MASARYK UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Department of English Language and Literature
The Use of Scottish Traditional Songs in
Lessons of English at University
Bachelor Thesis
Brno 2019
Supervisor: Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A. Author: Eva Zavadilová
Bibliographical Record Zavadilová, Eva. The Use of Scottish Traditional Songs in Lessons of English at University: bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2019. 54 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis: Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A.
Bibliografický záznam ZAVADILOVÁ, Eva. The Use of Scottish Traditional Songs in Lessons of English at University: bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury, 2019. 54 s. Vedoucí bakalářské práce: Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A.
Abstract This bachelor thesis focuses on Scottish traditional music and its use in lessons of English at university. The theoretical part explores Scottish culture, its language and its music, and it highlights the benefits of using music during the educational process. The practical part aims to discover to what extent the university students can understand unknown, non-standard English language structures and elicit the meaning according to the context. The research aims to widen students’ awareness of the unique Scottish culture and its language distinctions. It thereby contributes to enriching the students’ knowledge as well as to variegate the lessons of English by involving music in the educational process.
Anotace Tato bakalářská práce je zaměřena na skotskou tradiční hudbu a její využití v hodinách anglického jazyka na vysoké škole. Teoretická část práce popisuje skotskou kulturu, hudbu, jazyk a vyzdvihuje výhody, které vyplývají z používání hudby ve výuce. Cílem praktické části je zjistit, do jaké míry jsou studenti schopni porozumět neznámým a nestandardním formám anglického jazyka a případně jejich význam odvodit z kontextu. Výzkum provedený v rámci práce má za cíl rozšířit povědomí studentů o jedinečné skotské kultuře a jejích jazykových odlišnostech. Tím přispívá k obohacení vědomostí studentů stejně jako ke zpestření výuky díky využití hudby ve vzdělávacím procesu.
Keywords music, Scotland, Scottish culture, Scottish songs, teaching, Scots, Scottish language, Scottish grammar, history of Scottish language
Klíčová slova hudba, Skotsko, skotská kultura, skotské písně, výuka, skotština, skotský jazyk, skotská gramatika, historie skotského jazyka
Acknowledgement I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A. for her inspiration and help during the process of working on the thesis. My thanks also go to the students of English at Masaryk University who participated in the research for being cooperative and open-minded. Last, I thank my family and friends for their support throughout my whole studies.
Declaration I hereby declare that I have worked on this bachelor thesis independently and that all sources I have used are listed in the works cited.
In Brno, 30 March 2019 Eva Zavadilová
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction ...... 7
2 Theoretical Part ...... 9
2.1 Music and Foreign Languages ...... 9
2.1.1 Music in Suggestopedia ...... 10
2.1.2 Development of Language Skills ...... 11
2.2 Scottish Language ...... 14
2.2.1 The History of the Scottish Language ...... 14
2.2.2 Vocabulary, Grammar and Pronunciation ...... 16
2.2.3 Present Usage and Understanding ...... 22
2.3 Scottish Musical Culture ...... 23
2.3.1 Scottish Traditional Music ...... 24
2.3.2 Musical Life and Traditions in Scotland ...... 25
3 Practical Part ...... 28
3.1 Lessons Objectives ...... 28
3.2 Respondents ...... 28
3.3 “Annie Laurie” ...... 29
3.3.1 Vocabulary and Understanding ...... 31
3.3.2 Lesson Plan ...... 32
3.3.3 Lesson Feedback ...... 36
3.4 “Highland Harry” ...... 40
3.4.1 Vocabulary and Understanding ...... 41
3.4.2 Lesson Plan ...... 42
3.4.3 Lesson Feedback ...... 47
4 Conclusion ...... 51
Works Cited ...... 53
1 Introduction
Music plays an essential role in our lives, regardless of our being active musicians or listeners. It might bring cheerfulness and optimism to the listener and can even become a full- time hobby without which people cannot live any more. Besides, music is connected to many important events and occasions we come across during life, and each culture has a unique way of involving music in people’s lives. Music and listening skills are also an important part of the language learning process. Learning a language is all about perception and repetition, and songs are a great way how to repeat language structures and enjoy the vital benefits of music at the same time.
As a student of English, I find it highly relevant to become acquainted with the cultures the language of which I am learning in order to understand the context of their history and present state of their countries better. One of the aspects of the cultural richness of each country is its unique language which, although it might still be called English, differs not only in each country but also in various regions and with different speakers. Consequently, there are countless variances of English used around the world, and it would be unreasonable to expect to meet only with the form of Standard English which we are taught in schools. Therefore, it is useful to become also acquainted with non-standard English in order to understand and get closer to each specific culture. Using music provides a pleasant way of learning more about different cultures and their language simultaneously.
This thesis explores the Scottish culture, its language and its music, all of which are described in the first, theoretical part, and it summarises findings of the understanding of Scottish songs gained during short lessons with university students of English, about which is written in the second, practical part. Since my other field of study is music, I am pleased that I could combine my two study fields and widen my knowledge of both by compiling this research.
The theoretical part is divided into three main chapters, each of which provides a general overview of a specific topic and a review of available literature. In the first chapter, the connection between music and learning foreign languages is examined. It highlights the benefits that using music during the learning process has, and it describes how learning through music enhances language skills, such as listening and pronunciation.
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The second chapter deals with the language used in Scotland, which is approached first through its historical development and classification. Later, some of its main language features, such as the vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, are explained and compared to the widely known Standard English. Finally, the present usage and classification of the language is described in order to enable the determination of some possible criteria which might affect the understanding of the language by non-native speakers.
The theoretical part is concluded by a brief description of Scottish traditional music, its typical features, such as typical musical instruments and rhythmical structures, and Scottish musical traditions in order to understand what music truly means for Scotland.
The practical part aims to discover to what extent the university students of English can understand the Scottish language in the form of Scottish traditional songs. According to certain criteria, two songs were chosen to be presented during an English lesson. Through the use of several exercises, the students’ capability of understanding the unknown language structures and eliciting the meaning from the context was tested.
Finally, all the findings and results based on the theoretical and practical research are summarised in the conclusion.
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2 Theoretical Part
The theoretical part includes findings gained from available literature concerning the topic of music as a way of learning foreign languages, the Scottish language and Scottish traditional music. Each area is discussed in detail and provides suitable knowledge for the realisation of the research described in the practical part.
2.1 Music and Foreign Languages
Music is an essential part of people’s lives, and it can have an immense influence on one’s mood and personality. However, it can also be useful in many other areas. It can help to encourage confidence and raise people’s spirits in difficult times, but it is also used in many care occupations. Music is stimulating and helpful, which is important and useful in many ways. Also, teaching and learning are other areas which might take advantage of the benefits of music. In the following chapter, some of the advantages of using music during teaching and learning a foreign language are discussed.
Learning a foreign language is a time-consuming process which might seem rather demanding to all students, and especially to those who are not learning it voluntarily, but it is a compulsory part of their education. Owing to tests and examining in schools, foreign language classes are not always entertaining and interesting for all students. In her article about the influence of music on language skills, González supposes that one of the reasons why these classes are not popular is that students “seem to find the classes boring and routine” (323). She accepts that sometimes, “teaching a language only means following the textbook, doing every single exercise, giving extra handouts, and then, starting it all over again” (323). Luckily, there are many ways how to make the classes more acceptable, or even enjoyable, and one of the possibilities is involving music in the educational process.
Music can be both entertaining and useful at the same time, and it can significantly help when learning a language. Zaraysky highlights the helpful role of using songs in education by emphasising the importance of sounds in connection with human memory. She says that it “is easier to remember something when you hear it in to a tune” (25). She claims that people tend to remember sounds very well, even if they only heard it in an old commercial 20 years ago (25), with which many people would undoubtedly agree. Some sounds and short pieces of music, which can be heard in movies, commercials, or shops, are often highly catchy, and it is
9 even hard to get it out of person’s head. Therefore, it is more than wise to try using songs as a way of teaching and learning.
2.1.1 Music in Suggestopedia
The use of music is an essential part of a method called Suggestopedia. This method was formulated by Dr. Georgi Lozanov, a Bulgarian psychotherapist, who was inspired by Suggestology, a method used in the medical environment to reduce problems connected with medical treatments and procedures (Zormanová 160). This chapter shortly reviews the main ideas of Suggestopedia, with a focus on the use of music.
Suggestopedia is an approach which is, among others, used as a progressive way of teaching languages. Besides music, Suggestopedia devotes attention to the furniture, decoration, the arrangement of the classroom and the behaviour of the teacher, all of which influence and participate in the learning process. It focuses on the consciousness, concentration and the rhythm of breathing; therefore, yoga is another source from which Suggestopedia takes benefits. It also aims to “increase self-esteem through increased self-satisfaction” and “use the unique potential of rhythm to energize and bring order” (Richards and Rodgers 100). The method highlights the importance of rhythm and students’ comfort while learning; therefore, music is considered a crucial part of the learning process.
