MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

MUSIC AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL IN AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM Diploma Thesis

Brno 2010

Supervisor: Mgr. Jaroslav Suchý

Written by: Bc. Martina Coufalíková

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Bibliographical description Coufalíková, Martina. Music and a Song as a Pedagogical Tool in an English Language Classroom: diploma thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2010. Diploma thesis supervisor Mgr. Jaroslav Suchý.

Anotace Diplomová práce se zabývá možnostmi použití hudby a písně jako pedagogického nástroje ve výuce anglického jazyka. Práce je rozdělena na část teoretickou a praktickou, kde v rámci teorie pojednává o evoluci jazyka a hudby a působení hudby na lidské tělo. Poslední část řeší problematiku jednotlivých jazykových dovedností v souvislosti s integrací hudby do výuky. Praktická část se zabývá výzkumem, jeho zpracováním a plány výuky. Cílem práce bylo využít teoretických poznatků získaných výzkumem a na jejich základně vytvořit plány hodiny s různorodými cvičeními, které splňují požadavky plynoucí z výsledků dotazníku, na němž byl výzkum postaven.

Annotation The diploma thesis examines the possibilities of using music and song as a pedagogical tool in an English language classroom. The study is divided into theoretical and practical parts. Within the theory, the evolution of music and the brain, and the affects of music on the human body is discussed. The last section resolves an area of all language skills in association with music and it's integration into a lesson. The practical part manages the research, it's evaluation and lesson plans. The main aim was to apply theoretical information carried out from the research and on their basis, create lesson plans with various excercises, which fulfil the requirements gained from the research questionnaire.

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Klíčová slova hudba, píseň, pedagogický nástroj, anglický jazyk, výuka, výzkum

Keywords music, song, pedagogical tool, English language, teaching, research

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Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. Souhlasím, aby práce byla uložena na Masarykově univerzitě v Brně v knihovně Pedagogické fakulty a zpřístupněna ke studijním účelům.

Declaration I declare that I worked on my Final Diploma Thesis on my own using only cited literary sources, other information and sources in agreement with the Disciplinary Regulations for Students of Faculty of Education at Masaryk University and with the Law 121/2000 Coll., on Copyright, Rights Related to Copyright and on the Amendment of Certain Laws (Copyright Law), Subsequently Amended. I agree with the storage of this work in the library of the Faculty of Education at Masaryk University in Brno and making it accessible for study purposes.

………………………………… Brno, 20th April 2010

Bc. Martina Coufalíková 4

Poděkování Chtěla bych poděkovat mému vedoucímu práce panu Mgr. Jaroslavu Suchému, za jeho podporu a odborné vedení během psaní mé diplomové práce.

Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor, Mgr. Jaroslav Suchý, for his support and expert assistance throughout the writing process.

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CONTENTS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION..................................................................................................2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.........................................................................................................................5 CONTENTS................................................................................................................................................6 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................8 1.1 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ‒ MUSIC AND SPEECH.......................................................................................10 1.2 PRACTICAL POINT OF VIEW .................................................................................................................11 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY..................................................................12 2. PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL REACTION TO MUSIC.................................14 2.1 MUSIC AND THE BRAIN........................................................................................................................15 2.1.1 Left and Right Hemisphere..................................................................................................17 2.2 SUGGESTOPAEDIA.................................................................................................................................18 2.3 LANGUAGE AND THE BRAIN..................................................................................................................19 3. WHY USE MUSIC AND SONG AS A TOOL IN AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM..........................................................................................................................................21 3.1 MUSIC AND LANGUAGE SKILLS.............................................................................................................22 3.1.1 Productive Language Skills..................................................................................................22 3.1.1.1 Music and Speaking....................................................................................................22 3.1.1.2 Music and Writing.......................................................................................................23 3.1.2 Music and Grammar.............................................................................................................24 3.1.3 Music and Vocabulary..........................................................................................................24 3.1.4 Music and Cultural Awareness............................................................................................25 3.2 RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE SKILLS...............................................................................................................26 3.2.1 Music and Listening..............................................................................................................26 3.2.2 Music and Reading................................................................................................................27 3.3 MUSIC AND MOTIVATION ....................................................................................................................27 3.4 SUMMARY OF THE THEORETICAL PART...................................................................................................28 4. RESEARCH..........................................................................................................................................29 4.1 METHODOLOGY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH.............................................................................29 4.2 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES AND QUESTIONNAIRE.......................................................................................31 4.3 RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE..........................................................................................31 Question number 1 – How old are you?.....................................................................................32 Question number 2 - My gender is?.............................................................................................32 Question number 3 - Which of the following language skills are the easiest for you? .......33 Question number 4 - How many times do you practice listening in your English classes?34 Question number 5 – Write the name of your favourite song..................................................35 Question number 6 - Write the name of your favourite singer................................................36 Question number 7 – Tick the sentence which best expresses your opinion.........................38 Question number 8 - Does your teacher use music during your English classes?...............39 Question number 9 - My teacher uses music during our English classes when...................40 Question number 10 - Does your teacher use lyrics of English songs during English classes?.............................................................................................................................................41 Question number 11 - Would you like to work with English songs during your English classes?.............................................................................................................................................42

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Question number 12 - What kind of source do you use when searching for music?...........43 Question number 13 - Tick the sentence which comes from your experience......................44 Question number 14 - In which parts of your English lesson except listening exercises would you like to use music?........................................................................................................45 Question number 15 - Do you think that music can help you improve your English?........46 Question number 16 - Do you sing?............................................................................................48 Question number 17 - Do you or did you play any musical instrument?..............................48 Question number 18 - What musical instrument do you play?...............................................49 Question number 19 - What was your age when you started to play musical instrument? ...........................................................................................................................................................51 5. DISCUSSION OF THE STUDY RESULTS....................................................................................52 5.1 HYPOTHESIS NUMBER 1 ‒ EVALUATION.................................................................................................52 Dependency of questions number 3 and 19:...............................................................................52 5.2 HYPOTHESIS NUMBER 2 – EVALUATION.................................................................................................53 Dependency of questions number 3 and 13 (see 4.3):...............................................................53 Dependency of questions number 13 and 17:.............................................................................55 5.3 HYPOTHESIS NUMBER 3 – EVALUATION.................................................................................................56 Dependency of questions number 1 and 13:...............................................................................56 6. LESSON PLANS..................................................................................................................................58 LESSON PLAN NUMBER 1............................................................................................................................59 Jamie Collum – Gran Torino – Film Soundtrack (4'31")............................................................59 LESSON PLAN NUMBER 2............................................................................................................................63 Rufus Wainwright – Hallelujah – Film Soundtrack...................................................................63 LESSON PLAN NUMBER 3............................................................................................................................66 Pink – Dear Mr. President (4'56").................................................................................................66 LESSON PLAN NUMBER 4............................................................................................................................68 U2 – Beautiful Day (4')..................................................................................................................68 6.1 SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING................................................................................................................70 7. THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY..............................72 8. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................73 9. RESUME...............................................................................................................................................75 BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................................................76 WEBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................................................................78 APPENDIX...............................................................................................................................................81 JAMIE COLLUM – GRAN TORINO................................................................................................................81 RUFUS WAINWRIGHT – HALLELUJAH..........................................................................................................85 PINK – DEAR MR. PRESIDENT....................................................................................................................88 U2 – BEAUTIFUL DAY...............................................................................................................................91 DISCOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................................................96

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1. Introduction "Music is the universal language of mankind." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Being a musician means that one should love music. I agree with Murphey's statement that music is, in a sense, a kind of language. By its force, we can communicate and share our thoughts and feelings (Murphey 1992). What I gained through my music theory classes during my studies at a conservatory was the knowledge of music as a system, its evolution and relation to different fields of study. As my piano teacher said in my very first piano lesson: "Music is a language and the language is music." I am not only a pianist but also a piano teacher. After a few years of teaching children music, I started to teach English at a language school. At that time, I discovered that there is a substantial connection between these two subjects and I became quite interested in it. The theme of my diploma thesis is Music as a Pedagogical Tool in an English Language Classroom. When using the term English Language Classroom, I mean ESL - English as a Second Language. I tried to imagine my piano classes while organizining my thoughts about this topic. How and when I use a foreign language as a pedagogical tool during a teaching process. I discovered that I use it when my pupils have some problems with rhythm or melody perception, in which I attempt to find the right word, sentence or verse to imitate the correct stress or to lead musical phrases in an appropriate way. This method has been taught by our promiment piano pedagogues e.g. Ivan Klánský, Jiří Skovajsa, Alena Vlasáková, Jolana Zedeková etc. during their pedagogical career in their lectures or methodologic courses. I gained this experience directly through their teaching as there is no book written yet. For example, when playing a piece of music written by German composer, a teacher has to search for the appropriate German word. When working with a Czech piece of music, the Czech sentences are needed. And finally, English words relate to composers who were born in English

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speaking countries. To understand this situation properly, it has to be explicated on a real example. While teaching a Japanese student to play the central motif of Janáček's Sonata 1.X, it was essential to use the appropriate Czech word "Ježibaba" to interpret the rhytm correctly. All languages have differences between main and minor stresses and it is identical with music. This Czech word has the main stress on the first syllable and the motif has to be interpreted exactly in the same manner. As a result of my speculation, when I am able to use the foreign language in my music classes, I have to be able to do it vice versa. No question about it, music is a part of our lives. It could be a way to teach English. Because music is a stimulus to our sense of hearing, it is clear that music can, and inevitably does, convey information. Music is a great language package that comprises grammar, listening, vocabulary and other language skills in just a few rhymes, stated Dobrian in his study (Dobrian 1992). It can also form the basis for lessons or it can refresh students after working hard. It helps students to gain knowledge about foreign people, their culture and traditions. I divided my diploma thesis into two major parts. The first part deals with the theoretical point of view. This theoretical section covers problematics of all language skills, music and speech relationship and their historical overview, psychological and physiological reaction to music, and integrating music into a learning process. I covered all of these issues into the theoretical part as I believe it is essential to have general knowledge about these specific areas. The second part is focused, not only on the research and its description, but also on designing of a questionaire and it's analysis, practical suggestions, lesson plans and exercices, which will be used in specific English lessons. The historical overview of music and speech relationship is the first small step in the discovery of this extensive field of study.

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1.1 Historical Overview ‒ Music and Speech To gain a general overview, I will cover some fundamental researcher’s opinions in this chapter. An array of studies unifies the same belief that the evolution of music and speech began at the same time. Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, who, as well as Dr. Blacklock, thought, the first language among men was music, and that before our ideas

were

expressed

by

articulate

sounds,

they

were

communicated by tones varied according to different degrees of gravity and acuteness (Darwin: 478). A similar standpoint is shared by Charles D. Isaacson, who proclaimed in a simplified way that before a man could speak he could sing. According to Lord James B. Monboddo, a pioneer in anthropology, music has its privacy before speech, as natural calls were primarily transformed into musical notes and only afterwards were differentiated by articulation. All cultures on this planet possess music as such. Pupils are told by their history and literature teachers that before the written word, there were stories and odes of wars. Those were passed orally from tribe to tribe and from generation to generation by songs. According to Larrick (1991: 3), wandering minstrels brought literature to the crowds of people in village squares. The messenger first sang the content of the message, so he would not forget any of it. “Those who came to listen were soon singing or chanting repeated lines and sometimes adding new stanzas on the old pattern.” Since time out of mind music is connected with many life situations, such as working, dancing, reading a book, talking with friends, shopping (muzak), singing a baby to sleep, weddings or a funeral ceremony. Songs have various forms such as work songs which are explained by Webster as “a song sung in rhythm with work,” lullabies, jazz chants, Christmas carols, anthems, psalms, love songs, folk songs and many others Murphey and Alber (1985) divides songs into six basic categories, which are friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love songs.

