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1/810 2 0 1 2 N u m b e r 3 | E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m

T u r k e y

Mu stafa Se v i k

Teaching Listening Skills to

Young Learners throughListen and Do Songs

If its true that listening skills are

the most important outcomes of

early language teaching (Demirel

2004), that explains the constant

demand for methods that successfullyimprove listening skills of learners.

Songs can be one of the most enjoy-

able ways to practice and develop lis-

tening skills. Any syllabus designed for

teaching English as a Second/Foreign

Language (ESL/EFL) to young learn-

ers (YLs) typically contains songs,

chants, and rhymes (Bourke 2006).Musical expression is an essential part

of the human experience, and chil-

dren respond enthusiastically to songs

and welcome them.

Klein (2005) argues that teach-

ing YLs is different from teaching

adults. YLs tend to change their mood

every other minute, and they find itextremely difficult to sit still. On the

other hand, children show greater

motivation than adults to do things

that appeal to them. It therefore helps

if the teacher is inventive and selects

a wide variety of interesting activities,

especially with songs.

The purpose of this article is two-

fold: I will first provide a theoretical

discussion about listening skills and

YLs, and about songs and YLs in gen-

eral; second, I will provide a sample les-

son for what can be called Listen and

Do songs for YLs at the beginning

level. These are the songs to which stu-

dents physically respond by perform-

ing an action (e.g., a song contains

the words wake up, and whenever

students hear wake up they perform

an action, such as raising their hands).

Teachers around the world can apply

this lesson to songs of their own choice

to make students active participants in

the listening activity from start to fin-

ish. Following the lesson plan is a short

list of online song resources for teach-

ing young ESL/EFL learners.

Listening skills and young

learners

Listening is the receptive use of

language, and since the goal is to make

sense of the speech, the focus is on

meaning rather than language (Cam-

eron 2001). Saroban (1999) states

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2/811E n g l i s h T E a c h i n g F o r u m | N u m b e r 3 2 0 1 2

that listening is the ability to identify andunderstand what others are saying. For learn-ers, listening is how spoken language becomesinput (i.e., it is the first stage of learning anew language). In the classroom, this happens

by listening to the teacher, a CD, or otherlearners. It is the process of interpreting mes-sageswhat people say.

Two theories of speech perception portraylisteners as having very different roles. In thefirst view, listeners play a passive role andsimply recognize and decode sounds, and inthe second view, listeners play an active roleand perceive sounds by accessing internalarticulation rules to decode speech (Crystal1997). Whether speech perception is activeor passive, or a combination of both, Phillips(1993) says that listening tasks are extremelyimportant in the primary school setting,providing a rich source of language data fromwhich children begin to build up their ownideas of how the foreign language works. Thisknowledge is a rich source that YLs draw onto produce language.

Listening is the initial stage in first andsecond language acquisition. According toSharpe (2001), the promotion of childrensspeaking and listening skills lies at the heartof effective learning in all subjects of the pri-mary curriculum. Therefore, ESL/EFL teach-

ers have to make the development of childrenslistening skills a key aim of primary teachingand equip them with the best strategies foreffective listening.

Linse (2005) also considers the teach-ing of listening skills as foundational to thedevelopment of other language skills. Weshould, however, be aware that any kind oflistening comprehension activity needs to bewell guided with clear aims. To this end, Ur(1996) argues that a listening purpose shouldbe provided in the definition of a pre-set task.

The definition of a purpose (a defined goal, asin the wake up example) enables the listenerto listen selectively for significant informa-tion. Providing the students with some idea ofwhat they are going to hear and what they areasked to do with it helps them to succeed inthe task; it also raises motivation and interest.The fact that learners are active during the lis-tening, rather than waiting until the end to dosomething, keeps the learners busy and helpsprevent boredom.

Songs and young learners

The most prominent features of songsthat reinforce language acquisition includetheir rhythmic and repetitive nature and thejoy that the association between melody and

content brings to the learning activity. Chil-dren have a keen awareness of rhythm, andthey have not yet experienced the anxiety thatcan accompany learning a second language(Krashen 1981). Therefore, songs are consid-ered to be asine qua non of teaching ESL/EFLto YLs. I feel that among the many advantagesof using songs in YL ESL/EFL classrooms, themost striking ones are the following.

Songs are key to primary practiceMost primary school teachers generally

use songs as a teaching technique, and Cam-eron (2001) claims that the use of songsand rhymes is also important for YLs inforeign language classrooms. Likewise, John-stone (2002) claims that teachers of YLs maymake an important contribution to childrensearly language education by introducing theirclasses to recorded songs. Demirel (2004)makes the strongest claim when he arguesthat the most effective way to teach listeningcomprehension, pronunciation, and dictationto YLs is through teaching songs.

