MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2007

Daniela Galandrová

MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

POPULAR MUSIC AS A SPRINGBOARD TO GRAMMAR

TEACHING

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2007

Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Gabriela Oakland Ing. Daniela Galandrová

Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci zpracovala samostatně a použila jen prameny uvedené v seznamu literatury. Souhlasím, aby práce byla uložena na Masarykově univerzitě v Brně v knihovně Pedagogické fakulty a zpřístupněna ke studijním účelům.

Daniela Galandrová

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I would like to express my gratitude to Gabriela Oakland, for her valuable suggestions and help during the completion of this work.

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CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION...... 7 1.1. The aim of the work ...... 7 1.2. The concept of the work...... 8 1.3. The notes ...... 8 2. THEORETICAL PART...... 9 2.1. The introduction to the theoretical part ...... 9 2.1.1. The aim of the theoretical part ...... 9 2.1.2. The methodology of the theoretical part ...... 9 2.2. Songs in English language teaching...... 9 2.2.1. The importance of songs in English language teaching...... 9 2.2.2. The kinds of music and songs in English language teaching...... 11 2.2.3. The procedures for presentation of songs in English language teaching..12 2.2.4. The use of songs in English language teaching ...... 13 2.3. Through song listening to grammar teaching...... 15 2.3.1. Listening as a language skill ...... 15 2.3.2. Grammar teaching in a language system ...... 16 2.3.3. Grammar teaching through song listening ...... 16 3. PRACTICAL PART ...... 19 3.1. Introduction to the practical part ...... 19 3.1.1. The aim of the practical part ...... 19 3.1.2. The methodology of the practical part ...... 20 3.1.3. Used abbreviations...... 20 3.1.4. The notes ...... 20 3.2. Songs in English language lessons and students’ attitude ...... 21 3.3. Lesson Plans using the songs by the Beatles...... 29 ‘All You Need Is Love’ ...... 30 ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’...... 33 ‘She’s Leaving Home’ ...... 36 ‘Hello Goodbye’...... 39 ‘Tell Me What You See’...... 42 4. CONCLUSION...... 45 RÉSUMÉ ...... 46 BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 49

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APPENDIX...... 51 Picture of the Beatles...... 52 ‘All You Need Is Love’ ...... 53 Exercise PASSIVE VOICE...... 54 ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’...... 55 Exercise MODAL VERB ‘MAY’...... 56 Exercise CONTRASTIVE LINKING DEVICE ‘THOUGH’ ...... 57 ‘She’s Leaving Home’...... 58 Telling story picture ‘She’s Leaving Home’...... 59 ‘Hello, Goodbye’...... 60 Exercise ADJECTIVES - ANTONYMS ...... 61 ‘Tell Me What You See’ ...... 62 Exercise CONDITIONAL CLAUSES...... 63

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1. INTRODUCTION

"Music is such a fundamental manifestation of culture and of the human need to communicate that it is inextricably associated with language."

Cranmer and Laroy (1992:1)

The idea of using music in teaching languages is not new. Laroy (l993) mentions songs in connection with language teaching as early as in the Middle Ages. Music is considered a natural and effective vehicle for first and second language acquisition. A number of theorists assimilate music to a tool which fosters language retention and production in young learners and helps acquire vocabulary, grammar, improve spelling and pronunciation, and develop the linguistic skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. Music in class also plays an irreplaceable role as an ideal means of motivation, as motivation is one of the most important factors in any learning. (Cranmer and Laroy, 1993). Music is three dimensional. A song is more than words on paper. It conveys a message. Researchers have found that music trains the brain for higher forms of thinking. The use of music in first language acquisition is easy to see. (URL 4)

1.1. The aim of the work

The idea of the concept of the work occurred during my short teaching practice at grammar school, where I noticed that some parts of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) were less attractive than other ones. One of the least popular aspects in SLA was grammar acquisition; therefore, I started to look for an effective and motivating way of teaching grammatical issues. Music seemed to me as one of the most convenient and interesting tools to present grammatical issues in a natural way, close to students’ thinking.

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1.2. The concept of the work

The Bachelor Thesis called ‘POPULAR MUSIC AS A SPRINGBOARD TO TEACHING

GRAMMAR’ is, for a better orientation and clarity, divided into two parts. The first part is based on theoretical data and information, and is devoted to the introduction to the problems and issues connected with incorporating music in English language teaching. In this part, the reader can find a theoretical background extracted from specialized publications, magazines, articles and online information sources. The keystone of this part is a general determination of basic conception and activities connected with the given theme. The main body of the practical part is created by a set of lesson plans. All the presented lesson plans have one in common – the use of the songs by the Beatles. Choosing and selecting the proper songs for my lessons, I realised the potential and suitability of the Beatles’ songs. Practically all the students are familiar with their tuneful and easy-to-remember melodies; and the structure of the lyrics offers an effective use in grammar teaching.

1.3. The notes

The term “music” can be approached in two senses, broader and narrower. In a narrower context, it means any rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic grouping of sounds that is specifically composed and that forms a unity so as to convey a message, to communicate, or to entertain. (URL 1). In a broader context, which is also used in many specialized publications dealing with the theme of my thesis, music refers to a song, which is defined as a relatively short musical composition. Songs contain vocal parts that are performed with the human voice and generally feature words (lyrics), commonly accompanied by other musical instruments (URL 2). In the whole thesis, when I refer to music used in class, a song with lyrics is meant. While by the term Second language acquisition - SLA, the process by which people learn languages in addition to their native language(s) is meant. The term second language is used to describe any language whose acquisition starts after early childhood (including what may be the third or subsequent language learned) (URL 5).

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2. THEORETICAL PART

2.1. The introduction to the theoretical part

2.1.1. The aim of the theoretical part

This part of the bachelor thesis outlines a specific concept of English language teaching. It focuses on the usage of songs in English language teaching. The way and purpose of the usage of songs in English language teaching may vary from teacher to teacher. There is an innumerable amount of different kinds of activities that may be used to acquire one of the language skills such as listening. I have decided to focus the thesis on a specific issue; music as a means of teaching English grammar.

2.1.2. The methodology of the theoretical part

In two self-contained chapters, the thesis aspires to cover selected themes of the described issue. The first chapter of the theoretical part emphasizes the importance of songs in English language teaching. Here, the reader finds answers to questions why to use songs in English language teaching, or what the role of songs in English language teaching is. A general division of the songs used in English lessons is depicted in this chapter to foreshadow the variety of songs used in English lessons. The last part of chapter one is devoted to the way of presenting the song in the lesson. The second chapter comments on the power of songs and tries to describe listening to songs in English lessons as a vehicle for grammar teaching.

2.2. Songs in English language teaching

2.2.1. The importance of songs in English language teaching

“Music in class can play an irreplaceable role as an ideal means of motivation. Motivation is one of the most important factors in any learning.” (Cranmer and Laroy, l992: l). We spend a lot of time with music; either by passively listening to it or by actively making it. Music has the power to influence our psychological state

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and mood. Young people particularly are affected by music to such an extent that they try to follow their idols´ fashion and behaviour and relish their extravagances. Music programmes have become a very important part of their world. Music and songs can thus form young people´s opinions, attitudes or scales of values.

2.2.1.1. Why to use songs in language teaching

Recent researchers in the field of foreign language teaching have pointed out that student’s motivation and interest are among the most important factors for learning of a foreign language. There are several means of improving the teaching effectiveness and of raising the interest and motivation of students. Recorded tapes, movies, songs, comics, newspapers and magazines are all familiar to teachers and students and they have proved to be, in most cases, very effective because they are strongly related to everyday life. Among these aids, pop songs are material that best reflect young people’s concerns as they often relate to important trends in modern society (Papa and Iantorno, 1993, 6). Songs are used as a material that may help in various ways. The use of songs in language classrooms may help to teach: 1. Individual sounds 2. Stress and rhythmic patterns 3. Intonation 4. Vocabulary 5. Grammatical structure 6. Conversational exchanges (Dakin, 1992:8-17)

2.2.1.2. The role of songs in language teaching

When teaching English as a foreign language in the classroom, the teacher has to: - present new material - practise it and get the pupils to learn it - develop it and get the pupils to use it - test that it has been learnt

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What kind of material the teacher presents depends on whether he or she is concerned with teaching all the language skills (pct.no.1), or only some of them. If the teacher teaches all the language skills, his or her approach may be either ‘structural’ or ‘contextual’.

2.2.1.2.1. Structural approach The ‘structural’ approach sees the learner’s most difficult task in the mastery of the grammatical structures of the new language. To make it easier for the learner, he or she is presented with only one structure at a time. By teaching only one structure at a time, it is hoped that the learner will avoid confusing the structures of the new language with each other and with those of his mother tongue.

