Effective Use of Music in ELT

Benjamin Russell – Thai-Japanese Association School, Bell International Language Project.

instructorben@gmail.com

English language teachers find that learners respond positively to music. This paper looks as some of the
reasons behind the popularity of music both in terms of brain function and from a pedagogic standpoint.
Practical advice and activities are offered to help teachers make the most of music in the classroom.

Introduction

“Without music, life would be a mistake”

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Music is an integral part of most people’s lives. Advertisers and filmmakers know only too well
the power of music to influence us and make things ‘stick in our heads’. Language teachers often
intuitively reach out to their students with music as a way to motivate and assist learning. This
paper aims to explore some of the research conducted into music’s link to learning and suggest
some practical ways that music can be used in an effective way in English language teaching.

Motivation

For many people, performing or listening to music is a meaningful end in itself. The implications
for language learning are clear – learners generally enjoy music and feel that it is something
important to them. As such, they see a genuine purpose in music-based activities and this
frequently results in a significantly more enthusiastic response.

It is rare that we link recycling language to motivation, however music manages to achieve this.
Cheung (2001) points out that students “are more motivated when popular culture is used in the
classroom, as they easily learn from things that they know”. With the pervasiveness of English-
medium popular culture, there is a huge corpus of musical material which most learners are
familiar with - even if this is at a passive level. By taking such material and putting it in a
classroom setting, learners are given the chance to draw on existing knowledge and deepen their
understanding.

Cheung (2001) goes on to point out that many of our learners (and indeed we ourselves) “can
recite the lyrics of popular songs without difficulty, but find it hard to memorize a poem or a
mathematical formula”. This fact can be exploited to encourage language production through
transference of vocabulary and structures.

Music and the Brain

Until relatively recently the prevailing view was that language processing occurred in the left
hemisphere of the brain and the right hemisphere dealt with music and creativity. Recent
research has revealed this view to be not just a gross oversimplification but plainly wrong.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings suggest that speech and music are inextricably
intertwined particularly on the level of syntax and pitch contour. When listening to music, people
activate the same areas of the brain that are linked to language learning and processing (Besson et
al., 1998). Furthermore both music and language are rule-based systems; many of the principles
of reading apply to both, and all languages, to some extent, use pitch, rhythm and stress.

A further observation in the field of cognition is that music assists in remembering and retaining
lexis. This is not to say, as some researchers argue (Serafine et al., 1984) that lyrics and melody
are integrated in our memory for songs. On the contrary, there is a considerable weight of
evidence to suggest that musical and linguistic components of songs maintain autonomy in both
perception and memory (Peretz et al., 2004). This is significant for language learning as it
implies that language transference can occur from song to natural production rather than
remaining inseparable from melody.

So far the emphasis has been on just one aspect of music – song. There is also a case to be made
for music without an explicit linguistic component. The so-called ‘Mozart Effect’ has gained
notoriety for some years now in the media and has become an established piece of ‘pop science’.
Originally it referred to a temporary improvement in spatial reasoning abilities achieved
immediately after listening to a piece of music by Mozart. More recently the ‘Mozart Effect’ has
taken on a more generalized definition of how listening to classical music (for example Mozart or
Bach) has the effect of ‘improving the mind’. There is still considerable debate about the extent
to which listening to classical music can enhance learning and increase intelligence. Be it a
genuine improvement or epiphenomena of mood as suggested by Nantais & Schellenberg (1999),
in practical language teaching terms there is considerable benefit to be derived from exposing
learners to background music. Anecdotally, many teachers affirm the positive effects gentle
classical music can have on concentration levels and mood in the classroom.

From a pedagogic standpoint, any learner-centered approach will be greatly enhanced by using
music. If a teacher wishes to fully exploit the various intelligences of his or her learners then
making music an integral part of instruction is a necessity. Learners who, in Gardner’s (1983)
words “recognize, compose, and remember tonal changes, rhythms and musical pitch” gain
significantly from the use of music in the classroom.

The above presents a brief look at some of the rationales for using music in language teaching,
however an important caveat needs to be added: much of the research relates to infants and young
learners. I would argue that many of the findings are applicable to adult learners, however
considerably more research needs to be done to back this up.