When applying this method, music is used as a background and it is also actively included in the learning process. Bancroft divides the use of music into two forms. The first form, passive listening, might be used in the form of playing background music to make students more comfortable and communicative, which is discussed below. The second form is active engagement and participation in making music, which includes playing musical instruments, rhythmic games and doing physical activities (112). However, active participation is more suitable for children and younger students, who are not the focus group of this thesis. Even though, it might be a nice enrichment from which the adult students could benefit as well.
Regarding the passive listening usage of music, Suggestopedia draws the attention to the type of music played, and what impact it has on the students’ mood and their results. Bancroft refers to the importance of using music to establish good conditions for learning by highlighting the influence of physiological and psychological effects that music has on the human body and mood. The author mentions that “listening to music procedures changes in blood flow and blood pressure, changes in posture, respiratory rate, pulse rate and general
10 activity,” all of which have an immense influence on the human psyche and are therefore important for a person to become calm, relaxed and concentrated (110). Regarding the psychological effects, it is pointed out that “listening to music also produces measurable mood changes; for example, listening to and playing music have been shown to be effective antidepressant measures” (110). Once students are in a good mood and their bodies and minds are prepared for proper concentration, they are ready to learn more effectively.
Similarly, Zormanová supports these ideas by mentioning that music helps to bring a relaxed atmosphere, in which students feel comfortable, which eliminates their fear during the learning process (162). When feeling comfortable and relaxed, it is much easier for students to concentrate; therefore, learning is manageable and more successful. Lozanov claims that “memorization in learning by the suggestopedic method seems to be accelerated 25 times over that in learning by conventional methods” (28).
A great emphasis is put on what music is used, for concerning the types of music, the possibilities seem to be endless. In her book, Bancroft analyses different types of music according to the rhythm, melody, harmony, instrumentation and historical classification, and summarises the effects of each chosen type. For example, she presents the 19th century romantic music as not very suitable for relaxing, as it is emotive, and it might create tension. “Baroque music, on the other hand, is structured and reassuring” (112). The music from the baroque era is marked as the most suitable one also by Zormanová, who suggests that slow and calm baroque music, especially when played on string instruments, is the most appropriate one (162). In Suggestopedia, music is often used as a background for when the teacher is reading a text in a foreign language. While reading, the teacher follows the rhythm of the music, which helps students to concentrate and perceive the language at its best.
2.1.2 Development of Language Skills
Besides using music as a way to create a pleasant environment and make the students feel good and comfortable while learning, it can also help to develop many of the students’ language skills. Learning languages is a long, involved process, and it may become boring and repetitive. Therefore, one of the possibilities to make the process accessible is to learn directly through songs, which might also develop students’ listening and reading comprehension skills as well as improve their pronunciation. Likewise, it can contribute to memorising new vocabulary and complex grammar structures with ease, as dealt with below.
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The first thing passing through the mind in connection with songs is the fact that it is often almost impossible to get some songs out of the head, and therefore, how easy it is to memorise the song and remember new vocabulary and grammar unintentionally. González supports the idea about helpfulness of music by saying that remembering something through a song is a straightforward process, and what more, it is stored in the long-term memory, which assures its long-lasting preservation. She claims that “we can still remember some words of some songs of our childhood or old songs that we do not listen to any more” (324). She adds that music connects both hemispheres of the brain which help to remember things better. “It uses the left side for language and the right one for distinguishing musical intonation” (324). Therefore, it connects the creative and emotional processes with the verbal and logical part of thinking, which makes the learning process more effective. Also, since the lyrics are often repetitive, the content is more likely to be remembered and automate. Based on these ideas, it is then simple for students to remember the lyrics, which means that they can easily remember new vocabulary and grammatical structures used in the song. This idea is also supported by the principles of Suggestopedia, which, as discussed above, uses music as a background while reading texts to students to help them perceive and remember the words and sentences.
According to many authors, the listening skills are crucial, as it precedes speaking itself, and these can be apparently improved by using songs as a method of learning. González points out that even though listening skills are sometimes given only secondary role in language learning, “it has been proved that in the reality, listening is used in everyday life far more than any other language skills” (326). When listening to a foreign language speech, students must be conscious and careful to catch as many words as possible, depending on their level of the foreign language. However, it is rarely possible to understand every single word, and therefore, the essential language skill which needs to be improved from the very beginning is the ability of perception and comprehension. By using songs in the learning process, students get closer to the real language, and they can listen to language patterns which are commonly used in the utterance. Similarly, they can get used to the normal flow of speech with the possibility of repeating and replaying the song, which is necessary for better understanding but is not possible in a real dialogue.
In some languages, the written text radically differs from what can be heard during the listening; therefore, the knowledge of pronunciation is another important skill that students should be acquainted with. To improve the pronunciation skills, it is essential to provide the lyrics also in its written form so as the students could compare what they hear to what they see.
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Subsequently, students can connect and remember both the written and the spoken form of words, which prepares them for future usage of the newly memorised vocabulary. Incidentally, as mentioned by many authors, by engaging several senses, the content is more likely to be remembered. Besides meeting with and remembering new vocabulary, students notice also other factors of pronunciation during the listening activity, e.g. intonation and stresses. These might be considered to be more advanced skills; however, these skills can help students understand how to make their speech sound fluent and natural. In addition, students are not only passively perceiving the pronunciation, but they usually sing a song several times and practise what they heard while enjoying a pleasant music.
When a song is sung repeatedly, all the features mentioned above contribute to a better understanding and mastering of a foreign language. Students practise their listening and pronunciation skills, and at the same time, new vocabulary and grammar are stored to their memory. As a result, students gain valuable experience are more likely to understand the utterance in the foreign language.
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2.2 Scottish Language
2.2.1 The History of the Scottish Language
The Scottish language developed for over a millennium, and the influence by a vast amount of other languages, cultures and peoples is visible even today. When looking at the history of the Scottish language as such, it is essential to bear in mind that terms such as Scots, Standard Scottish Language or Scottish Gaelic are not of the same reference. It might be surprising, and confusing, that the word Scots can be interchanged with Inglish, which could remind the term English, although in fact it refers to a formerly used term for Scots. The following lines provide more information about the origin and development of the language used in Scotland and its surroundings.
Scots, or Lowland Scots, is a language widely used especially in its spoken form in the area of today's Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster. It is not precisely defined whether Scots should be considered an official, independent language or whether it is only a dialect of English instead. Nevertheless, it was not until the 16th century that Scots was commonly used in that area. Since the 6th century, Gaelic was dominant in the North of today's Britain. It was also called Ersche or Irish, for it is known that Gaelic is a language of a Celtic origin brought to Britain from the North of Ireland (Corbett 4). Confusingly, it was the North of Ireland where people called Scoti originally lived. For this reason, Gaelic is also known as Scottish Gaelic or simply Scottish. Therefore, Scots and Scottish must be entirely distinguished from each other, as they are two independent languages, and, to make it clear, the only connection between them is that Scottish (Gaelic) influenced the development of Scots. Gaelic, however, had only a marginal influence on Scots, as it was displaced due to invaders during the upcoming centuries. It was gradually pushed northwards, and since the turn of the 16th and 17th century, Gaelic influence was dismissed. Despite this, Gaelic was commonly used in the very northern parts of the British Isles until the 11th century.
A considerable number of foreign invaders occupied the British Isles and left a great deal of cultural and linguistic influences behind. The peoples who had an immense influence on the development of both Scottish and English languages were the Angles and Saxons, who arrived in Britain in the 6th century and brought their Germanic languages with them. While the Saxons' language, also called Old English, was then affected mostly by Norman French and later developed into English as it is known today, the language of the Angles' laid down the foundations of Scots. Often being seen as entirely different languages, Scots and English share 14 a common core, e.g. grammar and vocabulary, which is caused by their common Germanic origin (Douglas 29).
As the Angles settled in the North, they were soon to meet with another flow of invaders, coming this time from the Norse lands and bringing their culture and their mother language to the North of the British Isles in the 8th century. It was Vikings whose arrival had an immense influence on the development of Scots. Their language, Old Norse, was another one of a Germanic origin, and here is where the journey towards Scots began.
The language which developed in the following centuries was known as Inglish, and it had a prominent role in the society. It was influenced by visitors coming from the North of England as well as by those from abroad. Therefore, signs of English, Gaelic, Scandinavian and even Dutch could be found in what was known as Inglish. During the 15th and 16th century, Inglish became known as Scots to differentiate it from English used in the southern part of Britain (Douglas 30). This term, which was used back then is still used today, and finally makes the names of its ancestors and relatives distinguishable. Scots was widely used between the 12th and the 18th century, when it even became the official language of Scotland. Additionally, it displaced Latin in being the language of court and government, and all administrative documents were written in Scots (MacGillivray 58).
Unfortunately, the glory of Scots was not to last forever. A significant milestone for the Scots as a language, which was since now on withdrawing out of the prominence, was the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. Printing was brought to England earlier than to Scotland, where it was not established until 1508; therefore, Scottish texts were printed in England for a considerable amount of time. When being brought southwards, Scottish texts were modified and normalised according to the English texts, and Scots was not spreading out in its original form (Corbett 7). As the church was trying to bring Christianity among ordinary people, there were also attempts to carry out the Bible in both English and Scots, but for various reasons, the English version was the only one printed.