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Livingstone (1973) provided anthropological evidence that Homo sapiens sang (non-linguistic vocalizations) before speaking. This association can be seen with our attitude towards infants. The term “motherese” is defined by Murphey and Alber (1985) as the highly affective and musical language that adults use with infants. Balter (2004) mentioned, Many researches agree that music had an evolution role. They point to music's universality and the ability of very young infants to respond strongly to it as evidence that music itself is hardwired into our brains. A number of further studies dealing with this phenomena can be found in e.g. Merkur, 2000; or Jusczyk, 1986. This historical overview is necessary for my introduction as well as to present the practical point of view, which is delt with in the following chapter.

1.2 Practical Point of View What are the further reasons to write a diploma thesis concerning music as a pedagogical tool? It is obvious that there are many songs in textbooks available. However, as far as my opinion is concerned, only a few of them are up-to-date. Most of them are so called evergreens and they are known for two or more generations. I tried to find music as close as possible to the students' taste. As I remembered from my grammar school years, my English teacher worked with songs she liked. Without any question, she played Eric Clapton's songs. At that time I was thirteen and I had totally distinct views from my teacher, including questioning what is valuable or worthless. I did not appreciate these songs at all but what should be mentioned here is that despite my antipathy towards Eric Clapton, I remember all of his song we learned fifteen years ago. This is a typical example of using music as a memory aid in acquiring a foreign language. My intentention in creating the questionnaire was to avoid this mistake and find the best way to cooperate with my students through the aid of survey 11

results. In other words, my intention was to find students' favourite songs and interpret which will serve well in designing my future lesson plans. During my teaching practise, I found out that students appreciate lessons with music regardless of specific use. They like listening to it while writing an essay or doing listening exercises e.g. gap-filling. All these problems led me to compile accesible sources and create compact work from both a theoretical and practical perspective.

1.3 Research Questionnaire and Importance of the Study The theory of my survey and the questionnaire itself were based on the book written by Miroslav Foret, a Czech expert on marketing, who cooperates with prominent universities in our country. Another step in my research was to ask, both my students and those of my colleagues who teach in language schools, whether they are willing to cooperate with me and become a part of my study. The majority of them are adult or near adult students. I created the questionnaire to serve there as a tool for proving or disproving my hypothesis (see below). Data was collected to answer the following hypothesis, which were based on my music teaching practise: 1. When aquiring the English language, I belive there is a significant difference in acquiring an English language between students who started to play any musical instrument before the age of 7 and those who started later. 2. In my opinion, there is a significant difference in acquiring the English language between students who played any musical instrument and those who did not. 3. I believe there is a significant difference between the younger generation of students up to the age of 25 and the rest of the examined learners in understanding songs with English lyrics. In addition to my hypothesis, I assumed that not only is listening the most difficult language skill for ESL students but also that a piano is the most frequent musical instrument (see 4.3). 12

The additional outcomes of the questionnaire were several titles of songs used for forming my lesson plans (see 6). I need motivated and pleased students for my performance in lectures, not those who are bored and unsatisfied. As we can see, three hypotheses and two additional assumptions were made. Under these conditions, a questionnaire was designed and discussed in chapters 4, 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 in detail. In the following paragraphs I try to reveal the power music has on our bodies and minds.

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2. Physiological and Psychological Reaction to Music In this chapter, I would like to show how music can affect our brain. Music has a very strong, very definite physiological and psychological effect on people (Lozanov 1967). Physiological benefits include, for example lowered anxiety, heart rate, pain, and blood pressure, as well as improved respiratory rate, recovery, and tension relief. The human heartbeat ranges from 70-100 beats per minute; therefore, music that has a tempo of 60 to 80 MM/min tends to aid relaxation as it corresponds to the students’ physiological rhythm. Baroque and classical music is suggested to be the best choice for relaxation and is highly used in Suggestopaedia, which is a teaching method discovered by Georgi Lozanov (more in chapter 2.2). The influence of music on society can be clearly seen in modern history. Music helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence. When he could not figure out the right wording for a certain part, he would play his violin to help him. The music helped him get the words from his brain onto the paper (Storr 1992). At the end of the 19th century when Albert Einstein, one of the most important scientist ever, was a child, he did extremely poor in school. His study troubles led his mother to force Einsten to play the violin. Einstein himself says that the reason he was so smart is because he played the violin. He mostly loved the music of Mozart and Bach (Storr 1992). Not only the 20th but also the 21st century deals with quantum of surveys from diversified fields of study. The progress and expansion of science and it's technologies is huge. Even though psychology does not belong to the

most expanded fields such as

management or IT. It does, however, rank in a prominent place. The next example of a musical brain relation can be seen in the article where, according to the Association for Psychological Science (Dewar 2008), intelligence test scores grew higher in children who took lessons in

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keyboarding or singing. In the following study (Dewar 2008), boys between the ages of 6 and 15 who took music lessons scored higher on tests of verbal memory than a control group of students without musical training. A number of research studies have supported the fact that classical music can have a positive effect on linguistic abilities. Clinical psychologist Charles Emery of Ohio State University found that learners who listened to Vivaldi while studying had increased scores on verbal fluency tests after their workouts compared to those who studied without music. This is a sufficient amount of surveys that tell us more about the psychological response to music. In conlusion, music has power on our bodies, it can either help us or refresh us when we are ill, depressed or tired. To understand more how music affects our brain, I added the next chapter, which deals with the music & brain and the language & brain relationship in depth.

2.1 Music and the Brain Before a more detailed analysis of the human brain can occur, a definition in crucial terms must be done. In this chapter, I would like to elucidate

these

definitions

of

terms:

music,

brain,

neorolinguistics,

psycholinguistic and corpus collosum. Let us have a look at the first one. There is a huge number of definitions dealing with music as such. Music, here I must add as well as language, most often implies sounds with distinct pitches that are arranged into melodies and organized into patterns of rhythm and metre. The melody will usually be in a certain mode (see the similarity with language again), and it will often suggest harmony may be made explicit as accompanying chords. "Music is an art, in one guise or another, that permeates every human society. It is used for such varied social purposes as ritual, worship, coordination of movement, communication, and entertainment."(40) It is certain that to grasp the point the complex relationship between music, the language and the brain, it is vital to know the general structure of the brain. "The human brain is a unique and complex structure; it facilitates vital 15

and

complicated

physiological

and

psychological

functions,

such

as

consciousness, mobility, emotion, and personality." (Franěk 2007) Holas claimed, "the human brain is the powerhouse and control center for all physiological and cognitive functions."(Holas 1988) The brain controls lower, unconscious physiological activities such as breathing, pulse, and digestion; and higher, conscious activities, such as thinking, reasoning, and feeling. "The cerebral cortex is highly convoluted and the cerebral hemisphere is commonly divided into four lobes namely frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital." (Holas 1988) There exists an auditory part in the frontal lobe of the cebral cortex where an auditory trace is finished in so called Heschel gyrus. "The human brain is unique because it contains billions of neurological connections that work together to carry out complex functions." (Holas 1988) An important approach to an understanding of the brain/mind relationship has been through the study of language. "Neurolinguistics is the study of the biological and neural foundations of language." (Ahlszén, 2006). It studies the relation of language and communication to different aspects of brain function, i.e. it tries to explore how the brain understands and produces language and communication. Neurolinguistics has a very close relationship to the psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistics is the area of linguistics that is concerned with linguistic performance- how we use linguistic competence- in speech (or sign) production and comprehension. "The human Brain is able not only to aquire and store the mental lexicon and grammar, but also to access that linguistic storehouse to speak and understand language in real time." (Fromkin 2006: 397) To find another connection how music can affect our brain, it is essential to explore an inseparable part of the human brain which is the Corpus callosum. "It is an arched mass of white matter in the depths of the longitudinal fissure, composed of transverse fibers connecting the cerebral hemispheres."(Franěk 2007: 117) The outcome of a comparison of thirty proffesional musicians and thirty non-musicians was that the frontal half of the corpus callosum was markedly bigger in the case of musicians, notably those who started with musical activity 16

before the age of 7 (Franěk 2007: 118). This structural difference could be caused by complicated and mutually independent movements of fingers on both hands. To be coordinated properly, these sequences of movements require communication between both hemispheres.

2.1.1 Left and Right Hemisphere The brain consists of two hemispheres. The cerebral hemispheres are separate by a deep groove, the longitudinal cerebral fissure. At the base of this fissure lies a thick bundle of nerve fibres, called the corpus callosum as mentioned in previous paragraph, which provides a communication link between the hemispheres. "The left hemisphere controls the right half of the body, and vice versa, because of a crossing of the nerve fibres in the medulla or, less commonly, in the spinal cord. Although the right and left hemispheres are mirror images of one another in many ways, there are important functional distinctions."(30) In most people, for example, the areas that control speech are located in the left hemisphere, while areas that control spatial perceptions are located in the right hemisphere. The left hemisphere of the brain is usually called the dominant hemisphere since it expresses thoughts in words, while the right hemisphere of the brain controls actions, problem resolution, memory, and emotions. It processes aural and visual information as well. Most learners use the right hemisphere of the brain to process music, and since most instruction relies heavily on left brain approaches, music opens an opportunity to learners who have a strong right brain orientation. In some cases, the left hemisphere is consider to be logic or analytical whereas the right is synthetical. The traditional conception of cognitive activities see the hemispheres's functions either of the left or the right one (the processing of music in the right hemisphere and the linguistic tasks in the left one, etc.). The very latest point of view, refers to single hemipshere strategies, 17

where sequential (analytical, logical) operation occur in the left part of the brain and parallel (holistic, global) processing is a function of the right hemisphere. Music is a part of both hemispheres. Some elements (perception of melody or dynamics) are processed more in the right cerebral hemisphere and others (rhythm or harmony) in the left part, whether the participant is a musician or not. The one of the best known teaching method adhering music and English language is Suggestopaedia. I am really interested in this methodological approach not only for its using of various techniques including art and music but also for Lozanov's statement that: "Memorization in learning by suggestopedic method is accelerated twenty five times over than in learning by conventional methods." (Larsen-Freeman 1986) These are the reasons why I would like to outline its main features in the next section.

