Songs and Young Learners

The main goal of English language learning is the development of communication skills, as well
as maintaining interest and motivation for learning English. In order to accomplish these goals, it
is necessary for the content to be closely related to learners’ real life and materials need to be
adjusted to different learning styles. This means that the lessons should abound in versatile
activities. Songs are examples of such activities which due to their nature, fun content, and
relaxing features influence the development of language in children. For young learners, songs,
such as popular pop-rock songs, traditional and educational songs, rhymes and chants, present an
excellent source of language. Students can not only learn and practice different segments of
English through songs, but also satisfy the specific characteristics of their age.

Children, in general, like songs, and if songs are used for learning a language, then children
enthusiastically accept them. One key factor is that children are not aware of the fact that they
are learning through songs, and therefore they see them as a pleasant and fun part of English
lessons. Apart from this, songs serve as a good source of pronunciation, intonation, and accent
practice, but also as a practice of listening skills and vocabulary development.

Types of Songs for Young Learners

If well planned, applied and evaluated, songs can become useful tools for language teaching and
learning.
Also, if the right songs are chosen, learning can become a fun and memorable experience. In
order to accomplish this, a division between different song types and their purposes needs to be
made. House (1997: 19) makes a distinction between traditional songs and songs written
specially for young learners. She states that children are normally familiar with the former type,
while the latter are, as their name suggests, specially written for a textbook to support certain
vocabulary and grammar points. Similarly, Ur (1992: 65) makes the distinction between the
specially-composed English teaching songs and the authentic ones. She explains that the first
type of songs is used to teach vocabulary and language structures, as well as to aid oral language
production. The authentic songs, on the other hand, are a matter of cultural aspect and
entertainment.
Murphey (1992: 121) presents a different typology of songs for young learners. He clarifies that
there are jazz chants and Total Physical Response (TPR) or action songs. Jazz chants are
rhythmic expressions in a situational context without background music. They develop listening
comprehension skills and reinforce rhythm, intonation, specific language structures, and
vocabulary. TPR songs require students to respond physically to what they hear and sing only
when they are ready to do so.
Using the appropriate songs is of critical importance. Whether they are specially written for
learning English or authentic, it is crucial to choose songs that suit children’s level of English as
well as their interest since, as widely accepted, children enjoy simple and catchy songs. The love
of repetition and the need to move, common to all young children, make songs integral parts of
English lessons.

Songs in Teaching English to Young Learners

It is proven that children love playing, singing songs, and experiencing English with their senses.
Therefore, Bourke (2006: 281) asserts that a syllabus for young second language learners should
be experientially appropriate and certainly contain songs, rhymes, and chants. Similarly, Martin
(2000: 69) points out that songs and rhymes represent powerful features of primary language
programs. Having this in mind, teachers have to do anything to make their learners happy,
cheerful, and satisfied. Consequently, they need to make sure to choose songs and activities
which are fun but also fit the curriculum and the theme of their lessons.
Children learn best when they are exposed to real-life contexts (Paul, 1996: 6). This statement is
explained by an assertion that children prefer doing things they like doing outside the classroom.
Teachers need to have in mind that some children love active participation and physical
movement while others do not like to be physically involved. What also needs to be taken into
consideration is whether or not songs are motivational and provide an emotional experience. This
is clarified by the fact that children need to be emotionally involved in the learning process
which abounds in play-like activities which are likeable and fun, but promote learning.
Researchers agree (Jolly, 1975: 14; Shin, J.K., 2006) that songs are useful teaching aids which
raise and maintain students’ motivation, especially in cases when they are catchy and supported
with colorful visuals, realia (objects from real life used in classroom instruction), and movement.