Songs create a safe andnatural classroom ethos

According to Cullen (1998, 1999), songs aresignificant teaching tools in teaching ESL/EFLbecause, as most teachers find out, studentslove listening to music in the language class-room and they often hold strong views aboutmusic. This affinity with music makes songsvital tools to create a safe and natural class-room ethos and to overcome feelings of shy-ness and hesitation on the part of the learners.

Because of their limited attention span,

YLs need a variety of activities. YLs are oftenshy, and they should join in classroom activi-ties when they feel ready rather than whenthe teacher demandsan opportunity thatsongs create (Djigunovich and Vilke 2000).The learning characteristics of YLs also reveala need to develop a strong emotional attach-ment to their teacher. Listen and Do songssupport this attachment since the studentsand the teacher are physically involved indoing the same actions; that is, they share a

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common experience. The students education,including language education, is a process inwhich they should be encouraged to contrib-ute physically, emotionally, and intellectu-ally. This type of learning environment is best

achieved when the teacher creates a safe, non-threatening context within which learners canplay with language.

Songs provide opportunities forrepetition and practice

Songs provide excellent opportunities forrepetition and practice that might otherwisebe tedious. Repetition of language is pleasur-ablesuch as repeating choruses, or singingcumulative songs where each verse borrowswords from a previous verse (e.g., TheTwelve Days of Christmas). This repetition,most often accompanied by physical actions,helps learning and in turn leads to familiar-ity so that children feel comfortable with theforeign language (Rumley 1999). In addition,as argued by Sharpe (2001), by singing songspupils gradually internalize the structures andpatterns of the foreign language as well as thespecific language items that the teacher wantsthem to learn.

Songs provide opportunities forreal language use

According to Sharpe (2001), songs providean occasion for real language use in a fun andenjoyable situation. She claims that singing isa vital part of the life of a young child, insideand outside the school, and incorporating theforeign language into this fundamental activ-ity is another way of normalizing it. Youngchildren readily imitate sounds and oftenpleasurably associate singing and playing withrhythms and rhymes from an early age.

Schoepp (2001) believes that the follow-ing three patterns emerge from the research

on why songs are valuable in the ESL/EFLclassroom:

1. Affective reasons: A positive attitudeand environment enhance languagelearning. Songs are an enjoyable activ-ity that contribute to a supportive,non-threatening setting with confidentand active learners.

2. Cognitive reasons: Songs contribute tofluency and the automatic use of mean-ingful language structures.

3. Linguistic reasons: In addition to build-ing fluency, songs provide exposure to awide variety of the authentic languagestudents will eventually face in non-academic settings.

How to teach songs

A word of caution is necessary. As languageteachers, we should always bear in mind thatour main responsibility is to teach the targetlanguage. No matter how fun and enjoyablesong activities may be for YLs, we should notget carried away by the music and rhythm ofsongs. Our main responsibility is not to teachsinging skills, but to teach the target language.Therefore, if songs are used ineffectively, theycan easily become mere entertainment andpleasurable interruptions in the school daythat, in the long term, result in boredom and alack of interest. There should be a clear reasonin the language teachers mind as to why andhow to use a song. Songs can be an effectivemeans of developing childrens language skillsonly when they are well integrated into ascheme of work and carefully selected for thecognitive and linguistic needs of pupils.

Kirsch (2008) states that listening activitiesshould be based on meaningful, appropriate,and authentic texts (e.g., a story, song, orpoem) that assist listening and remembering

and that match the language and grade levelof pupils.

Ersz (2007, 20) suggests that teachersshould be careful to choose songs that:

contain simple and easily understoodlyrics

link with a topic or vocabulary thatlearners are studying in class

containrepetitivelines allowchildren to easily do actions(to

help emphasize meaning)

Total Physical ResponseIn relation to how to present songs to YLs,

Phillips (1993) points out that we shouldincorporate some of the techniques fromthe Total Physical Response (TPR) approach(such as Listen and Do songs). TPR is builtaround the coordination of speech and action,focusing on teaching languages through phys-ical activity (Richards and Rodgers 2001).This is an extremely useful and adaptableteaching technique, especially in the case of

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YLs who listen to their teachers instructionsin the form of commands and then followthose instructions. For example, in the intro-duction of new commands, the teacher firstsays, Wash your hands, and then shows the

action to this command. Next, the teachergives the command and asks the students toperform the action. Similar routines are car-ried out all through the lesson.