2.2 Suggestopaedia The term, as such, was first published in 1966 in Bulgaria and was adopted into the English language in 1967. We can state that suggestopaedia is one of the alternative methodologies of teaching foreign languages, which was found by a Bulgarian scientist Georgi Lozanov. He proclaimed that "suggestopaedia is a teaching system which makes use of all the possibilities tender suggestion can offer." (Lozanov 1968: 11). It has been said that this kind of method can accelerate and make the process of learning more pleasant. Suggestopaedia highlights the use of art as an important aid of the teaching/learning process: the ambient must be aesthetic, the teaching materials, handbooks, plates, wall posters, all must stay under the sign of beauty. Courses are given to small groups, around 12 students at a time and are intensive, meeting for four hours per day for one mouth (Krashen 1982: 143). Each student is given a completely knew identity, which is needed to burn their bridges of students' past experience with a language and to reduce stress as much as possible. 18

I have to add that I have tried to teach according to this method during our seminar of Didactics this year. It is necessary to say that this method requires a great teacher's effort and it is really time consuming as far as preparation is concerned. Sugestopaedic features that I consider to be valuable in an ordinary English language class are the relaxing environment associated with a particular situation within the lesson and the fact that students are angaged in various activities as games, quizzes or songs (Rodgers 1986). I would like to finish this chapter with Murphy's citation: "You do not have to be a Suggestopaedia teacher to use background music in the language class. Experiment with your students to see how they react to just music or song." (Murphey 1992)

2.3 Language and the Brain The study

of

language has

increasingly

become

an

area

of

interdisciplinary interest. Not only is it studied by speech specialists and linguists, but increasingly by psychologists and neuroscientists as well, particularly in understanding how the brain processes meaning. A large-scale scientific experiment is currently under way at universities around the world. A good examaple is the University of Washington, where has been formed such a center, the Center for Mind, Brain, and Learning (CMBL). The main aim of the scientists is to understand how biology and culture cooperate to produce a young child’s remarkable linguistic, cognitive, and social skills and the implications of those findings for society.(Kuhl 2006) In many animals that use sound for communication, the brain is lateralized, placing the control of sound production in one hemisphere of the brain (usually the left); this takes place quite strongly in songbirds and somewhat in monkeys, dolphins, and mice. The phenomenon of lateralization is extremely strong in humans, and in the vast majority language areas are concentrated in the left hemisphere.

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There are two major areas of the human brain that are responsible for language: •

Broca's area, which is though to be partially responsible for language production (putting together sentences, using proper syntax, etc.).

•

Wernicke's area, which is thought to be partially responsible for language processing (untangling others' sentences and analyzing them for syntax, inflection, etc.). Other areas involved in language are those surrounding the Sylvian

fissure, a cleavage line separating the portions of the brain that are exclusively human from those we share with other animals. (Blat 2007). There are two major schools that deal with neurolinguistics science: the localizations and the holists (Ahlsén 2006). In the 19th century the first group is represented

mostly

by

Paul

Broca,

the

French

anthropologist

and

neuroanatomist, who concluded that the integrity of the left frontal convulsion is responsible and necessary for articular speech. This region "Broca’s convolution - the motor speech area." is named after himself. The localizations were followed by "Boston scholars" namely N. Geschwind, H. Goodglass and E. Kaplan. The holists in the past called "connectionists" and today called "interactionists", believe that the whole brain contributes to the broad range of language abilities that can be studied. I definetelly agree with the "interactionists" who are represented by Loraine K. Obler or K. Gjerlow. Even though I am not a specialist in neuroloniguistics, I suppose that not only the left hemisphere can control the language aquisition but also the right part of the brain is responsible for this activity.

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3. Why Use Music and Song as a Tool in an English Language Classroom What comes to mind when I imagine the optimal English language lesson is a possitive atmosphere in the classroom and motivated students who enjoy the process of learning. I accept Lake's opinion of music and language, mentioned in his essay, that according to Krashen’s Hypothesis, there are several features relevant to music and language. Three of the most accepted components are: •

the affective filter, the monitor model and natural input. The affective filter hypothesis states that optimum learning occurs in an

environment of high stimulation and low anxiety. According to the theory, the emotional state of the learner acts as a filter. Krashen sees the learner’s emotional state as an adjustable filter that may pass or impede input needed for acquisition. "Many ESL students come to class in a state of uncertainty. They often feel cut off from their native cultures and struggle to adapt, causing a disturbance in their affective filters." (38) Students taught in a fun and creative way love coming to class. Music is one of the factors leading to a more successful lesson. There are many benefits from the use of music during a lecture. A far as my opinion is concerned, music can improve memory, motivate learning process, relax students who are in stress, make lessons more enjoyable and improve contcentration. As Bob Lake said, Music is three dimensional. A song is more than words on paper. It conveys a message. Researchers have found that music trains the brain for higher forms of thinking. The use of music in second language acquisition is easy to see (38).

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3.1 Music and Language Skills Music can be used in the ESL classroom to create a positive learning environment,

improve

listening

comprehension,

build

speaking

(pronunciation) certainty, reading and writing skills, increase vocabulary, and expand cultural knowledge and awareness.

3.1.1 Productive Language Skills 3.1.1.1 Music and Speaking "Word stress is the term used to describe the accent or emphasis given to a particular syllable of a word, and it is a more or less invariable attribute of that word when spoken in isolation." (Underhill 2005). Multi-syllable words contain both stressed and unstressed syllables. Not only are individual sounds or stress in words important but also connected speech must be mentioned. According to Underhill: "Continious connected speech consists of a flow of sounds which are modified by a system of simplifications through which phonemes are connected, grouped and modified. Stream of speech pronunciation brings together the three branches of practical phonology: sounds, stress and intonation." (Underhill 2005: 58). Songs contextually introduce the features of how rhythm, stress, and intonation affect the pronunciation of English in context. Through songs, students can discover the natural stretching and compacting of the stream of English speech. When students sing, they automaticaly assume command of the prosodic features of the langugage. For example, the reduction of the auxiliary have to the sound /uv/ can be heard in the song by Toni Braxton “You’ve Been Wrong for So Long: (2000)“. The change of voicing where /v/ becomes an unvoiced /f/ under the influnce of

22

the following unvoiced /t/. Avril Lavigne in the song "Complicated" sings "Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?". When words are pronounced in isolation it sounds this way: /h v t g/ however when pronounced in connected speech as a phrase it sounds like this: /h f t g/. This change of sounds is technically called assimilation and it occurs when: "a phoneme changes its quality due to the influence of neighbouring sound. It changes to become more like the neighbouring sound, or even identical to it" (Underhill 2005: 60). As Roach presents, English speech is rhytmical, and that the rhythm is detectable in the regular occurence of stressed syllables (Roach 2000: 134). As for pronunciation, to master the correct rhythm, intonation, stress and other parts of connected speech as assimiliation, elision or linking, is highly demanding. Music can help students to manage these difficulties more easily and in an atractive way. 3.1.1.2 Music and Writing Writing is a creative part of a languge learning/teaching. I usually play music while my students are working on their writing task. Music helps us to create a positive atmosphere and support students' associations to the selected topic. Even the famous fantasy writer Christopher Paolini used music during the writing processs. In an interview with Pulmann and Pierce, both of them are also fantasy writers, he mentioned, I'm a devotee of classical music and such things, and I find that they often help capture the mood of a certain scene." He also noted that, "Well, I listen to music while I draw, as well. I did the maps for Eragon, and I find that listening to music always helps me draw better (Weich 2003). I definetely agree with this standpoint and furhtermore, I have to add that music is accompanning me right now. 23

In some cases, music can be disruptive. Nevertheless, a teacher is obliged to ask students whether they want to try writing with a music shading. My own experience with students' responses towards music is positive, in most cases. I prefer to use classical and baroque music eg. W. A. Mozart symphonies (slow parts), J. S. Bach instrumental concertos, A. Vivaldi "The Four Seasons" (Winter and Spring part). If the lesson is focused on different ethnic goups, I select music according to specific ethnicity and folklore of the particular place. One further possible activitiy is based on songs that tell a story, and these stories can be rewritten or retold (as a speaking activity) to practice narrative or summarizing skills or direct and reported speech (as a grammar activity).

3.1.2 Music and Grammar A wide range of a grammatical issues can be practised through the use of songs in an ESL classroom. Not only can tenses, prepositions, conditionals, modal verbs be learnt but also countable/uncoutable nouns, parts of speech or punctuation. My favourite song to practise conditionals is the song "One of Us" by Joan Osbourne eg. If God had a name, what would it be and would you call it to his face. Students fill in the gaps with the correct form of the word. When the target grammar point is past tense, I use the famous song performed by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John "Summer Nights" with the same type of exercise. Grammar is an extensive component of language learning/teaching, hence, without exaggeration, it can be said that the majority of grammatical structures and rules can be trained with the assistence of music.

3.1.3 Music and Vocabulary There exists a distinction between the acquisition of vocabulary that is acquired incidentally and vocabulary that is acquired intentionally. The incidental acquisition of vocabulary is explained by Krashen within the context and 24

framework of his "Input Hypothesis". According to this hypothesis, new and unfamiliar vocabulary is acquired when it's significance is made clear to the learner. Meaning is conveyed by providing extralinguistic support such as illustrations, actions, photos, and realia (Krashen 1989). The

intentional

straightforwardly

vocabulary

acquisition

is

term

term

their

after

with

memorizing respective

translations from a list. Learners encounter vocabulary in an isolated, often infinitive form and remain incapable of using it correctly in context (Aitchison 2003). Exercises can be focused on spelling correction, matching of synonyms/ antonyms, fill in the gaps with right words, and many others. From my teaching experience mostly beginners, pre-intermediate or intermediate students appreciate Christmas lessons using vocabulary cards, pictures and carrols. I use old Christmas songs like "White Christmas" or "Let it snow" but performed by a contemporary Canadian singer Michael Buble. Regardless the age, they really like this. Pop songs are usually written to be easily understood and enjoyed. Nevertheless, the songs may also have idioms or colloquial expressions in them that might be difficult to explain, depending on the level of the students proficiency. eg. "Merry Christmas, Baby" by Christina Aguilera: "I'm lit up like a Christmas tree" the song "True Colors" by Phil Collins: "So don't be afraid to let them show Your true colors, True colors are beautiful, Like a rainbow" or "Down And Out" by Genesis: "I don't want to beat about the bush but none of us are getting any younger". In such cases, teachers have to be perfectly prepared for potential questions or obstacles.

3.1.4 Music and Cultural Awareness The background of a singer can be detected in songs in a certain way. By comparing two songs, a teacher can ask students to figure out where the speaker is from and state why (Scotland, Ireland, USA, etc.). Using music to introduce a lesson or to make an useful warm-up is a great way to activate

25

students' minds. An example of the warm-up, which I have used, is as follows. I take a song or a piece of music, that I associate with a certain place ("Viva Las Vegas" sung by Elvis Presley) and play the first two stanzas. Many times I am surprised how quickly associations spring to students' minds - many more than if I introduced the lesson by saying, "Today we are going to talk about American cities and we are going to start with Las Vegas". This introduction can be used with any place a song or a piece of music is associated with. What frequently follows the song is a debate, brain-storming activities, have-you-ever-been questions and other communicative activities. We can also associate music with certain periods, events or movements in English speaking countries' history. The Hippie movement or so called "Flower Children" era of the 1960's in the USA can be supported by ABBA's song "Flower Power" or by Rado, Ragni and MacDermot's musical "Hair". What is obvious about these examples is that songs have a message and teachers or students can gain new, or retrieve the previous, knowledge.

3.2 Receptive Language Skills 3.2.1 Music and Listening Listening is an important part of learning English. The majority of ESL students consider listening as the most difficult skill in aquiring the English language. When I was a high school student, I shared their opinion. Even in my first two years at university, I had some troubles with the listening section of practical language tests. What has happened or what has changed? At that time, I began to purposely listen to music, radio or tv. I must admit that music has helped me greatly. Nowadays, one of my students' favorite exercises with music is filling in the blanks as they listen to a song. The correction of words from two words that rhyme. It can be seen in the example of Toni Braxton's song "Unbreak My Heart" in the phrases: Don't leave me out in the rain/train, Come back and bring back my smile/style, Come and take these tears/fears away etc. Songs are 26

great tools for learning or teaching listening.