However, these were neither the only nor the most important reasons for a decline in the status of Scots. A crucial turning point for Scots was the year 1603. During the turn of the 16th and 17th century, Scotland was under the rule of James VI. As an heir of Elizabeth I of England, he later became James I of England in an act known as the Union of the Crowns, since when England and Scotland shared the same monarch. At that time, James moved from Edinburgh to London. The court was also relocated to London, and Scots was not preferred any more. As a
15 writer, James ceased from writing in Scots and began to write in English, which came into fashion among the upper class and educated society. After the Union of the Crowns, many similarly essential contracts were made between Scotland and England; notably, the 1707 Acts of Union, which declared that the two independent kingdoms, although with the same king, were joined together also politically (MacGillivray 59). Since the turn of the 16th and 17th century, Scots was considered to be a domestic language; in other words, it was no longer suitable either for official writings or for books. Nevertheless, it was still used by ordinary people in its spoken form.
In the 17th and 18th century, both Scots and Gaelic rapidly dropped in status and were seen as vulgar. Up until the Scottish Enlightenment, a vast decline in Scottish literature was notable, too. The Scottish Enlightenment was a prominent stream in science and culture in Scotland during the 18th and 19th century. There was a significant development in education, science and, of course, in national literature. Many authors, such as Robert Burns and Walter Scott, were trying to revive and boost national literature and language. Even though, Scots was still viewed as something barbaric, and its use among the upper society was minor. Still, it survived in songs and stories orally passed from one generation to the next.
2.2.2 Vocabulary, Grammar and Pronunciation
As mentioned above, Scots, like any other language, has many dialects, depending on the location. Standard Scottish language, the official language of Scotland, is also sometimes different from the widely used, spoken variant called Scots. However, this chapter lists several typical features of Scots, its vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Apparently, it would comprise many pages to describe the whole grammar and all the differences between Standard English and Scots; therefore, only several issues with a clear distinction from Standard English are dealt with below.
Vocabulary Aitken compiled a Model of modern Scottish speech, in which he differentiates five columns of words according to whether they resemble Standard English (columns 4 and 5) or whether they are typical for Scots. Afterwards, he discusses various speakers’ attitude toward the words offered. Columns 1 and 2 are referred to as Scotticisms and are typical for informal working-class speech. Middle-class and educated speakers are most likely to use words
16 presented in columns 3-5. Column 3 represents the common core, words which are shared by both Scots and Standard English (“Scots and English” 6, 7).
Aitken’s Model of Modern Scottish Speech (“Scots and English” 6)
According to Aitken’s model, words can be divided into three categories. The first category includes words which are common in both Scots and English. They are often spelt and pronounced in the same way because of the common core, which these languages share. Words of this category include name or hand, and could also be found in other Germanic languages, such as German. Next category includes words which are called close cognates, as they are also common in both languages and are often similar, but they are spelt or pronounced in a slightly different way, e.g. hame/home. The last category comprises words which are typically Scottish, and both English native speakers and non-native speakers might find them difficult to
17 understand, e.g. bairn (“Scots and English” 6, 7). Sometimes, even the crucial and elementary words, such as yes and no, might be different; therefore, the agreement is expressed by saying ay and disagreement by na or nae. However, some of these words are well known, such as wee, bonnie or lassie.
Grammar To begin with grammar, articles are sometimes used differently in Scots. The definite article the is used much more often than in Standard English. It can be put in front of names of days and seasons (e.g. the Monanday, the winter), diseases (such as the cauld), names of trades or sciences. It is also used in front of many nouns; for example, it is sometimes used instead of a possessive pronoun (e.g. the wife instead of my/his/your wife). Regarding the indefinite articles, it might be surprising that the indefinite article a can be used in front of words beginning either with a consonant or with a vowel. The other form, an, can be used in the same way as in Standard English, that is, in front of words beginning with a vowel, but its use is rare.
When looking at demonstratives, a remarkable difference is noticeable in the plural number. The plural form of the pronoun this would not be these, as it is in Standard English, but thir. Similarly, the plural of that is thae. Additionally, Scots provides a third form of demonstratives. Besides this/thir for objects which are near and that/thae for objects which are far, Scots uses words yon/thorn to point out objects which are even further. Surprisingly, it is possible to use either of these two words in the singular as well as in the plural number.
Another word class which significantly differs in the two compared languages is pronouns. Personal pronouns may seem similar to those in Standard English, but many exceptions occur in pronunciation and usage. For instance, Scots differentiate formal and informal use of the 2nd person. While you/ye are proper in formal situations, older forms, thoo/thee, are typically familiar forms. It is common to find the pronoun it in its contracted form ’t. Surprisingly, it (’t) is usually placed after another pronoun, if two pronouns occur in a sentence, e.g. the sentence I’ll give it to her could be translated as I’ll gie her it. Likewise, us has a contracted form ’s, and it is often used instead of me; therefore, the sentence “Will you marry me?” will be translated into “Will ye hae’s/us?”, which may sound rather strange.
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Personal Pronouns – Nominative Case (scots-online.org)
Singular Plural
Standard English Scots Standard English Scots
1st Person I A (Ah) we we
2nd Person you ye you you (ye)
3rd Person he, she, it he, she, it (hit) they thay
Personal Pronouns – Objective Case (scots-online.org)
Singular Plural
Standard English Scots Standard English Scots
1st Person me me us us
2nd Person you ye you you (ye)
3rd Person him, her, it him, her, it (hit) them thaim
When comparing, adjectives are transformed to a comparative or superlative form. Besides irregular words, such as guid – better – best, adjectives are mainly regular, i.e. suffixes are added at the end of the word, -er to form a comparative and -est for a superlative. Interestingly, the adjectives are so regular that the suffix is added in the same form regardless which letters are in front of the suffix. For instance, the suffix -er/-est is added at the end of a word wee, and the resulting form will be weeer/weeest. Words which have two or more syllables form the comparative and superlative by adding extra words mair and maist in front of them, which is common in Standard English, too; however, it is possible to come across a double comparative, where both suffix and an extra word appears. These word forms, such as mair aulder, are commonly used.
When comparing how to work with verbs in Scots and Standard English, the difference is visible mainly when forming negative constructions. Verbs are divided into two categories,
19 namely main and auxiliary verbs. Most of them have many varieties in spelling. Modal verbs fall into the category of auxiliary verbs. It is possible to make them negative by adding the suffix na at the end. In some dialects, double modal constructions are possible, too. Therefore, it would be grammatically correct to say: “A micht can come the morn,” while an English speaker would express it by saying: “I might be able to come tomorrow.” Similarly to English, another three auxiliary verbs are be, dae and hae (or hiv). These, as well as the modal verbs, can be made negative by adding na as a suffix, naturally with many alternatives in both spelling and pronunciation.
Auxiliary Verbs (scots-online.org) Present Past
Standard English Scots Standard English Scots
be/is be/is was/war wis/war
do/does dae/daes did did
have/has hae (hiv)/haes had haed
can can could coud
may mey might micht
must maun had to buid
will will would wad
shall sall should sud
Scots differentiate several tenses, the division and description of which would be rather extensive. The present simple tense is often formed by adding s to a verb in the plural number, regardless of the person. Present continuous can be recognised by final in, as in speakin. Past tense is expressed by the suffix it, ‘t or t. Clearly, there are many irregular verbs, which change the form entirely or do not change in past tense at all. Future tense is then indicated by will, as it is common in Standard English.
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Pronunciation Pronunciation is a prominent characteristic of Scots, and it is easily noticeable. There are several typical features, some of which are mentioned below. Scots uses IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) for the transcription of pronunciation. First, a remarkable feature is the /r/ sound, which is rolled, so that it is extremely hearable in the speech in contrast to Standard English. The /x/ sound is another one which is not typical in Standard English. It is a velar fricative pronounced for example in the word loch. The glottal stop /ʔ/ is typically used as a substitution for /p/, /k/ and especially /t/.
A great source to discover more about Scottish pronunciation is “The Scottish Vowel- length Rule” compiled by Aitken. The author describes rules of pronouncing vowels in Scots, which might of course differ according to the location of speakers. He claims that the length of each vowel is influenced by its phonetic environment. A part of this “Historical table of the Scots Vowels” is shown below (for further information, see Aitken 1981).
Historical Table of the Scots Vowels (“Scottish Vowel-length Rule” 4)
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2.2.3 Present Usage and Understanding
It is rather hard to state to which extent English speakers are able to understand Scots, for, as mentioned earlier, the language which is used in Scotland has an immense number of varieties. These differ a lot according to how much they are similar to or different from Standard English. Following the Aitken’s Model of modern Scottish speech, it is possible to divide Scottish speakers according to social classes they belong to and the context in which they use the language, both of which influence their use of the language. However, there are more influential factors to be discussed.
