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Peer Teaching - Using a Popular Song to TeachGrammar

Using a Popular Song to Teach Grammar

Peer teaching: Why and how to use music to teach grammar?

Finding new and effective ways to teach grammar represents a challenging task for all teachers.How can we enable students to apply the rules accurately, meaningfully and appropriately?Keeping in mind that grammar is much more than form and that we should be keeping a balancebetween grammar and communication, we decided to use music, in particular pop music, as abackdrop for teaching grammar structure and vocabulary. We will show you one way tostructure a lesson using music and we will show you why music is the perfect tool to teachgrammar. In fact, even the Ministre de lducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) has includedthe use of songs and rhymes for the first cycle, primary program (MELS, 2006). The benefits ofthe use of music in second language learning are multiple (Engh, 2013) (click to havehereaccess to Enghs paper). Amongst the numerous reasons why we should use music, we willfocus our attention on four of them. First, music has been proven to lower students' anxietywhich is an essential condition to provide a favourable learning environment (Merriam, 1964;Coe, 1972; Claerr & Gargan, 1984; Wilcox, 1995, as cited in Engh, 2013). Second, research hasshown that music has a positive impact on students' motivation which is also another essentialcondition for a favourable learning environment (Ndububa & Ajibade, 2006; King, 2010, as citedin Engh, 2013). Third, music is well suited for grammar teaching since it has been demonstratedthat music has a strong impact on memory and on the brain since there is a strong cognitiverelationship between music and language (Balch, Bowman & Molher, 1992, as cited in Engh,

2013). Vocabulary words part of the long-term musical memory are easily retrieved incontexts such as communicative interaction and memorisation (Fonseca Mora, 2000, as cited inEngh, 2013 ). An interesting feature of pop songs which facilitates the acquisition of grammarstructure is the repetition of sentences and words and the significantly slower rhythm comparedto the natural speaking rate ( the speed) (Murphey, 1992b, as cited in Engh, 2013). Finally,another important benefit provided by music is the fact that it is an excellent means to developcultural awareness and to contribute to the development of the students' world-view (MELS,2010). Furthermore, we believe that songs are perfect tools that can be used to teach manygrammar notions at any given level (multipurpose). The next paragraphs will explain how wewould structure a grammar lesson to teach the modal should combined with have and a pastparticiple of a verb.

The general structure of our lesson


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Having in mind the benefits of using music in an English classroom, we decided to createactivities covering a normal period of 70 minutes at the secondary school level involvingteaching a grammar notion through a popular song. We targeted the students in secondary 4because our lesson asks for a relatively good command of the present perfect and the use of themodal should with an infinitive. Indeed, this lesson is intended to teach the modal shouldcombined with have and a past participle of a verb. The students will have the opportunity to

understand its meaning and the way it is used in the song When I Was Your Man by BrunoMars. Indeed, Teaching Grammar, an essay by Diane Larsen-Freeman in the book Teaching(2001), shows the importance ofEnglish as a Second or Foreign Language, third edition

including the three dimensional grammar framework, which comprises form, meaning and use(p. 252). A task ensuring the students understanding is planned towards the end of the lesson.We followed the steps of the structure given by Ms. Priego (2013) in the course DLA1019 TESL

for a task related to focus on form, whichProgram and Practice at the Secondary School Levelis Contextualize, Decontextualize and Recontextualize (p. 13).

In the contextualization, we use the noticing technique by emphasizing a particular grammarnotion in a text (idem). Moreover, by applying the inductive approach, we guide the studentsso that they succeed in inferring the grammar rule and the use of the structure should + have +

past participle (idem). As a warm-up activity to introduce the lesson and the contextualization,the teacher asks the following question while pointing at a picture of Bruno Mars projected on ascreen: and adds the following statement: Do you recognize this singer? I should have known

As result, the teacher hints right away at the purpose of thethis singers name but I forgot.lesson: teaching the structure should + have + past participle. When the students identify thesinger as Bruno Mars, the teacher keeps on giving hints regarding the purpose of the lesson bysaying Name me songs that he sings. I should have remembered the title of the song that I want

When theto explore with you today. If you tell me some titles, I will recognize and remember it.title When I was Your Man comes up, the teacher acknowledges that this is the song that theywill look at together. The warm-up activity should take approximately two minutes.