Likewise, Saroban and Metin (2000)suggest that adding motions that parallel thewords of the song makes songs more mean-ingful and enjoyable. Choosing action songsto which learners can dance or act while sing-ing will ensure a lively atmosphere.

Overall, there seems to be general agree-ment among scholars and teachers that athree-staged approach is the most effectiveway to present songs to YLs. These stages are(1) pre-teaching, (2) while-teaching, and (3)post-teaching. In the following lesson plan,Listen and Do songs will be presented accord-ing to these three stages.

A lesson plan for Listen and Do songs

Before you start teaching any song, ascer-tain that the classroom CD player is ready foruse and that every student can hear equallywell. If you are going to use handouts, distrib-ute them to the students but tell them not to

read the lyrics until after the first listening. Ifyou are using a textbook, tell the students thepage number. If you do not have a textbook oraccess to a photocopier, you may write the lyricson the board or on a poster before you start.

Stage 1: Pre-teaching activitiesAccording to Davies and Pearse (2000),

this stage is useful to prepare the learnersfor what they are going to hear, just as weusually prepare for real-life situations. Impor-tant points to consider for this stage, mainly

derived from my own teaching experience, areas follows: To get the students interested in the

topic of the song and to warm them up,you can show a picture or other realiarelated to the song and ask the studentswhat they think the song is about. Tol-erate some native language use, as theseare YLs and beginners. Next,readthetitleofthesongaloud,and

explain it through actions and visuals.

Askthestudentsifthey alreadyknowany words in English related to thetitle of the song. On the board, writeany English words that the studentsmention.

Finally, explain theunknownvocabu-lary from the song through actions andvisuals. There are usually very colorfulpictures in YLs books, and it is time-saving to make use of them.

Stage 2: While-teaching activitiesThis stage is useful to help the learners

understand the text through activities. Aspointed out earlier, one advantage of Listenand Do songs is that students are active asthey are listening. However, do not expectyour students to learn the song and theaccompanying actions in the first listening.They will need to listen to the song a fewtimes. Drawing on my experience, I suggestlistening to a song three or four times andcarrying out the tasks described below.

First listening. The aim of the first listen-ing, as pointed out by Harmer (1991), is togive students an idea of what the listeningmaterial sounds like. Let the students listento the song without any interruptions sothat they will have an opportunity to hearthe music and the lyrics. This may also be

termedfree listening. I find this activity quitebeneficial and motivating for my students,and they express positive feelings about freelistening. After the free listening, tell the stu-dents to look at the lyrics of the song (fromthe handout, textbook, board, or poster),since this is probably the best time to let stu-dents see and read the lyrics. (If the studentsread the lyrics before the first listening, theymay try to read along and not concentrate.)Next, read the lyrics of the song aloud andask the students to listen and follow from the

handout. Finally, read the lyrics aloud lineby line and ask the students to repeat everyline aloud.

After you have completed the repetitionphase, use the power of TPR to teach theactions for the song. Read every line aloud,demonstrate the associated action or actions,and ask the students to do the same actions.The following well-known song, Head,Shoulders, Knees, and Toes (Oxford Uni-versity Press 1997), illustrates the activity.

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Teacher: stands in front of the class and sayshead and touches his or her headwith both hands

Students: say head and touch their heads asshown by their teacher

Teacher: says shoulders and touches bothshoulders

Students: say shoulders and touch theirshoulders as shown by their teacher

Teacher: says knees and touches bothknees

Students: say knees and touch their knees asshown by their teacher

Teacher: says toes and points to his or hertoes

Students: say toes and point to their toes asshown by their teacher

Teacher: says eyes, ears, mouth, andnose and meanwhile touchesthem in order, as in the previousexamples

Students: say eyes, ears, mouth, andnose and meanwhile touch thecorresponding body parts as in theprevious examples

At this stage, it is the responsibility ofthe teacher to ascertain that each studentunderstands the vocabulary and actions in thesong and that they can do the actions when

they are asked. It is for the teacher to decidewhether to do extra repetitions. Drawing onmy own experience, I feel it is always a goodidea to double-check student comprehensionof words and actions; students may say theyunderstood everything because they want toproceed to the next stage right away. To checkstudent understanding, randomly name thevocabulary that you have taught and ask thestudents to do the accompanying actions.

