PART ONE: CLEARING THE GROUND PART TWO: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES PART THREE: CONCEPTS OF LANGUAGE PART FOUR: CONCEPTS OF SOCIETY PART FIVE: CONCEPTS OF LANGUAGE LEARNING PART SIX: CONCEPTS OF LANGUAGE TEACHING

语言教学的基本概念 = Fundamental concepts of language teaching

Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics.

Preface Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Second language acquisition research methodology 3. SLA - Types of data analysis 4. Interlanguage studies: Substantive findings 5. The linguistic environment for language acquisition 6. Explanations for differential success among second language learners 7. Theories in second language acquisition 8. Instructed second language acquisition Bibliography Index

第二语言习得研究概况 = An introduction to second language qcquisition reserch

Songs play an important role in the development of young children learning a second language. A testament to this is the frequency with which songs are used in English Language Teaching classrooms all over the world. This paper begins by looking at why songs can be considered valuable pedagogical tools. In particular, it will discuss how songs can help learners improve their listening skills and pronunciation, and how they can be useful in the teaching of vocabulary and sentence structures. The author will also discuss how songs can reflect culture and increase students’ overall enjoyment of learning a second language. The author will then attempt to show, through practical examples, how songs can be used as language tasks. Finally, the paper aims to explore how classic songs for children can be adapted to suit a particular theme or part of the curriculum a teacher might wish to teach. Most children enjoy singing songs, and they can often be a welcome change from the routine of learning a foreign language. For the teacher, using songs in the classroom can also be a nice break from following a set curriculum. Songs can be taught to any number of students and even those teachers with the most limited resources can use them effectively. Songs can play an important role in the development of language in young children learning a second language. Yet songs may be used relatively ineffectively and the potential for language learning is not maximized. This paper starts by analyzing why songs should be considered as useful pedagogical tools. The author then proposes using songs as language learning tasks to maximize the benefits of using songs and attempts to show how this might be done using practical examples. Finally, the paper explores how classic children’s songs could be modified to help teachers use them more frequently to teach a wider variety of topics. Songs as Pedagogical Tools One advantage of using songs in the young learner classroom is their flexibility. Songs can be used for a number of purposes and there are many reasons why songs can be considered a valuable pedagogical tool. Songs can help young learners improve their listening skills and pronunciation, therefore potentially helping them to improve their speaking skills (Murphey, 1992). Songs can also be useful tools in the learning of vocabulary, sentence structures, and sentence patterns, not to mention their reflectivity of mother tongue culture (Murphey, 1992). Perhaps the greatest benefit to using songs in the classroom is that they can be fun. Pleasure for its own sake is an important part of learning a language, something which is often Language Education in Asia, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2011 Millington Page 135 overlooked by teachers, and songs can add interest to the classroom routine and potentially improve student motivation. Listening. Purcell (1992) states that students can become bored by repeatedly listening to a narration or dialog as they attempt to understand the meaning of new words or phrases in context. In contrast, listening to a song over and over again can seem less monotonous because of the rhythm and melody. Some songs, such as Hello, contain common expressions and can be used as good listening activities. For example, the teacher could sing the first three lines of the song below, and students could respond with the following three lines. Hello, Hello, Hello, how are you? I’m fine, I’m fine, I hope that you are, too. Songs can also help to improve listening skills because they provide students with practice listening to different forms of intonation and rhythm. English has a stress-timed rhythm, for which songs can help to establish a feeling. Murphey believes that music has the power to engrave itself into our brains, stating that “songs work on our shortand long-term memory” and are therefore adequate tools for using in the language classroom (1992, p. 3). Speaking. Children are often keen to learn how to make new sounds and this can take a great deal of practice. Some teachers use minimal-pair drills, yet these types of activities are rarely interesting for young learners. Songs, on the other hand, can allow young learners to practice a new sound without producing the same level of boredom. Songs also have a natural rhythm with a recurring beat that is similar to the stress patterns of spoken English. These patterns make some songs useful for practicing rhythm and stress. The song Girls and Boys Come Out and Play could be used effectively to teach English rhythm and stress, for example (Richards, 1969, p. 162). Girls and boys come out to play, The sun above is bright today. Leave your work and leave your sleep, Come and join us in the street. Come with a shout and come with a call, Come with a smile and bring your ball. Down the steps and up the path, All the fun will make you laugh. Moriya (1988) emphasizes the value of using songs for pronunciation practice with Asian learners of English due to the phonemic differences between Asian languages and English. For example, there are several problematic areas for Japanese students learning English. Ohata (2004) shows the differences in vowels, consonants and syllable types that cause difficulties for Japanese learners of English. Practicing the different sounds by singing songs can be more interesting and enjoyable than other activities such as minimal-pair drills. Vocabulary. Songs can provide the opportunity for vocabulary practice. They are usually based around a theme or topic that can provide the context for vocabulary learning. The song

/pdf/using-songs-effectively-to-teach-english-to-young-learners-4gzu32ndn4.pdf

Using Songs Effectively to Teach English to Young Learners

This research aims to investigate and understand high school students’ perspectives of using Smartphone use in learning English as a Foreign Language. In the era where learning can be done anytime everywhere, Smartphone become one of significant tools in education. Students can learn English from mobile applications and from open access courses available for them to access anytime everywhere. They can also seek online learning support around the world only by using their Smartphone. We were sending online survey to our potential respondents and gained 250 high school students from five high schools in Gorontalo, Indonesia who participated in this research. The results show that the majority of respondents

Karmila Machmud : Peereviewer Learning English as a Foreign Language in the Disruptive Digital Era: The Smartphone Use in EFL Instructions

How can ELT be made enjoyable and effective? One feasible pedagogical application is to integrate English songs into ELT. Song, a combination of music and lyrics, possesses many intrinsic merits, such as a kaleidoscope of culture, expressiveness, recitability and therapeutic functions, which render it an invaluable source for language teaching. This paper provides theoretical arguments and practical support for using English songs in ELT.

/pdf/using-english-songs-an-enjoyable-and-effective-approach-to-4t21x2abf4.pdf

Chunxuan Shen

Papers

Using English Songs: an Enjoyable and Effective Approach to ELTUsing English Songs: an Enjoyable and Effective Approach to ELT