Você está na página 1de 9

TESL 565 Language & Culture Final Exam Dee Matchett

Summer 2014 07-25-14





Teaching Culture through Music

and English through Culture
in the American English Classroom




Carson-Newman University
Masters TESL Program
TESL 565
Dr. Mark Brock



Dee Matchett
Summer 2014
TESL 565 Language & Culture Final Exam Dee Matchett
Summer 2014 07-25-14


Introduction

A shift from a traditional to intercultural stance in EFL enhances students
awareness of the inextricable and interdependent relationship between language and
culture and teaching culture as an integral component of language teaching. It also helps
to develop teachers intercultural perspectives that may have an impact on their language
teaching methodology and syllabus design. This shift is a challenge that EFL teachers and
learners have to deal with to meet the goals of foreign language education in our modern
world. (Shemshadsara, 2012, p.98)

Meeting that challenge by utilizing music is the focus of this paper. It will explore the use
of music as a tool for teaching American culture and increasing language acquisition. Guidelines
for music selection are provided as well as a resource appendix for teachers who wish to
incorporate American music into their English class.







TESL 565 Language & Culture Final Exam Dee Matchett
Summer 2014 07-25-14

Teaching Culture through Music
and English through Culture
in the American English Classroom

There are several reasons why teachers in the language classroom should consider
employing music as a tool of cultural awareness that can increase language acquisition. First,
music penetrates the affective filter (Krashen, 1983) by creating a relaxed atmosphere that
promotes learning. Music is a pleasurable experience eliciting an endorphin release that seeks
repetition (Rokade, 2011). Wouldnt you like to see your students addicted to learning English?
When currently popular music is utilized there is the added benefit of motivation through real-
world engagement. Music as an authentic learning activity has been shown to promote learner
motivation and acquisition (Schn et al., 2008). Lastly, empirical evidence provides support for
the use of music in language acquisition both for vocabulary and lexical pattern retrieval
(Medina, 1993)(Mora, 2000). Music has been shown to improve pronunciation and increase
prosody awareness (T. S. Brown, 2014). Through the avenue of involuntary recall, music
continues to promote learning even when students leave the classroom. The phenomenon of
getting a song stuck in your head, results in students practicing English without focused effort
(Salcedo, 2002). This could be a result of the dual pathway model of language acquisition seen
in Figure 1 below (Friederici, 2011).


TESL 565 Language & Culture Final Exam Dee Matchett
Summer 2014 07-25-14
The right hemisphere of the brain processes music and the suprasegmental aspects of
language, while the left side of the brain processes the segmental aspects. In other words, the left
hemisphere learns the lyrics and the right hemisphere
learns the melody. In a traditional classroom the left
hemisphere is the primarily engaged in learning with
little engagement of the right hemisphere. Music can be
viewed as a bridge that spans the left and right
hemispheres and therefore enhances language
learning (Guglielmino, 1986).
Proper grammar and vocabulary are not the only contributors to effective communication
or understanding of the target language. An awareness of the culture also assists in both
comprehension and conversational skills. Becoming culturally competent is to be knowledgeable
of the customs, beliefs, and conventions of native-speakers. Some aspects of culture can be
taught, but most are caught through exposure to the way people in the target language think and
act. To truly communicate well in another language, some degree of enculturation must take
place. if we teach language without teaching at the same time the culture in which it operates,
we are teaching meaningless symbols or symbols to which the student attaches the wrong
meaning(R. W. Brown et al., 2014).
As students move from learning about the culture to understanding why a native speaker
responds in a certain manner, they are able to interpret culturally conditioned behaviors and
discern the deeper meaning or connotations that words can carry (Thanasoulas, 2001). That level
of understanding allows more than information transfer through translation; it brings the learner
into contact with the pulse of a countrys people. Cultural barriers are crossed that would
TESL 565 Language & Culture Final Exam Dee Matchett
Summer 2014 07-25-14
otherwise hamper communication and prevent the learner from seeing inside the minds eye of
the interlocutor.
Since both cultural awareness and music promote language learning it would seem
advantageous to wed the two as a classroom strategy for language learning. In his book, Worlds
of Music, which explores ethnomusicology, Dr. Jeffery Todd Titon, professor emeritus of Brown
University, states, Music is a universal phenomenon but its meaning is not universal but
cultural (Titon, 2008. p.4). Music embodies the culture or subculture from which is originates
and is therefore a reflection of that culture. This makes music an excellent tool for cultural
instruction. Because music is universal to all cultures, it can also form a bridge between cultures,
resulting in greater acculturation. Songs make great conversation starters with native-speakers
which aids acculturation. American linguist, John Schumann, associates acculturation with
success in second language acquisition because it reduces the psychological factor of social
distance (Ariza, et al., 2000). According to Dr. Angel Lin, another psychological factor reduced
by music is the intimidation of learning a new language. She studied the effect of teaching with
hip-hop music. Students who saw language learning as a daunting task, felt music made
language learning more enjoyable and accessible (Lin, 2013).