2.2.1.2.2. Contextual approach The ‘contextual’ approach teaches the natural use of language in particular situations. The learner progresses through a variety of situations, learning the language appropriate to each situation, and gradually developing the skill to express his own needs and reactions in any new situations. This approach resembles in some respects the way in which a child learns his or her mother tongue. (Dakin, 1992:3). When speaking about the usage of songs in English language lessons, I decided to follow the first approach mentioned above, the structural approach. In every lesson, using a particular song, I focus on one grammatical issue, so that the learner is not confused by other grammatical structures and can be concentrated on the taught one.

2.2.2. The kinds of music and songs in English language teaching

Different authors divide music and songs from different points of view. For example Murphey (1992) presents a music genre map. According to this map, music and songs can be divided into pop, jazz, folk, gospel and classical music with many various branches and offshoots. Reading specialised literature I found another interesting division: counting songs, songs with action, songs for occasion, rounds, traditional songs and rhymes. During my teaching practice I also came across Jazz Chants (Graham, l978), which represents a good option for less musically talented students and teachers. Some authors (e.g. Papa and Iantorno, l993) mention so called

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ELT songs, songs that are specially designed to accompany some textbooks for pedagogical objectives. One more important point of view must be considered. It is necessary to distinguish songs, whose application in teaching is wider and, to a certain extent, easier, from instrumental music (classical, ethic, traditional or modern). From the methodological point of view the most precise division of songs is mentioned by Dubin (1974). She speaks about: - songs that emphasize phonological aspects (for example the stress-timed rhythms or the reduced -ing in fast speech) - songs that focus on grammatical patterns, through which various grammatical structures can be taught - songs that concentrate on meaning. It means a story or action appears in them, or they contain some deeper overall ideas Taking the Dubin’s point of view into account, I chose one group of songs for my practical part. The songs with lyrics which can be used for teaching when focusing on grammatical patterns.

2.2.3. The procedures for presentation of songs in English language teaching

Songs are easily learnt if they immediately catch the learner’s interest. Any new song, should therefore, be simple enough in vocabulary and structure for the learners to understand. It must be appropriate to their level of language knowledge and age. It must be relevant to their experience and interests. There does not exist one general way how to present a song in the classroom. The teacher is of course free to follow the procedure most suitable to him or her and the class. Those are suggested steps mentioned by Papa and Iantorno in his book edited 1993 (8). 1. Give a brief account of the theme or story of the song in the student’s own languages. 2. Play the recorded version of the song. 3. Comprehension question can be asked at this stage to make sure that the gist of the meaning has been grasped. 4. Read the song and explain the unfamiliar structural and lexical items. Also practice the pronunciation of unfamiliar words.

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5. The students listen again to the recorded song. 6. The teacher reads the song line by line and the students repeat the lines in chorus, in groups and individually. 7. Play the song several times and invite students to sing. It often helps if the teacher sings the song and encourages all the students to join in.

2.2.4. The use of songs in English language teaching

Songs provide a valuable source of authentic language and there are hundreds of ways to exploit them in the classroom. 1. Rewrite the lyrics. Once the students have learnt the song, they can try to compose their own verses to be sung to the tune of the song. 2. Sung drills. There are songs which contain sentences or choruses that focus on grammatical patterns and are repeated many times. These songs can be used to practice grammatical items in a lively way. 3. Sung dramatization. At an elementary level the dramatization of the song can be useful to express, through gestures, the meaning of some actions. 4. Summary of the song. When a song has a well-defined story, students can be invited of rewrite the story in their own words. 5. From Direct to reported speech. Some songs are written entirely or in part in direct speech. Students can retell or rewrite them in reported speech. 6. Dialogue writing. Students can convert the story of the song into a play, creating a dialogue based on what they imagine the characters say to each other, as suggested by the story. 7. Adding lines. Students can be divided to lengthen some songs by adding new verses singly or by inventing one new line. 8. Jumbled lines. Identification exercises are possible at an elementary level. Once the students have learnt the song, the teacher writes the lines of the song on the blackboard in a different order. 9. Reconstruction of the song. When the students know the song moderately well, they can try to reconstruct it in two ways: - by listening to the sung version on the tape recorder. During this exercise it is necessary, of course, to stop the tape-recorder after each line. Thus allowing the students enough time to write. The

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whole procedure should be repeated two or three times. - by referring to ‘key words’. The teacher should write the most important content words of the song on the blackboard and the students should try to write all the lyrics. In this case the teacher should encourage the students to feel that any change in the words of the song is acceptable, provided that the change makes sense and fits the melody. 10. Comprehension and repetition exercise. The verses of some of the song consist of only one line which is repeated several times. Once the students know the tune, the teacher calls out the first line and all the class sings the whole verse. This way of singing is useful because it stimulates the students to try to understand and to repeat the line suggested by the teacher so that they can all sing together. 11. Project work. Some of the songs can be the starting point for projects. (Papa and Iantorno, 1993, 10-11) 12. Discussion. Certain songs lend themselves to discussions and the song can be used as a nice lead-in to the topic and a way to pre-teach some of the vocabulary. 13. Translation. Although some teachers oppose all use of the mother tongue in the language classroom, some students really enjoy translating lyrics into their own language.

14. Creating text. The text can be used as a springboard for the creation of new texts. Take the chorus or verse of a song and remove all words, but keep those at the beginning of each sentence and ask the students to complete the sentences with their own ideas then compare them with the original song.

15. Reformulation. The text must be expressed in a form different from the original without loss of essential meanings. 16. Matching. A correspondence must be found between the text and something else. Great for vocabulary practice, especially informal language.

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2.3. Through song listening to grammar teaching

2.3.1. Listening as a language skill

It has been estimated that of the time adults spend in communication activities 45 per cent is devoted to listening, only 30 per cent to speaking, 16 per cent to reading and mere 9 per cent to writing. (Rivers, Temperley, 1978:62) Students can improve their language skills - and gain valuable language input - through a combination of extensive and intensive listening materials and procedures. Many listening activities aim to elicit, or help the learner to notice a new language feature, or listen for a specific piece of information. This is called intensive listening and it involves listening to a shorter and rather difficult listening texts. Other activities help the learner to focus on global comprehension of longer listening passages, based on voluntary listening and this is where extensive listening sits. But in order for learners to be able to listen for global comprehension, the right kind of listening text is needed. (Rixon, 1986)

Following the above mentioned description of different kinds of listening, as a teacher in an English language classroom, I prefer focusing primarily on intensive listening, and the same applies to my thesis. The listening material mentioned in the practical part is aimed at collecting and organising the information that it contains. On the one hand in most cases it is not easy to understand on the first hearing, but on the other hand it may be challenging for some students and have a positive effect on their concentration and final performance.

When planning a listening lesson, there are three main considerations: - Choosing one of the types of listening experience that the teacher has previously identified as relevant or interesting for the students. - Finding exercises that both fit what the passage has to offer and practise skills connected with listening that will be useful for the students. - Bringing these exercises together and putting them into a sequence which forms a coherent lesson. (Rixon, 1986:63)

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2.3.2. Grammar teaching in a language system

“Traditionally, grammar has been the sine qua non of language teaching”. (Stern, H.H., 1992:127) Foreign language students, whether they like it or not, must learn the grammar of the language if they want to use the language in practice properly. This learning may be approached deductively, (in which case students are given a grammatical rule with examples before they practise the use of a particular structure) or inductively (students see a number of examples of the rule in operation or discourse, practice its use, and then evolve a rule from these examples with the help of the teacher, or they see a number of examples, evolve a rule from these examples with the help of the teacher and then practise using the structure). In English language lessons, where the teacher introduces a song focusing on a grammatical issue, the second approach is often used. Students are firstly introduced the grammatical aspect and then the rule is evolved.

2.3.3. Grammar teaching through song listening

As well as texts or articles, songs contain numerous examples of grammatical structures. Therefore it is natural when a teacher uses a particular song in order to highlight the use of that structure in context. For example, a song might contain several examples of the construction ‘used to’ to illustrate a past habit. If the lyrics of the song are written in an understandable way, it may have a positive effect on students’ perception, as the presentation of such a grammatical issue based on a song may be for many students more attractive than a text or article. After incorporating the song and analyzing its lyrics, the lyrics are then followed by comprehension questions that again highlight the structure and then by various grammar-based exercises which should reinforce its use in context. If the teacher intends to make use of the song in order to highlight a particular grammatical structure or structures, s/he will have to identify the structure that is both useful and challenging for the class s/he is teaching and then decide how to exploit that particular structure for further work in the best way. It is most likely that s/he will have to go beyond the actual lyrics and produce an exercise related to the example or examples in the lyrics in order to ensure substantial practice of the chosen grammatical structure.

