Tim Robinson Rock and Roll English Teaching: Content-Based Cultural Workshops “As a rock star, I have two instincts, I want to have fun, and I want to change the world. I have a chance to do both.” —Bono, main vocalist of the rock band U2 uppose you are a passionate acquisition, increases intrinsic moti- language teacher brimming vation, and bridges cultural divides. I with confidence. You are proud will use a rock and roll workshop to Sof your English pedagogy know-how, introduce an organizational approach enthusiasm for culture and languages, with a primary emphasis on cultural and awareness of your students’ chal- awareness content and a secondary lenges and goals; however, as the years emphasis on language development. pass, the daily routine of teaching It is important to point out that even the same material day in and day out though rock and roll history is a main starts to diminish the passion that focus of this article, any cultural con- was once so prominent years earlier. tent of the teacher’s choosing may be So what do you do? You do what so substituted. many of us have done when times get Rationale for content-based dull: you recharge the batteries and workshops break the routine of daily instruction. A fun and interactive experience that The beauty of being a language combines an English instructor’s love instructor is that we are so much of cultural awareness with a student’s more than just dictionaries or gram- curiosity about cultural diversity is marians; we are the bridges of cul- the perfect way to fracture that circle tural divides, we are the delegates of of potential apathy. social communication, and above all, In this article, I will share with we are agents of social responsibility you a content-based English as a and change. Not only do language Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) instructors guide learners down the workshop that strengthens language right path to achieve their acquisition 14 2 0 1 1 N UMBER 4 | E NGLISH T EACHING F ORUM goals, but they also expose the speed bumps Rock history and social change in the of cultural miscommunication. Teaching United States about culture does not necessarily entail This rock and roll cultural workshop is behavioral change among students, but it a fun, four-hour interactive English seminar does help students recognize the cultural that sparks student interest about the intrigu- influences affecting their own and others’ ing social change that occurred during sev- behaviors (Tomalin and Stempleski 1993). eral periods of U.S. history. It begins with the In order for second language learners to birth of rock music and then moves into the acquire communicative competence, educa- popular explosion that led to distinct genres tors must rise above the few schemas and and social movements. Although no music scripts we use repeatedly in classes and theory is introduced, the workshop does focus introduce others that contain notably dif- on rock music’s influences on U.S. society, the ferent cultural content (Davies and Fraenkel variety of music styles, and influential artists 2003). It must be noted here that we are of the times. Students will see cultural changes only guides who encourage critical think- associated with the rock phenomenon and ing and cultural awareness in our students recognize the ensuing societal struggles that and not authorities of what is right and this type of musical expression exemplifies. wrong with the world. The idea is to rec- Three steps to create and deliver this content- ognize the differences in cultural ideals and based workshop are outlined below. stimulate intellectual curiosity about the target culture in order to build respect and Step 1: From novice to rock star— understanding. gathering knowledge on an unknown In content-based ESL/EFL instruction, topic the instructor’s primary objective is the infor- The first step to a successful content-based mation the learners will attain, while the workshop is to choose a topic of interest and language takes on a secondary function. The then become familiar with that topic. Learn- term content has a wide array of connotations ing about any new topic can be challenging, in language teaching, but it most commonly so I suggest choosing topics that interest you. refers to the subject material of the lesson that If the topic interests you deeply, you will find we communicate through language rather that the preparation phase of your workshop than putting emphasis on the language used will reward you with enjoyment. In addition, to express it (Harmer 2007). As Richards and if you convey a strong passion for the topic, Rodgers (2001) state, “people learn a second you can almost be assured that the same pas- language most successfully when the informa- sion will transfer to your audience. Although I tion they are acquiring is perceived as inter- chose rock and roll for my workshop, I do not esting, useful, and leading to a desired goal” consider myself an expert on the subject. But (209). Content-based workshops are a sure my fervor for the music was a strong motiva- way to achieve positive results because they tional inspiration that I was able to share. As encourage fulfilling, productive, and reward- it turned out, this workshop was not difficult ing language learning experiences in a context to arrange. And even if you do not have a lot where students find the material meaningful of extra time to prepare workshops, students to their lives. will surely appreciate the effort needed to cre- Regrettably, many ESL/EFL courses focus ate them as long as they are fun, interactive, on the structure of language while neglect- and informative. ing the importance of using the language Of course, you will need to take time to acquire information. One solution is to to sufficiently prepare. And while teaching supplement language courses with content- the history of rock and roll may seem like a based workshops and allow students to learn daunting task, it does not take a degree or by doing, an aspect that tends to be lost, or not any deep expertise to gather the knowledge even enforced during the regular class period. you need to have successful rock music tasks The rock and roll workshop presented in this and activities. The basics of rock history, article will provide more concise details to such as cultural movements and key musical follow when you are doing one on your own. contributors, can be learned in a short period E NGLISH T EACHING F ORUM | N UMBER 4 2 0 1 1 15 of time. With each passing day, we have more tain and Dahlberg 2009). Therefore, the rock access to world knowledge with a simple click and roll workshop was divided in three parts: of a mouse. An Internet search with the key 1. The beginning: Roots and influences words “rock and roll cultural movements and 2. The middle: Decades of change contributors,” or “history of rock and roll 3. The end: Rock and social distortion in and pioneering musicians” will link to many the United States helpful websites. Also, the Internet has an abundance of material you need in order to In the third part, I mention the social aspect familiarize yourself with rock’s genres and art- incorporated into the workshop, but I must ists (see the Appendix for some useful videos emphasize that cultural themes are mentioned and websites about the history of rock and throughout the workshop. roll). I was not an authority on the subject, Setting and participants but it did not take me much time to learn This content-based workshop can be given enough to share and create activities based on to a class of ten participants or to a very large what I learned. I spent a few hours a day for a audience consisting of the entire English week researching the subject and then another Department of a university, for example, or few weeks organizing the information and as an extracurricular English learning cul- tasks. This workshop did not complement tural activity to the ESL/EFL community. It any particular level or course, but during is important to have at least enough partici- this preparation time an instructor can adapt pants to form several groups of three or more activities for different language levels and and ample space for these groups to interact. incorporate specific class objectives and target Workshops are often most successful with a structures into the workshop tasks. large audience, but there needs to be ample Rock and roll is the topic of this work- space for groups to form semicircles. shop, but it should be noted that other cul- tural topics may be substituted and organized Accommodating language levels to suit your interests or pedagogical needs. Because content is the primary objec- The suggestions and activities presented here tive of this workshop, learners must have a are unique to rock music, but that does foundation of the language in order to better not mean they cannot be adapted to fit enhance the learning experience. Therefore, I your topical needs. Just as a teacher adapts recommend a level of English between inter- instructional texts for a class, the same can mediate and advanced. Due to the fact that be done for these workshops. Here are a few the workshop is open to a large audience, you other possible content-based cultural topics will have to assume the participants are at dif- to consider: ferent stages of their language abilities. And if • African American Musical Influences: there is a mix of levels, when you create tasks Blues, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues for these types of workshops, consider how to • American Communities: Truth and challenge high-level learners while not over- Lies of Stereotypes whelming low-level learners.