When learning and honing their creative verbal skills in writing and performing
Chinese, bilingual and English raps, they also seem to be transforming their social class
habitus and are acquiring new cultural capital (e.g., rhyming and rapping skills,
knowledge of letter-sound relationships, new attitudes and dispositions towards English).
(Lin, 2013, p.18)

TESL 565 Language & Culture Final Exam Dee Matchett
Summer 2014 07-25-14
There are also practical aspects to teaching with music. It introduces colloquial speech
and current language usage. When appropriate songs are chosen, other usable language
objectives can be introduced also. Those songs whose lyrics include the daily activities of
American life are apropos. As learners become familiar with the rhythm and tone of English
through song, not only their pronunciation improves (as noted previously), but also collocation.
This is especially true when ballads or other story telling songs are used. Authentic language in
the chorus of a song is repetitious and assists students in learning what words are placed together
in a particular context.
The way in which music enhances memory has already been noted, as well as the
involuntary language practice that a catchy tune can evoke, as a tune is played over and over
again in ones mind. Listening skills are also improved as students pay attention to lyrics.
Through lyric study students also become engaged in discussing the culture of the language
(Arvalo, 2010).
When selecting music avoid songs that are difficult to sing. A song may be too fast or
have a vocal range that is too wide. It is also important that the artists have clear enunciation and
that you provide lyrics. Unless your purpose is to introduce a sub-culture, use songs that are
main stream. Find songs that fit the aspect of culture you want to introduce, such as songs that
are sung on American holidays, patriotic music or songs associated with sports events. If your
students are learning historical culture, folk songs may be suitable. You can even find songs that
emphasis a particular grammatical structure through repetition. Numerous music sources are
available for the EFL/ESL classroom. One that seems particularly useful is on the website of the
United States Board of Educational and Cultural affairs. It is titled: American Rhythms. Links to
that resource and a variety of other resources are listed in the appendix.
TESL 565 Language & Culture Final Exam Dee Matchett
Summer 2014 07-25-14


Appendix

http://www.agendaweb.org/songs/songs-listening-exercises.html
http://www.agendaweb.org/songs/learn_english_through_songs.html
http://www.americanenglish.state.gov/resources/american-rhythms
http://www.isabelperez.com/songs.htm
http://realenglish.fluentu.com/ (Note: Watch introduction video and complete free sign up)














TESL 565 Language & Culture Final Exam Dee Matchett
Summer 2014 07-25-14


Bibliography
Arvalo, E. (2010). The use of songs as a tool to work on listening and culture in EFL classes.
Cuadernos de Lingstica Hispnica, (15), 121138. Retrieved from
dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/3673475
Ariza, E.N., Morales-Jones, C.A., Yahya, N., & Z. H. (2000). Why TESOL?: Theories & Issues
in Teaching Englishs to Speakers of Other Languages in K-12 Classrooms. (D. M.
LaBudda, Ed.) (4th ed., p. NonLinguistic Factors That Influence Second Lan). Dubuque:
Kendall Hunt.
Brown, R. W., Englekirk, J. E., French, D. H., Johnston, M. C., Lange, V. H. W., Marckwardt,
A. H., Dec, N. (2014). Developing Cultural Understanding through Foreign Language
Study: A Report of the MLA Interdisciplinary Seminar in Language and Culture Published
by: Modern Language Association. PMLA, 68(5), 11961218. doi:10.2307/460011
Brown, T. S. (2014). A Comparison of Three Learning Strategies for ESL Vocabulary
Acquisition. TESOL, 25(4), 655670. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3587081 .
Friederici, A. D. (2011). The brain basis of language processing: from structure to function.
Physiological Reviews, 91(4), 135792. doi:10.1152/physrev.00006.2011
Guglielmino, L. (1986). The Affective Edge: Using Songs and Music in ESL Instruction. Adult
Literacy and Basic Education, 10(1), 1926.
Krashen, S. D. (1983). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. The Modern
Language Journal (Internet E., Vol. 67, p. 168). Pergamon Press Ltd. doi:10.2307/328293
Lin, A. (2013). Hip Hop and English Language Learning (ELL): Empowering Youth with
Positive English Speaker Identities. In CELC 2010 Symposium Proceedings (pp. 121).
Singapore. Retrieved from ELTWorldOnline.com
Medina, S. (1993). The Effect of Music on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. National
Network for Early Language Learning, 6(3). Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED352834.pdf
Mora, C. (2000). Foreign Language Acquisition and Melody Singing. ELT Journal, 54(April),
146152.
Rokade, P. B. (2011). Release of Endomorphin Hormone and Its Effects on Our Body and
Moods: A Review. In Internationa Conference on Chemical, Biological and Environment
TESL 565 Language & Culture Final Exam Dee Matchett
Summer 2014 07-25-14
Sciences (Vol. 431127, pp. 436438). Bangkok. Retrieved from
http://psrcentre.org/images/extraimages/1211916.pdf
Salcedo, C. S. (2002). The Effects of Songs in the Foreign Language Classroom on Text Recall
and Involuntary Mental Rehearsal. Louisianna State University. Retrieved from
http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1111102-204823/unrestricted/Salcedo_dis.pdf
Schn, D., Boyer, M., Moreno, S., Besson, M., Peretz, I., & Kolinsky, R. (2008). Songs as an aid
for language acquisition. Cognition, 106(2), 97583. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2007.03.005
Shemshadsara, Z. (2012). Developing Cultural Awareness in Foreign Language Teaching.
English Language Teaching. doi:10.5539/elt.v5n3p95
Thanasoulas, D. (2001). The Importance Of Teaching Culture In The Foreign Language
Classroom. Radical Pedagogy, 3(3), 125. Retrieved from
http://www.radicalpedagogy.org/radicalpedagogy.org/The_Importance_of_Teaching_Cultur
e_in_the_Foreign_Language_Classroom.html
Titon, J. (2008). Worlds of Music (p. 640). Boston: Cengage Learning.

Você também pode gostar