Songs and Music in TEFL

There are several reasons to use songs and music in TEFL: they can create a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere, they can be very motivating for students - especially if you're doing their favourite songs, they engage the creative intuitive side of the mind, and they can offer useful reading, listening practice and opportunities for discussion.

It is also worth bearing in mind, however, that many songs use rather bizarre vocabulary and pronunciation - especially sentence stress - may be distorted. There are limits with what you can achieve with a song.

Worksheets

Below are some worksheets that I've used over the years with students. Have a look at them and by all means use them yourself or use the ideas behind them.

New!"Mardy Bum" by the Arctic Monkeys

At last, by popular demand the Arctic Monkey's wonderful "Mardy Bum" for EFL. There are one or two issues with slang expressions here, but it's too good a song not to share it with your students. The Mardy Bum worksheet uses a cut-up reading on the history of the band followed by a "spot the mistake" listening task.

United States of Whatever

This song was in the charts a few years ago. The writer had noted the extensive use of "whatever" to be dismissive in popular culture and was, I think, parodying it. I thought it might be useful for students to be aware of the word. The United States of Whatever worksheet uses a put the verses in order listening task followed by consciousness-raising questions

I Looked At You by the Doors

The main point of this one is pronunciation; it's a simple but catchy song which features a few regular past simple verbs where the sound of 'ed' is either /d/ or /t/. Can be a good song for learners who try to pronounce 'ed' as /ed/. If you have a guitar and a group that likes to sing, this is a good sing along number. It's easy to play and the sentence stresses are fairly normal. The "I looked at you" worksheet features a gap-filling listening task.

My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion

This one was requested by a couple of students - I think the film had been on TV recently. It's a good idea to use songs the students like if possible; musical tastes are a very personal thing and students my not always appreciate the teachers' penchant for e.g. the Arctic Monkeys.
On the My Heart will Go On worksheet there is a pre-listening reading on the background and plot of the movie with a "cut up" task, i.e. the students have the different sentences on separate pieces of paper and have to put them in the correct order. There are sufficient cues in the text for them to do this. Cut up readings are thought to help kinaesthetic learners, if you subscribe to learning style theories. Most learners around or above intermediate can manage this, though they may need some help.
There is then a put the verses in order listening task.

Use music to add variety to lessons