TeachingEnglishListeningthroughSongs

Modern English teaching is expected not only to provide enough language knowledge， but also train the student ability to communicate by practice in reading， writing， listening and speaking. Listening is not only the main way for students to get language information and language feeling， but also one of the important ways to improve other skills. So theres no doubt that we should enhance listening practice during Middle school English teaching. Based on my research about whether middle school students like singing and listening songs， most of the students like songs and music， so practicing English listening through songs can inspire their interests to learn English well.

English songs provide abundant listening materials for students

English songs are very good listening materials which can teach students language knowledge and western culture. Compared with other English listening materials， English songs are more interesting， attractive and unforgettable. English songs provide various topics with different themes， such as love， peace， encouragement， friendship， etc. All of these can be used as topics in spoken English practice. English songs are the best materials to learn pronunciation skills， such as incomplete or complete loss of burst and vowel weakening， assimilation and so on. Songs are also commonly used to learn vocabulary and grammar， such as different tenses and clauses. Its boring and difficult for middle school students to memorize new words and grammar rules. Through songs， the effect is more obvious. So it is a good way to improve students listening through English songs.

Selection of English songs is important

1. At first， the song you choose depends on the teaching objective. You carefully examine what it is that you want your class to learn in the lesson. Is this going to be a lesson focused on vocabulary， grammar， pronunciation， or a particular topic？

2. Think about the language level of your class

Choose different songs for students in different grades. The language level of your class will determine not only which songs you can use， but also the types of class activities which you will use in class.

3. Make a survey to know about students favorite songs before class

Teachers can make a survey about students favorite songs. In the survey， teachers can make a list of songs or students can add theirs which are not included on the list.

How to design class activities to improve listening

How can teachers design class activities to improve students listening through songs？ The class usually includes three parts， pre-listening， while-listening and post-listening. Here are some examples about class activities.

Pre-listening activities

1. Give students some pictures related the song or the title of the song and ask them to predict words and phrases that they expect to hear.

2. Give students the words of a song with an “either/or” choice for certain words in each line. Students choose which word is more likely to be used in each case and then listen and check if they were correct.

3. Students read the lyrics and figure out what the missing words might be， using their knowledge in grammar.

While listening activities

1. Students listen and fill in gaps （open cloze or multiple choice）， put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense/or， form of the verb （for example， gerund or infinitive）；

2. Students listen and delete extra words which they do not hear .

3. Students listen to a song， draw a picture to represent what they hear and then explain their pictures in small groups.

4. Students identify something in the song according to requirements；

5. Students reorder the lyrics；

6. Students correct the words/mistakes；

7. Students put the underlined words in the right column according to requirements；

8. Students combine the lyrics together and make the song complete.

Post-listening activities

1. Students listen to a song and make a note of 6 or 8 words that they hear. Then they use these words as the basic vocabulary for composing a poem in pairs.

2. Students write their own lyrics for the song in pairs or small groups.

3. Students brainstorm all of the words that they have heard and then listen again and check to see how many are correct.

4. Students learn to sing songs in class or after class， and teachers encourage them to perform in talent shows or teach other students to sing songs.

All in all， English learning is really a long and hard process for middle school students， which requires a lot of effort and technique. For teachers， improving students listening ability needs to make use of abundant listening materials. Obviously， English songs contain a variety of teaching materials. Teachers select proper songs to design colorful class activities， and students will enjoy listening class and make progress.

References：

[1]How to use songs in the English language classroom by Adam J.Simpson.

【作者簡介】岳艳，凤台县第四中学。