3.2.2 Music and Reading A song has its power not only in melody or rhythm but also in lyrics. There are many activities that can be used in an ESL classroom but I would like to mention only those which are my students' favourite. The most popular activity is a Karaoke singing, which I use in Christmas party lessons mostly eg: "The Christmas Song", "The First Noel" or "I'll be Home For Christmas" as performed by contemporary artists (as mentioned in chapter 3.2.4 Music and Vocabulary). I find this exercise a little bit demanding since students have to manage several skills simultaneously. Reading, listening and pronunciation are trained in a large degree. However, a teacher could use whichever song he/she likes, regardless the genre or purpose. Sometimes, I play a keyboard and my students sing with me. Other alternatives of using a song during reading are to guess the name of the song according to a text or play a piece of music as a muzak throughout the reading practice. Separating the phrases from their lyrics followed with playing the song and and having them try to put all the phrases in the correct order is a further widely extended technique of

foreign language teaching. (Harmer 1991,

Scrivener 2005).

3.3 Music and Motivation The main idea of motivation is to capture student's attention and invoke a desire for learning. Intrinsic motivation is motivation from within the student. Whereas an extrinsically motivated student studies and learns for other reasons. Such a student performs in order to receive a reward, like graduating or passing a test or getting a new shirt from mom, or to avoid a penalty like a failing grade. (Lumsden 1992).

27

As far as my diploma thesis is concerned it is focused on intrinsic motivation of students. "Motivation is the backbone of any classroom." (Bantjes 1994) When the learners are motivated, the teacher can master his/her job better. The teacher can do much to improve the students' motivation, and the effort involved is an essential part of the teaching profession. (Harmer 1998: 8). Music is an exemplary pedagogical tool to make students feel confortable in lessons. Students are fond of working with a piece of music or a song. They enjoy it, have fun and it helps them not be stressed.

3.4 Summary of the Theoretical Part In the theoretical part, it was essential to introduce my previous teaching experiences thus the reasons which led me to write about the music and language relationship. The historical overview came subsequently as an integral part of the general awareness of the phenomena and I attempted to form it as clear as possible. That chapter presented and compared several studies which discussed the same topic. The following chapters dealt not only with psychological and physiological responses of our body and mind to music but also refered to a connection between language and music. It informed the reader about terms which he/she should be familiar with, to comprehend the issue properly. The last section resolved an area of all langugage skills including grammar, vocabulary and cultural awarness in association with music. I tried to describe how to use music as a pratical skill in

the English language

clasroom with examples I usually use in my classes. The theoretical part of the diploma thesis is followed by the practical part, which deals with the research, it's hypothesis, asssumptions and the questionnaire together with it's evaluation. The last section, practical part, brings several lesson plans which were created on the outcomes of the research.

28

4. Research The practical part of my diploma thesis deals with quantitative research based on the questionaire (see 1.3) and the lesson plans based on the research outcomes and suggestions of respondents. The questionaire was compiled by a Likeex research system which was developed by Global Business IT s.r.o. company. This research system provides facilities not only for creating an electronic questionnaire, its ditribution and, data collection but also following evaluation and presentation by ways of graphs and diagrams. The next subheadings

discusses

the research methodology and

description in detail.

4.1 Methodology and Description of the Research As mentioned previously, the main tool used in my study is the questionnaire. A substantial part of a survey is to design a questionnaire properly and, in no case, underestimate the preparation of questions. When the questionnaire is created incorrectly it can negatively influence final data and thus the outcome does not serve the requirements and aims of the research. A well designed questionnaire should meet three main requirements: 1. Purpose: Questions should be formulated clearly in order to gain the information we are interested in. 2. Psychology: The task should seem as an easy, pleasant and wanted. 3. Comprehensibility: Clear instructions should be made so respondents certainly know what they are asked to do (Foret 2008). My research was concentrated on ESL students regardless of age, sex or social status. The essential conditions were easily achievable. A respondent has to be an ESL student and he/she has to have access to the 29

Internet. The whole process of preparation, design and evaluation of the questionnaire can be devided into two main stages: the initial part of the process and precise evaluation of collected data. The next paragraph is written in points for better arrangement. a) The initial part ◦ The creation of the user account in the research system. ◦ Definition of hypotheses, questions and questionnaire arrangement as such. ◦ Distribution of questionnaire to respondents via email. ◦ General data collection which was carried out in one week. ◦ After data completion, I have downloaded a data file with questionaire answers in XLS format (Microsoft Excel). ◦ The Research system evaluated outcomes and produced graphs that were mathematically processible. ◦ Subsequent manual evaluation of open-ended questions based on the XLS data file format. ◦ The total number of respondents who opened the link with the online questionnaire was 333, however only 161 of them filled in the questions, thus participating in the survey. b) Precise analysis of collected data The next step in data analysis was eliminating misfilled or improperly filled questionaires or those where respondents misfilled the filter questions number 8 and 17. The total number of fully completed questionnaires in high quality was 113 and this is the research sample I have worked with.

30

4.2 Research Hypotheses and Questionnaire The research questionnaire and hypotheses were designed on the basis of Foret 's marketing survey theories. The questionnaire consists of nineteen questions dealing with the relationship between ESL students, music and language. The central issue of the whole survey is to formulate hypotheses appropriately. I specified three main hypotheses which were based on my piano and English language teaching experience (see chapter 1.3).

4.3 Results of the Research Questionnaire It is essential to explain two terms crucial for evaluating and understanding the technical description of graphs and diagrams used in the analysis. Absolute Frequency is a statistical term describing the total number of trials or observations within a given interval or frequency bin. The frequency bins can be of any size, but they must be mutually exclusive, exhaustive and the data must be grouped (28). Relative Frequency can be interpreted as "a statistical term describing the ratio of the actual number of favourable events to the total possible number of events; often taken as an estimate of probability." (42). This chapter covers a detailed analysis of individual questions.

31

Question number 1 – How old are you? Table 1 How old are you? Average age

Value

All respondets

28,66

Men

29,29

Women

28,3

Question number 2 - My gender is? Table 2 My gender is? Gender

Absolute Frequency

Relative Frequency

Men

41

36,28 %

Women

72

63,72%

Two basic questions that should be asked in each survey are shown above. The average age of all respondents was 28,66 (see table 1) therefrom age range was eight to sixty two. Nexus of quantity between men and women is fourty one to seventy two out of one hundred and thirteen respondents in total.

Figure 1 Men versus women ratio was fourty one to seventy two out of one hundred and thirteen respondents in total (see figure 1). 32

Question number 3 - Which of the following language skills are the easiest for you? Choose a level of difficulty for every single skill: 1 - the easiest, 5 - the most difficult. Table 3 Which of the following language skills are the easiest for you? Activity / Level

1

2

3

4

5

reading

56,25 %

33,93%

7,14%

2,68%

0,00%

writing

12,39%

34,51%

30,97%

17,70%

4,42%

listening

10,62%

20,35%

38,94%

18,58%

11,50%

speaking

13,39%

21,43%

36,61%

17,86%

10,71%

Figure 2

This stackchart (see figure 2) supports my assumpton that listening is the most difficult skill for nearly twelve percent of involved students (see 1.3). It is very startling that speaking is still consider to be the second most demanding skill despite the effort teachers make in their lessons. The results tell us the easiest part of language learning for the participants is reading.

33

Question number 4 - How many times do you practice listening in your English classes? Table 4 How many times do you practice listening in your English classes? Answer

Absolute Frequency

Relative Frequency

In each lesson

25

22,52 %

Once in two lessons

46

41,44%

Once a month

28

25,23%

Other option

14

10,81%

Figure 3

Figure 4 Practically fourty two percent (see figure 4) of students marked the 34

option of practicing the listening once in two lesson, which is quite often. Nevertheless, in comparison with the previous question, we can trace that, although the students train their listening so often, still listening is the most difficult task for them. According to the results, only four respondents answered that they never practice listening in their English lesson. I have never heard about an English teacher who does not work with listening in his/ her classroom until these results occured. Two conclusions arose. The first one is that these four respondents did not reply truthfully and the second conclusion, which is unambiguos, that their teacher should not teach an English lecture until he/she would manage language teaching methods properly. As Scrivener pointed out, "the balance of activities over a sequence of lesson is one of the features which will determine the overall level of student involvement in the course." He also mentioned that, "If we get it right, it will also provide the widest range of experience to meet different learning styles of the students in the class." (Scrivenver 2005: 319)

Question number 5 – Write the name of your favourite song This question was open-ended and respondents were asked to write their favourite song containing English lyrics. It was essential to evaluate this question manualy and it was really demanding. The most frequent answers are in the table below. As you can see the song "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson was number one with five votes, however, the Irish band U2 and the song "One" and "Beautiful Day" obtained four, as well as the British musicians Queen with their song "The Show Must Go On."

35

Table 5 Write the name of your favourite song Interpret

Song

Frequency Male Female Total

Michael Jackson (8)

Billy Jean

2

1

3

Thriller

-

1

1

Heal the World

-

1

1

This is It

-

1

1

Dirty Diana

1

-

2

Black or White

-

1

1

One

-

2

2

With or Withou You

-

1

1

Beautiful Day

1

1

2

The Show Must Go On

2

-

2

Bohemian Rapsody

1

-

1

Rufus Wainwright (3)

Hallelujah

1

2

3

Led Zeppelin (2)

No Quarter

-

1

1

Stairway To Heaven

1

-

1

Brave New World

1

-

1

Run To the Hills

1

-

1

You Know Me

-

1

1

U2 (5)

Queen (3)

Iron Maiden (2) Robbie Williams

Despite the high frequency of Michael Jackson's songs (see table 5), I decided to work with the U2 song "Beautiful Day" because of it's interesting lyrics. It is important to mention that before I used the clear data, there were numerous answers with the name of Rufus Wainwright, whose cover version of the song "Hallelujah", originally written by a Canadian singer Leonard Cohan, is nowadays associated with a Shrek film soundrack. Lastly, a song called "Fire Flies" by Owl City really cought my eye as I really enjoy it when I hear it on the radio. Question number 6 - Write the name of your favourite singer Following table (see table 6) shows us that Madonna and Michael Jaskon are the most favourite singers, who are followed by Robie Williams, Brian Adams and Pink. I appreciate that Jamie Collum is consider to be the favourite singer of three participants. It could be expected that Michael Jaskon's primacy was

36

caused by his last film "This Is It" and his sudden death on June 25, 2009. This speculation could be supported by a Jindřich Göth's magazine article where he claimed that the death of a singer is great for business. On the date July 16, 2009, on the top of six of Brititish charts were Michael Jackson albums including his last, the gratest hits album The Essential. As we can trace in history, this is not a rare or unknown occurence. It was very simillar in 1991 with the death of Freddie Mercury and his album Made In Heaven or the tradic death of Kurt Cobain in 1994 (35). Emerging from the research, each generation has its own favourite artists. People who were in the range of forty to fifty years old usually refered to older artists such as Johny Cash or Sting and those whose age range was between fifteen to thirty chose Alicia Keys or Justine Timberlake as their favourites. This question, as the previous one, was open-ended and was manualy evaluated. Table 6 Write the name of your favourite singer Interpret

Frequency Male

Female

Total

Madonna

1

11

12

Michael Jackson

4

6

10

Robbie Williams

2

5

7

Brian Adams

-

7

7

Freddie Mercury

3

2

5

Pink

-

5

5

Johnny Cash

1

2

3

Jamie Collum

-

3

3

Norah Jones

1

1

2

Alicia Keys

-

2

2

Justin Timberlake

1

1

2

Beyonce

-

2

2

Sting

2

-

2

Bob Marley

2

-

2

37

Question number 7 – Tick the sentence which best expresses your opinion Table 7 Tick the sentence which best expresses your opinion Answer

Absolute

Relative

Frequency

Frequency

I like listening to music in an English lesson

88

22,52 %

I do not like listening to music in an English lesson

15

41,44%

I do not have any opinion

10

25,23%

Other option

10,81%

Figure 5

Figure 6 38

It is a really positive outcome that eighty eight persons (see figure 5) out of one hundred and thirteen replied that they like listening to music in an English lesson. Fifteen of them have the opposite opinion. Ten students replied that they do not have any opinion and six respondents share the view that they do not want to listen to music at all in an English language lesson, whence it follows, that the majority of participants like listening to music in their English lesson. This fact might encourage teachers not to be afraid of using music in their classes.