Guidelines for Using Music

“To take a song – that wonderful source of emotion and soul – and then put in some blanks for
students to write the missing words is, to me, the equivalent of promising the learners an
excursion to a new, unknown place and then plopping them down in a dentist’s office”
-Marc Helgesen (2003)

Strong words indeed and, in all honesty, what teacher (or textbook, for that matter) has not used a
gapfill exercise for a song? However Helgesen is making a valid point. Often an obvious and
intuitive use of music is not the best or most imaginative one. This section looks at stepping back
from the more traditional methods of using music in language teaching and applying critical
thinking to the musical activities we use in class. Before using music it is worth considering two
key points:
• What is the language focus or rationale for the activity? Just because music is fun, it still
needs a purpose. Ironically, the enjoyable nature of music often means that teachers lose
sight of this. Learners, particularly adults, should be made aware of the purpose of the
activity. If there is no purpose you may be accused of wasting their time.
 • Use Variety and Surprise. Making music a Friday afternoon treat or having endless
variations on a theme when it comes to activity type is not doing justice to the many
possibilities of using music. Music can easily be integrated into teaching and often
provides an invigorating change of pace. Challenge your learners and expose them to a
wide variety of activity and musical genre. Many teachers are concerned that their
learners may not ‘like’ the music they play. Learners do not need to like the music (in
much the same way they do not need to ‘like’ the subjunctive), they need to be able to
respond to the music and produce language as a result of their response. It is therefore
fine to use any form of music (e.g. opera, twelve-tone scale etc.) as long as the learners
see a point in it. In my experience, there is an incredible tolerance for all forms of music
in the classroom and exposing learners to unusual musical genres fulfills a broader
educational purpose of enlarging the learners’ experience.

If the above is kept in mind, then music becomes a powerful tool in the classroom. If not, there is
a risk that learners will get jaded by something which was once novel and fun. Similarly, if the
task you use is too demanding and requires numerous repetitions, the result will be frustration and
boredom on the part of the learner.

Methods of Using Music

Music can be used in a multitude of ways. Below is a list of different methods:

• Gapfill: There is certainly a place for this type of activity but it must have a language
focus. A good example would be Elvis Presley’s ‘Return to Sender’ used for irregular
past tenses.
• Chant: Inextricably linked to Carolyn Graham’s Jazz Chants (1978) – there is no doubt
that chanting works both to memorise lexis and improve pronunciation (particularly on
the level of stress and intonation). Once comfortable with the format, it is easy for
teachers to invent impromptu chants for just about any language structure.
• Jigsaw activities: Rearranging on a word, line or verse level demands careful listening
skills and an awareness of grammar and syntax on the part of the learner. A further
benefit of jumbling up the lines of a song is that it promotes an understanding of the story
that the song is telling. Traditional folk songs are often ideal for this, due to their
narrative nature.
• Pronunciation: The stress-timed nature of English means that song and chant can be an
effective tool in improving pronunciation. This is particularly true for speakers of
syllable-timed languages such as Japanese and tonal languages such as Thai and Chinese.
Weinstein (1982) points to the overwhelming predominance of reduced speech (i.e.
“Whaddaya…” as opposed to “What do you…”) even amongst so-called educated native
speakers. Songs present an ideal opportunity to practice such forms with the significant
advantages of avoiding endless ‘drilling’ and offering teachers who may not be entirely
comfortable with teaching pronunciation (for example non-native speakers) an effective
method of introducing pronunciation activities into their classrooms.
• Stimulus Input: This is perhaps the widest category. It refers to music as a means of
activating the imagination. An example activity entitled ‘The Story Behind the Music’ is
included below, but in general terms it refers to music which provokes thought and
opinion on the part of the learner, irrespective of whether the listener likes the music or
not.
Pitfalls of Using Music

It is worth exploring the objections to using music and some of the things that can go wrong.
Awareness can lead to a more considered approach to using music in the classroom.
Learner Issues:
• Culture: Individuals within certain cultures and religions have objections to music.
Accommodation and consensus are the keywords here. If a learner is unwilling to
partake in music-based activities then he or she should not be forced to do so. This is not
to say that the use of music should then be abandoned – to do this would be to unfairly
punish those that derive benefit from music. Alternative and concurrent activities can be
provided for learners who are not comfortable with musical activities.
• Inhibition / Lack of musical aptitude: Whether a teacher uses music passively or chooses
more productive activities is a judgment call. It has been seen that musical activities do
not need to involve high-focus and therefore potential embarrassment on the part of the
learner. Music is an enormously flexible resource which allows the teacher to determine
the level of risk that learners are expected to take.
• Music is not ‘serious’: Some learners may perceive musical activities as less worthwhile
than more traditional methods of language learning. I have found that making the
rationale for the task explicit at the start of the lesson prevents such objections from ever
arising.