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At the basic stage, when using an authentic task to illustrate a grammar point, the teacher might ask the students to find (underline, highlight) an example or examples of a particular grammatical issue in the lyrics. Several concrete activities using examples of practising passive sentences are listed below. Focusing on given grammatical structure, the teacher can: 1. Ask the students to find an example of a passive sentence, in the first half of the lyrics. 2. Ask the students to underline all the passive sentences in the lyrics. 3. Ask the students to answer the question how many different tenses they can find expressed in the passive voice in the lyrics. 4. Ask the students to find a passive sentence in the present continuous tense. 5. When looking at the meaning and use in depth, the teacher might ask questions like these: Why does the author use the passive voice here? Could the active voice be used without any change of the meaning? If so, what would the sentence be like?

In order to give further practice of the particular grammatical issue the teacher has chosen to focus on, it will almost certainly be necessary to prepare several follow- up exercises based on the issue perhaps using the same context as the lyrics. The reader may find some exercises listed below. • matching the beginnings and endings of sentences - e.g. matching main and subordinate clauses correctly when practising conditional clauses • choosing the best form from a series of options - e.g. when practising tenses • re-ordering jumbled words to make accurate sentences - e.g. when practising word order or adjectives • filling gaps using an appropriate form - e.g. when practising tenses, or singular and plural forms • rewriting in a different tense or voice

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- e.g. when practising active and passive voices • writing further sentences from prompts - e.g. when practising adjectives • writing the endings of sentences - e.g. when practising tense shifts or time clauses (Papa and Iantorno, 1993)

The advantage of focusing on a grammatical structure or structures in lyrics of the songs is that it enables the students to see these structures functioning in an authentic context. Using the lyrics of a song, the teacher always needs to be aware of the fact that the lyrics themselves in most cases are not able to function as a sufficient means for teaching and practicing the grammatical issue. The teacher will almost certainly need to develop an exercise to ‘go beyond’ the lyrics; nevertheless listening to songs and work with the lyrics can function as an effective and powerful springboard to teaching grammar in an English language classroom.

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3. PRACTICAL PART

3.1. Introduction to the practical part

3.1.1. The aim of the practical part

This part of the bachelor thesis is primarily focused on the illustration of concrete lesson plans incorporating songs in English language lessons. In the first section the reader has a chance to become acquainted with a little research through which I try to specify the role of music in teenagers´ lives both generally and in the classroom. This research is then followed by the above mentioned lesson plans. In the whole practical part, songs by the Beatles are used to show their potential in the acquisition of a foreign language. I chose the Beatles because of a great number of my personal reasons: as a student I experienced the captivating charm of their songs; not only were they the primary impulse to study English, they have also become a lifetime enjoyment for me. Later, seeing that their songs were able to say something to students, I realised their general validity and potential. Next to this, I consider the following objective arguments to be more important. The Beatles have become a legend; their songs are very tuneful and easy-to-remember; their lyrics are suitable for all levels of learners (texts vary from very plain and easy to very deep and philosophical ones); and finally, the texts are intelligible enough to encourage the learner’s self-confidence. In this part of the thesis I would like to show and suggest a variety of exploitation of the individual songs by the Beatles focused on grammar acquisition. The specially prepared lessons presented in a form of detailed lesson plans, consist of a number of various activities focusing on different grammatical issues selected adequately to the language level of learners. The presented lesson plans were piloted during the last school year at secondary school in classes with a different English language level. At this school, there are two separate divisions of students. One line consists of students who entered the secondary school after finishing the primary school and is called 4-year studies. The other line is comprised of students, who have chosen to go to secondary school after spending 5 years at primary school. This study branch is called 8-year studies.

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The lesson plans presented in this thesis were created for groups of students at the age of 15-18 years, both from 4-year and 8-year studies.

3.1.2. The methodology of the practical part

In these chapters, the thesis aspires to cover the selected themes of the described issue. The first chapter contains answers to a specially designed questionnaires via which I tried to ascertain the position of music in a student’s life, and also the potential of music in its possible pedagogical utilization in the classroom. The results of the research showed that songs and music can represent a really effective helper not only during teaching grammar but also other integrated skills work. I also provide a brief conclusion of the research supported by a detailed graphic presentation. The second chapter of the practical part consists of a set of lesson plans described in detail so that the reader can have a concrete and clear idea about the design and structure of the lessons. Stemming from Harmer (1991) and Jim Scrivener, a specific form of lesson plans was chosen. All lesson plans contain a class description, materials needed in the class, the objective of the lesson, evidence, aims of the teacher, language skills and language system focus, assumptions and anticipated problems and finally a detailed description of the lesson with a concise time agenda.

3.1.3. Used abbreviations

In this part of the thesis the reader may find several abbreviations in the text.

APP APPENDIX T TEACHER WH.CLASS WHOLE CLASS

3.1.4. The notes

In all the classes in which I piloted the following lesson plans I introduced a communication rule. It states that only one person is allowed to speak and is not disturbed by other students during his or her thoughts. This communication rule is applied mainly because of potential discipline problems that might occur in the class. During my teaching practice I realised that, when a song was included in the lesson,

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the atmosphere in the classroom might become somewhat friendlier and more relaxed than usually. Although it is undoubtedly desirable to evoke such a positive atmosphere, the situation must be continuously controlled by the teacher. This fact lead to the decision to implement the above mentioned communication rule. I would like to mention and draw the reader’s attention to the fact that all the exercises used in the following lesson plans are exercises prepared and designed by me. I did not assume them from any external resources. For a better clarity and reader’s orientation I would like to mention the terminology dealing with the Questionnaire and the Research. A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Research is a human activity based on intellectual investigation and aimed at discovering, interpreting, and revising human knowledge on different aspects of the world. (URL 7)

3.2. Songs in English language lessons and students’ attitude

From my previous teaching practice, discussions with students and my observations, I know how important in young people’s lives music is. Students exchange CDs, mp3s, compare songs and hit charts and hold very passionate discussions about music. To find out my students´ attitude towards both music in general and the Beatles, I designed two anonymous questionnaires. Students who took part in this little research were those students who were taught according to the presented lesson plans. The questionnaires were distributed in 4 classes. The total number of participants was 93 (18 students in 2nd year, 24 students in 3rd year, 28 students in sexta and 23 students in septima).

The first questionnaire (Appendix 14) is focused on music in general.

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Do you like music?

All my students, except for 1, like music.

Do you have your own CD player?

Only 4 of them do not have their own radio or CD player.

Do you play a musical instrument?

The number of those who play a musical instrument (over 46%) was quite high; the number of students who play a musical instrument was higher for the younger students.

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Do you sing in the bathroom?

More than 50% of the students sing in the bathroom; although 35% do so only sometimes.

Do you wake up with music?

97% of my students regularly wake up with music.

Do you go to sleep with music?

Music accompanies more than 50% of the students when they go to bed.

Does music help you during physical work?

Music is an important helper as it helps 92% of the students during physical work.

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Does music help you during intellectual work?

Quite high is the percentage of those who use music as a kind of background of their study (almost 31%).

Does music help you during relaxation?

86% of the students have relaxation closely connected with music.

Do you read about music, singers, bands etc.?

74% of my students read about music regularly - the number is higher for the older students.

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Is music able to improve your mood?

To more than 64% of my students music can bring an improvement in their moods. Regardless of his or her age, an average student spends 4 hours a day listening to some music, 73% of which is in English.

In the second questionnaire (Appendix 14) I concentrate on music at school and in the language classroom.

Would you like to understand the words of English songs?

Almost everybody (except for one person) would like to understand the words of English songs.

Would you like your teacher to use music in English lessons?

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About 70% of the students give a positive answer to a question whether they would like their teachers to use music in the English classes.

Do you think music can help you in learning English?

The fact that more than 60% of my students are convinced that music can help them in learning English is very important from the motivational point of view.

Questionnaire 2, focused on the Beatles, brought the following facts. All my students had heard about the Beatles before I mentioned them for the first time. Only less than 9% of my students did not know a single member of the group. On the other hand, 42% knew all four musicians.

Would you like to listen to some of their songs?

All of my students know the Beatles. 73% of the students wanted to listen to songs by the Beatles.

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Would you like to sing some of their songs?

About 70% of the students would like to sing some of their songs.

Would you like to discuss some of their lyrics?

60% of my students would like to discuss some of The Beatles` lyrics.

