REINFORCING THE LEARNING AND TEACHING THROUGH SONGS: A FRENCH LANGUAGE CASE STUDY Patchani PATABADI BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY September 28, 2013.

INTRODUCTION 1. Songs as tools for teaching foreign language – status 2. Approach to the presentation: - Focus on the hobby of learners to increase speed and easiness in language acquisition by integrating listening to songs into the activities developed for teaching/learning and assessing rules in a lesson. - Present aspects of language that can be taught with songs, and - Give some suggestions on how to integrate songs in language teaching curriculum

BENEFITS OF SONGS ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Benefits of Songs: 1. Improve the Oral Skills - The Listening Sample song: Jaime les fruits (I like fruits), Alain le Lait (1:53) - Find clearly articulated songs - Find a catchy melody for a more fun class - More fun = more energy - Stimulate brain for memorization - The Speaking (pronunciation/language and culture) Sample song: Les Champs Elysees. Joe Dassin (2:45) - Native singers help with pronunciation - Learn cultural and linguistic aspects of language Funda Keskin (2011, 379), …songs … reflect culture and transmit cultural values between people, societies and generations

BENEFITS OF SONGS ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 2. Boost up learning - Catch attention - Increase desire and motivate the learner - Quick assimilation 3. Reduce Learning time Cf Schon and her colleagues comparative study of word segmentation using listening to songs to Saffran and her colleagues for same exercise using listening to texts (achieved results - 7min // 21min).

STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES OF INTEGRATING TEACHING THROUGH SONGS IN LANGUAGE CLASSES - Focus on learners hobby/ passion to improve their proficiency in the language - Successful language learning is linked to the learners passion. And instructors should find ways to connect to this passion. (N. Oroujlou and Dr. M. Vahedi, 2011) - Get learners to listening to music and finding the language learning as more fun than boring and burdensome -Motivate learners to use their hobby of listening to music to learn foreign language – (students practice outside of classroom) - Language instructors need to be more trained in how to use songs in their language class activities - Choose songs that match the levels of learners – (short, slow and repetitive songs for beginners, and long, fast and story songs for advanced learners) - Use songs that are lyrically clear - Use songs that are linguistically instructive (grammar, vocabulary)

STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES OF INTEGRATING TEACHING THROUGH SONGS IN LANGUAGE CLASSES Develop in-class and homework activities that match each point in a lesson Listening activities Note-taking activities Pronunciation activities Repetition activities (parts or whole song (if short)) Discussion of the theme(s) of the song (enhance speaking) - For each lesson, offer a variety of activities /exercises among which, listening to songs Learning vocabulary Learning grammar, etc.

TEACHING GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY THROUGH SONGS Teaching vocabulary Alouette (3:17). Alain le Lait – teaching the body parts of a bird (As an example of activity), the instructor can have students: In addition to relative activities stated above, - Make gestures to show the different parts being listed in the song - Identify the singular/plural, masculine and feminine nouns and articles and how they accord, etc. - Say the different body parts in the order they are said in the song

TEACHING GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY THROUGH SONGS Teaching grammar Promenons-nous dans les bois (2:23). Teaching tenses, articles, singular and plural forms, etc. The instructor can have students: - Identify the tenses (present/conditional/future) in the song - Practice the conjugation of verbs and how pronouns agree with verbs - Identify nouns with masculine or feminine articles and how they agree, etc. - Say the action and state verbs and the phrases in which they are mentioned, etc.

DISCUSSION: QUESTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

CONCLUSION Consider the positive effects of teaching through songs in a language class (the oral skills) The fun and relax/energetic atmosphere songs can create in the class The fun and easy activities that can motivate learners The quick assimilation and long lasting acquisition of rules in a language The improvement of students levels in the language The high proficiency learners can get in the language

Bibliography - Alain le Lait, Jaime les fruits Alouette Il etait un petit navire. - Keskin, Funda. Using Songs as Audio Materials in Teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language. TOJET 10:4 (2011): Print. - Marina – French Girl who doesnt speak English sings Adele Oroujlou, Nasser, & Majid Vahedi. Motivation, Attitude, and Language Learning. Procedia –Social and Behavioral Sciences 29 (2011): Print. - Phonics Songs. - Saffran, Jenny R., Newport E. L., & Aslin R. N. Word Segmentation: The Role of Distributional Cues. Journal of Memory and Language 35 (1996): Print. - Schon, Danielle et al. Songs as an Aid for Language Acquisition. Cognition 106 (2008): Print. - Sardou, Michel. En chantant. - Use Songs Lyrics to Teach Figurative Language!. poetic.html poetic.html - Un canard a dit à sa cane.

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