The pre-activity starts when the teacher distributes a booklet of worksheets (see the Studentand the attached to this entry) and asks the students to look at the first pageBooklet answer keyin it. There is a word bank with seven vocabulary words or expressions and a correspondingnumber of lines. The teacher projects on a screen the lyrics of the song with the underlinedvocabulary words or expressions and asks the students to pair up and write down a definition foreach word with a dictionary. The examples that are given by the teacher aretear me down,which means to destroy someone emotionally, and apologize, which means to expressregret for doing or saying something wrong. These definitions are inspired from the ones in the

online. The teacher leaves approximately sevenMerriam-Websters Learners Dictionary minutes for the students to complete the task according to the provided examples and thenallows five minutes for them to share and compare their answers as a whole group. Knowing

these vocabulary words or expressions is crucial in order to understand the context of the song(regret regarding the way a past relationship was handled).
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/http://www.learnersdictionary.com/


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Afterwards, one of the main activities starts. The teacher turns off the projector and asks thestudents to turn to the second and third pages of the Student Booklet on which there are thelyrics with blanks where the structure should + have + past participle has been removed. Wechose not to remove the past participles employed alone and implying the form should + havebefore them in order to avoid the students confusion. The goal is for the students to write theexact form that they hear on the line as they listen to the song. The teacher plays the song

obtained through the official music video of the song, which lasts approximately four minutes.Then, the teacher projects the lyrics on the screen again for approximately one minute and thestudents correct themselves.

A second main activity begins when the teacher asks the students to turn to the fourth page ofthe Student Booklet on which there are guided questions. These questions will gradually lead thestudents to figure out that the main theme of the song is regret. Students have approximatelyten minutes to complete their answers in teams of four. These questions and the expectedanswers are the following:

1. Examine the title and the verb tense that is used. According to these details, who are the twopeople who play the main roles in this song? According to the title and the use the simple

past, a man (Bruno Mars) and his ex-girlfriend play the main roles in this song.

2. What are the feelings expressed by the writer of the song? Give an example from the lyricswhere these feelings are expressed. The writer of the song expresses regret and sadness. Thisis illustrated in this stanza:

Although it hurts

I'll be the first to say that I was wrong

Oh, I know I'm probably much too late

To try and apologize for my mistakes

But I just want you to know

3. What are two examples of actions that are the cause of these feelings? The man (Bruno Mars)(This kind ofdidnt buy flowers to his ex-girlfriend and he didnt spend enough time with her.

information can be found in the stanzas in which the structure should + have + pastparticiple is used).

The teacher leaves approximately seven minutes for the students to exchange as a whole groupon their answers. The discussion ends when the link between the structure should + have + pastparticiple and the expression of regret is established.


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The teacher can then move on to the explanations of the structure. Here begins thedecontextualization, which involves the formal teaching of the structure should + have + pastparticiple through the deductive approach and practice out of the specific context used in thecontextualization (Priego, 2013, p. 13). First, the teacher reminds the students that they alreadyknow that should + base form of the verb is used to give advice and that the present perfect isgenerally used to express the fact that a past event still has consequences on the present. Then,

the teacher mentions that should + have + past participle combines these concepts in itsdefinition. The students are asked to turn to the fifth page of their Student Booklet, where thestructure is explained in a more detailed way. The teacher asks one student to read the followingdetails aloud: We can use 'should have' to talk about past events that did not happen. We canalso use 'should (not) have' to regret past actions. The modal auxiliary 'should' has a past form,

'should have', which is used before the past participle of a verb. When this past form is used,

. Then, the'should' and 'have' are very often contracted to 'shouldve' (sounds like: 'shudov')teacher shows examples of the affirmative form of the structure, both with and withoutcontractions. These examples are written right after the information that the student just read.Another student continues to read aloud the following details: This past form may also benegative (should not have + the past participle); the full negative with 'not' is also contracted to

