Music and Rhythm for Young Learners
Music and rhythm are an essential part of language learning for young learners. Why are songs or chants such powerful methods to use with young children?
Young children learn about their world through play, including language play. They repeat sounds and rhyming words; they mix up words and say things backwards; they make up nonsense words and chants. They organize their experiences and their understanding of the world around them by finding out what words do and what they can do with them (Beaty, 1998).
Researchers have found that children who do early rhyming activities have an interest in poetry and words when they are adults; and children who have experiences with nursery rhymes and songs are more successful later when they begin reading (Caplan & Caplan, 1983). It makes sense, then, for teachers of young children who are learning English as a foreign language (EFL) to encourage rhythm, rhyming, and word play in English. But, how can we do that? It appears that singing stimulates these interests. So by using rhythm and music, we are helping our children not only learn English today, but also stock up for the future.
It also seems that singing, which is controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain, can occur even when speaking, controlled by the left hemisphere, is limited. This is especially important in an EFL situation with young learners. It means that children who do not yet speak English can sing in English. They may not understand all the words, but they can sing or chant along with the teacher and the other children, getting the practice that is so necessary in learning a language.
Music and rhythm also make it much easier to imitate and remember language than words which are just spoken. People who write television and radio commercials know that short and snappy tunes and jingles stay in our heads?even if we don’t want them there! In the same way, if we teach children a song, it somehow sticks in their minds, the way words and sentences alone often don’t.
Songs, chants, and rhymes are particularly useful in a stress-timed language like English because the rhythm forces us to put the stress in the right places. At the same time pronunciation is improved as children concentrate on sound rather than meaning (Reilly & Ward, 1997, p. 34).
Good songs have lively and catchy melodies and fun words. Better songs have actions that children can do to the music. The best songs include both: words to sing and actions or dance movements to do. When children do the actions while they’re singing, kinetic memory adds another way for the children to remember. The physical movements also keep the children interested in and enjoying the song long enough to start learning the words.
Even when children are doing quiet work at their desks, music is valuable. Research has shown that music can make the brain more receptive to learning. Brain function is increased when listening to music and it seems that music promotes more complex thinking. Music can help make connections between emotions, thinking, and learning (Woodall & Ziembroski, online).
“Most children feel there is a barrier between the classroom world, and their world away from the classroom where they play with their friends and live their daily lives. If we want English to play a more central role in the children’s daily lives, we need to find ways to break down this barrier. When a child hums or sings one of our songs on the way home, it means we have succeeded” (Paul, 2003, p. 58).
References:
Beaty, J. J. (1998). Observing development of the young child (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River,
Caplan T. & Caplan, F. (1983). The early childhood years: The two to six year old. New York: Bantam Books.
Paul, D. (2003). Teaching English to children in Asia. Hong Kong: Pearson Education North Asia.
Woodall, L. & Ziembroski B. (n.d.). Promoting literacy through music. Accessed Feb. 20, 2008, from http://www.songsforteaching.com/lb/literacymusic.htm
Aleda Krause is the founding coordinator of the JALT
Teaching Children Special Interest Group and co-author of SuperKids, SuperTots, and the Longman Children’s Picture Dictionary. She has been teaching children for more than 20 years, since her daughter was old enough to have friends who wanted to learn English, also teaches university courses for future teachers of children, and has done teacher training workshops all over the world.
