Welcome to Learning English Through Pop Music Spring 2017!

Professor Lori Rottenberg Email lrottenb@gmu.edu B.A. Creative Writing M.A. Linguistics and Teaching ESL Taught ESL at VT, Georgetown, and GMU 20 years as professional writer and editor, continue to publish poetry Visiting poet for Arlington Public Schools since 2007 Singer and former college DJ

Introductions Your name Your OCS Level Who are your favorite English-speaking pop artists?

Why Study Pop Music? With a partner, discuss: What kinds of things do you think you will learn by studying American pop music? Do you listen to any American music on your iPod? What groups? What do you like or dislike about American music?

What You Can Learn from Music Culture: Ideas about what stories and whose stories should be told Ideas about men and women’s roles Ideas about how to love Ideas about the individual’s role in society Ideas about how to live

What You Can Learn from Music Language: Pronunciation, rhythm, rhymes—how people really speak Grammar—including “street talk” (non-standard grammar) Idioms, slang, curse words

Goals of the Class Improve listening skills Improve pronunciation Improve reading, writing, and grammar Improve cultural knowledge Improve musical knowledge

Syllabus Course Description Course Objectives Course Expectations Course Materials Course Requirements Grading Important Dates Online Resources Honor Code and Disabilities

Course Requirements Active daily participation Song analysis homework Quizzes (vocabulary and song features) Presentations Final exam

Remember… You must get at least an 80% to pass this class! Even electives count towards your GPA! 5 or more absences equal an automatic NG.

Sources of Popular Music Billboard Top 40: https://www.billboard.com/biz/charts/mainstream-40 Sirius XM Channel 15 The Pulse (Top 40), Channel 56 The Highway (Country), Channel 47 The Heat (R&B): http://www.siriusxm.com/channellineup/ Pandora: http://www.pandora.com/ FM Radio: http://www.cision.com/us/2012/08/top-10-washington-d-c-radio-stations/

Time to start! Meghan Trainor: Born in 1993 in Massachusetts to a musical family Writes most of her own songs Famous for promoting healthy body image for women Breakthrough hit was “All About That Bass” “Me,Too” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDRORgoZxZU

I’m looking forward to a great semester!