4.9 Guidelines for using songs to develop intercultural competence Ildikó Lázár, Christiane Peck In the present chapter you will find guidelines to help you explore and exploit songs in general to develop intercultural competence. The ideas can, of course, be adapted to the proficiency level and interest of your class as shown in the examples that follow in the next section. I. Pre-listening activities It is important to sensitize students to the song that they are about to hear as well as to raise their interest and curiosity about the piece. Here are a few examples of tasks that you could ask them to do before you actually make them listen to the song:
II. While-listening activities
(listening As songs are authentic material they should be used for listening comprehension. But remember: not every song is good for that purpose. Besides, it is always useful to give students the tasks that they have to complete before listening to the song as this helps them focus successfully. The following exercises could be used and adapted according to how easily understandable the lyrics are for the particular group of students you are teaching. II.1 Listening
comprehension without looking at the Listen to the song and
II.2 Reading the lyrics with gaps Before hearing the song the students read the text carefully so that they get to know the content. It will be easier for them to fill in the missing words while they listen to the song. Make sure the number and difficulty of gaps is manageable. If the students fail to fill in most of the words, the exercise will be more frustrating than enjoyable. III. Analysis Having listened to the song and read the lyrics, it is important for the students to discuss some of the following topics with the teacher's help. Obviously not all listed topics will be applicable to every song.
IV. Post-listening activities Although often thought-provoking and invigorating, music is also used in class to please the mind and sooth the soul. Having listened to a song and completed some of the above exercises, make sure your students also have time just to listen to and enjoy the music without having to do anything. They probably need time to internalize what they have just heard and learned before they can whole-heartedly participate in further activities. If the class is ready and if the song is appropriate for this purpose, you may want to try out some of the following activities:
Recommended bibliography Caspari, Daniela: Übersicht über kreative
Umgangsformen mit literarischen Texten. In: Der Fremdsprachliche
Unterricht Englisch 3/1997, 43 / 44. Check the bibliography of the following publications for further reading on music in language classes:
Internet: www.sester-online.de/englisch/songs.htm next chapter: 4.10 Stranger than you |