Utilizing Music and Songs to Promote Student Engagement in ESL Classrooms
Incorporating music and songs into ESL classrooms can significantly boost student engagement and language development. Educators can employ various strategies across three stages of a song—
Utilizing Music and Songs to Promote Student Engagement in ESL Classrooms
Music apps in the classroom
LyricsTraining
Discovr
Shazam.
iTunes
Google play music
Benefits of including music in ESL classrooms
• Language skills
• Improve test results
• Self-esteem
• Listening skills
• Mathematical skills
• It makes the brain works harder
• Relieve the stress
• Change moods
Creative Music Activities
Some student-centered music activities that can stimulate students’ creativity, while also developing their language skills
Presenting on a musician or music genre
Preparing a lyric video
Planning (and filming) a music video
Writing alternative verses of lyrics
Free-write/free-draw to the music
Three Stages of a Song
Post-listening stage
▪ Singing/chanting
▪ Discuss the message of the
song
▪ Write a summary of the
story told in the song
▪ Read an article related to
the topic of the song
While-listening stage
▪ Ordering words,
▪ Listening for detail
▪ Listening for gist
▪ Matching
Pre-listening stage
▪ Warm-up questions
▪ Presentation of key
vocabulary, phrases or
grammar structures
Integrating Music and Songs in ELT
Selecting Music and Songs
Classroom Opportunities
Musical Preferences of the Students and the Teacher
Language Content and Quality of the Song
The Age and Proficiency Level of the Students
Purpose of the Song
Techniques for Using Music with L2 Learners
Inspire a class discussion
Teach reading comprehension
Teach pronunciation and intonation
Teach and build vocabulary and idioms
Introduce a new theme or topic
Importance of including music in the learning process
The importance of using music and songs in language teaching can be further illustrated by the close relationship between music and language, Gardner (2011)
What is music?
The art of combining sounds in a time sequence according to the laws of harmony, melody and rhythm, or of producing them with musical instruments.