The last part of the questionnaire was focused on the usage of the Beatles’ song in the English lessons and I was surprised by the results as I had not expected the percentage to be so high. The songs are more than forty years old and students have their own present pop or rock idols.

Would you like your teacher to use songs by the Beatles?

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More than 60% of the students would like to use the songs by the Beatles in their English lessons.

How often would you like your teacher to use songs by the Beatles in English lessons?

More than 60% of the students would like to use the songs by the Beatles in their English lessons; and more than a half of the students wanted to use the Beatles’ songs in the lessons often. Only the oldest students preferred this option just ‘from time to time’.

Can songs by the Beatles help you in learning English?

More than a half of the students also think that the Beatles’ songs may help them in learning English.

The research had been prepared and carrried out before the lessons based on the Lesson Plans mentioned in the practical part were executed practically. The outcome of the concise research confirmed that my belief in the use of songs as an important tool for language teaching was correct. The results proved that music played a very important role in teenagers` s lives. Music accompanies them in their free time; and they also consider listening to songs during English lessons to be a motivating and attractive activity which, combined with the follow –up activities practising also other language skills and grammatical issues, can help them considerably in learning English. Most of the students in my classes

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seemed to enjoy the lessons and gave me very possitive feedback. They wanted to learn more about the group and their songs, they brought The Beatles‘ LPs and books about them and they found more lyrics by The Beatles on the Internet. Also their spontaneous discussions after the lessons, in which they expressed their satisfaction with the fact that they understood what the Beatles had been singing about, gave support to my belief that grammatical issues can be taught and practised in a nontraditional way, without monotonous exercises and drill. I also believe that the concrete practical use of a grammatical issue in a song and not in a grammar exercise can function as a powerfull motivator. This positive feedback inspired me to incorporate songs into my lessons regularly.

3.3. Lesson Plans using the songs by the Beatles

On the following pages the reader finds five different Lesson Plans using songs by the Beatles as a means of teaching and practising grammatical issues in an English language lesson. Individual songs were chosen carefully considering both the different age of the classes and the different level of the students’ language skills. All the lessons are focused on different grammatical issues which are parts of the English textbooks used by the students; the textbooks are also listed in the Lesson Plans.

- Lesson Plan No.1, using a song called ‘All You Need Is Love’, is focused on ‘passive voice’

- Lesson Plan No.2, using a song called ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’, is focused on modal verb ‘may’

- Lesson Plan No.3, using a song called ‘She’s Leaving Home’, is focused on ‘narrative tenses’

- Lesson Plan No.4, using a song called ‘Hello, Goodbye’, is focused on ‘adjectives’

- Lesson Plan No 5, using a song called ‘Tell Me What You See’, is focused on ‘conditional clauses’

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LESSON PLAN No.1

‘All You Need Is Love’

Class description: The students in this lower intermediate class are students of 3rd year of 4-year secondary school. They are at the age of 16-17 and they have studied English for 3 years. There are 24 students in this class; boys/girls ratio is almost equal.

Materials needed in the class: - CD player - the song by the Beatles – ‘All You Need Is Love’, from The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul - Student’s book HORIZONS 3 (Unit 8) - Appendix no.1- picture of the Beatles - Appendix no.2 - the Beatles lyrics ‘All You Need Is Love’ - Appendix no.3 –exercise – passive voice

Objectives: - Introduction to a new grammatical issue - ‘the passive voice’ - Students’ ability to recognize ‘the passive voice’ in a spoken form - Students’ ability to use ‘the passive voice’ in a written form - Improvement of listening skills - To practise speaking skills – expressing students` own opinions

Evidence: The teacher carefully listens to the performance of individual students when expressing themselves about the theme. The teacher sees that students have understood the grammatical issue when they underline the correct verbs in the lyrics and afterwards when they fill in correctly the exercise focusing on transforming the active voice into the passive voice.

Aims: Talk with the students about their values in a natural discussion. Teach students to recognize the passive voice in a listening activity and then to use the passive voice in an exercise. Introduce quite a difficult grammatical issue to students in a non-traditional, more enjoyable way. Let students enjoy singing at the end of the lesson as a whole group; this may also function as a tool helping to improve both teacher/students and student/student relations in the class.

Language skills: speaking –expressing students’ opinions listening – understanding the words of the song, recognition of the passive voice in the lyrics

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Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.1

Language system: grammar issue – passive voice

Assumption: I expect that students will not have any barriers to talk about love, as they are 16 years old. I also expect that they will be familiar with the Beatles songs. I assume that students will be able to understand the words in the song and later identify the passive voice in the lyrics and finally do the exercise successfully.

Anticipated problems: Possible problems may arise from wrong assumptions, therefore shame or uncertainty when speaking about such a personal thing as love is may occur. The Beatles song might not be so exciting for all the students, and therefore some natural noises, such as students` speaking or whispering and a clash of chairs, may disturb the lesson. Some students might have certain problems to understand some words in the lyrics when listening as a whole group because of the above mentioned natural noises. Also some discipline problems might arise.

Procedure: Time Activity Interaction Aids

3’ Greeting, brief introduction of aims T – wh.class - Distribution of App.1 Wh.class – In 5’ APPENDIX No.1 Short work out – talking about picture pairs Introduction of the song – 1st time Discussion about the lyrics, importance and kinds of love. CD Player +CD 12’ T-wh.class Individual work – place of love in their own scale of values, students discuss their opinions 11’ Introduction and explanation of passive voice T – wh.class Student’s Book Distribution of lyrics APPENDIX No.2 8’ Playing song for 2nd time – underlining passive voice Wh.class Student’s book Students – formulating the grammar rules 2’ Setting homework – exercise focused on passive voice T APPENDIX No.3

Students are invited to sing the song along with the CD CD Player+CD 4’ Wh. class player APPENDIX No.2

Detailed description of the lesson: ≈ Greeting the teacher, the teacher introduces the grammatical issue – the passive voice and listening to a song of the Beatles as the aim of the lesson of the Beatles. ≈ The teacher distributes pictures of the Beatles (App.1.) and asks students to answer the questions in pairs – Who are the people in the picture? What are they holding in

31 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.1

their hands? Afterwards the whole class is invited to answer the questions. If the teacher sees interest from the students` side, s/he may continue with the discussion about the pop group the Beatles, whether students know some of their songs, where they were from, what is interesting about them etc. ≈ The teacher introduces the song ‘All You Need Is Love’ and plays it for the first time. Students are asked to listen carefully what the song is about. After hearing the song, a class discussion starts. Then the discussion continues, the teacher asks questions - What love is meant in the lyrics? What sort of love do you know? Why is love important for people? ≈ Individual work – students are to place love in their own scale of values, students discuss their opinions. ≈ The teacher uses Student’s Book and explains the passive voice issue writing notes about the rules and forms on the blackboard. Students listen and repeat several examples with the teacher. Then they are asked to transform several examples into the passive voice. ≈ After the introduction of this grammatical issue, the teacher distributes the lyrics of the song (App.2.) plays the song for the second time and asks students to underline all the passive voice forms they hear in the lyrics. Afterwards students are asked to formulate the grammar rules for the passive voice. ≈ The teacher distributes homework – an exercise focused on the passive voice (App.3.). Students are given a set of sentences in the active voice and are asked to transform them into the passive voice. ≈ At the end of the lesson, the whole class is invited to sing the song together, using the lyrics.

32 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.2

‘I’ll Follow the Sun’

Class description: The students in this lower intermediate class are students of 2nd year of 4-year secondary school. They are at the age of 15-16 and they have already studied English for one and half year. There are 18 students in this class; more than a half are girls.

Materials needed in the class: - CD player - the song by the Beatles – ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’, from The Beatles' 1964 album Beatles for Sale - Student’s book HORIZONS 3 (Unit 1) - Appendix no.4- the Beatles Lyrics ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’ - Appendix no.5 – exercise – ‘modal verb – ‘may’ - Appendix no.6 – exercise – ‘contrastive linking device though’

Objectives: - Introduction of a grammatical issue - ‘may’ - Introduction of a grammatical issue – ‘though’ - Students’ ability to use both grammatical issues in practice - Students’ ability to use ‘may’ in written form - Improvement of listening skills

Evidence: The teacher carefully listens to the performances of individual students, when describing the song in an opening discussion. The teacher sees that students have understood the lyrics, when they fill in the blank spaces of the lyrics with proper missing words. After the explanation of the grammatical issues, the teacher checks the results of the grammar exercises.

