The other day I had a pretty good idea, although I’m afraid not an original one.
Maybe, and only maybe, the
reason why so many students have a hard time learning the Present Simple (or
any other verb tense) is only because the way we teach it. We have come to
believe that learning is a process which involves only our mind and not our
body. Just take a look at our classrooms and you’ll know this is true. Students
are not supposed to move, just sit around waiting for us to deliver our clever
speeches. But what if some people learnt better by singing, or even by dancing
to the information? If schools are allegedly knowledge centres, why are they
the last to implement information which has been around for decades now?
I’m talking about the
so-called left-brain dominance, thanks to which logical and rational thinking
are always favoured at the expense of our more intuitive and creative
right-brain mode of thinking. There isn’t just one, but many kinds of
intelligence, and being a little creative and taking the less trodden paths
doesn’t mean we’re putting the curriculum at risk. We won’t end up teaching
Latin while skydiving or bungee jumping, we promise, although given the current
trend maybe we should.
Because it isn’t just the way
we teach, reeking of stale rationality, but also the churchlike solemnity. Oh
my God, when did we become so serious and callously boring, and thought that
any hint of fun should be banished from our schools, when it’s surely the
opposite? Yes, you heard right: no fun = no learning.
Anyway, as I was chewing over this
matter the other day I came up with this –I hope– not-so-silly an idea.
Instead of explaining the Present Simple (or any other verb tense) as we
usually do (in a very linear, left-brain kind of way), why not say it in a
song, hoping that it may have a catchy enough chorus, or that its pervading
singsong would stay with the students and allow them to remember the basics,
especially while sitting their tests?
So there I was, all hands-on
trying to write the lyrics and dreaming of a new era in EFL teaching. Of
course, I gave up after a few unsuccessful trials, and to this day only a short
chorus remains: ‘do-does, do-does’ (resembling the Spanish ‘dudas’,
doubts).
Well, yes, I failed, so what?
Maybe I’m not destined for great song-lyric writing, but that doesn’t make it a
worthless idea, and who knows, maybe someone will follow the lead and end up
writing the blooming song.
But there’s more to music than
just that. When we read and listen to a song (especially when we’re moved by
it), we’re doing one of the most complete listening & comprehension
exercises in our business. Not only we’re absorbing vocabulary and structures,
but as we sing along, we may very well be on the verge of the best learning
experience there is (one where fun is part of the equation).
There are many ways to
introduce music in the classroom, though. One of them is to play a
karaoke song which will allow you to read, listen and sing a song. If you're tired of searching on the Internet for cheap karaoke songs, why not consider making your own? (that way you'd be having fun and saving your teacher some time!)
One of the simplest programmes I’ve found is ikaraoke tuneprompter (free to
download from http://www.griffintechnology.com/support/tuneprompter.)
You’ll just need to drag the mp3 track and paste the lyrics onto the programme,
and then synchronize both. If I’ve done it, so can you.
On a very different level,
music could also be inspiring as far as reviewing or cramming is concerned, as
the Youtube video above proves. If you’re tired of learning irregular verbs in
alphabetical order, check the two lists on the 'Quick Verb Form Reference
Table' post (http://aliveandteaching.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/grammar-review-16-quick-verb-form.html) and see if rapping them out to a good beat makes it easier for you to cram them
into your head. Godspeed!
Do does, do does,
Do does, do does…
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