Second listening. Play the song again andguide the students both by singing and doing

the actions that you have already taught. Thistime, ask the students to just listen and dothe actions under your guidance. Hearing theteacher sing the song and seeing the teacher dothe actions help students overcome feelings ofshyness and lack of confidence. Besides, stu-dents find it funny and interesting when theysee their teacher doing the actions to a song.I believe that this situation motivates the stu-dents and prepares them for the third listen-ing, where they will be asked to sing the song.

Third listening. This is the stage when stu-dents are asked to sing the song along with theCD or the teacher line by line. As a teacher,check for correct intonation of languagenotmusicand pronunciation, and do some

remedial work on any problematic intonationor pronunciation.

Fourth listening. Ask the students to singthe complete song along with the CD andjoin in the singing yourself. Also, ask thestudents to do the accompanying actions. Myown experience demonstrates that the finallistening can be carried out a few times, as thestudents are eager and interested to sing thewhole song and perform the actions.

Stage 3: Post-teaching activitiesThis stage is generally accepted as the

stage when the teacher moves on from listen-ing practice to focus on other language skillssuch as reading, speaking, and writing. Inthis context, Listen and Do songs are suitablefor competitions, games, and simple dramaactivities. Some suggested examples follow.

Depending on the number of stu-dents, divide the class into two orthree groups. Assign a part of the songto each group, then ask the groupsto sing along with the CD and at thesame time do the actions. TPR songs

in general are suitable for class, group,or individual competitions, so you maywish to turn this song into a competi-tion by assigning points to every cor-rect pronunciation and action. In myown teaching context I choose fourrepresentatives from each group andask them to sing their part with theactions. This game is greatly enjoyed bythe majority of students.

Asanalternative totheaboveactivity,the following game may be played:

choose two students and call themto the front. Then give commandsrandomly related to the song andreward the quickest correct action withapplause by the class. The followingdescription illustrates this activity: Theteacher says knees, and the studentsare expected to touch or point to theirknees. The quickest student to touchor point to his or her knees wins apoint and is applauded by the class.

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The teacher names other items fromthe song, and again the student who isquickest to do the appropriate actiongets a point. This game becomes evenmore fun if the teacher lets the stu-

dents in the class give the commands.Besides, if students take over in thisway, the activity is not always centeredon the teacher, and consequently thereis more room for student practice.

The same game may be played as awhole class as well. The teacher ran-domly gives commands, and any stu-dent to do an incorrect action is takenout of the game. The last remainingstudent is announced as the winner.

Tostrengthenstudentsspeakingskills,the teacher performs the actions ran-domly, without speaking, and asks thestudents to name the correct words orthe correct commands. I generally turnthis activity into a competition betweenthe teacher and the students by givinga point for every correct student utter-ance to the students and a point tothe teacher for the opposite case. Thestudents in my own teaching contextwere very eager to beat the teacher, andhence this activity was very popular.

To foster students writing skills, the

teacher sticks a picture, or severalpictures, on the board and asks dif-ferent students to come up and writewhat the picture shows. For example,I usually put a picture or drawing ofa human body on the board for thesong Head, Shoulders, Knees, andToes and draw arrows linked to thehead, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears,mouth, and nose. Next, I teach thestructure I have _____ and write anexample sentence on the board (e.g.,

I have brown eyes). Then I namean item (e.g., ears) and call a studentto the board. The student first has towrite the word ears in the blank line.Then, the student has to write a sen-tence using the I have _____ struc-ture. (I have two ears.) It is a goodidea at this point to help your studentswrite the sentences and ask the otherstudents both to help and to copy thesentences from the board.

A focus on literary skills at thepost-teaching stage

I have noticed that songs create opportuni-ties for a smooth transition from singing andlistening to reading and literacy exercises. To

foster reading and literacy skills at the post-teaching stage, you may carry out the fol-lowing activity. I will illustrate two examples,again using the Head, Shoulders, Knees, andToes song.

Theteachermakessetsofcardswithakey word from the song on each (e.g.,mouth, head) and then cuts each cardin half, with a part of the word on eachhalf. Next, the teacher asks the studentsto work in pairs and reconstruct thewords by finding and putting togetherthe two halves correctly. Once the stu-dents finish the activity, the teacher asksthe pairs to show and read aloud thewords that they have reconstructed.

Alternatively, using the structure Ihave _____, the teacher writes dif-ferent sentences on cards (e.g., I havetwo eyes) and cuts each sentence intopieces with a word on each piece. Then,the teacher asks the students to formsmall groups and gives the pieces for adifferent sentence to each group. Next,the teacher asks the groups to construct

a sentence by using the words theyhave. Finally, each group is asked toread its sentence aloud.