Aims: Let students guess what the word ‘may’ means, without explanation. When listening to the song, let students recognize the missing words in the lyrics. Introduce two grammatical issues in the lesson – ‘may’ in ‘will perhaps’ meaning and ‘though’ as a contrastive linking device (issue introduced only because of the occurrence in the lyrics, not because of the occurrence in the student book). Both grammatical issues are new for students. Explain a new grammatical issue to students in a non-traditional, more enjoyable way. Let students enjoy singing at the end of the lesson as a whole group; this

33 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.2

may also function as a tool helping to improve both teacher/students and student/student relations in the class.

Language skills: speaking – opening discussion listening – understanding the words of the song and finding the omitted words

Language system: grammar issue – modal verb ‘may’, contrastive linking device ‘though’

Assumption: I expect that Beatles songs will be familiar to students and they will enjoy listening to the song. I assume that students will be able to understand the words in the song and find out the right missing words. I also assume that introducing two new grammatical issues to them will not be too much, as both of them are relatively easy. I expect students to have no problems with the given exercises.

Anticipated problems: Anticipated problems may arise from wrong assumptions, therefore situation that some of the students will not be able to understand or write down the missing words correctly may occur. The Beatles song might not be so exciting for all the students, and therefore some natural noises, such as students` speaking or whispering and a clash of chairs, may disturb the lesson. Some students might have certain problems to understand some words in the lyrics when listening as a whole group because of the above mentioned natural noises. Also some discipline problems might arise.

Procedure: Time Activity Interaction Aids 3’ Greeting, brief introduction of aims T – wh.class - CD Player Introduction of song for the 1st time 6’ T-wh.class Notes on Student’s discussion- first impressions and feelings blackboard Distribution of lyrics CD Player 5’ Listening to the song for the 2nd time Wh.class APPENDIX No.4 Filling the blank spaces Guessing the meaning...tomorrow may rain Notes on 10’ Explanation with the help of student’s book - ‘may’ as an T – wh.class blackboard expression for uncertain future Student’s Book 7’ Practising ‘may’ both orally and in writing T – wh.class APPENDIX No.5 8’ Meaning ... and though I lose a friend Notes on T Explanation of the use of though. blackboard 2’ Setting homework. T APPENDIX No.6

34 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.2

Exercise + write 8 sentences using ‘may’, expressing uncertain future Students are invited to sing the song along with the CD CD Player 4’ Wh.class player. APPENDIX No.5

Detailed description of the lesson: ≈ Greeting the teacher, the teacher introduces the grammatical issue – a new modal verb and contrast linking device plus listening to a song by the Beatles as the aim of the lesson ≈ The teacher introduces and plays the song ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’ by the Beatles for the first time and asks students to listen to the theme and answer the questions – What is the song about? Is it sad? Who sings the song? Afterwards the whole class is invited to answer the questions. ≈ The teacher distributes the lyrics of the song by the Beatles (App.4) and asks students to listen and guess the missing words and write to them in the blank spaces in the lyrics. After students` listening to the song, a class discussion starts. Students discuss the missing words and the meaning of the expression ‘tomorrow may rain’. ≈ The teacher uses Student’s Book and explains the modal verb ‘may’; writing notes on blackboard about the rules and forms. ≈ Students practise the modal verb ‘may’ both in oral and written forms (the teacher distributes App.5 with an exercise focused on ‘may’). ≈ The teacher writes ...and though I lose a friend on the board and discusses the meaning of ‘though’ with the students. The teacher explains the expression ‘though’ as a contrastive linking device. ≈ After the introduction of this grammatical issue, the teacher distributes the App.6 - homework, an exercise based on the usage of “though” in the proper way. Students are also asked to bring 8 sentences using ‘may’ in ‘will perhaps’ meaning, for the next class. ≈ At the end of the lesson, the whole class is invited to sing the song together, using the lyrics.

35 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.3

‘She’s Leaving Home’

Class description: The students in this intermediate class are students of septima of 8- year secondary school. They are at the age of 16-17 and they have already studied English for 7 years. There are 23 students in this class; boys/girls ratio is almost equal.

Materials needed in the class: - CD player - the song by the Beatles – ‘She’s Leaving Home’ from The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Student’s book BLUEPRINT UPPER INTERMEDIATE (Unit 11) - Appendix no.7- lyrics ‘She’s Leaving Home’ by the Beatles - Appendix no.8 – a story-telling picture (a picture that describes the story)

Objectives: - Practising a grammatical issue - ‘narrative tense’ - Students’ ability to transform sentences into narration - Students’ ability to use ‘narrative tense’ in a spoken form - Improvement of listening skills – listening exercise - Practising speaking skills – speaking in a narrative tense - Teaching new vocabulary

Evidence: Student’s imagination and creativity when asked to describe the mood of the song with adjectives. The teacher carefully listens to the performances of individual students, when they are working in pairs and retelling the story according to the picture. The teacher sees that students have understood the lyrics, when they fill in the missing words in the blank spaces successfully.

Aims: Discuss the mood of the song and discuss the theme, talk about student’s feelings when they think about leaving home. Practise transformation into narrative tenses with students. Get students to concentrate on the song. Introduce a grammatical issue to students in a non-traditional, more enjoyable way.

Language skills: speaking –expressing students’ opinions listening – understanding the words of the song

Language system: grammar issue – narrative tense

36 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.3

Assumption: I expect that students will not have any problems with concentration and they will listen to the song carefully more times than once. I assume that students will be able to understand the words in the song and write down the missing words in a correct form and spelling. I also assume that the picture and the song may make practising of narrative tenses a bit more entertaining than classical book exercises.

Anticipated problems: Anticipated problems may arise from wrong assumptions; therefore a lack of concentration as students see that there are too many missing words in the lyrics and that they need to pay attention closely may occur. They may lose motivation if they do not catch too many words for the first time. The Beatles song might not be so exciting for all the students, and therefore some natural noises, such as students` speaking or whispering and a clash of chairs, may disturb the lesson. Some students might have certain problems to understand some words in the lyrics when listening as a whole group because of the above mentioned natural noises. Also some discipline problems might arise.

Procedure: Time Activity Interaction Aids 3’ Greeting, brief introduction of aims T – wh.class - Introduction of the song. CD Player Students listen to the song for the 1st time 6’ T-wh.class Notes on Students - writing down the adjectives describing their blackboard feelings and the atmosphere of the song. Playing the song for the 2nd and 3rd time Students are given CD Player 10’ the lyrics with missing words Students are to fill in all the Wh.class APPENDIX No.8 other missing words Notes on Students check their versions in groups of four, wh. class. Groups of four blackboard 10’ Teacher explains some more difficult parts. T – wh.class APPENDIX No.8 Short revision of narrative tenses. Student’s book Group work. Students are given the picture version and are Groups of four 10’ APPENDIX No.9 to retell it in their own words wh.class Discussion about the relationship between children and Notes on 6’ Wh. class parents blackboard

Detailed description of the lesson: ≈ Greeting the teacher, the teacher introduces the grammatical issue – narrative tenses and listening to a song by the Beatles as the aim of the lesson. ≈ The teacher introduces the song ‘She’s Leaving Home’ and plays it for the first time. Students are asked to listen carefully and write down the adjectives describing their

37 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.3

feelings and the atmosphere of the song. After hearing the song, students dictate the teacher all the adjectives and s/he writes them on the blackboard. ≈ The teacher distributes the lyrics – App.7 with blank spaces and plays the song for the second time. Students are given an incomplete copy of the lyrics - with only the beginnings of the lines, unknown words and unintelligible parts. Students are asked to listen carefully so that they can spot the missing words. The teacher plays the song more than once to give students a chance to fill all the blank spaces. ≈ After the last listening to the song, students check their versions in groups of four and then in the whole class. The teacher explains some more difficult parts (which students were not sure about) - according to students´ needs. ≈ The teacher uses Student’s Book and reviews narrative tenses briefly with the class writing short notes about the rules and forms on the blackboard. ≈ After a quick revision of this grammatical issue, group work continues. The teacher distributes the story-telling picture App.8 and students (in groups of four) are to retell the story in the picture in their own words, using proper narrative tenses. ≈ At the end of the lesson, if there is still enough time left, the teacher starts the discussion about the relationship between children and parents.

38 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.4

‘Hello Goodbye’

Class description: The students in this elementary class are students of 2nd year of 4- year secondary school. They are at the age of 15-16 and they have already studied English for 1 and half year. There are 18 students in this class; more than a half are girls.