Scots of today can be described as a significantly wide range of dialects varying according to the place of origin and social background of speakers and differing in grammar, pronunciation and other features of the language. Corbett divides present Scots into two main fields of dialects, rural and urban Scots, and describes each of them separately. The author indicates that rural Scots is spoken mostly in the north-east of Scotland and includes a variety of dialects. These are often referred to as Doric and, as Corbett says, “Doric is often used as a vehicle for literature with themes involving farming or fishing – traditional north-east industries – and for humour and nostalgia” (11). There are also other dialects marked as rural, for example, Insular Scots, which is closely linked to the regional literature of Shetland and Orkney and is more influenced by the Norse languages, which contributed to the development of Scots. In contrast, urban Scots is spoken in the industrial central belt of Scotland, and the speakers “switch from a Standard Scottish English to and urban variety of Scots,” which implies a greater similarity to Standard English that the rural Scots (Corbett 11). For this reason, urban Scots might be more comprehensible to English speakers.
Similarly, McClure suggests a division into thin and dense Scots (30), which might help to distinguish the level of difficulty of Scots for English speakers and is usually used among the written language. The thin Scots contains only a small number of Scotticisms, words which are typically Scottish and the meaning of which might non-Scottish speakers find unfamiliar. It also includes Scots grammar and pronunciation features (McClure 30). Texts in thin Scots are very close to those in Standard Scottish English. On the contrary, a text written in dense Scots comprises a high number of Scotticisms and might be therefore incomprehensible to English speakers. However, McClure implies that a division like this is very simplified. Accordingly, it cannot be used to measure the extent of comprehension accurately.
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There are also attempts to create a universal form of the Scottish language, which would be used in the same form everywhere and every time, regardless of the place or the social background of people. This language is called Lallans, and Corbett describes it as “a form of 'plastic Scots' based on the traditional varieties of Older Scots … The Scots Language Society promotes the use of Lallans in everyday life, and advocates the teaching of Lallans in schools throughout Scotland” (16). In order to create this language, new words are formed, and old words are being brought back to usage. However, these words and phrases are sometimes unfamiliar to the Scots themselves. Therefore, Lallans is not widely accepted by many, and its usage is not very common.
To sum up, various factors influence the complexity and comprehension of Scots, which can be estimated according to the number of Scotticisms in a speech or a piece of writing and according to the origin of the speaker or author. The attempts to create a new, universal language do not seem successful; however, attempts to support teaching Scots in schools are significant and might encourage people to keep talking in their “mither tongue”.
2.3 Scottish Musical Culture
Music is an inseparable part of the Scottish culture, and its originality and specificity are deeply written in people’s minds. Traditional music can be heard during special events and it is often performed in homes or streets throughout Scotland. It can be heard in many different forms, played on various musical instruments and it accompanies a great variety of occasions. Through examining these features, the upcoming lines aim to discover what Scottish traditional music is like and what music truly means for Scotland.
Although remaining a part of the United Kingdom, Scotland has its own national identity. Besides having their own parliament and legislative responsibility, the culture and traditions differ from the rest of the UK in many ways. Recently, traditional music has been experiencing great growth in Scotland; musicians pay attention to the authenticity and the context of their performances. Music lecturer Simon McKerrel attributes the importance to the independence that Scotland gained, and claims that “In 1999 Scotland got her own parliament back again with devolution of power from London and, since then, there has been a growing cultural confidence and consequent growth in traditional music” (Focus 6). He also comments on the idea that the point of view on traditional music has changed by saying that the sounds are nowadays more relevant for people than the texts, and the context for performance is more important than the historical context. By practising traditional music, people express their 23 belonging to a certain community and deepen their relationship to their cultural heritage. To sum up, what music means today and how people look on its authenticity and traditionality emerges in practice (McKerrel Focus 3).
2.3.1 Scottish Traditional Music
Each culture has its traditional music which is specific and original in its own way. Music of some cultures is typical for its rhythm and modal scales while the music of other cultures can be easily recognised by the usage of certain musical instruments. However, it is not a simple task to say what exactly is typical for a specific culture, as there are so many different styles of playing and composing music.
Regarding the Scottish traditional music, one usually recalls the image of a Scotsman standing in the street, wearing a kilt and playing “Auld Lang Syne” on bagpipes, which, on the one hand, might be considered typical, but on the other hand, seem like a prejudice. As a matter of fact, Scottish music includes a much greater variety of styles, instruments and other musical features, and it cannot be simply defined what is and what is not typical. McKerrel supports this idea and compares Scottish music to Scottish soup by saying that “Scottish soups come in a tremendous variety of flavours, colours, consistencies, and at different temperatures and in various parts of a meal” (Focus 8). Similarly, Scottish traditional music appears in many various forms, and it differs according to its origin, its way of performing and many, many more. However, some features of Scottish traditional music are usually shared, and it is possible to expect them to be heard in the music. Similarly, “it would probably be uncontroversial to claim that soup is mostly liquid, often hot and often made with vegetables” (McKerrel Focus 8). However, the following lines aim to summarise some typical features of the traditional music of Scotland, such as typical forms and musical instruments.
Scottish traditional music is closely linked to the events during which it is played, and it is customised according to the specific occasion. Regarding the instrumental music, many instruments, such as a fiddle, accordion and harp, can be considered typical for Scotland; however, bagpipes are certainly the best known. Musicians play the bagpipes either as a solo performance or in pipe bands, which usually consist of 6-20 pipers and a drum section and are popular all around the world. In Scotland, pipe bands perform at celebrations and festivals, such as Highland Games, and they are used for military purposes. A typical genre for solo performers is called piobaireachd, which means pipering in Gaelic. “It is a long form musical genre based upon a basic initial melody usually called the ground … followed by highly stylized and
24 increasingly skeletal ornamental variations such as the taorluath and crunluath” (McKerrel “Scotland” 1915). It is usually 7-25 minutes long, and its motives and tunes are categorised according to their original social functions in the past. Some tunes include the so-called piobaireachd G, which is based on a different fingering and which should “produce a wailing or keening sound against the drone tonic” (McKerrel “Scotland” 1915).
Scottish bands also often perform for dances, which are popular forms of traditional music especially since the beginning of the 20th century. This type of band usually involves a lead and a second piano accordion, fiddle, piano and a drum selection. Typically, music played by these bands includes such dances as jigs, reels, strathspeys, waltzes and marches. Jigs, reels and strathspeys are usually typical for its two-bar phrasing in the ABAC form. Generally speaking, the music accompanying Scottish dances is often similar to the Irish dancing music; the difference can be found in the performance of the dance itself (McKerrel “Scotland” 1917).
2.3.2 Musical Life and Traditions in Scotland
A great deal of what traditional music means and what it is like comes from the way how, where and why musicians express it. Therefore, to understand the Scottish traditional music means to become acquainted with the Scottish traditions, performances and music education; in short, musical life in Scotland.
Traditional music has been experiencing a great revival in Scotland in about the last fifty years, and, as McKerrell suggests in his book, the music is becoming more and more popular. One of the reasons, which contributes to the wide spreading of traditional music, is the fact that it can be often heard on public broadcast, as it is supported by the state a lot, especially since the Scottish folk revival in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. Music is often heard in public as well as it is often played in homes and pubs, mostly by well-educated, middle-class urban Scots (McKerrel Focus 9). However, its practice is spreading across different classes and ages, as young people are more and more interested in getting to know their cultural heritage passed from one generation to the next.
When characterising the musical life, the societies and facilities of Scotland, it is necessary to mention the primary source from which people gain musical knowledge and experience since the very beginning of their lives – the family. When one meets music for the first time, the experience is usually in the form of passive listening to songs produced by their parents and grandparents. Lullabies and dandling songs, which were commonly used in the past
25 as well as it is often used today, help the children to become relaxed or entertained. That is ensured by the soft and repetitive character that Scottish traditional children’s songs have. McKerrel highlights the importance of these songs when he says that lullabies “has enabled us to rediscover aspects of Scottish culture that for centuries, only survived because people sang, played, spoke or performed them,” which significantly contributes to the discovering of the cultural heritage (Focus 13).
Although many traditions are no longer in practice, the songs remain and preserve cultural knowledge and history. As life goes on, lullabies and children’s rhymes and songs are replaced by other songs which are more complex, which are however still useful. McKerrel draws the attention to work songs, which used to accompany and aid daily chores. He provides an example of how times have changed by mentioning that “very few people in modern society have a need to manually shrink tweed cloth, yet waulking songs remain a central part of the Gaelic traditional repertoire” (Focus 13). Similarly, he claims that also other chores, such as milking a cow or weaving by hand, have largely disappeared. However, the song people used to sing while working were passed and sung for many, many years, and therefore, these still sustain in people’s memories and represent the Scottish culture and its language in its original form.
An inseparable part of Scottish musical culture, which links musical and family life in Scotland, is the tradition of ceilidh. The English translation – to visit – expresses the main purpose of these events. Ceilidh is a gathering of people in someone’s house in order to talk and tell stories, sing, play and dance to traditional Scottish music. Ceilidh houses were very fashionable and popular especially until the early 1950s; however, there are certain bars and houses where people can enjoy authentic Scottish traditions (Munro 127).