These supplements add additional sensory and visual input which in turn enhance learning.
Songs, chants, poems, and rhymes play an important role in early language development. They
represent a flexible resource which allows teachers to use and adapt them in a variety of ways so
as to suit the needs of their learners. Children easily absorb and reproduce the language of songs.
They serve as an excellent memory tool. The repetition of words, language structures, and
rhythm enhance learning and they stick easily in learners’ minds. In order to make this a
memorable experience, it is important to choose songs that children find enjoyable and not
boring and do not give children the feeling of being forced to listen to songs that are not
appealing to them.
To recap, songs and rhymes are essential in young learners’ classroom for a number of reasons.
First of all, they are children’s favorite language activities which contain repetitive language and
set phrases.
Furthermore, they develop listening comprehension, they teach pronunciation, intonation and
stress in a natural way, and teach vocabulary and language structures of the song. In addition,
songs help children build their confidence by allowing them to join in no matter how good their
English is. They also build group dynamics. And finally, if a song appeals to children they
usually sing it on their own, outside the classroom (Roth, 1998: 53). According to Green (in
Nelson and Son, 1986) the rhythm that verses of a song contain aids the development of
children’s language fluency, while rhyming words of a song help children focus on pronouncing
them correctly. She also believes that the children who were continually exposed to songs at their
early age increase their vocabulary and build their confidence in using the target language.
Everything that has been said so far can be extended with Sevik’s (2011: 1029-1030) list of the
most remarkable characteristics of using songs with young learners. He concluded that:
Listening comprehension is best taught through songs.
Songs represent the strong feature of modern primary language programmes.
Songs may extend young learners’ attention span.
Songs are great tool for language learning at an early age.
Songs are regarded as an excellent memory tool.
Songs provide a variety of comprehensible input.
Songs create a safe and natural classroom ethos.
Songs are extremely repetitive and result in language fluency.
Songs abound in cultural content.
In addition, songs are beneficial for various reasons in English classes; Griffee (1988) identified
the following reasons:
1. Songs and music lower anxiety. If they are introduced in the early years of language learning,
songs and music tend to create enjoyable, anxiety-free environment.
2. Songs are useful for teaching vocabulary.
3. Songs serve as an excellent listening material.
4. Songs can be used as supplemental texts in the end of the lesson, on special occasions or as an
additional component for vocabulary development.
5. Songs and music can be used to support grammar presentation, practice and revision.
6. Songs and music bring various cultures into the classroom.

Similarly, Murphy (1992) discusses the benefits of songs, and asserts that songs aid the
development of language in young children and influence short- and long-term memory. He adds
that songs are short, self-contained texts and recordings which contain simple, repetitive,
conversational language. Due to their joyful nature they provide variety and fun and aid
relaxation and group dynamics. Therefore, it can be concluded that by listening to songs in
English lessons children may benefit in many areas. Being repetitive does not mean that songs
are dull, but instead they offer children opportunity to drill and acquire the language in a fun
way. Furthermore, songs assist learners in developing their vocabulary and …provide
meaningful contexts for teaching vocabulary because they deal with relevant topics and include
forms and functions that can reinforce common themes and structures that are being covered in
the language program (Abbott, 2002).

In addition, songs are a great opportunity to teach a foreign language culture. This cultural
element can be found in, for example, children’s songs, Christmas carols, and counting songs.