Question number 8 - Does your teacher use music during your English classes? Table 8 Does your teacher use music during your English classes? Answer

Absolute Frequency

Relative Frequency

Yes

71

62,83 %

No

42

37,17%

Figure 7 Question number 8 was designed as a filter. Here I would like to mention that this type of question eliminated twenty respondents, since they did not answer properly and thus their response could not be take into account. It is a positive finding that teachers of seventy one respondents use 39

music during their English classes (see table 8). The following question number 9 specifies individual segments of a lesson where music is applied as a pedagogical tool.

Question number 9 - My teacher uses music during our English classes when Table 9 My teacher uses music during our English classes when Answer

Absolute Frequency

Practicing grammar

9

Parcticing vocabulary

33

Practicing pronunciation

6

Practicing listening

54

Practicing writing

3

Celebrating significant holidays

12

Introducing culture

9

Other opinion

8

Figure 8 As I presumed, listening is the most frequent part of the lesson where teachers adopt the method of using music. Thirty three respondents are experienced with vocabulary (see figure 8) practice with music and twelve of them clicked on the option of listening to music in lesson when celebrating significant holidays. A piece of music as a tradition at the beginnig of each month is an interesting answer. Another reply which is worth mentioning, is 40

that a translation of a song lyrics is used as a punishment for desruptive behaviour in the classroom.

Question number 10 - Does your teacher use lyrics of English songs during English classes? Table 10 Does your teacher use lyrics of English songs during English classes? Answer

Absolute Frequency

Relative Frequency

Yes

70

61,95 %

No

39

34,51%

Other option

4

3,54 %

Figure 9 These numbers tell us that nearly sixty two percent (see figure 9), which is equal to seventy individuals, were experienced with learning some of the language skills through English song lyrics. Thirty nine negative answers were found and four students had another opinion, which were not crucial for our survey. It has to be admitted, that this question was not formulated correctly, thus it did not bring the intended answers. Furthermore, it can be seen as a very similar question, as the numbers eight and nine.

41

Question number 11 - Would you like to work with English songs during your English classes? Table 11 Would you like to work with English songs during your English classes? Answer

Absolute

Relative

Frequency Frequency No

10

8,84 %

I do not know

51

45,13%

Yes, write a reason why and at least a name of two songs

52

46,01 %

The piechart, as seen below (see figure 10), demonstrates that fourty six percent of respondents want to work with English songs during their English classes. On the contrary only ten people responded negatively. This result is really encouraging and stimulating for designing my lesson plans. It is essential to observe that fourty five percent do not know, thus do not have another opinion, even if fourty six percent of them thought that music can definitely help to improve their level of English and aproximately thirty six percent supposed that music can help them with learning English language as well (see question number 15).

Figure 10

42

Question number 12 - What kind of source do you use when searching for music? Table 12 What kind of source do you use when searching for music? Answer

Absolute Frequency

I do not search for music

25

I buy CDs

33

I borrow CDs from the library

7

On the Internet, please write at least one online source...

64

Figure 11 This question was primarily designed to discover which internet sources the students use when searching for any piece of music or song. Twenty respondents out of sixty four stated that www.youtube.com is their most common virtual place they use for searching. This outcome is identical with the Raabe, J. and Sejkorová, J. (41) in their case, nearly seventy five percent of their respondents chose www.youtube.com as the main tool when searching for music. A social site www.facebook com was mentioned also and it becoming widely extended in populations throughout the world nowadays. This fact is again supported by the survey above where the social site www.facebook.com was in the top of three in chart (see table 13). I would like to emphasise that there are thirty three students who buy Cds, although prices of musical CDs remain relatively high in our country. Twenty five people stated that they do not search for the music at all and 7 of 43

them borrow CDs from the library. Table 13 Online sources Online source

Absolute Frequency

www.youtube.com

20

www.rapidshare.com

4

www.mp3s.nadruhou.net

4

www.stahuj.cz

3

www.ulozto.cz

2

www.czshare.cz

1

www.czmusic.cz

1

Some of the internet sources were so-called underground sites and I decided not to mention them as they are illegal.

Question number 13 - Tick the sentence which comes from your experience Table 14 Tick the sentence which comes from your experience Answer

Absolute Frequency

I always understand every word in a song with

3

English lyrics. I often understand almost every word in a song with

16

English lyrics. I sometimes understand single words in a song with

22

English lyrics. I rarely understand single words in a song with

65

English lyrics. I do not understand a song with English lyrics at all.

44

7

Figure 12 This chart (see figure 12) tells us that sixty five respondents rarely understand (the average age is 30) and twenty two of them sometimes understand lyrics of the song in English language (the average age is 22,9). The average age of those who replied they often understand almost every word in a song with English lyrics was 27, whereas the answers with the word always equaled an average age of 23. The quantity of respondents who do not understand a song with English lyrics at all was seven and corresponds to an average age of 30.

Question number 14 - In which parts of your English lesson except listening exercises would you like to use music? Table 15 In which parts of your English lesson except listening exercises would you like to use music? Answer

Absolute Frequency

Literature

19

History

14

Culture

79

quizzes and Games

48

Other part

7

45

Figure 13 The outcome of this question was essential for my lesson plan design. Seventy nine participating students would like to use music within the culture part of their lesson and fourty eight thought that they would appreciate musical quizzes and games. Nineteen of them prefear literature, whereas fourteen for the history part of the learning process. Several creative suggestions have emerged from the data. One of the repondents mentioned that she would like to deal with English folklore songs and after mastering two or three of them she would like to make her own text according to the previous songs.

Question number 15 - Do you think that music can help you improve your English? Table 16 Do you think that music can help you improve your English? Answer

Absolute Frequency Relative Frequency

Definitely yes

52

46,02%

Yes

41

36,28%

I do not know

14

12,39%

No

3

2,65%

Definitely not

0

0,00%

Your opinion

3

2,65%

46

Figure 14 It is very positive to see that fifty two participants (see figure 14) thought that music can definitely help them improve their language skills. Fourty one of them agreed and fourteen of them did not know. What is worth mentioning, is that no one chose the negative option. A woman, twenty seven, who plays the piano, suggested that when she has some fixed phrase from a song in her mind, she is interested in what it really stands for. Another depicted a situation when she does not understand the foreign word properly, she tries to look it up in the lyrics and finally translated it into Czech.

47

Question number 16 - Do you sing? Table 17 Do you sing? Answer

Absolute Frequency

Relative Frequency

Yes

64

57,66%

No

47

42,34%

Figure 15 This question was intended to find out how many people would be able to sing in the English classes without bigger problems. There were sixty four participants who sing and fourty seven do not sing (see table 17). From the survey emerged that singing is quite popular in our country from whence it follows that teachers should not be concerned about using songs in their English lesson.

Question number 17 - Do you or did you play any musical instrument? Table 18 Do you or did you play any musical instrument? Answer

Absolute Frequency

Relative Frequency

Yes

55

50,45%

No

56

49,55%

48

Figure 16 This question was a filter and it corresponded with the following question, number 18. It is interesting that the rate was fifty five to fifty six (see figure 16). This showed us that the Czech people are a relatively musical nation. As a loose translation of a famous Czech quote says, "everybody is a musican in Czech lands". We can see the numbers told that almost every second person in total is a musican. The research result could be supported by a survey realized by Czech university students where the ratio between musicians and non-musicians were 411: 304 (41).

Question number 18 - What musical instrument do you play? Table 19 What musical instrument do you play? Answer

Absolute Frequency

Piano

33

Trumpet

5

Violin

2

Flute

15

Guitar

18

Other

5

49

Figure 17 Even though I had expected that the piano would be the one of the most favourite musical instruments in the Czech Republic, I have to admit that the results of my research might be slightly influenced by the fact that several of respondents were both my piano and English students. However, numbers were supported by an annual report from 2007/2008 of Křížkovský music school where I have been teaching since 2008 (44). The numbers of my research showed that the piano versus the flute ratioed 33:15, whereas the annual report said that the piano is studied by 111 and the flute by 29 students (45). In addition, an annual report ofrom Polná Music school proved that from 2008-2009, the ratio between the same instruments was 73:38 (45). These figures confirmed my expectations. Furthermore, eighteen students played the guitar and fifteen of them the trumpet. The violin, the tuba and a percussion were the other notable instruments.

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Question number 19 - What was your age when you started to play musical instrument? Table 20 What was your age when you started to play musical instrument? Importance

Age

Absolute

Average age

Frequency x

5

6

x

6

13

x

7

11

-

8

7

-

9

1

-

10

6

-

11

2

-

12

2

8,09

This question is crucial for my survey. In my hypothesis number (1) when acquiring the English language, I believe there is a significant difference between students who started to play any musical instrument before the age of 7 and those who started later. The average age of all respondents who played any musical instrument is 8,09 (see table 20). Thirty out of fifty five musicians started to play a musical intrument before the age of 7. Six of them at the age of five, thirteen at six and eleven instrumentalists began at seven. In this case it can be claimed that the hypothesis was proved and for further analysis see chapter 5.1.

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5. Discussion of the Study Results In this chapter I would like to discuss the results of the hypotheses on the grounds of four more charts, which are based on the comparison of two data groups. The previous chapter was focused not only on questionnaire analysis but also on other data which support the outcomes.

5.1 Hypothesis Number 1 ‒ Evaluation When acquiring the English language, I believe there is a significant difference between students who started to play any musical instrument before the age of 7 and those who started later.

Dependency of questions number 3 and 19: •

Question number 3 - Which of the following language skills are the easiest for you. Choose a level of difficulty for every single skill: 1- the easiest, 5- the most difficult.

•

Question number 19 - What was your age when you started to play musical instrument?

Figure 18 A group of respondents, who stated that they played any musical 52

instrument, were divided into two categories (see figure 18). The green columns are represented by musicians who started to play a musical instrument before the age of seven, whereas the blue coloured symbolize those who started later. Finaly it can be said that the hypothesis was proved this my belief was veracious. The green group stated that they have fewer problems with listening practice. As we can see on the chart, aproximately twenty three percent voted for the easy option whereas only eight percent of blue voted for the same option. The hypothesis was formulated on my real teaching practise, yet it was essential to prove my assumption by the research.

5.2 Hypothesis Number 2 – Evaluation In my opinion, there is a significant difference in acquiring the English language between students who played any musical instrument and those who did not.