As Ailie Munro, a music teacher and researcher, confirms in her book about the traditional music revival in Scotland, “folk clubs have been the backbone of the revival … they provide a social centre where people can meet, can listen to different kinds of artists, and can sometimes contribute themselves” (173, 174). She emphasises that even though most performers are or began as amateurs, people love experiencing the art of musicians and they enjoy learning from each other. Several places across Scotland are mentioned by Munro, for traditional music is preserved there; for example, Glasgow, which welcomes guests from all around the world, Edinburgh, which tends to be of a formal character and where an annual song
26 writing competition is held every year, Aberdeen, which is famous for its Scottish guest nights, and Inverness, which specialises in Gaelic music (174).
Along with the growth of interest among young people, traditional music is gaining importance also in Scottish education. Since the first degree in Scottish traditional music was launched in 1996, the possibilities of tertiary courses for traditional music has extended. The Scottish conservatoire, as well as other Scottish universities, gathers experienced musicians to ensure good-quality courses for students, and create and compile online materials to provide suitable access to for distance learning (McKerrel Focus 10). In addition, the interest in Scottish culture has overreached the borders of Scotland, and it is now taught as a part of study programmes in Ireland, Canada and the United States. Thanks to the digitalised materials, Scottish traditional music is easily reachable for students as well as for other people interested in the Scottish musical culture via electronic devices. Therefore, the people concerned are gathered together with the possibility of communication, and it is easy to share ideas and experience and deepen common knowledge.
Due to the globalisation and many possibilities brought by the digitalisation, Scottish traditional music is not only something connected exclusively to Scotland any more. Conversely, traditions are spreading across the world, and the sound of bagpipes or fiddle tunes can be often heard outside the borders of Scotland. According to McKerrel, Scottish traditional music is most popular, besides Scotland, in North America, Australasia and South Africa and other places (Focus 10). Performers all over the world have access to recordings and other internet sources, and anyone can learn how and what to play. As a result, the performance of Scottish music played abroad may sound just as authentic as the one practised in the place of its origin. However, there are often strong connections between families and communities living and practising abroad. People are brought together, and that gives them a feeling of belonging and integration. Together, they can play the music of their homeland, or they can enjoy the shared enthusiasm for interesting and unique foreign music, which the Scottish traditional music undoubtedly is.
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3 Practical Part
In the practical part, two Scottish traditional songs, namely “Anne Laurie” and “Highland Harry”, were chosen and prepared to be used during English lessons at university. The songs were chosen according to the complexity of the language, and a worksheet was created for each of them to test students’ language abilities. This chapter describes the two songs, their origin, historical background and music. Also, the lesson plans with individual tasks and results gained during the lessons are discussed.
3.1 Lessons Objectives
The aim of the lessons is to introduce a Scottish song in order to discover to which extent the students of English are able to understand the Scottish language, the songs and individual words, and also if students can elicit the meaning of the unknown words from the context. Apparently, it is useful for language students to be able to understand not only the standard form of the language they study, but also partly understand, or at least, be familiar with the wide range of accents and dialects which are used around the world. During these short lessons, students were acquainted with some factors of Scottish English, which, among others, enriched their knowledge about the Scottish culture and its dialect.
Besides the language benefits, there were other positive factors brought by these lessons. Because of their interest in both English and music, students were enthusiastic about the topic. They were also made to cooperate with their classmates, which contributed to building a pleasant atmosphere in the class and friendly relationships among the group. Also, students had an opportunity to express themselves, and they were supported to share their ideas and opinions with their classmates and with the teacher freely and in a friendly way.
3.2 Respondents
For the practical part, a group of university students was chosen to cooperate. These are students of English who take an optional music course during their studies. The group consisted of 20 university students, approximately at the age of 20-25, who study English in several different study programs. The lessons are closely linked with teaching music; students present famous or interesting songs to the group, and they practise songs which are later performed to children in schools or at the university. Both the students and the teacher were kind and agreed on cooperation in this project during one of the lessons.
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This group of students was immensely suitable for the song realisation, as their interest is focused on both English and music; therefore, they are enthusiastic and willing to learn more in both these areas. Also, students are trained to become teachers, and in these lessons, they collect ideas and materials for using songs in their future career as teachers. For this reason, the students were self-motivated, and therefore, easy to work with. They were asked to listen to the song and fill in the given worksheet. In several tasks, students were asked to work together in pairs or small groups.
3.3 “Annie Laurie”
“Annie Laurie” is a Scottish traditional song, the origin of which is dated to the end of the 17th or the beginning of the 18th century. Through the lyrics, the author expresses his feelings to a beautiful young lady, Annie Laurie.
As it is typical for many Scottish folk songs, the author of the lyrics is known, but the music often comes later; however, there are several different versions of both lyrics and the tunes written, composed and sung by many different artists. Before becoming a song, “Annie Laurie” was a poem written by William Douglas, a soldier who was in love with Anne, a daughter of Sir Robert Laurie, the first baronet of Maxwelton (Whitelaw 438). Although Douglas expresses his affection and deeply admires this young lady, he was unsuccessful in obtaining Annie, who became a wife of Ferguson of Craigdarroch. In “Broadside Ballad Entitled ‘Annie Laurie’” the origin of the song is doubted, and it is suggested that the poem was written, or at least edited and added to, by a Scottish poet Allen Cunningham. Later, the song was adapted and enriched with a third verse by Lady John Scott in the 19th century, who also composed the tune and published it together with other of her songs (web.archive.org).
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The Lyrics of “Annie Laurie” (Allan 48)
Maxwelton braes are bonnie, Where early fa's the dew, And it‘s there that Annie Laurie Gi'ed me her promise true, Gi'ed me her promise true, Which ne'er forgot will be, And for bonnie Annie Laurie I'd lay me doon and dee.
Her brow is like the snaw-drift, Her neck is like the swan, Her face it is the fairest, That 'er the sun shone on - That 'er the sun shone on, And dark blue is her e'e, And for bonnie Annie Laurie I'd lay me doon and dee.
Like dew on the gowans lying, Is the fa' o' her fairy feet, And like winds in simmer sighing, Her voice is low and sweet. Her voice is low and sweet - And she's a' the world to me; And for bonnie Annie Laurie I'd lay me doon and dee.
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3.3.1 Vocabulary and Understanding
The lyrics of “Annie Laurie” consist of three verses, each of which contains eight lines. The last to lines are repeated in the same form at the end of each verse, which implies that these lines function as a chorus. Concerning the comprehensibility, the song should not be very difficult to understand, as there is not a high number of what Aitken calls Scotticisms. According to Aitken’s Model of modern Scottish speech, which is dealt with above, most of the Scotticisms would fit into column number 2, which shows close cognates, words which are often similar to Standard English, but are spelt or pronounced with a slight difference (“Scots and English” 6, 7). Therefore, students should not face many difficulties with understanding words such as ne’er, snaw or simmer, supposing they would meet with both the written and pronounced form of these words.
With the help of the Dictionary of the Scots Language, a list of Scotticisms with the English translation is enclosed.
A List of Scotticisms • braes – a hillside, high ground around a river bank • bonnie – beautiful, pretty, adj. (also bonie, bony etc.) • fa’s – falls, v. • gi’ed – gave, v. (also gied, past form of gie – give) • ne’er – never, adv. • forgot – forgotten, v., past participle (also forgotten, forgatten) • doon – down, adv. • dee – die, v. • brow – forehead, n. • snaw – snow, v., n. • ‘er – ever, adv. (also e’er) • e’e – eye, n. (also ee, ey) • gowans – wildflower, usually daisies, n. • fa’ – fall, n. (also faa, faw) • o’ – of, prep. • simmer – summer, n. • a’ – all, adj.
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3.3.2 Lesson Plan
Pre-testing Before the lesson was applied at school, I introduced my lesson plan and the activities to a small group of students of English to test the tasks and receive feedback and possibly modify the tasks. After discussing the lesson plan, I made small changes in the tasks; for example, I reduced the number of words in Task 3, for it would take too much time if the students should look up all the words and devise the meaning to each of them.
Introduction Students are briefly acquainted with the content of the lesson. The song “Annie Laurie” is introduced as a Scottish folk song.
Listening 1 Students listen to the song, first without having the lyrics available. Their task is to listen carefully and catch and remember the main themes of the song. After the first listening, the teacher asks students about the themes and their understanding of the lyrics.
The teacher provides further information about the song, its origin and historical background. Students are given worksheets with the lyrics.
Task 1 “Annie Laurie” is played for the second time. Students are given instruction to Task 1. While listening, students fill in the missing Scotticisms. They can compare their answers in pairs.
Checking the Answers Students’ answers are discussed. Each word is written on a blackboard or shown to students in a different way so that they could check and correct the spelling. The teacher also asks about the meaning of the discussed words; students are required to describe the meaning of the word to others. If necessary, the teacher helps and describes the words, and students elicit the meaning.
Task 2 Students’ second task is to look up all remaining Scotticisms and underline them. They can again compare and consult what they found in pairs. Afterwards, the results are compared with the teacher and the whole class.
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Task 3 Students are given some time to examine the words written in Task 3. They should find the words in the text of the song and suggest its meaning according to the context. The meaning of the words is afterwards discussed with the whole class.