Activities with Songs

A large number of activities can be used with songs. There is no aspect of a language to which
songs cannot be adapted. Any activity that can be used with the four skills, vocabulary or
grammar can be modified to be used with songs. However, some activities work better with
young learners than with older ones. “Listen and repeat” (Scott and Ytreberg, 1991) and “Listen
and do” (Sevik, 2012: 10) such as listen and draw, mime, dance, point, match, and color are
types of activities that work well with young learners.
Murphey (1992: 17) states that young learners will enthusiastically accept any kind of songs. It
all depends on teacher’s imagination.
How to Teach a Song?
Every teacher may have his/her own way of using songs in his/her lessons. Regardless of the
way it is taught, the key to successful use of a song is its application. That is to say that the
presentation and activities have to suit young learners’ characteristics, their mastery of the
language and their interests. In order to accomplish this, a certain technique has to be applied.
The suggested, but flexible, procedure is as follows
(Brewster et al., 2002):
Set the context.
Use visual aids to introduce new vocabulary.
Play or sing the song to familiarize students with it.
Do further listening activity.
Practice pronunciation (intonation, rhythm and stress).
Encourage students to join in and do actions or mime. Repeat the song several times.
Give students written text of the song. The text can further be used for multiple activities, such
as: gap-fill, listen and sequence, illustrate, match pictures with line, etc.
Invite students to compare the song with a similar one in their own language.
Sing the song with the whole class.
When using songs, it is of immense importance not to teach the target language structures but to
let children learn and discover the language on their own. In this process they need to get the
feeling of success.
The language needs to be presented at an attainable rate as well as to connect previous words and
language structures to the ones that will be learned in the near future. While doing this a
“Questioning Cycle” (Paul, 1996: 7) occurs. The questioning cycle explains how learners process
the new language in a song. They first recognize the new language forms, and then they want to
learn them because they need them for the activity they like. So, they try to understand the words
by finding out their meanings. After that, they use this new language and connect it with other
words from the song. In this way learners develop positive attitude and willingness to learn.
However, there are stages that need to be followed in order to achieve the learning goal, but also
to satisfy intellectual and personal needs of each individual student. The first stage is creating a
purpose for 44 listening which in turn can motivate students to participate in it. Therefore, the
pre-listening stage plays an important role. In this phase, teachers introduce necessary language
points and intrigue learners’ imagination. Furthermore, children must not be bored while
listening to the song, so they need to have a specific task to do. These are while-listening
activities where learners process the information learned in the introductory part of the lesson.
Finally, they need to use this information and also increase the educational value of the song. In
this post-listening stage, the focus is normally on developing the skills.
Just as with any listening activity, songs are used following the three stages. Sevik (2012: 13-14),
in his recent article, however, suggests pre-teaching activities, while-teaching activities, post-
teaching activities, and follow-up activities. The proposed stages, nevertheless, can be used with
children for any type of songs. As Sevik (ibid.) explained, in order to raise children’s interest, in
the introductory part of the lesson, teachers should show visuals related to the vocabulary in the
song and ask them to predict the content. Then, using visuals accompanied with actions, teachers
read and explain the title of the song. Next,
teachers ask students to say any words in English that they can associate with the title of the song
and write those words on the board. Lastly, teachers use actions and pictures from the young
learners’ books to explain the meanings of new words. By learning and revising lexical items in
advance, children are encouraged to concentrate more on these specific language items while
listening to the song.
The comprehension of the song comes along with while-listening activities. At this stage,
students are required to participate actively while they listen to the song. However, the song has
to be played multiple (at least three to four) times so that students can learn the song and
accompanying movements.
 When listening to the song for the first time, children do not do anything except listen to the
music and the words.
 The second time children listen to the song, they watch the teacher singing and doing the
actions.
Children still do not sing, but only do the actions.
 The third time they listen to the song children try to sing along with the recording or the
teacher.
 And finally, while listening to the song the fourth time, children sing along with the recording
or the teacher and do the actions. This stage can be repeated several times.
The final stage in the listening process usually leads into communicative activities. At this point,
it is a good idea to prepare activities in which students compete, play, or act. In order to be able
to activate and practice the knowledge in the lessons that follow, teachers need to prepare
appropriate follow-up activities such as a handout with pictures of the vocabulary from the song
and blank spaces for students to write the correct words or a set of flashcards with a key word on
each for individuals, pairs, or small groups to listen carefully and pile up the flashcards in the
order they hear.

Songs as a Motivation Source

The notion of motivation is difficult to explain because “different people are motivated by
different things” (House, 1997: 10). As House explains, children need to be motivated
individually or within a group.
By encouraging an individual child, the teacher stimulates and maintains interest in English.
During this process teachers should be realistic about each individual student’s abilities.
Teachers also need to vary the group dynamics and in this way support the development of social
interaction within a group of learners.
In order to maintain positive motivation, these techniques should be planned in advance for each
lesson.
Motivation of young foreign language learners needs to be built gradually, making sure that the
target structures are introduced in an easily attainable order. For this reason, songs serve as a
perfect medium for achieving motivation. By using songs, children can get the feeling of success
on an individual level, but also as being part of a group. They should not, at any time, feel
forced, but encouraged and motivated to participate in the activity, as well as have a sense of
enjoyment of singing with the rest of the group.
Therefore, songs, as claimed by scholars, are highly motivational because they increase
understanding, and inspire and motivate students to learn, making the act of learning fun.
Songs’ most noteworthy characteristic in a language learning context is the ability to affect and
change students’ mood. These may have a positive or a negative effect on motivation. The
emotion that songs evoke in students may transfer to motivation, making a stronger bond with
the language and the desire to learn. Repetition and simple language structures are probably the
reasons why students are more motivated by songs than any other type of text and are stimulated
to understand the content of the songs.

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