. Here, the teacher shows examples of the negative'shouldn't have (+ past participle)' very oftenform of the structure, both with and without contractionsAgain, these examples are written rightafter the information that the student just read. Afterwards, the teacher adds this important note: 'Should have' and 'shouldnt have' are used with all the personal pronouns (I, you, he/she/it,

. In order to make a link between the theory and the song When I was Your Man,we, they)the teacher explains that the man (Bruno Mars) mainly expresses his regret of being too late todo the things he should have done to save his relationship with his former girlfriend. The teacherprojects the lyrics on the screen again and points at the chorus and the last stanza of the song,where regrets are obvious through the use of the studied structure. Finally, the teacher mentionsthat in order to apply the structure correctly, the students have to remember that the pastparticiple is formed by adding -ed at the end of the regular verbs that they have alreadystudied. As for the irregular verbs, the students can use the chart on these exceptions showingthe infinitive form, the simple past form and the past participle form that is usually given at thebeginning of the school year in class or in each students agenda. The theoretical explanationsshould take approximately eight minutes of the lesson. Finally, the teacher mentions that there isa mistake in the lyrics of the song regarding the structure should + have + past participle thatwas made to respect the rhythm of the song. The students are asked to find it, which is in thechorus in the form should have gave. Once the mistake has been found, the teacheracknowledges that the correct form is should have given. This short activity should lastapproximately two minutes. The decontextualization ends with the teacher asking the students tofill in the blanks in four sentences with the proper structure of the modal should when regret isexpressed or when a past action did not happen (p. 6 in the Student Booklet). Then, the studentsare asked to write two personal examples of sentences in which regret is expressed or a pastaction did not happen in an everyday life situation (p. 6 in the Student Booklet). The teachermentions that one personal example must be in the affirmative form and the other in the negativeform. The teacher mentions the examples given at the beginning of the lesson with I shouldhave known and I should have remembered. Once the students have finished, the teachercorrects the fill in the blanks exercise (ex: Amlie should have bought the iPod from theApple Store.) and asks a few volunteers to share their personal examples with the class (ex: Ishould have talked sooner with my best friend about our quarrel.). This last activity and thecorrection should last approximately ten minutes.


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Lastly, the recontextualization allows the students to use their newly acquired knowledge incontext in an interactive grammar activity(Priego, 2013, Week 11, p. 13). As a post-activity,the teacher asks the students the following question: If you were in the shoes of Bruno Mars,what for your girlfriend or your boyfriend to keep a good relationship?should you have done The students are told to answer this question by completing the lyrics of the song with their ownsuggestions and by following the structure with embedded lines provided, which combines parts

of the chorus,on the seventh page of the Student Booklet (ex: I should have cared more abouthis/her feelings.). This activity is done in pairs in order to create an interactive setting. Theteacher leaves approximately ten minutes for the students to do this activity. Finally, the studentshand in the copies of the Student Booklet to the teacherto ensure that every student understoodthe concepts of the form, the meaning and the use of the structure should + have + pastparticiple. The teacher will correct the grammatical errors made in the fill in the blanksexercise (p. 6), the personal examples (p. 6) and the recontextualization (p.7). The students willget back their own corrected booklet to receive feedback on this lesson.

In order to end the period, a wrap-up of approximately three minutes involves asking thestudents if they liked or disliked the activity. Also, the students are asked by the teacher tosuggest titles of songs that they like and that would be appropriate to be used in order to teach

grammar. The mention adds that after the structure should + have + past participle, othermodals will be covered in the following classes.

All in all, we believe that the structure should + have + past participle, which goes beyond theformat should + base form of the verb and the present perfect regarding form, meaning anduse, is well illustrated in the song When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars. Indeed, this songoffers a concrete context where the studied structure is a tool to express regret of failing to doactions that could have changed the outcome of a relationship. Moreover, since this song is verywell known among teenagers, the students could find a personal connection with the content ofthis lesson. We intend to teach this lesson to teenagers in English as a second language (ESL)classrooms whenever we will have the opportunity to do so.

References

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Links & Readings

Downloadable Documents

Student Booklet (PDF)

Answer key (PDF)

Use Music Teach English (PDF)

Other Entries

Content created by Benoit Uson

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