Dependency of questions number 3 and 13 (see 4.3): •

Question number 3 - Which of the following language skills are the easiest for you. Choose a level of difficulty for every single skill: 1- the easiest, 5- the most difficult.

•

Question number 13 - Tick the sentence which comes from your experience.

1.

I always understand every word in a song with English lyrics.

2. I often understand almost every word in a song with English lyrics. 3. I sometimes understand single words in a song with English lyrics. 4. I rarely understand single words in a song with English lyrics. 5. I do not understand a song with English lyrics at all.

53

Figure 19 Two groups were made out of the total number of respondents: a) musicians and b) non-musicians. Those who played musical instruments are marked as green coloured and non-musicians as blue (see figure 19). This chart examined the dependency of question number 3, more precisely the listening skill, and question number 17. It proved the hypothesis, that musicians manage the aquiring of the English language, here it is the listening skill, better than non-musicians. Generally, we can see from the extreme values that aproximately eighteen percent of musicians chose the option 1 which meant listening is easy for them, whereas number 3, as an average range of difficulty showed musicians have fewer problems with listening than non-musicians. The hypothesis was based not only on my teaching experience but also on my colleagues' practical experience.

54

Dependency of questions number 13 and 17: •

For question number 13 see the previous chart of dependency

•

Question number 17 - Do you or did you play any musical instrument?

Figure 20 Equivalent groups of musicians and non-musicians were made for the presentation of the relatinship between questions number 13 and 17. In other words whether musicians, characterized by green colour, understood the lyrics of an Enlish song better then non-musicians, who are represented in orange (see figure 20). Always and never were extreme values, which again supported the hypothesis that there is a significant difference in acquiring the English language between students who played any musical instrument and those who did not. 5, 5 percent of musicians and none of participants who do not play a musical instrument chose the option always. On the other hand, 1,8 percent of musicians and 10,7 of non-musicians mentioned the option never. The results signified that non-musicians faced bigger comprehension problems when listening to a song with English lyrics than musicians.

55

5.3 Hypothesis Number 3 – Evaluation I believe there is a significant difference between the younger generation of students up to the age of 25 and the rest of the examined learners in understanding songs with English lyrics.

Dependency of questions number 1 and 13: •

Question number 1 - How old are you?

•

Question number 13 - Tick the sentence which comes from your experience. (For more, see the chart of dependency between questions 3 and 13).

Figure 21 As we can see on the chart, two groups were formed out of 113 total number of respondents (see figure 21). 1. Blue coloured were respondents up to 25 years old and 2. orange couloured were respondents aged over 25. As far as my teaching practice experience is concerned, the younger generation usually understands English lyrics more often then people who are over twenty five years old, however, the research did not prove this clearly. In 56

the case of the often and sometimes option, it is clear that respondents up to 25 outbalanced those, who are over 25, though this score was not as significant as it was esential for proving the hypothesis. There a further eventuality arose. This relationship could be studied on larger sample to see mutual dependence more explicitely. My research results were carried out from the one hundered and sixty two respondents. What I suggest is that the hypothesis could be markedly proved or disprove on the sample over five hundred respondents.

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6. Lesson Plans Before a particular lesson plan is created, a teacher has to consider a number of crucial factors. According to Harmer, those factors are "language level of our students, their educational and cultural background, their likely levels of motivation, and their different language styles" (Harmer 1998). As well as the factors, it has to be clear which activities the teacher would like to deal with. The question is whether students will be grouped, paired or work independently. Subsequently, whether they will sit or move around the class. From my point of view, a more interesting lesson is with better cooperation with students. I agree with Harmer who stated, "the best lesson offer a variety of activities within a class period" (Harmer 2008). An ideal lesson should be well balanced. Thus, not oriented only on one language skill. On the basis of the data results, I created four lesson plans which are suitable for intermediate and above learners. Respondents expressed their wish to work with a song in connection to games, quizzes and culture. In order to meet the requirements, which were carried out from the research outcomes, the plans were focused on cultural awareness and it's issues, namely multicultural awareness, racism, poverty, world religion status, war, homeless people, etc. The research results of question number 5 and 6 brought several names of artists and songs and helped with creating my leesson plans, as well. To fulfill the participants' demands of games, I added a crossword, word search or cryptographic quiz as further activities, that can be covered within the lesson. In the following chapter there are four lesson plans dealing with four different artists: Jamie Collum, Rufus Wainwright, Pink, and U2. These plans are focused on increasing the knowledge of cultural awareness, human values and global issues of today's world. Plans were design according to my own experience, respondents' requirements, Tim Murphey's book Music and Song, Jan Volín's English Through Songs book.

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Lesson Plan number 1 Smajl language school, intermediate level, group of 10 students, age-20-31, Friday 13-14.30.

Jamie Collum – Gran Torino – Film Soundtrack (4'31") •

AIM: To increase multicultural awareness of a typical American city suburb. This time it is a Michigan suburb, its habits, problematic issues, cuisine, rules and principles based on Jamie Collum's song and his music video. To increase and fix aquired vocabulary. To discuss problems, brainstroming practicing and through it, improve speaking skills. Present perfect practise, nationalities.

•

Materials: Jamie's Collums song on CD; music video/ DVD, or access to the Internet; a task sheet for each student; in the case of using the Internet, a data projector or an interactive board.

•

Level: Suitable for intermediate, upper intermediate, advanced

•

Time: 90 minutes

Before listening Activity 1 •

Brainstorming and Freeze Frame

•

Find a typical picture or a photography of a Michigan suburb and stick it on the board. You can use the first frame of the music video as well. Ask students to guess: Where is it? If they do not know, help them with phrases like: It begins with M, it is near Canada, Can you guess again? Write their suggestions on the board next to the picture. (5-8')

•

Tell your students that you are going to work with the music video. Devide students into groups and give them 3 minutes to discuss what they think the video is about. Ask them to write down two words in minimum. Then cooperate together and work with several suggestion, 59

draw the mind map on the board . (5-8') •

Play the song only on CD player or when using the Internet play only the audio (without the music video), just for the atmosphere. (5')

While listening Activity 1 •

Ask students to write down one word which comes to mind while listening to the song (review of adjectives from the previous lesson). Then listen to their chosen vocabulary and add them to the mind map on the board. (10')

After listening Activity1 •

Ask your students if they want to know what the clip is about?

•

Play the music video.

•

Distribute them handout number 1 (fill in the blanks exercise) and play the song again. (5') Speculate about the blanks then listen again and check. Give your students the opportunity to ask further questions about vocabulary or phrases from the text.

Activity 2 •

Ask your students whether they can find the adjective they know from the previous lesson (bitter). Then distribute your handouts and ask students to work on the exercise number 1. In pairs, they tick the words that describe the song. (sorrowful, mournful, cheerful, witty, humorous, unpleasant, noisy, loud, quiet, calm, tragic, comic, bitter, sweet). (3-5')

•

When some of your students still do not understand some words ask his/ her schoolmates to help ( they can use gesters and body movement either). If they are not able to explain it properly, help them but only in English. (5') 60

•

Add ticked vocabulary on the board. (3')

Activity 3 •

Ask students to work alone on exercise number 2. (20')

•

Choose two of the following questions. Then discuss your answers with your neighbour. 1. What is the main idea of the music video? 2. What social or cultural values are reflected in the music video? 3. What ethnic groups are represented in the music video? 4. What is their mother tongue? 5. What do you know about these ethnic groups and their cultural symbols ( e.g.habits, cusine, music...)? 6. Have ever been to their homeland/ mother country? 7. Can you see any similarities between USA and our country?

•

Question number 6 and 7 are prepared just in case you have more time than expected.

•

Ask your students to identify the discussed problems in the lines of the song (5-10')

Activity 3 a) (3-5') •

This activity is prepared as a back- up. If you have enough time ask your students to do the exercise. If not, use it as a warm-up in the next lesson.

•

Fill in the correct form of the nation and nationalities. (flags and maps)

•

Korea-Korean, USA-American, Mexico-Mexican(-an), Poland-Polish, Sweden-Swedish,

The

Netherlands-Dutch,

Japanese, Portugal-Portuguese, China-Chinese.

61

Russia-Russian,

Japan-

Activity 3b) •

If they want to play the song once more finish the lesson with your further suggestion as HW the students can think about.

•

Next lesson use your students's ideas as a warm-up

•

Note: If you want to work more with the vocabulary from the lyrics, you can use the crossword puzzle. (see an appendix)

This lesson plan was piloted in April 16, 2010 within my English class of inermediate students. The plan was created to fit my students as much as possible. I have been teaching this course since September 2009, thus it can be said that I know their learner's needs well. There were eight students in the Friday class. As my students have troubles with getting speaking at the beginning of the lesson it its my responsibility to make a well prepared speaking warm-up. In this case I arranged brainstorming activity based on the freeze frame of a typical Michigan suburb. I used the picture from the music video. Even if the students are used to working with the method of brainstorming, they needed my help with questions. The warm-up fulfiled my intention and they spoke quite well. However, the activity took them ten minutes not only eight as I supposed. The next discussion, what is the music video about, was more vivid and it took only five minutest. I wrote their suggestions on the board. After the first listening they managed to write more words than only one which I asked for, as we went through the adjectives the previous lesson it was a sort of review for them. It could be influenced by the fact that two students knew the song and the film as well. So we finally agreed on the main plot of the video and started to fill in the blanks in the lyrics. Students liked that exercise as they knew majority of words used. They found the adjective which were asked to and they easily managed to tick the next excercise. They did not have troubles with vocabulary so the part with explaining the meaning of the words was not necessary.

62

As far as the question part is concerned, I was really suprised how much they know about habits and cuisine of foreign nations. The best known were Japanese, Chinese and Thai. We discussed rassism and violence issues and compared it with the situations within our country. The discussion was again really vivid as my students are adults and they are experienced and have their own thoughts and opinions. We managed to discuss the whole set of questions. Naturally I had to control the discussion as it led to a political debate concerned our political issues and fighting between two major parties on our political scene. Finaly we returned toward our topic and worked with the lyrics again. As the debate was so long we did not manage the last excercise concerning nationalities however, I expected that, so I decided to work with the nationalities as a warm-up the next lesson.

Lesson Plan number 2 Smajl language school, intermediate level, group of 10 students, age-20-31, Friday 13-14.30.

Rufus Wainwright – Hallelujah – Film Soundtrack Copyright © 1985 Leonard Cohen and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada Company. (4') •

AIM:

To highten awarness of world religion issues; to practise

discussion about human values with respect to others; writing an essay on the bases of discussion; karaoke singing- to practise reading. •

Materials: The Rufus Wainwright's song on CD; music video/ DVD, or acces to the Internet; task sheets for each student; in the case of using the Internet, a data projector or an interactive board.

•

Level: Suitable for intermediate, upper intermediate, advanced

•

Time: 90 minutes

63

Before listening: Introduction (5') •

Ask your students to close their eyes and focus on the lyrics of the song.

While listening •

Ask them to try to find what is the main message of the song and consequently what they think is the lesson topic today.

•

Play the song once.(5') While playing the song, students have their eyes closed. Write these terms on the board in columns: AIDS, GENDER, RELIGION, WAR, TERRORISM, ECONOMIC CRISIS, LOVE, DEATH.

