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From air guitar to line dancing!

As the Framework and our own experience tells us, songs and especially songs with movement represent an enjoyable and effective means of enhancing language learning. Lynn Dryden, French speaking AST from the North East, shares with us how her love of music, language and dance provides enjoyment for her children learning French and helps them to remember key phrases and vocabulary. Lynn writes:

I have taught French for almost thirty-three years, so I have experienced many changes and new developments in language teaching. But one aspect of my teaching I have never changed is my aim to motivate pupils and help them to enjoy my subject.

My most recent idea to reinforce the teaching of grammar and vocabulary has been to write songs to well known tunes - tunes I know the pupils will know and enjoy singing. Songs are a natural way to learn, they develop listening and speaking skills, they allow pupils to reproduce language confidently and fluently, encourage active participation and most of all they are memorable and enjoyable. Buying food in a café to the tune from EastEnders enables pupils to use Je voudrais. Similarly, ordering food in a restaurant to Is this the Way to Amarillo has the pupils laughing and really enjoying the lesson.

My philosophy is to make the learning fun while accepting that there are some very important grammar points for pupils to remember and use. I like to do this using a song if I can and only if the class I am teaching will respond in a positive way. The behaviour for learning has to be right or mayhem could follow. Being a good singer is not a necessity, I have to add.

I have reinforced numbers using simple hip-hop dance routines with music as well as doing a cheerleading routine for the alphabet. I also have to admit to teaching a line dance for days of the week. However, my latest way of learning numbers is using air guitar accompanied by guitar solos provided by Guns and Roses and Bon Jovi. The activities that I do can be easily used in any language learning activity. I have recorded my pupils singing some of their songs and we have dealt with a wide variety of topics. To date, we have covered colours, days of the week, months of the year, school subjects, sports, weather, buying food and drink, places in town, the perfect tense, the future tense, describing illnesses and parts of the body. My routines are very simple and easy to use and the children enjoy doing them.

Why not try and write some of your own?

Teachers will find references to the use of songs to enhance language learning on the Primary Languages Training Zone