Materials needed in the class: - CD player - the song by the Beatles – ‘Hello Goodbye’ from The Beatles' 1967 album Magical Mystery Tour - Student’s book HORIZONS 2 - Appendix no.9- lyrics ‘Hello Goodbye’ by the Beatles - Appendix no.10 – exercise – adjectives, antonyms

Objectives: - Practising a grammatical issue - ‘adjectives’ - Introduction of a grammatical term ‘antonym’ - Broadening students’ vocabulary - Student’s ability to find opposite adjectives - Improvement of listening skills – filling missing words

Evidence: The discussion about the song shows the teacher whether students understood the song or not. The teacher sees that students understood the lyrics, when they fill in the blank spaces successfully. The teacher listens to the performances of pairs, creating their own adjectives and their opposites. An exercise in App.10 where students are asked to create pairs of adjectives in an opposite relation reveals whether students learned the new words or not.

Aims: Discuss the song, the theme. Teach students a new grammatical term – ‘antonyms’. Practise the creation of antonyms of a given adjective with students. Get students to concentrate on the song so that they are able to understand and write down the missing words. Introduce opposite adjectives to students in a non-traditional, more enjoyable way. Teach students new vocabulary. Let students enjoy singing at the end of the lesson as a whole group; this may also function as a tool helping to improve both teacher/students and student/student relations in the class.

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Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.4

Language skills: speaking –expressing students’ opinions about the song listening – understanding the words of the song

Language system: grammar issue – antonyms

Assumption: I expect that students will not have any problems with concentration and they will listen to the song carefully even though they did not experience too many listening exercises like this, before. I assume that students will be able to understand the words in the song and write down the missing words in a correct form and spelling. I also assume that the words chosen in the exercise will be adequate to their level of English and students will be able to remember them at the end of the lesson and use them practically in the ‘dumb show’.

Anticipated problems: Anticipated problems may arise from wrong assumptions, therefore a lack of concentration connected with listening to the song for the first time may occur. Students may lose motivation if they do not catch too many words for the first time. The Beatles song might not be so exciting for all the students, and therefore some natural noises, such as students` speaking or whispering and a clash of chairs, may disturb the lesson. There may be some problems in spelling, when students write down the missing words. Also some discipline problems might arise.

Procedure: Time Activity Interaction Aids 3’ Greeting, brief introduction of aims T – wh.class - Introduction of the song for the 1st time 5’ Wh.class CD Player Students’ discussion about the song Distribution of the lyrics 7’ Playing the song for 2nd and 3rd time Wh.class APPENDIX No.9 Finding missing words Explanation of ANTONYMS Notes on 4’ T - Wh.class Practising – opposite adjectives blackboard Distribution of exercise APPENDIX No. 7’ Pair work Pair cooperation 10 5’ Pair competition – creating antonyms Pair work - 10’ Dumb show Wh.class - Students are invited to sing along the song with the CD CD Player 4’ Whole class player APPENDIX No.9

40 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.4

Detailed description of the lesson: ≈ Greeting the teacher, the teacher introduces the grammatical issue – broadening vocabulary, introducing antonyms and listening to a song by the Beatles as the aim of the lesson. ≈ The teacher introduces the song ‘Hello Goodbye’ and plays it for the first time. After hearing the song, students discuss - Who sings the song? What is the song about? They are allowed to use the Czech language at this stage of the lesson when they feel they would not be able to express their feelings in English precisely. ≈ The teacher distributes the lyrics – App.9 with blank spaces and plays the song for the second time. Students are asked to listen carefully so that they can spot the missing words. The teacher plays the song more than once to give students a chance to fill all the blank spaces. After the last hearing of the song, students check their versions. ≈ The teacher explains the term ‘antonym’ writing short notes about the rules and forms on the blackboard. Using notes on the blackboard, students are asked to create several examples. ≈ The teacher distributes the exercise App.8 and students form pairs. Students are given a set of 20 adjectives (antonyms) on separate slips of paper; adjectives are

mixed - students are to match the opposites. ≈ Students stay in pairs - each student writes 5 adjectives and his/her partner must find the opposites; the first to finish is the winner. ≈ Dumb show - in front of the blackboard, one of the students mimes an adjective by a move or gesture - the class is to guess what it is. The successful guesser needs to find the opposite adjective and goes as the next. ≈ At the end of the lesson, the whole class is invited to sing the song together, using the lyrics.

41 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted December 2006

LESSON PLAN No.5

‘Tell Me What You See’

Class description: The students in this lower intermediate class are students of sexta of 8-year secondary school. They are at the age of 14-15 and they have already studied English for 6 years. There are 28 students in this class; where the boys/girls ratio is almost equal.

Materials needed in the class: - CD player - the song by the Beatles – ‘Tell Me What You See’, from The Beatles' 1965 album Help - Student’s book BLUEPRINT INTRMEDIATE (Unit 32) - Appendix no.11- the Beatles Lyrics ‘Tell Me What You See’ - Appendix no.12 – exercise – conditional clauses

Objectives: - Practising a grammatical issue – conditional clauses - Practising a grammatical issue – imperatives - Speeding up students’ reactions - Students’ ability to use both grammatical issues in practise - Students’ ability to transform imperatives into less a strict form - Students’ ability to transform an open conditional clause into a hypothetical one - Improvement of listening skills

Evidence: Students creativity and ability to create a rhyme in a foreign language. The teacher sees that students feel sure about the usage of imperatives when they underline the correct words in the lyrics and transform them into a less strict way. The same procedure is followed with conditional clauses. Students’ ideas how to finish the given sentences ‘If you let me take your hearth’....and ‘If you put your trust in me’…

Aims: Let students create their own idea about the rhymes in the lyrics. When listening to the song, let students recognize all the imperatives and conditional clauses in the lyrics. Refresh these two grammatical issues in the lesson – and speed up students` reactions when using these issues. Repeat an unpopular grammatical issue in a non- traditional, more enjoyable way with the students. . Let students enjoy singing at the end of the lesson as a whole group; this may also function as a tool helping to improve both teacher/students and student/student relations in the class.

42 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted January 2007

LESSON PLAN No.5

Language skills: speaking – creation of the endings of conditional sentences listening – understanding the correct forms of verbs in the lyrics

Language system: grammar issue – revision of imperatives, conditional clauses

Assumption: I expect that Beatles songs will be familiar to the students and they will enjoy listening to the song. I assume that students will be able to understand the words in the song and enjoy creating rhyming words. I also assume that students will remember conditional clauses from the previous lessons and be able to underline the correct forms in the lyrics. I expect students to have no problems with the given exercises.

Anticipated problems: Anticipated problems may arise from wrong assumptions, therefore a situation that some of the students will not be able to understand or write down rhyming words correctly may occur. The Beatles song might not be so exciting for all the students, and therefore some natural noises, such as students` speaking or whispering and a clash of chairs, may disturb the lesson. Some students might have certain problems to create endings to the conditional clauses and problems with transformation from an open clause into a hypothetical one may also occur. Also some discipline problems might arise.

Procedure: Time Activity Interaction Aids 3’ Greeting, brief introduction of aims T – wh.class - Distribution of the lyrics Wh.class 5’ APPENDIX No.11 Students’ guessing the missing words Pair work Playing the song for the 1st time CD Player 3’ Wh.class Checking students’ ‘versions’ APPENDIX No.11 3’ Difficult phrases in the lyrics T – wh.class Blackboard Notes on Playing the song for the 2nd time 7’ T - Wh.class blackboard Underlining and transforming imperatives APPENDIX No.11 4’ Finding and underlining conditional clauses Pair work APPENDIX No.11 Creating groups A,B Group A ‚If you let me take your heart,…..‘ 10’ Group work - Group B ‘If you put your trust in me,....’ Students present their result 5 best ideas. Transformation-open conditional clauses into Individual 5’ - hypothetical ones work 2’ Setting homework T-wh.class APPENDIX No.12 3’ Students are invited to sing the song along with the CD CD Player Whole class player. APPENDIX No.11

43 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted January 2007

LESSON PLAN No.5

Detailed description of the lesson ≈ Greeting the teacher, the teacher introduces the grammatical issue – revision of two grammatical issues already taught – the conditional clause and imperatives and listening to a song by the Beatles as the aim of the lesson. ≈ Students are given the lyrics, App.11, but with some words omitted. According to the context and rhymes, students are to guess in pairs what words are omitted. They discuss their results in pairs. ≈ The teacher introduces and plays the song ‘Tell Me What You See’ by the Beatles for the first time and students carefully listen and check their versions of the omitted words. ≈ With the help of the teacher, students discuss difficult phrases and translate them into the Czech language. ≈ Students listen to the song for the 2nd time and underline every imperative they hear. Students then transform the above mentioned imperatives into less strict versions. ≈ Looking into the lyrics, students cooperate in pairs to find and underline all the conditional clauses from the text and discuss them with the teacher. ≈ Class is divided into two groups – group A, B. Group A is asked to finish (appropriately) ‘If you let me take your heart,…..‘ in 5 different ways. Group B has the same task with ‘If you put your trust in me,....’. Students present their results. ≈ The teacher writes down 5 best ideas and students are asked to transform them from open conditional clauses into hypothetical ones. ≈ Setting homework. The teacher distributes App.12. Students are given 5 conditional clauses without verb forms – they are to find the correct verb form. ≈ At the end of the lesson, the whole class is invited to sing the song together, using the lyrics.