After listening Activity 1 •

Ask your students to discuss their ideas in groups of three or four. Then listen to their suggestions and make a tick under each expression which was mentioned. (5-10')

Activity 2 •

Destribute your handouts number 1 with lyrics and ask them to find and underline the expressions which support their ideas (5')

Activity 3 •

Ask students to do a matching exercise number 1. Go through the lyrics and discuss further unknown vocabulary. (10')

Activity 4 •

Discuss these questions together with your students. (20')

1. What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘religion’? 2. What does religion mean to you? 3. Is religion always a good thing? 4. With all the religions in the world, how do we know which one is best or 64

true? 5. Do people choose their religion or do people’s parents choose it? 6. If religion is all about love and peace, why are many of the world’s conflicts and wars caused by religion? 7. What would the world be like without religion? Activity 5 •

Ask your students to choose one question and write an eassay based on the topic. It should be aproximately 250-400 words long. In the case they are not finished by the end of the lesson, they can finish it at home. (30')

•

Note: As another alternative how to introduce the song and the lesson, you can use a cryptographic quizz. (see an appendix)

65

Lesson Plan number 3 Smajl language school, intermediate level, group of 10 students, age-20-31, Friday 13-14.30.

Pink – Dear Mr. President (4'56") •

AIM: To highten awareness of gobal issues as war, criminality, homeless people, homosexual minorities, human equality, social status, drug eddiction etc; to practise the speaking skill through the debates; to improve critical thinking and the defence of selected point of view.

•

Materials: The Pink's song on CD; music video/ DVD, or acces to the Internet; a task sheet for each student; in the case of using the Internet, a data projector or an interactive board.

•

Level: Suitable for intermediate, upper intermediate, advanced

•

Time: 90 minutes

Before listening Activity 1 •

Ask your students to think about global issues of todays world. Give each of them three stones or buttons. Each button stands for one meaningful answer. At the end of the lesson no one should have a button. Write three columns on the board: ◦ A) Problem ◦ B) Reason ◦ C) Solution

•

Ask them to speak out their ideas. Write them on the board (15')

66

While listening Activity 1 •

Distribute a handout number 1. Ask students to tick problems in the text which have been discussed. Play the song or a music video. (With the video option it would be easier for your students to find it.) (5')

After listening Activity 1 •

Play again and check the answers

Activity 2 •

Divide your students into pairs or threes (two issues whould be discussed within one lesson) and ask them to choose the problem they would like to discuss. Regardless their attitude towards the issue choose for each group those who will represent PRO and those who will be AGAINST. Give them 15 minutes for preparation of the standpoint and open the debate. (15')

•

Be aware of time. Each side is given 3 minutes for expressing their main points. Then teacher control the debate as the speaking time should be equal for each group. 20 minutes for one debate is enough. (40')

•

Finish your lesson with general summary and play the song once more (if it is enough time) .

•

Note: If you want to work more with the vocabulary from the lyrics, you can use the word search. (see an appendix)

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Lesson Plan number 4 Smajl language school, intermediate level, group of 10 students, age-20-31, Friday 13-14.30.

U2 – Beautiful Day (4') •

AIM: To practice prediction, to listen for specific purpose, to practise associations, have fun with crossroads.

•

Materials: The U2 song on CD; a task sheet for each student; pictures associated with the song according to blanks which are needed for preparing the task sheet (a heart, a bloom, a hand, green and blue colour, a tuna, fire, a bird and a leaf) and five more asscociated with the music band (Irish landscape, a band photo, and three other pictures which expresses beauty, fun and a day)

•

Level: Suitable for intermediate, upper intermediate, advanced

•

Time: 90 minutes

Before listening Activity 1 •

Take five pictures which are associated with the music band and the song and stick them on the board. Ask students to describe the pictures properly. Then ask them to guess the singer and the name of the song. (10-15')

•

Distribute your students task sheets with lyrics and exercises.

Activity 2 •

Ask them to read the text and replace the pictures with words. When finished tell them to read the vocabulary chart below. Give them chance to discuss unknown words. (5-10')

68

While listening Activity 1 •

Play the song and ask your students to listen and check the words which replaced the pictures. Check. (5-10')

After listening Activity 1 •

Play the song again and ask your students to fill in the blanks with an appropriate form of words from the chart below.

•

Check their answers and listen again for control. (10')

Activity 2 •

Ask your students about the music group. What do they know about them and their activities connected with fighting poverty and other issues, which deal with the third world? Which countries belong to the third world? Which other musical groups help to solve this problem? (15-20')

Activity 3 •

Ask your students to puzzle out the crossword. (10')

•

Assign your students to create a crossroad on their own as homework. The answer should be connected with the topic covered. (5')

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6.1 Suggestions for Teaching As we found from the previous chapters music is definitely a pedagogical tool. It can brighten your students' minds and imagination as well as help them to increase their range of vocabulary. On the foundation of the research, several main facts were detected. Students responded they are willing to work with music and song within their English lesson. They believe that music can help them to improve their language skills and they enjoy the class more. Students expressed their ambitions to work with music in connection to cultural and literature part of the lesson. A considerable number of teachers could confirm that learners are interested in crosswords, quizzes or puzzles. In each of us there is something which remains from our childhood, thus we want to play. It is highly recommended to add quizzes and games into the teaching process. It helps to ease the atmosphere in the class and, also, helps students forget their troubles. They can have fun and learn at the same time regardless age, profession or social status. There is a wide range of possibilities how to use music within the teaching process. Music exists in various forms, for example, as classical instrumental music, pop songs, ethnic music, film music, music videos, etc. To some extent, genre or form determine the potential application of music within the lesson. The research outcomes of question number 14 (see 4.3) said, that students would like to work with music during the culture part of their English lesson. Culture deals with plenty of fields in our lives such as our history, music, literature, education, habits or politics. A song can serve as an introduction to the problematics. When there is a history or a literature lesson, a teacher can find a piece of music from that certain period, as well as the piece of writing or a photography from the same period. Then students can try to find similarities between the chosen materials. I use this kind of method with following questions: Who are the authors of the music and the piece of writing? Did they live in the same century? Did they live in the same country? Is it possible they met each other? etc. I can say that my students like it and the possitive benefit 70

of this activity is they have a wider range of general awarness. Thus, they are able to make associations more easily than those students who are not use to doing it. Generally we can say music can be used according to a teacher's purposes and intentions. The most important thing to say is: whoever is teaching English language, he/she should not be afraid to use music, regardless it's form, in the teaching process. As we already know, music can help us to improve our language skills, so why not to try it.

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7. Theoretical and Practical Contribution of the Study This diploma thesis deals with both a theoretical and practical point of view. The theoretical contribution could be seen in the complexity of the study, which was compiled on the basis of up-to-date technology. It can serve as a theoretical source for further diploma thesis or disertations, which will be oriented to a similar field of study, as the research is in high quality, thus reliable. My diploma thesis also provides theoretical groundwork necessary for getting into the discussed issue. A reader can find how the brain works while learning a language or playing a musical instrument or how our body reacts to music, both physiologicaly and psychologicaly. On the basis of the research, I was able to develop my lesson plans compliant with the respondents' requirements. The plans were made for practical purposes and can be applied into any lesson of an intermediate level or above students. Each teacher should adapt the plans to his/her learners needs but, generally, they are easily applicable to the process of learning. This study also summarizes commonly used methods and hence it can be beneficial for teachers if they are not familiar with using music in the language classroom. My study confirms the fact that music is able to be a pedagogical tool and students would like to work with it. Students also think music can help them improve their language skills and they perceive the lessons as attractive and useful.

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8. Conclusion By the means of my thesis, I intended to introduce music and a song as a pedagogical tool in an English language lesson. I wanted not only to show the historical overview of a language and music evolution and it's mutual relationship, but also to demonstrate how the brain reacts in connection with music. Language skills and interaction with music is the next stage of the theoretical part of the study. There I illustrated the common methods of using music in a language lesson with several practical examples. My research was compiled by a Likeex research system which was developed by Global Business IT s.r.o. Company. This modern system provides facilities for creating an electronic questionnaire, it's ditribution, data collection and last, but not least, following evaluation. It is essential for contemporary research to adopt techniques that are not only more efficient but also prompt. As I believe a teacher can be succesful in his/her teaching practise, only in case he/she knows the students' needs, their aims and requirements. Under the condition of being a piano teacher and my experience with using foreign languages in my piano lessons, I formulated three hypotheses which served there as a basis for the designing of the research questionnaire. These hypotheses are: 1. When aquiring the English language, I belive there is a significant difference in acquiring an English language between students who started to play any musical instrument before the age of 7 and those who started later. 2. In my opinion, there is a significant difference in acquiring the English language between students who played any musical instrument and those who did not. 3. I believe there is a significant difference between the younger generation of students up to the age of 25 and the rest of the examined learners in understanding songs with English lyrics. In addition to my hypotheses, I assumed that not only is listening the most difficult language skill for

73

ESL students but also that a piano is the most frequent musical instrument. The first two hypotheses were proved. However, the results of the last one were not clear enough, therefore I suggested carrying out further research on larger sample. My assumptions were fulfilled. Listening was consider to be the most difficult skill and the piano the favourite musical instrument. The questionnaire was intended not only to find answers to my hypotheses and assumptions but also to discover the attitude of respondents towards using music in an English language classroom. Whether they think it can help them to improve their language skills, what songs they would like to work with or in which part of a learning process they would like to deal with a song. The findings indicated that music has a definite pedagogical value. In general, respondents' reaction to music was positive and a majority of them believe that music is a valuable tool for acquiring a foreign language. Lesson plans were a significant part of the diploma thesis. Integrating a theory into practice was essential for finding whether the research and the study were meaningful. In this case, it can be said, that the practical part was supported by both a theoretical point of view and valuable research, from which the outcomes were carried out. Lesson plans were designed according to the respondents' demands. Each lesson plan was focused on hightening students' cultural awareness. As demanded by participants, crosswords and quizzes were incorporated into the lesson plans as well. Current artists and their songs were processed and inserted into the plans (U2, Pink, Jamie Collum and Rufus Wainwright's song). The Jamie Collum's lesson plan was piloted succesfully and enjoyed by students. All plans could be adapted by any teacher, who is interesting in working with music in an English lesson. To conclude, music definitely is the pedagogical tool and learners, as well as teachers, benefit from using it during their learning or teaching process. Music is an inseparable part of our lives, thus it depends only on us if we take advantage of this phenomena and use it as a tool in our education. 74

9. Resume Hudba je velmi dobře využitelným pedagogickým nástrojem ve výuce anglického

jazyka.

Integrujeme-li

píseň

či

instrumentální

hudbu

do

edukativního procesu, rozvíjíme tak studentovo všeobecné vnímání a taktéž při tomto procesu zapojujeme obě jeho mozkové hemisféry. Toto nám může být nápomocno v osvojování si cizího jazyka, v tomto případě anglického. Důležitou součástí této diplomové práce je výzkum, na jehož základě pak byli vypracovány plány vyučovacích hodin. Výzkum taktéž přinesl podrobnější informace o hudebním vzdělání naší populace a také potvrdil fakt, že internet je v současné době nejpoužívanějším médiem při hledání hudby. I proto byl dotazník, který zde byl nástrojem pro získání dat, rozeslán elektronicky a převážná jeho část byla vyhodnocena stejným způsobem. Vyučovací plány jsou modifikovatelné a tak použitelné pro mírně pokročilé až pokročilé studenty jakéhokoliv studijního zaměření.