Teacher and teaching problems:

• Attitudinal: This can take two forms. The first is feeling that music is a waste of
class time and it would be better to spend time on something like grammar.
Hopefully this point has been addressed above – motivated learners acquire language
much faster than learners who are bored. Furthermore, music can have a highly
specific language focus. The second issue deals with teacher inhibition. For example
Jazz Chants – many teachers would simply not feel comfortable standing in front of a
class leading a chant and having the learners chorally (and some would say childishly)
chanting back at them. This is a perfectly legitimate feeling and a level of comfort
must be maintained for the teacher, otherwise the activity will not be effective. It
should be noted, however, that music offers so many possibilities that most teachers
can find enjoyable music-based activities to do with their classes.
• Classroom management: Particularly with school-age learners, some teachers worry
that musical activities may create chaos in the classroom. In my experience the
opposite is true. Frequently music creates greater concentration and a more
productive class.
• Inappropriate material: More than any other medium, music contains obscene,
slangy or simply incomprehensible lyrics. Teachers are often happy to work with
music which the learners bring to class, however careful vetting is required to ensure
that the teacher is not going to expose the learners to inappropriate material.
Different teachers vary on what they are comfortable with and this is dependent on a
number of factors such as culture and age group. The important thing to remember is
that an informed decision is better than a nasty surprise in the classroom.
• Resources and technical issues: Access to music, a decent audio set-up, reliable
power supply and copyright are just some of the issues that need to be considered
when using music. As with all technology-reliant activities it is always wise to have
a ‘Plan B’ in place. Most of us have experienced a chewed up tape or power failure
in the middle of an activity!

As with most things, thinking ahead and anticipating problems is much better than dealing with
them when they arise.
Some Suggested Activities

The Story Behind the Music: This is a guided creative writing exercise. Each learner is given a
slip of paper with a phrase or word on it. An emotive piece of music is played to the class who
jot down ideas, words and images based on the music. Using their phrase or word as a title, the
learners create a piece of writing that can be revised and polished. The finished pieces of writing
can be read by the learners’ peers, as they never fail to astound with the diversity of subject and
interpretations, purely due to the original stimulus phrase or word. Maley and Duff (1979)
provide some excellent further ideas for creative stimulus writing using sound and music.

Musical Identification: A number of short musical extracts (at least five) from various pieces are
played. In small groups, the learners fill out a grid identifying when the music was composed, the
country it came from, the instruments it uses and the feelings it evokes. This leads to
considerable discussion and can be run as a competition to see who gets the most correct answers
(bonus points can be awarded for knowing the composer etc.). As an example, five pieces that
worked well for me are as follows:
a) Folk music from Sardinia (polyphonies): Guesses ranged from Russia to Samoa.
b) Baroque Italian music (such as Vivaldi).
c) Nepalese music used in meditation.
d) Scandinavian jazz (American jazz would be too obvious).
e) A piece of opera. It was surprising to see that sometimes extracts from Benjamin Britten
were not identified as being in English!

Lyrical Lunacy: The learners are given the lyrics of a song, however some of the words have
been ‘misheard’. It is the learners’ task to correct the mistakes. This has a similar language
function to the much maligned gapfill exercise, but it is considerably more amusing. An entire
website is dedicated to misheard lyrics and this can greatly assist anyone wanting to try out this
activity: www.amiright.com

Conclusion

Barriers exist to using music in the classroom – these can be associated with either the teacher or
the learner. This paper argues that it is worth overcoming these barriers as the benefits of using
music are so great.

From a cognitive standpoint music is a whole-brain activity with undeniable benefits in areas
such as memorization and vocabulary acquisition. Furthermore, music triggers the imagination
and leads to greater creativity. On a humanist level, music provides a meaningful context to
learning English and acts as a powerful motivator. Careful integration of musical activities into a
teacher’s repertoire can lead to a more fulfilling, enjoyable and complete language learning
experience.

References

Besson, M. et al. 1998. Singing in the brain. Psychological Science, 9, 494-498.

Cheung, C. 2001. The use of popular culture as a stimulus to motivate secondary

students’ English learning in Hong Kong. ELT Journal, 55, 55-61.
Gardner, H. 1983. Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York:
Basic Books.

Graham, C. 1978. Jazz Chants. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Helgesen, M. 2003. How can we use songs in the language classroom?

www.eltnews.com/features/thinktank/024_mh.shtml. Accessed 20/11/2005.

Maley, A. & Duff, A. 1979. Music and Song. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nantais, K. &. Schellenberg, E. G. 1999. The Mozart effects: An artifact of preference.

Psychological Science, 10, 370-373.

Peretz, I. et al. 2004. Two-way interactions between music and language: Evidence from
priming recognition of tune and lyrics in familiar songs. Memory and Cognition, 32,
142-152.

Serafine, M. L. 1984. Integration of melody and text in memory for song. Cognition, 16,
285-303.

Weinstein, N. 1982. Whaddaya say? New Jersey: Prentice Hall.