
music is one of the strongest of the multiple intelligences. I have seen the proof very often in my classes. Sometimes they use the exact phrasing found in the songs. Sometimes a word is substituted, yet appropriate. My young daughter had learned one of my "ditties" or Snappy Sayings and used it quite appropriately when for the first time in a long time, the family was together eating in a restaurant. "Todos estamos aquí, todos estamos aquí, queremos comer sí, sí, todos estamos aquí" She had substituted the "Comer" for the original "aprender". I have been teaching for so long that I get emails from many of my previous students. Most of them state that they learned so much and attribute it to the many songs we used in class.
Besides being
pleasant and very effective, music is also mood and emotion altering. Music can
motivate the bored and calm the over - excited. Music lowers the affective filter (or
makes people less stressed and more uninhibited) so that even the reluctant
learner can and will learn more easily. Special ed. students learn very easily
with music. Author and teacher Irene Brouwer Konyndyk in her book Foreign Languages for Everyone writes (about why music is so effective
for her learning disabled students), “ I believe that music embeds learning by
bypassing rational cognition.” This might also be why brain damaged, stroke
victims and others can communicate by singing their message when they
can’t speak normally. It helps special need students, but the regular ed. students benefit by learning with music, too.
Conga player like those
recorded in Lonnie's chants
MUSIC AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES - A lesson taught through music (chants, rhythms or rhymes) is
learned more willingly and permanently. I’ve seen and heard students during tests quietly
singing parts of songs to access the needed vocab, phrases or even
grammar points. One girl on a student trip to Spanish let the group know that
she had a headache by singing part of a previously learned song. “Me duele la cabeza, ¿qué hago yo?" Some of the kids sang back “Toma aspirina y olvídalo”.
(From Cantos, Ritmos y Rimas) Will she
always sing when she has a headache? No, but because of the chant, she’ll say
it correctly.
Upcoming Blogs (Partial list) :
What are the Best Songs for Teaching Foreign Language?
How to
Effectively Use Music in the Spanish, French, Italian, ESL( and other
Foreign Languages) Classroom
Active Grammar
Old School Methodology or New Tech for Your Class?
Should We Use Textbooks or Not?
Teaching Art Effectively and Actively
Is traveling with Your Students for You?
Reading in the Lower Level Language Classes
Using Music (Chants, Rhythms and Rhymes) in the Foreign Language Classroom
Using music, chants, rhythms and rhymes to teach foreign language is like having a secret (stealth) weapon! Not only does my "research" of 40 years of teaching, prove it; scientific research proves that using music (and singing) is twice as effective as traditional foreign language learning. The words learned through music sticks to the learners brains effortlessly.Even brain research shows that music is great for language learning. Unfortunately not all language teachers have been enlightened as to the efficacy of using music in the classroom. In my many years as a conference presenter, I have met people who don't use music, chants, rhythms or rhymes in their Spanish, French, Italian, ESL , German classroom. Their reasons are that they "don't have time " to do so, they "don't know how to", their "students don't like to sing" and a few other sad excuses. I feel sorry for their students, but I also realize that if they read this blog (and the blogs that follow) they might, fortunately for their students' sake, change their minds.
WHY USE MUSIC TO TEACH?
 |
Maracas like those used in Cantos, Rimos y Rimas |
ALL HUMANS NEED MUSIC. All cultures throughout the ages have
embraced and developed music, rhythms and even rhymes. These range from simple
drum beats with gourd maracas to complex symphonies. As individuals, our love for music and rhythm begins even
before birth. We hear or feel the heartbeat and later the breathing of our
mother, and continue developing our love further when our mothers sing, say
silly things in a sing-song voice and rhymes (“This little piggy went to market…”)
MUSIC IS GREAT FOR LEARNING – Howard Garner writes that
music is one of the strongest of the multiple intelligences. I have seen the proof very often in my classes. Sometimes they use the exact phrasing found in the songs. Sometimes a word is substituted, yet appropriate. My young daughter had learned one of my "ditties" or Snappy Sayings and used it quite appropriately when for the first time in a long time, the family was together eating in a restaurant. "Todos estamos aquí, todos estamos aquí, queremos comer sí, sí, todos estamos aquí" She had substituted the "Comer" for the original "aprender". I have been teaching for so long that I get emails from many of my previous students. Most of them state that they learned so much and attribute it to the many songs we used in class.
Besides being
pleasant and very effective, music is also mood and emotion altering. Music can
motivate the bored and calm the over - excited. Music lowers the affective filter (or
makes people less stressed and more uninhibited) so that even the reluctant
learner can and will learn more easily. Special ed. students learn very easily
with music. Author and teacher Irene Brouwer Konyndyk in her book Foreign Languages for Everyone writes (about why music is so effective
for her learning disabled students), “ I believe that music embeds learning by
bypassing rational cognition.” This might also be why brain damaged, stroke
victims and others can communicate by singing their message when they
can’t speak normally. It helps special need students, but the regular ed. students benefit by learning with music, too.
 |
Conga player like those recorded in Lonnie's chants |
MUSIC AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES - A lesson taught through music (chants, rhythms or rhymes) is
learned more willingly and permanently. I’ve seen and heard students during tests quietly
singing parts of songs to access the needed vocab, phrases or even
grammar points. One girl on a student trip to Spanish let the group know that
she had a headache by singing part of a previously learned song. “Me duele la cabeza, ¿qué hago yo?" Some of the kids sang back “Toma aspirina y olvídalo”.
(From Cantos, Ritmos y Rimas) Will she
always sing when she has a headache? No, but because of the chant, she’ll say
it correctly.
Upcoming Blogs (Partial list) :
What are the Best Songs for Teaching Foreign Language?
How to
Effectively Use Music in the Spanish, French, Italian, ESL( and other
Foreign Languages) Classroom
Active Grammar
Old School Methodology or New Tech for Your Class?
Should We Use Textbooks or Not?
Teaching Art Effectively and Actively
Is traveling with Your Students for You?
Reading in the Lower Level Language Classes