Lesson Assumptions Regarding the tasks, students should not have any great difficulties. Task 1 might be the most challenging of all, as students are expected to write down words, which, on the one hand, are rather simple and similar to English words they know, but, on the other hand, which they have probably not met before. Therefore, they might have difficulties in the spelling, and it is essential to introduce the right form of the words and possibly highlight the differences between the Scottish and English version. However, words chosen for this task are the easier ones which do not contain apostrophes and contracted forms. This is to prevent students from placing apostrophes in an incorrect place and decrease the possibility of multiple variants of spelling. Task 2 and Task 3 should be easier to follow, as students are not expected to produce the words on their own, but they have them written in the worksheet and work with them. They are also already familiar with the content of the song; therefore, it should be easier for them to elicit the meaning from the context.
As the music support, a YouTube video record of “Annie Laurie” by The Corries has been chosen to be played to students. The music arrangement of the video is simple, which helps to a better understanding of the lyrics by the listener. The instrumental music is made by the sound of two guitars, which is enough for the listener to perceive and follow the tune. The sound of both guitars and singers’ voices is clear and should be therefore easily comprehensible. The chordal accompaniment can be formed by a few chords; therefore, the song does not necessarily need to be sung only together with the video, but it can be easily reproduced by guitar or piano players. The melody and chordal accompaniment are taken from The Glories of Scotland in Picture and song (Allan, 48). Here, the chordal accompaniment is more complex, but it can be simplified, as shown below.
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“Annie Laurie” – Full Version (Allan, 48)
“Annie Laurie” – Simplified Version
The main melody may differ in each version of the song, as each singer adapts and arranges it according to his or her attitude and voice abilities. In the video by The Corries, the singers play and sing the song in A flat major key, which might be comfortable for their voices, but which might be challenging for others guitarists to play. Therefore, the C major key was used for the simplicity of the conscription and music accompaniment.
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Worksheet “Annie Laurie”
Task 1 – Fill in the missing words.
Annie Laurie
Maxwelton ______are bonnie, That 'er the sun shone on, Where early fa's the dew, And dark blue is her e'e, And it‘s there that Annie Laurie And for ______Annie Laurie Gi'ed me her promise true, I'd lay me ______and dee. Gi'ed me her promise true, Which ne'er forgot will be, Like dew on the ______lying, And for ______Annie Laurie Is the fa' o' her fairy feet, I'd lay me ______and dee. And like winds in ______sighing, Her voice is low and sweet. Her brow is like the ______-drift, Her voice is low and sweet - Her neck is like the swan, And she's a' the world to me; Her face it is the fairest, And for ______Annie Laurie That 'er the sun shone on - I'd lay me ______and dee.
Task 2 – Underline all other Scottish words you can find. Compare what you found in pairs.
Task 3 – Suggest the meaning of these words. fa’ gi’ed dee brow
‘er e’e a’
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3.3.3 Lesson Feedback
Song Content Understanding First, the students listened to the whole song, and they were asked to summarise its content using their own words before they were given the worksheet with the lyrics. This introduction task was prepared to make students aware and motivated for the following tasks.
The students did amazingly well; they were able to name the main themes in the song. They were asked to share their ideas with the group, which they did confidently and openly. Several students took turns and discussed what they heard during the listening. They were able to summarise what they heard and understood as well as elicit more about the content even if they did not fully understand the lyrics. If anything was unclean, I help with clarifying the motives and adding some more. I always tried to provide the students with immediate feedback, e.g. corresponding by nodding and confirming short answers to ensure them about their correct answers, which helped them to feel comfortable about expressing their ideas.
This task was useful for its simplicity, which contributed to building up a pleasant and friendly atmosphere, and it foreshadowed what the short lesson was going to be about. After the first task, I explained more about the song, its origin and historical background. The students seemed interested and prepared for the next step.
Task 1 Task 1 consisted in filling missing words to the lyrics. The students were supplied with worksheets, and they were given some time to become acquainted with the lyrics as well as with the structure of the worksheet. “Annie Laurie” was played for the second time, and the students worked on completing the lyrics by writing the words they heard during the listening.
This task was incomparably more challenging than the previous one; although the words chosen for this task were short and there were only a few to fill in, the students had many difficulties, and they rarely managed to write down the desirable words and spell them correctly. They succeeded in writing well-known words, such as bonnie, and words which are similar to their Standard English alternates, such as snaw or simmer. However, these were often misspelt. After they finished, we went through the whole lyrics and compared the results. The students shared their ideas and tried to imitate words they heard and wrote down. The students were not shy to express their thoughts even though their ideas were not correct. After sharing several ideas, I always wrote the word on the whiteboard so that the students would see the correct spelling, and copy it to their worksheets. As some of the Scotticisms have more than only one
36 correct form, I sometimes provided an explanation and wrote more than one variant of some of the words on the board.
The students did their best to fill the missing words, even though it was not a simple task. Due to time limitations and the preceding listening activity, the song was only played once during Task 1, which might have contributed to students’ difficulties when completing the task. Together with the previous listening activity, Task 1 showed that it is not important to know all the vocabulary in order to gain a general idea about the song, which can boost students’ confidence in any language activities they find rather challenging, e.g. reading advanced articles or listening to songs containing unknown vocabulary. However, this task made the students aware that although they can understand the main themes, there is always a lot more to examine and learn, which made them motivated for more educational and vocabulary building activities.
Task 2 The students were now asked to look up all other Scotticisms in the lyrics and underline them. The students willingly began to read the lyrics again, and they underlined words and phrases they considered to be Scottish for any reason. This was in contrast an easier task when compared to Task 1, as students basically underlined all words which were unknown to them. The students needed only short time to finish this activity. Nevertheless, their results were more than satisfactory.
So far, the students had a good overview of the song, and they were acquainted with several Scotticisms. Therefore, they had a rough idea about what they should look for, and they were confident to do so. They were expected to underline approximately 12 Scotticisms, depending on how many times they counted those words which appeared in the lyrics repeatedly. After a while, they compared what they had found with their neighbours. The pairs were usually of a similar opinion, and they agreed on the result which they wanted to share with the group. Then, I asked the pairs to say the number of Scotticisms they agreed on, and we went through the lyrics again and discussed the results together.
As mentioned above, the students mostly underlined all words which they did not recognise. Consequently, they made some mistakes by underlining words which were unknown to them, but which are, as a matter of fact, typical for Standard English. For example, a student named the word the fairest as a Scotticism, for it appeared unknown, and therefore might be considered Scottish. Also, the repetition of some of the words caused problems, as the students did not know whether to count them more times or only once. Likewise, I was not able to give
37 the students the precise number of words they should look for when they asked me for it. The number of Scotticisms slightly differed with each student, but we managed to compare and discuss the results. Also, I provided further explanation and more spelling variants of some of the words.
Task 3 The last task was a more complex one and required students’ concentration and their ability to elicit the meaning of unknown words from the context. Several words from Task 2 were chosen and written in the worksheet. Then, the students looked up the words in the lyrics and wrote down their meaning according to the verbal background. At this point, the students were well acquainted with the lyrics, which they had already read and discussed several times. Still, this task was challenging and time-consuming, for it consisted of active participation and involved a considerable amount of students’ effort.
After looking up a word in the lyrics, the students needed to read a piece of text around it, according to which they should elicit the meaning of the desirable word. Some word meanings were easy to guess, as many words were similar to their Standard English variant. For example, the students easily estimated the meaning of fa’s, as it appears in connection with dew, and it resembles the Standard English variant of falls. On the contrary, some words were more difficult to understand, for some were completely different from Standard English, e.g. brow, which means a forehead, but the lyrics did not provide enough hints for the students to elicit the meaning. Still, the students did amazingly well in Task 3, and most of the time they tried to think of an idea about the words, even though it was not accurate. I let the students work in pairs to compare their results with each other before we discussed it with the whole group.
Although this being the most challenging task of all, the students enjoyed its complexity and the chance to demonstrate their creativity. They needed much time to go through the whole lyrics and think of the meaning of each word given; however, they enjoyed the cooperation in pairs, and their motivation to finish the task was amazing. After finishing the task, I ask the group to share their ideas. Although they were rather shy, because they were not sure about their answers, they expressed their ideas and desired to know the correct answers. Generally speaking, students’ results were usually imprecise – especially with words which do not resemble the Standard English form – however, there was at least one pair of students who suggested a satisfying Standard English translation for each word.
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Summary and Results The lesson took place during an English music class, which was suitable enough, for the students of this class take an interest in both English and music, and were therefore motivated to learn something new about both of these. The students were given a worksheet with the lyrics of “Anne Laurie”, a Scottish traditional song, and worked on three different tasks during the short lesson. The tasks dealt with the Scottish language and its understanding by university students of English.
According to its complexity and the amount of time needed for completing, each task was dealt with separately, yet with a similar method of working process. Before the students began to work on individual tasks, the whole song was played to see if they could understand its main ideas and themes, and they were provided with some information about its historical background. This activity ensured students’ motivation and helped to build up a friendly and cooperating atmosphere in the class. The students then worked on individual tasks, about each of which is written above. The students were given some time to work on their own or in pairs. Later, their ideas were discussed with the whole group, and they were provided with the correct answers. Sometimes, the answers were discussed more in-depth, as there was often not only one correct answer.