Follow-up activities

The post-teaching activities that have beendiscussed so far are mostly immediate activi-ties. However, it may be beneficial for thestudents to sing the song the next day, orfor a number of days after it is taught. Theserepetitions of the song may be termed aslong-term follow-ups, and such activities aid

in the building and development of long-termmemories on the part of the students. Thefollowing two activities may be tried as follow-ups when you return to a song a day or twoafter students first learn it.

Prepare a worksheet consisting of thepictures of the key words from the songand leave a blank space below eachpicture so that students can fill it inwith the right word. For example, thepictures may be of parts of the body

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mentioned in the song. Distribute theworksheets and ask the students tocomplete the task individually in 35minutes. If you think that this activityis too challenging for your students,

you may wish to provide a list of thekey words at the top or bottom of theworksheet. Once the students com-plete the task, ask them to check theiranswers with a classmate. Finally, askdifferent students to read their answersaloud. This activity allows you to checkboth writing and speaking skills.

Prepare sets of flashcards with a keyword from the song on each. Again, theflashcards might be of parts of the bodyfrom the song. Depending on yourclass size, you may wish to give a set offlashcards to every student, or you maydivide the class into groups of three orfour students. Once you decide on theformat, distribute the flashcard sets andask the students to listen attentively asyou name the key words that appearon the flashcards. The students are topile up the flashcards in the order theyhear. Once you finish naming all thekey words, check for the correct orderof flashcards. If you increase the paceof your naming of the items as you go

along, the activity becomes more chal-lenging and fun. Make sure that youchange the order in which you namethe key words every time.

A short list of online resources for songs

1. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/songs This website has beendesigned by the British Council andprovides a number of animated andsubtitled songs for teaching Englishto YLs. There are also online pre- and

post-activities and exercises for theteacher to use. The names of a few ani-mated songs I have selected are Overthe Mountains; The Wheels on theBus; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star;The Leaves on the Tree; and MyComputer Mouse.

2. www.kididdles.com This websitealso provides an extensive selection ofsongs, lyrics to read, and free printablelyric sheets. The names of a few songs

I have selected from this website areBounce the Ball; Here We Go!;Lets Move!; Fruit Vendor; and Inthe Kitchen.

3. www.songsforteaching.com/index

.html This website aims to use musicto promote learning and provides anextensive selection of songs that canbe used with young ESL/EFL learners.The sections titled early childhoodsongs and languages provide a greatnumber of songs appropriate for ESL/EFL classes. The names of a few songsI have selected from these two sectionsare Can You Move Like Me?; JumpUp!; Directions; Counting 1 to10; and Five Fingers.

Conclusion

Developing listening skills is a fundamen-tal component of any ESL/EFL curriculumfor YLs, and songs are regarded as one of themost effective techniques to this end. Songshave a definite place in the YL classroom; theyprovide meaningful and enjoyable languagepractice, especially in fostering listening skills.The hope is that the more songs YLs experi-ence, the better language learners they willbecome. The effectiveness and importance ofsongs increase when they are used in combi-

nation with TPR, which involves game-likemovements.

It is my hope that the sample lesson planin this article will bring songs to the atten-tion of teachers of English to YLs and rein-force the practice of using songs in ESL/EFLcontexts. It is important that ESL/EFL teachersunderstand the reasons for using songs in theYL classes and understand teaching procedures.Then they will discover their own reasons forand ways of using songs effectively and mean-ingfully in their respective teaching contexts.

References

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Richards, J. C., and T. S. Rodgers. 2001.Approach-es and methods in language teaching. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

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primary school, ed. P. Driscoll and D. Frost,11425. London: Routledge.

Saroban, A. 1999. The teaching of listening. TheInternet TESL Journal 5 (12). http://iteslj.org/Articles/Saricoban-Listening.html

Saroban, A., and E. Metin. 2000. Songs, verseand games for teaching grammar. The InternetTESL Journal6 (10). http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Saricoban-Songs.html

Schoepp, K. 2001. Reasons for using songs in theESL/EFL Classroom. The Internet TESL Journal7 (2). http://iteslj.org/Articles/Schoepp-Songs.html

Sharpe, K. 2001. Modern foreign languages in theprimary school: The what, why and how of early

MFL teaching. London: Kogan Page.Ur, P. 1996.A course in language teaching: Practice

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Mustafa sevik is an Assistant Professor atMehmet Akif Ersoy University Turkey, where

he teaches in both the undergraduate and

masters programs in TEFL. He has taught

EFL for 16 years, and is the author of a

book for young learners and a variety of

articles for EFL learners and teachers.

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