44 Length of lesson: 45 minutes Piloted January 2007

4. CONCLUSION

The aim of my thesis was to show various possibilities that the teacher has when he/she wants to incorporate music and songs in his/her teaching grammar. Listening is, undoubtedly, an indispensable element of language teaching. While students take listening to music for a more or less relaxing activity, for the teacher it is, in fact, a very powerful tool with which teaching grammar can change into an appealing activity. The use of music combines two important phenomena: the language system and pleasure – grammatical issues and structures are taught and practiced and the students enjoy it. The thesis also includes detailed lesson plans which fulfilled my expectations and were successful both from the students` and my point of view. I believe that the reader will identify with my conviction that music in English teaching represents a great potential which can be exploited effectively by a creative teacher. I do not claim that music in isolation will teach the students to manipulate grammar faultlessly. Nonetheless, I strongly believe that, if integrated effectively into the course framework, songs deeply involve the students in learning grammar; and by doing so help the teacher achieve satisfactory results in a language area that is not considered very attractive by many students. Combined with other activities, music can make English lessons not only more interesting and relaxing but also more effective.

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RÉSUMÉ

My thesis, POPULAR MUSIC AS A SPRINGBOARD TO TEACHING GRAMMAR, is a result of my strong belief in the importance and in a way irreplaceableness of music and songs in teaching English. The same applies to my conviction that the songs by The Beatles are able to play this role. Although the idea of using music in teaching foreign languages is not new, some teachers still approach music as an integral part of teaching with uncertainty or even unwillingness. My thesis is meant to support the opinion that carefully chosen and selected songs can function as a very effective supplement to the traditional teaching methods. Regarding the limited extent of my thesis, from a broad range of various options, I focus only on the acquisition of individual grammatical issues and I try to analyze them both from the theoretical point of view and from the practical usage. The theoretical part points out the role of music in human life and then it makes the reader acquainted with the role of music in a language classroom. The most cogent arguments for a regular usage of songs in teaching languages I see, apart from spontaneous natural motivation and practical effectiveness, in the fact that it is able to bring a real life in a close connection with entertainment and relaxation into the classroom. I also appreciate its highly positive influence on the atmosphere in the classroom. With a sensitive approach, the teacher has a good chance to use the song not only for the development of the language skills, but also as a means which can help bring him/her closer to the students and change the traditional teacher-student relationship. Evidently, the choice of songs plays an important role. Almost all kinds of music and songs can be exploited in language teaching. Nevertheless, a careful choice can influence both the quality and the range of the use of the individual songs quite dramatically. Tuniness, intelligibility and the propriety of the words, some of which can be considered almost educational, and last but not least a chance to sing the song actively accompanied with a guitar or a piano, which is not always true with the present hits, make, together with a supertemporal character of some themes, almost ideal teaching material from the songs by the Beatles. The practical part is preceded with a brief research focused on the students’ attitude to music generally and to its use in language teaching. In this part I try, with a help of concrete songs by The Beatles, to show the whole range of possible use of listening to these songs as a springboard to the acquisition and practice of the individual

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issues of English grammar. The songs are incorporated into detailed lesson plans, which dominate the practical part of my thesis. The scope of the utilization of the potential of the Beatles’ songs both in the direct work with the lyrics and in the follow-up elaborative activities is then limited only by the teacher’s creativity and imagination.

RESUMÉ

Závěrečná práce POPULAR MUSIC AS A SPRINGBOARD TO TEACHING GRAMMAR je výsledkem mé víry v důležitost a svým způsobem nezastupitelnost hudby a písní při výuce anglického jazyka. Nemenší je mé přesvědčení, že písně The Beatles jsou schopny tuto roli úspěšně plnit. Přestože myšlenka využívání hudby při výuce cizích jazyků není zdaleka nová, stále někteří učitelé přistupují k písním jako nedílné součásti vyučování s určitou nejistotou nebo dokonce neochotou. Svou prací se snažím podpořit názor, že pečlivě vybrané písně mohou být velmi účinným doplňkem tradičních vyučovacích metod. Z celé široké škály možností se vzhledem k omezenému rozsahu své práce soustřeďuji pouze na možnost využití písní při osvojování gramatických jevů a snažím se jejich roli analyzovat jak z teoretického úhlu, tak z pohledu praktického použití. Teoretická část připomíná čtenáři úlohu hudby v lidském životě a následně jej seznamuje s její rolí v jazykové učebně. Nejpádnější důvod pro pravidelné užití písní v hodinách spatřuji vedle spontánní a přirozené motivace a praktické účinnosti ve skutečnosti, že dokáže do učebny přinést reálný život ve spojení se zábavou a uvolněním. Za velmi důležitý fakt považuji rovněž vysoce kladný vliv na atmosféru ve třídě. Při citlivém přístupu má učitel velkou šanci nejen píseň využít k rozvoji jazykových dovedností, ale rovněž se žákům přiblížit a do určité míry změnit tradiční vztah učitel - žák. Důležitou roli hraje samozřejmě výběr písní. Téměř všechny druhy hudby a písní lze ve výuce využít. Pečlivý výběr může však výrazně ovlivnit jak kvalitu, tak rozsah užití jednotlivých písní. Melodičnost, srozumitelnost a vhodnost textů, z nichž mnohé lze považovat za téměř výchovné, a v neposlední řadě i možnost písně aktivně zpívat za doprovodu kytary nebo klavíru ( což neplatí vždy u současných hitů ), činí spolu s nadčasovostí některých témat z písní The Beatles téměř ideální výukový materiál. V praktické části, jíž předchází dotazníkový průzkum zaměřený na vztah

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studentů k hudbě obecně i k jejímu využití při výuce anglického jazyka, se potom snažím na konkrétních písních The Beatles poukázat na celou škálu možného využití poslechu těchto písní jako odrazového můstku k osvojování i procvičování jednotlivých prvků anglické gramatiky. Písně jsou zapracovány do podrobných plánů vyučovacích hodin, které dominují praktické části mé práce. Šíře využití potenciálu písní The Beatles ať už bezprostřední prací s textem nebo formou následných rozvíjejících aktivit, je limitována pouze tvořivostí a fantazií učitele.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbs, B. and Freebairn, I. (1993). BLUEPRINT UPPER INTERMEDIATE (Unit 11), London: Longman Group UK Ltd. ISBN 0-582-09912-9 Borchgrevink, H. (1982). Prosody and musical rhythm are controlled by the speech hemisphere, Music, Mind,and Brain. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 151-157. Brown, G.(1985). Listening to Spoken English, London: Longman Group UK Ltd. ISBN 0 582 55077 7 Cranmer, D. & Laroy, C. ( 1992 ),. Musical Openings, Music in the Language Classroom, London: Longman Group UK Ltd. ISBN 0 585 07504 1 Dakin, J. (1992). Songs and Rhymes – For the Teaching of English, Teacher’s Book, London: Longman Group UK Ltd. ISBN 0 582 52130 0 Dubin, F. ( 1974 ), Pop, Rock, and Folk Music: An Overlooked Resource, ETF, vol XII no 3, pp. 1 - 5. Ellis, R. (1998). Second Language Acquisition, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 437212 X Graham, C. ( 1978 ), Jazz Chants. New York: Oxford University Press. Hardisty, D. ( 1993 ), Music Lives, MET, vol 2 no 3, pp. 53 - 55. Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice English Language Teaching, London: Longman Group UK ltd. ISBN 0 582 40385 5 Horner, D. ( 1993 ). The Sound of Music, MET, vol 2 no 3, pp. 33 - 39. Jolly, Y. (1975). The use of songs in teaching foreign languages. Modern Language Journal, 59(1), 11-14. Jalongo, M. & Bromley, K. (1984). Developing linguistic competence through song. Reading Teacher, 37(9), 840-845. London: Longman Group UK Limited. Krashen, S. (1985). The Input Hypothesis: Issues and In Wlications. New York: Longman Group Limited. Laroy, C. ( 1993 ), Using Songs and Rhymes: an Educative Approach to Language Learning. MET, vol 2 no 3, pp. 7 - 13. Martin, M. (1983). Success! Teaching spelling with music. Academic Therapy, 18(4),505-506. London: Longman Group UK Limited. McCarthy, W. (1985). Promoting language development through music. Academic Therapy, 21(2), 237-242. London: Longman Group UK Limited.