Regarding the results gained during the short lesson, the students were able to manage some of the tasks succcessfully, while other tasks required a considerable amount of effort. Due to some tasks’ complexity and the inclusion of unknown vocabulary, the students met with many difficulties, especially while completing tasks 1 and 3, which required active participation and involvement of students’ attention, creativity and language skills. Therefore, the students usually suggested answers based mostly on their guesses and notions more than on their language skills, which would ensure their certainty and confidence about the correct answers. These tasks took a greater amount of time than the others, as it was needed to explain them properly before the activity as well as discuss the results in detail after completing it. On the contrary, the initial listening activity and Task 2 were not that demanding. The students applied their listening skills and their general knowledge of the English language, which was more comfortable for them than thinking about Scottish words which they did not know. The students successfully recognised the main themes and were able to summarise the content of the song. Similarly, they were able to find Scottish expressions quickly and without many mistakes, as it is discussed above.
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3.4 “Highland Harry”
“Highland Harry” is a traditional song, which has been known in Scotland for more than two centuries. It was written by famous poet and songwriter Robert Burns, who lived in Scotland during the second half of the 18th century and is well known for his numerous works. More information about this song, which is summarised below, is introduced in a collection of his works compiled by James Currie, who is famous for his anthology of Burns’ works.
The historical background of the song, which is, according to the characters, dated to 16th century, blends with a traditional tale. The song tells a story about two lovers who are no longer able to see each other. The male hero is Harry Lumsdale who was a lover of Miss Jeanie Gordon, daughter to the laird of Knockhaspie. Harry Lumsdale “went abroad, and the lady was married to her cousin, a son of the laird of Rhymie” (Currie 26). The legend speaks about the jealous husband of Miss Jeanie who assailed the former lover of his wife and lopped of several Harry’s fingers when Harry and Miss Jeanie met after years and shook their hands. However, according to Currie, Robert Burns knew nothing of this traditional tale when he was composing the song.
While composing this song, Robert Burns drew inspiration from several sources. According to his words, he composed most of the song’s lyrics except the chorus, which he picked up from a lady in Dunblane. Similarly, Burns claims that the tune is taken from a song called “The Highland Watch’s Farwell to Ireland” (Currie 26).
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The Lyrics of “Highland Harry” (Currie 26)
My Harry was a gallant gay, Fu' stately strade he on the plain; But now he's banish'd far away, I'll never see him back again.
O for him back again! O for him back again! I wad gie a' Knockhaspie's land For Highland Harry back again.
When a' the lave gae to their bed, I wander dowie up the glen; I set me down and greet my fill, And aye I wish him back again.
O for him back again! O for him back again! I wad gie a' Knockhaspie's land For Highland Harry back again.
O were some villains hangit high, And ilka body had their ain! Then I might see the joyfu' sight, My Highland Harry back again.
O for him back again! O for him back again! I wad gie a' Knockhaspie's land For Highland Harry back again.
3.4.1 Vocabulary and Understanding
The original song “Highland Harry” composed by Robert Burns consists of three verses and a chorus, which repeats after each verse. The vocabulary used in the song includes many Scotticisms, that is, words which are typically used in Scotland. Many words would fit into the second column of Aitken’s model of modern Scottish speech. These are called close cognates, which means that these are similar to their Standard English version, but it slightly differs either in spelling or in pronunciation. This category includes words such as banish’d, hangit and joyfu’, which should not be hard to understand or elicit the meaning according to the context. However, there are also many words which belong to the first column of Aitken’s model. These words, such as lave, dowie and greet, might be problematic when it comes to their understandability.
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The following lines comprise Scotticisms used in the “Highland Harry” song, which were translated via the Dictionary of the Scots Language.
A List of Scotticisms • gallant – young man, n. • fu’ – full, adj. • strade – strode, v. • plain – battlefield, n. • banish’d – banished, v. • wad – would, v. • gie – give, v. • a’ – all, adj • lave – the rest, n. • gae – go, v. • dowie – sadly, adv. • set – sat, v. • glen – valley, n. • greet – weep, v. • fill – enough to fill or satisfy, n. • aye – yes, adv. • hangit – hanged, v. • ilka – each, adj. • ain – own, adj. • joyfu’ – joyful, adj.
3.4.2 Lesson Plan
Pre-testing Before the short lesson took place at school, I introduced the lesson plan and all the activities to a small group of English students to gain brief feedback. After discussing the lesson plan, I decided to modify some of the tasks; for example, when filling in words in Task 1, only a few words were omitted, for it is a challenging exercise, and it would be unreal to expect the students to register and write down a high number of words. After the pre-testing activity, the lesson plan was compiled, as written below.
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Introduction Students are informed about the content of the lesson and “Highland Harry” is introduced to them as a Scottish traditional song.
Listening 1 Students listen to the song for the first time without looking into worksheets with lyrics. Their task is to listen carefully and try to catch as much as possible, such as the main themes and names. After the listening, students are asked to share their ideas about the content of the song with the whole group.
After completed, the teacher explains more about the content as well as about the origin and historical context of the song. Students are given worksheets with the lyrics.
Task 1 After acquainting with worksheets, students listen to “Highland Harry” for the second time. During the second listening, students should fill in the missing words in the lyrics. For better managing, the number of letters for each word is implied in the worksheet.
Checking the Answers First, students can compare their answers in pairs. After that, answers are discussed with the whole group, and each word is written down so that students could see the correct spelling and remember or copy it down.
Task 2 Several Scotticisms which appear in the first column of the lyrics (see the Worksheet – “Highland Harry”) are chosen for Task 2. Students should look up the words in the lyrics and match the Scottish words with their Standard English versions according to the context. After completing Task 2, the results are discussed with the whole group.
Task 3 The last task includes several words which appear in the second column of the lyrics. Students should look them up in the text and suggest their Standard English variant according to the context. Students can compare their suggestions in pairs. Finally, the meaning of the words is discussed with the whole class.
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Lesson Assumptions The students should be able to manage all tasks to a certain extent. Task 1 and Task 3 are probably the most difficult ones, as students need to devise their own ideas, and they need to engage several senses as well as their imagination and creativity. To make these tasks manageable for students, words for the tasks were chosen carefully and purposely. Task 1 includes words which are typically Scottish but do not contain apostrophes or contracted forms, which might be confusing when it comes to spelling. Also, the number of letters that should be filled in is implied for each word in Task 1, which should help when supplying unknown words. Task 3, on the contrary, includes words which are sometimes similar to their Standard English variants, which might help students to estimate the meaning. The initial listening activity and Task 2 should be less difficult for students. Most of the words included in Task 2 were also used in Task 1; therefore, students can see and remember the right spelling again, and it is easier for them to look it up in the text and elicit to meaning according to the context.
A YouTube video record of “Highland Harry” by Barbara Dickson has been chosen to be played during the lesson. This record was chosen for its good quality sound and simple instrumental accompaniment, which makes the song comprehensible. The musical accompaniment is made by the sound of string instruments, which supply sufficient chordal accompaniment and provides a suitable background for singing. All the sounds are clear and comprehensible; therefore, students should understand the lyrics well. The chordal accompaniment is simple, for it only consists of several chords; therefore, it can be easily reproduced in the class by guitar or piano players. The notes and chordal accompaniment are taken from traditionalmusic.co.uk.
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However, the picture above represents both “Highland Harry” and “The Highlander’s Farewell to Ireland”, and it does not match the record of “Highland Harry” by Barbara Dickson completely. Therefore, the chords to Dickson’s version are taken from tabs.ultimate- guitar.com.
The Chords of “Highland Harry”
Am My Harry was a gallant gay, C G Fu' stately strade he on the plain; Am But now he's banish'd far away, C Am I'll never see him back again.
Am O for him back again! G O for him back again! Am I wad gie a' Knockhaspie's land C Am For Highland Harry back again.
The chords, as well as the melody, may differ according to the performer and their voice and instrumental skills. Dickson’s version, which is played during the lesson, is sung in G minor key, which might be difficult to be reproduced by some instruments, and it could be too low for some singers as well. Therefore, the chords provided are in A minor, which should be easier to reproduce.
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Worksheet – “Highland Harry”
Task 1 – Fill in the missing words.
My Harry was a gallant gay, O for him back again! Fu' stately strade he on the _ _ _ _ _ ; O for him back again! But now he's banish'd far away, I wad gie a' Knockhaspie's land I'll never see him back again. For Highland Harry back again.
O for him back again! O were some villains hangit high, O for him back again! And ilka body had their ain! I wad gie a' Knockhaspie's land Then I might see the joyfu' sight, For Highland Harry back again. My Highland Harry back again.
When a' the _ _ _ _ gae to their bed, O for him back again! I wander dowie up the _ _ _ _ ; O for him back again! I set me down and _ _ _ _ _ my fill, I wad gie a' Knockhaspie's land And _ _ _ I wish him back again. For Highland Harry back again.
Task 2 – Match a Scottish word with its English version (first column).
o plain o yes o lave o sadly o gae o valley o dowie o battlefield o glen o the rest o greet o weep o aye o go
Task 3 – Suggest the meaning (second column).
o wad o gie o a’ o hangit o ilka o ain o joyfu’ 46
3.4.3 Lesson Feedback
The lesson began with the introduction of the teacher. Students were briefly acquainted with the research connected with the thesis, and they were asked for cooperation. At the beginning, the content of the lesson was summarised and the song “Highland Harry” was introduced as a Scottish traditional song.