Music is a very useful pedagogical tool in an English language lesson. When we integrate a song or instrumental music into an educative process, we develop student's general perception and involve both of his/her cerebral hemispheres. This can be helpful in acquiring a foreign language, in our case, the English language. The research is an important part of this diploma thesis. On the basis of the research, the lesson plans were created. The research brought not only detailed information about the musical education of our population, but also confirmed the fact, that nowadays, the Internet is the most widely used tool for searching music. Therefor, the research questionnaire, which served as a tool for a data collection, was distributed via email and a majority of outcomes were evaluated in the same way. The lesson plans are modifiable, thus usable for preintermediate and above students, regardless the field of study.

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Bibliography 1. Ahlsén, Elisabeth. Introduction to Neurolinguistics (no. 134). John Benjamins Publishing Co. 2006 2. Aitchison, Jean. Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon. Blackwell Publishers Ltd, Oxford, UK, third edition, 2003 3. Balter, M. Seeking the Key to Music. Science, 306: 1120-1122, 2004. 4. Bantjes, Leon. Motivation in the Classroom. Engines for Education. The Institute for the Learning Sciences, Northwestern University. 1994. 5. Foret, Miroslav. Marketingový průzkum: Poznáváme svoje zákazníky. Brno: CPRESS, 2008. 6. Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., Hyams, N. An Introduction to Language. 8th Edition. Heinle, 2006. 7. Franěk, M. Hudební psychologie. Praha: Karolinum, 2007. 8. Harmer, J. How to Teach English. Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1998. 9. Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London and New York: Longman, 1991. 10. Holas, M. Psychologické základy hudební pedagogiky. Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladelství, 1998. 11. Jusczyk, P. Mouths of Babes. Newsweek, 84-86, 1986, December 15. 12. Krashen, S. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1982. 13. Krashen, S. D. We Acquire Vocabulary and Spelling by Reading: Additional Evidence for the Input Hypothesis. Modern Language Journal, 73(4) : 440-464. 1989 14. Larrick, N. Let’s Do a Poem! New York: Delacorte Press, 1991.

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15. Larsen-Freeman, Diane. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (Second Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986/2000. 16. Livingstone, F. B. Did the Australopithecines Sing? Current Anthropology Vol. 14, No. 1-2, 1973. 17. Lozanov G., Suggestopedia and Memory, Acta Med. Psychosomatica, Roma, 1967. 18. Merkur, B. Synchronous Chorusing and Human Origins. In The Origins of Music. N. L. Wallin, B. Merkur, and S. Brown (Eds.). MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, 2000. 19. Murphey, Tim. Music and Song. Oxford: OUP, 1992. 20. Murphey, T., & Alber, J. A Pop Song Register: The Motherese of Adolescents as Affetctive Foreigner Talk. TESOL QUARTERLY, 19, 793-795, 1992. 21. Storr, Anthony. Music and the Mind. New York: The Free Press, 1992. 22. Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: A Description and Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. 23. Roach, P. English Phonetics and Phonology. third edition, COP, 2000. 24. Scrivener, J. Learning Teaching. Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2005. 25. Tomalin, B.& Stempleski, S. Cultural Awareness. OUP. 1993 26. Underhill, A. Sound Foundations: Learning and Teaching Pronunciation. Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 2005. 27. Volín, Jan. English through Songs. LEDA. 1997

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45. ZUŠ Polná. n.p. "Výroční zpráva 2008-2009." n.d. 10 April 2010

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Appendix Jamie Collum – Gran Torino So tenderly your story is nothing more than what you see or what you've done or will become standing …..... do you belong in your skin; just wondering gentle now the ….... breeze blows whispers through my Gran Torino whistling another tired song engine humms and …..... dreams grow heart locked in a Gran Torino it beats a ….... rhythm all night long it beats a …..... rhythm all night long it beats a …..... rhythm all night long [*sung by Jamie Cullum*] Realign all the stars above my head ….......... signs travel far I drink instead on my own Oh! how I've known the battle scars and ….......... beds …...... now a …...... breeze blows whispers through a Gran Torino whistling another ….... song

engines humm and ….... dreams grow heart locked in a Gran Torino

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it beats a …..... rhythm all night long these streets are ….. they shine with the things I've known and breaks through the trees their …..... your world is nothing more than all the …... things you've left behind So ….... your story is nothing more than what you see or what you've done or will become standing …..... do you belong in your skin; just wondering gentle now a …..... breeze blows whispers through the Gran Torino whistling another …..... song engines humm and …..... dreams grow a heart locked in a Gran Torino it beats a …..... rhythm all night long may I be so ….... and stay I need someone to hold that shudders my skin their …........

your world is nothing more than all the ….... things you've left behind

so realign all the stars above my head …........ signs travel far 82

i drink instead on my own oh how ive known the battle scars and …........ beds …........ now a …...... breeze blows whispers through the Gran Torino whistling another …..... song engines humm and …...... dreams grow heart locked in a Gran Torino it beats a …..... rhythm all night long it beats a …..... rhythm all night long it beats a …..... rhythm all night long Ex. 1. In pairs, tick the words that describe the song: sorrowful humorous quiet

calm

mournful

cheerful

unpleasant tragic

witty

noisy comic

loud bitter

sweet

Ex. 2. Choose two of the following questions. Then discuss your answers with your neighbour. 1. What is the main idea of the music video? 2. What social or cultural values are reflected in the music video? 3. What ethnic groups are represented in the music video? 4. What is their mother tongue? 5. What do you know about these ethnic groups and their cultural symbols ( e.g.habits, cusine, music...)? 6. Have ever been to their homeland/ mother country? 7. Can you see any similarities between USA and our country?

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Ex. 3. Fill in the correct form of nation and nationalities. Korea

…................................

USA

…..................................

Mexico

…................................

…...................

Polish

Sweden

…................................

The Netherlands

…......................

Russian

…................................

…....................

Japanese

Ex. 4. Scrambled words

Blank Game

Answers

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Rufus Wainwright – Hallelujah Ex. 1 Lyrics Underline expressions that support your idea.

I've Heard There Was A Secret Chord that David Played And It Pleased The Lord but You Don't Really Care For Music Do You? it Goes Like This, The Fourth, The Fifth the Minor Fall, The Major Lift the Baffled King Composing Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah your Faith Was Strong But You Needed Proof you Saw Her Bathing On The Roof her Beauty In The Moonlight Overthrew You she Tied You To A Kitchen Chair she Broke Your Throne, And She Cut Your Hair and From Your Lips She Drew The Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah maybe I've Been Here Before i Know This Room, I've Walked This Floor i Used To Live Alone Before I Knew You i've Seen Your Flag On The Marble Arch 85

love Is Not A Victory March it's A Cold And It's A Broken Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah there Was A Time When You Let Me Know what's Real And Going On Below but Now You Never Show It To Me, Do You? and Remember When I Moved In You the Holy Dark Was Moving Too and Every Breath We Drew Was Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah maybe There's A God Above and All I Ever Learned From Love was How To Shoot At Someone Who Outdrew You and It's Not A Cry You Can Hear At Night it's Not Somebody who's Seen The Light it's A Cold And It's A Broken Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah hallelujah, Hallelujah

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Ex. 2. Match expressions with similar meaning the Lord

sacred

faith

reign

throne

belief

victory

the God

holy

triumph

Ex. 3. Discuss these questions 1. What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘religion’? 2. What does religion mean to you? 3. Is religion always a good thing? 4. With all the religions in the world, how do we know which one is best or true? 5. Do people choose their religion or do people’s parents choose it? 6. If religion is all about love and peace, why are many of the world’s conflicts and wars caused by religion? 7. What would the world be like without religion? Ex. 4. Cryptographic quizz

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Pink – Dear Mr. President Ex. 1 Tick problems, that have been discussed

Dear Mr. President come Take A Walk With Me let's Pretend We're Just Two People And you're Not Better Than Me i'd Like To Ask You Some Questions If We Can Speak Honestly what Do You Feel When You See All The Homeless On The Street who Do You Pray For At Night Before You Go To Sleep what Do You Feel When You Look In The Mirror are You Proud how Do You Sleep While The Rest Of Us Cry how Do You Dream When A Mother Has No Chance To Say Goodbye how Do You Walk With Your Head Held High can You Even Look Me In The Eye and Tell Me Why dear Mr. President were You A Lonely Boy are You A Lonely Boy are You A Lonely Boy how Can You Say no Child Is Left Behind we're Not Dumb And We're Not Blind they're All Sitting In Your Cells while You Pay The Road To Hell what Kind Of Father Would Take His Own Daughter's Rights Away

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and What Kind Of Father Might Hate His Own Daughter If She Were Gay i Can Only Imagine What The First Lady Has To Say you've Come A Long Way From Whiskey And Cocaine how Do You Sleep While The Rest Of Us Cry how Do You Dream When A Mother Has No Chance To Say Goodbye how Do You Walk With Your Head Held High can You Even Look Me In The Eye let Me Tell You Bout Hard Work minimum Wage With A Baby On The Way let Me Tell You Bout Hard Work rebuilding Your House After The Bombs Took Them Away let Me Tell You Bout Hard Work building A Bed Out Of A Cardboard Box let Me Tell You Bout Hard Work hard Work hard Work you Don't Know Nothing Bout Hard Work hard Work hard Work oh how Do You Sleep At Night how Do You Walk With Your Head Held High dear Mr. President you'd Never Take A Walk With Me would You

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Ex. 2. Word search

Blank Game

Answers

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U2 – Beautiful Day Ex. 1 Replace pictures with appropriate words

The …...... is a …........... Shoots up through the stony ground There's no room No space to rent in this town You're out of luck And the reason that you had to care The …............ is …............ And you're not moving anywhere You thought you'd found a friend To take you out of this place

Someone you could lend a …........ In return for grace It's a beautiful day Sky falls, you feel like It's a beautiful day Don't let it get away You're on the road But you've got no destination You're in the …......... In the maze of her imagination

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You love this ….......... Even if that doesn't ring true You've been all over And it's been all over you It's a beautiful day Don't let it get away It's a beautiful day Touch me Take me to that other place Teach me I know I'm not a hopeless case

See the world in …....... and …........ See …............. right in front of you See the canyons broken by cloud

See the …....... fleets clearing the sea out

See the Bedouin …............ at night See the …................. at first light

And see the ….......... with a ….............. in her mouth

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After the flood all the colors came out It was a beautiful day Don't let it get away Beautiful day Touch me Take me to that other place Reach me I know I'm not a hopeless case What you don't have you don't need it now What you don't know you can feel it somehow What you don't have you don't need it now Don't need it now Was a beautiful day Ex. 2. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words from the following list traffic stuck mud town China oil fields

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Ex. 3. Crossword game

94

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Discography Jamie Collum – Gran Torino •

Soundtrack Gran Torino, 2008,

•

The music is by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, and Michael Stevens, with Cullum penning the lyrics.

Rufus Wainwright – Hallelujah •

Copyright 1985 Leonard Cohen and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada Company.

•

It was not possible to include it on the soundtrack album, Shrek - Music From the Original Motion Picture.

•

Rufus Wainwright's cover of Hallelujah was featured on the soundtrack.

Pink – Dear Mr. President •

Song by Pink featuring the Indigo Girls,

•

Released December 21, 2006,

•

Recorded by The Magic Shop NYC and Three Sound Studios, GA.

U2 – Beautiful Day •

Song by U2,

•

album All That You Can't Leave Behind

•

Released October 9, 2000,

•

Recorded by Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin.

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