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Murphey T.( 1998). Music and Song, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1995 ISBN 0 19 437055 0 Papa, M. and Iantorno, G. (1993). Famous British and American Songs and their cultural background, London: Longman Group UK Ltd. ISBN 0 582 79088 3 Radley, P., Simons,D. and Campbell, C. (1993) HORIZONS 3 (Unit 8), Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-438878-6 Rivers, M., Temperley, M.S. (1978). A Practical Guide to The Teaching of English as a Second or Foreign Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 502210 6 Rixon, S.(1991). Developing listening skills, Modern English Publications, Macmillan Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0 333 41705 4 Stern, H.H. (1992). Issues and Options in Language Teaching, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 437066 6 Tomlinson, B.(1998) . Materials Developing in Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 57419 9

INTERNET SOURCES URL 1. Richard Cole and Ed Schwartz. Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary. Available at: [ http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary]. URL 2. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Available at: [http://en.wikipedia.org]. URL 3. Bob Lake. Music and Language Learning. English Teaching Journals. Available at: [http://www.dtae.org/adultlit/connections/music.html]. URL 4. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Available at: [http://en.wikipedia.org]. URL 5. Rob Waring. Teching Listening. English Teaching Journals. Available at: [http://www.davidenglishhouse.com/journalpdfs]. URL 6. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Available at: [http://en.wikipedia.org].

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DISCOGRAPHY CD 1 the Beatles' 1965 album Help – song ‘Tell Me What You See’ CD 2 the Beatles' 1967 album Magical Mystery Tour – song ‘Hello Goodbye’ CD 3 the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – song ‘She’s Leaving Home’ CD 4 the Beatles' 1964 album Beatles for Sale – song ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’ CD 5 the Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul – song ‘All You Need Is Love’

APPENDIX

Picture of the Beatles ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. ‘All You Need Is Love’ ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. Exercise PASSIVE VOICE ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’...... Error! Bookmark not defined. Exercise MODAL VERB ‘MAY’...... Error! Bookmark not defined. Exercise CONTRASTIVE LINKING DEVICE ‘THOUGH’Error! Bookmark not defined. ‘She’s Leaving Home’ ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. Telling story picture ‘She’s Leaving Home’...... Error! Bookmark not defined. ‘Hello, Goodbye’...... Error! Bookmark not defined. Exercise ADJECTIVES - ANTONYMS ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. ‘Tell Me What You See’...... Error! Bookmark not defined. Exercise CONDITIONAL CLAUSES...... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No. 1 Picture of the Beatles

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.2 Lyrics of the song ‘All You Need Is Love’ by the Beatles

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, There´s nothing you can do that can´t be done. Nothing you can sing that can´t be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game, It´s easy.

There´s nothing you can make that can´t be made. No one you can save that can´t be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time. It´s easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love, all you need is love, love ,love is all you need.

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.

All you need is love, all you need is love, all you need is love, love, love, is all you need.

There´s nothing you can know that isn´t known. Nothing you can see that isn´t shown. Nowhere you can be that isn´t where you´re meant to be. It´s easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love, all you need is love, love, love is all you need.

All you need is love (all together now) all you need is love (everybody) all you need is love, love, love is all you need.

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.3

Exercise PASSIVE VOICE

1. They gave me an expensive present.

------2. Charles IV built this bridge.

------3. A left - handed person wrote this letter.

------4. Prague attracts foreign tourists.

------5. Paul Simon sings the song.

------6. Britain imports bananas.

------7. Peter will send you the letter next week.

------8. Everybody loves Mary. ------

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.4 Lyrics of the song ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’ by the Beatles

One day you'll look to see I've gone For ...... may rain, so I'll follow the sun Some day you'll know I was the one But ...... may rain, so I'll follow the sun

And now the time has come And so my love I must go And though I lose a friend In the end you will know, oooh

One day you'll find that I have gone But ...... may rain, so I'll follow the sun

Yea, ...... may rain, so I'll follow the sun And now the time has come And so my love I must go And though I lose a friend In the end you'll know, oooh

One day you'll find that I have gone

But ...... may rain, so I'll follow the sun

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.5 Exercise MODAL VERB ‘MAY’

Answer these questions in a different way using may:

• What are you going to do when you leave school? (Perhaps I´ll go to university.)

...... • What sort of car are you going to buy? (I´m not sure yet. Perhaps I´ll buy a Skoda.)

...... • When is Ben coming to see us? (Perhaps he´ll come on Sunday.)

...... • What are you doing this evening? (Perhaps I´ll go to the theatre.)

...... • Where are they going to spend the weekend? (Perhaps they’ll spend the weekend in the mountains.)

......

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.6 Exercise CONTRASTIVE LINKING DEVICE ‘THOUGH’

Replace two simple sentences with a compound sentence using though:

She can´t drive. She has bought a car.

......

He has played football all the afternoon. He isn´t tired.

......

Peter was very tired. He couldn´t sleep.

......

Mary hasn´t eaten anything for ten hours. She isn´t hungry.

......

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.7 Lyrics of the song ‘She’s Leaving Home’ by the Beatles

Wednesday ...... begins silently ...... leaving ...... that she hoped would ...... she ...... clutching her handkerchief quietly ...... stepping ......

She We ...... most of our lives is leaving Sacrificed ...... home We ...... money could buy She´s leaving ...... Bye, bye

Father snores ...... her dressing gown picks up ...... standing ...... of the stairs she breaks down ...... Daddy ...... Why should she treat ...... thoughtlessly how ...... ?

She We ...... ourselves is leaving Never a thought ...... home We struggled ...... to get by She´s leaving ...... Bye, bye

Friday ...... waiting ...... the appointment she made meeting ...... the motor trade

She What ...... what was wrong? is having We ...... fun Fun is the one thing that money can´t buy Something ...... always denied ...... Bye, bye She´s leaving home Bye, bye

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.8

Telling story picture ‘She’s Leaving Home’

……………… SHE’S LEAVING HOME

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.9 Lyrics of the song ‘Hello, Goodbye’ by the Beatles

Hello, Goodbye You say yes, I say ...... You say stop, I say ...... ,...... ,...... Oh no. You say goodbye and I say ...... ,...... ,...... I don´t know why you say goodbye I say ...... ,...... ,...... I don´t know why you say good bye I say ...... I say high, you say ...... I say why and you say I don´t know. Oh no. You say goodbye and I say ...... ,...... ,...... I don´t know why you say goodbye I say ...... ,...... ,...... I don´t know why you say goodbye I say ...... Why, why, why, why, why, why, do you say goodbye, goodbye, bye, bye. Oh no. You say goodbye and I say ...... ,...... ,...... I don´t know why you say goodbye I say ...... ,...... ,...... I don´t know why you say goodbye I say ...... You say yes, I say ...... You say stop and I say ...... ,...... ,...... Oh, oh no. You say goodbye and I say ...... ,...... ,...... I don´t know why you say goodbye I say ...... ,...... ,...... I don´t know why you say goodbye I say ...... ,...... ,......

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.10

Exercise ADJECTIVES - ANTONYMS

easy difficult cool warm high low noisy quiet sunny cloudy calm nervy polite rude shy self-confident dark light fat slim

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No.11 Lyrics of the song ‘Tell Me What You See’ by the Beatles

If you let me take your ...... I will prove to you,

We will never be apart if I'm part of you.

Open up your ...... now, tell me what you see.

It is no surprise now, what you see is me.

Big and black the clouds may be, time will pass ......

If you put your trust in me I'll make bright your day.

Look into these ...... now, tell me what you see.

Don't you realise now, what you see is me.

Tell me what you see.

Listen to me one more ...... , how can I get through?

Can't you try to see that I'm trying to get to you?

Open up your eyes now, tell me what you see.

It is no surprise now, what you see is me.

Tell me what you see.

Listen to me one more time, how can I get through?

Can't you try to see that I'm trying to get to you?

Open up your eyes now, tell me what you see.

It is no surprise now, what you see is me.

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX No. 12

Exercise CONDITIONAL CLAUSES

1. I would tell you if I ...... the answer. (know)

2. What ...... you ...... if she doesn´t want to help you. (do)

3. If you ...... , you would hurt yourself. (jump)

4. It will be cheaper if we ...... by train. (travel)

5. If you ...... that plate, it would break. (drop)

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