Song Content Understanding The students listened to the whole song, and they were asked to catch as much of the content as they could before they were provided with the lyrics. The aim was to discover whether they are able to presume the main themes even though they only understand some of the words. This listening activity was also used to motivate the students and make them interested in the topic. In addition, this activity aimed to build up a pleasant atmosphere in the class.
I supposed that the students would be able to summarise the content of “Highland Harry” more in detail; however, it was not easy for them to understand the song after the first listening. Some students were able to reproduce several words from the chorus, which was repeated three times during the song, and therefore, the students were more likely to catch these words and remember it. I did my best to encourage students in what they were saying by developing their ideas. In this way, I explained more about the content of the song, and I provided more information about the author and the historical background. The story behind the song was gripping for the students, and they seemed interested and ready for the following activities.
Task 1 After the initial listening activity, the students were given worksheets with the lyrics. They became acquainted with the tasks, and there were given instructions to Task 1. Here, their task was to fill in missing words to the lyrics of “Highland Harry”. Words chosen for this task were Scottish words which do not include contracted forms or apostrophes, as that might be confusing when it comes to spelling. Therefore, five words, such as lave and greet, were omitted from the lyrics. As this task might be very challenging, some changes have been made when compared to the same task in “Annie Laurie”. To make the task easier and more manageable, words which were omitted were then substituted by underscores representing the number of letters in each word. That should help students to guess the spelling of words they heard.
Although there were just several words to fill in, it was rather difficult for the students to write the words down after the first listening. Therefore, I played the first half of the song
47 once more to give the students a chance to hear it again. After the second listening, students were still slightly unsure about their answers; however, when the results were discussed with the group, many of their ideas turned out to be correct. The students had difficulties with spelling, which was supposed to happen; therefore, each word was written on a whiteboard so that everyone could see it and copy it down. A word which was problematic for most students was aye, which, although being a simple, crucial word that many students know in its spoken form, was hard for them to spell correctly. Still, the students usually managed to write most of the words in some form, and they were confident enough to share their ideas in front of the whole class.
Task 2 The second task was made to test students’ abilities to elicit the meaning of given words according to the context of the song. The students were given seven Scottish words and seven Standard English words, and their task was to match each word with its meaning. The students met with five of these words already in Task 1, which means that these words were not completely new to them, and it was easier to find them in the lyrics and elicit their meaning. All these words were Scotticisms which would fit in the first column of Aitken’s model of modern Scottish speech, which means that these words are very different from their Standard English versions; therefore, the list of Standard English translations was provided so that the students could choose between several options, which made the task manageable.
The students seemed very uncertain when they saw the task for the first time, and I repeated that they should try to elicit the meaning according to the context of the lyrics, not just by guessing. I also suggested that they can cooperate in pairs straightaway or compare their answers after they finish. After a while, the students became acquainted with the task and felt more comfortable. With the options provided, they did not have many troubles while matching the words. While checking the answers, all students were sharing their ideas openly and confidently, and there were many students who suggested the correct answer for each word.
Task 3 Finally, the students were given instructions to the last task. They were supposed to examine a list of words, which were underlined in the second column of lyrics, and think of the meaning of these words. Some of the Scottish words chosen for this task, such as joyfu’ and hangit, would fit into the second column of Aitken’s model, which means that they should not be problematic to understand even without looking up the word in the lyrics and considering
48 the context. Others, such as ilka and ain, do not resemble their Standard English variants and might be therefore challenging to understand and suggest the meaning. Sometimes, especially in the third verse of the song, there were too many Scotticisms in one line, which make it hard for students to understand the context in general. This task was more complex and required a more considerable amount of time as well as students' concentration and attention.
While working on this task, students mostly cooperated in pairs or small groups, which helped them to fill the task. Thanks to the fact that the given words were picked up only from the second column of the lyrics and that the words were underlined there, the students did not need to spend much time on looking up the words, and they had more time to think about the task. I also tried to supply words of different complexity so that the students were able to think of the answer to at least some of the words, which kept them motivated. After the students finished their work, their answers were discussed with the whole group. The students usually suggested an acceptable meaning of the close cognates, words that resemble their Standard English variants, but they struggled with several difficult words. In this case, even the context did not help them to elicit the meaning.
Summary and Results During this short lesson, students were acquainted with another Scottish traditional song called “Highland Harry”, and they worked on several different tasks concerning the understanding of the Scottish language. The main aim was to familiarise the students with some features of the Scottish language and observe how capable of understanding and eliciting the unknown words they are. The “Highland Harry” lesson began with playing the song and providing additional information, such as the historical background and a traditional story that goes with the song, as described above. Then, individual tasks were worked on and discussed.
Most of the tasks were similar to those in the “Annie Laurie” lesson, but some were changed to make them easier for the students. For example, the number of letters of each word in Task 1 was implied in the worksheet. Also, the task included fewer words to fill in, which was better for the students because they could pay more attention to individual words. In addition, the song was played twice so that the students would hear the words repeatedly and could check and complete their answers. As a result, the students succeeded in completing the task, and most of their answers were correct. Another example of alternating a task is Task 2, which was changed completely when compared to the “Anne Laurie” lesson. Here, a list of translated words was provided to make the task simpler. Consequently, the students were more
49 confident when completing the task, and their answers were mostly correct. However, according to the initial listening task, it was harder for the students to understand the song in general than it was with “Annie Laurie”.
To sum up, according to the results from students’ worksheets, the students were mostly correct with their answers, which I attribute to the setting of the tasks and pair or group work. Although all tasks were more or less challenging, the students enjoyed getting to know the song and its vocabulary as well as the friendly atmosphere in the class. When the tasks were finished, we were all happily listening to the whole song once more and singing it together.
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4 Conclusion
The thesis deals with Scottish traditional music and its use in lessons of English at university in order to widen students’ awareness of Scottish music and language. The theoretical part provides a summary of available literature, whereas the practical part aims to utilise the acquired knowledge and deepen the issue in practice.
As follows from the first chapter of the theoretical part, it is more than wise to use music as a part of the learning process. This chapter reveals how helpful music can be when used either as a background, in order to stimulate the brain and make students feel comfortable, or as a way to become acquainted with new vocabulary and grammar as well as improve and practise other language skills, such as listening and pronunciation.
The second chapter describes the Scottish language and its understanding by non-native speakers. It explains the history of the language which led to its current form. Additionally, some main grammatical features are presented and compared to Standard English. Finally, the classification of the language helps to clarify the reason why this language might be more or less challenging, depending on the kind of utterance.
The third chapter concludes the theoretical part by providing an overview of Scottish traditional music. It describes several signs, such as typical instruments and rhythmical structures, which are shared by traditional songs and according to which it is possible to recognise Scottish traditional music. By describing the musical life in Scotland, this chapter reveals what music truly means for the Scottish people.
To sum up the theoretical part, it is convenient to use music in the educational process, for it brings a pleasant atmosphere to the class, and due to the repetition and the effects that music has on people’s brain, it fundamentally helps to remember new language structures. It is also essential to take an interest in the history and development of a language in order to understand its current state and get acquainted with the traditions and lives of other people to understand their unique culture.
In the practical part, two Scottish traditional songs were chosen to be used during a lesson with a group of university students of English. Each song was analysed regarding its historical background, vocabulary and music, and a short lesson plan was prepared. A worksheet with several exercises was created to be used in the lesson in order to discover to
51 what extent the students can understand the non-standard variant of English and elicit the meaning of the unknown language structures from the context.
Regarding the assumptions, the students were expected to manage the less demanding tasks, such as summarising the content of the song and matching Scottish words to the Standard English meaning, which only required passive involvement of students’ skills. In contrast, tasks which were rather challenging and required the active participation of students’ language skills as well as their full attention and creativity, such as filling the missing words while listening to a song and suggesting the meaning of unknown words.
According to the results gained during the two short lessons, the students were partly able to understand and elicit the meaning of the unknown words. When comparing the two songs, the students achieved different results according to the specific task assignment. It was easier for them to supply missing words when the number of letters in each word was implied in the worksheet, and also, it was convenient and more effective to require a small number of words to fill in. When examining the listening comprehension, the students understood the song which was in slower tempo better, and they were able to summarise the content of the song in greater detail. As assumed, eliciting and suggesting the meaning of unknown words according to the context was the most complex and challenging task. The students usually understood most of the close cognates, words which are similar in Scottish and Standard English, but when it came to words which are typically Scottish, the students often met with difficulties and were not able to elicit the meaning of the given word at all.
To sum up, the thesis explores the field of Scottish traditional music and its possible use in lessons of English at university. I believe that this research helped to extend the students’ knowledge, and it serves as an example of how to enrich the educational process and familiarise students with a different culture and its language distinctions, which might be both interesting and helpful. The ideas explored in this thesis might also be applied to further research of other cultures and language distinctions and might, therefore, raise the general awareness of issues discussed in the thesis.
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