TEACHING GRAMMAR THROUGH SONGS AND RHYMES

Songs

Since the meaning is an important device in teaching grammar, it is important to contextualize any grammar point. Songs
are one of the most enchanting and culturally rich resources that can easily be used in language classrooms. Songs offer
a change from routine classroom activities. They are precious resources to develop students’ abilities in listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. They can also be used to teach a variety of language items such as sentence patterns,
vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm, adjectives, and adverbs. Learning English through songs also provides a non-
threatening atmosphere for students, who usually are tense when speaking English in a formal classroom setting.

Songs also give new insights into the target culture. They are the means through which cultural themes are presented
effectively. Since they provide authentic texts, they are motivating. Prosodic features of the language such as stress,
rhythm, intonation are presented through songs, thus through using them the language which is cut up into a series of
structural points becomes a whole again.

There are many advantages of using songs in the classroom. Through using contemporary popular songs, which are
already familiar to teenagers, the teacher can meet the challenges of the teenage needs in the classroom. Since songs
are highly memorable and motivating, in many forms they may constitute a powerful subculture with their own rituals.
Furthermore, through using traditional folk songs the base of the learners knowledge of the target culture can be
broadened.

In consequence, if selected properly and adopted carefully, a teacher should benefit from songs in all phases of teaching
grammar. Songs may both be used for the presentation or the practice phase of the grammar lesson. They may encourage
extensive and intensive listening, and inspire creativity and use of imagination in a relaxed classroom atmosphere. While
selecting a song the teacher should take the age, interests of the learners and the language being used in the song into
consideration. To enhance learner commitment, it is also beneficial to allow learners to take part in the selection of the
songs.

Teaching Procedure

There are various ways of using songs in the classroom. The level of the students, the interests and the age of the
learners, the grammar point to be studied, and the song itself have determinant roles on the procedure. Apart from them,
it mainly depends on the creativity of the teacher.

At the primary level of singing the song, the prosodic features of the language is emphasized. At the higher levels, where
the practice of grammar points is at the foreground, songs can be used with several techniques. Some examples of these
techniques are:

Gap fills or close texts Dictation

Focus questions Add a final verse
True-false statements Circle the antonyms/synonyms of the given words
Put these lines into the correct sequence Discuss
A teacher's selection of a technique or a set of techniques should be based on his or her objectives for the classroom.
After deciding the grammar point to be studied, and the song and the techniques to be used, the teacher should prepare
an effective lesson plan. Since songs are listening activities, it is advisable to present them as a listening lesson, but of
course it is necessary to integrate all the skills in the process in order to achieve successful teaching.

When regarding a lesson plan, as a pre-listening activity, the theme, the title, or the history of the song can be discussed.
By directing the students toward specific areas, problem vocabulary items can be picked up in advance. Before listening
to the song, it is also beneficial to let the students know which grammar points should be studied. At this stage, pictures
may also be used to introduce the theme of the song. In the listening stage, some of the techniques listed above can be
used, but among them gap filling is the most widely used technique. Through such gaps, the vocabulary, grammar, or
pronunciation are highlighted. This stage can be developed by the teacher according to the needs of the students and the
grammar point to be studied.

In the follow-up, integrated skills can be used to complete the overall course structure. Since many songs are on themes
for which it is easy to find related reading texts, it may lead the learner to read a text about the singer or the theme.
Besides, many songs give a chance for a written reaction of some kind. Opinion questions may lead the learner to write
about his own thoughts or reflections. Some songs deal with a theme that can be re-exploited through role plays. Acting
may add enthusiasm to the learning process. Finally, some songs deal with themes, which can lead to guided discussion.
By leading the students into a discussion, the grammar point could be practiced orally and, in a way, naturally.

Exploitation of songs for grammatical structures can be illustrated through several examples. For present tense 'Let It Be'
by the Beatles, for past tense 'Yesterday' by the Beatles, for present progressive 'Sailing' by Rod Stewart, for present
perfect 'Nothing Compares to You' by Sinead Occonor, for past perfect 'Last Night I Had...' by Simon and Garfunkel, for
modals 'Blowing in the Wind' by Bob Dylan, and for conditionals 'El Condor Pasa' by Simon and Garfunkel can be used.
However, it should be kept in mind that songs, which provide frequent repetitions, or tell a story, or provide comments
about life, or introduce cultural themes are the effective ones, since they provide authentic and meaningful material.

Poems

Poems, like songs, contextualize a grammar lesson effectively. Since poetry is often spoken, repeated, dealt with, and
considered, it acts as an effective tool for practicing a specific grammatical structure. Through repeating and considering
the poem, the grammatical structures become more deeply internalized. Thus, poetry not only provides a rewarding
resource for structured practice of grammar, but also a proper basis for review. If a poem that exemplifies a particular
structure is also a good poem, it engages the eye, the ear and the tongue simultaneously while also stimulating and
moving us; this polymorphic effect makes poetry easier to memorize than other things for many students.

Like songs, poems exaggerate the rhythmic nature of the language. Thus it is an important aspect to be taught, since
English is a syllable timed language with stressed syllables being spoken at roughly equal time pauses, even in everyday
speech. Similar to songs, poems have an enormous linguistic value as they provide authenticity and cultural views. A
poem's capacity to comfort the reader or the listener also increases its effectiveness as a teaching resource. Once a poem
or song has been learned, they stay in the minds of the students for the rest of their lives, with all the rhythms,
grammatical features and vocabulary.

Poems may bring the use of creativity and the rhythm into the language classroom, though they may also bring some
difficulties. Poems are not constructed in a simple way and syntactically they are at a higher level than prose, thus it
might be very difficult for a foreign language learner to comprehend them completely.

There are three main barriers for literature including poetry. They are linguistic, cultural, and intellectual barriers.
Linguistic difficulties are the problems caused by the syntax or the lexicon of the poem. Cultural difficulties include
imagery, tone, and allusion. At the intellectual level, the students should be intellectual and mature enough to understand
the theme of the poem. These difficulties could be easily removed if the teacher provides a poem which is syntactically
and thematically appropriate to the level, age and the interests of the students. Thus, by removing or minimizing the
potential problems, poetry can provide an enormously rich, enjoyable and authentic context for foreign language learners.

In the selection of a poem, the teacher should first consider the grammatical structure to be presented, practiced, or
reviewed, then the level and the age of the students, next the theme and the length of the poem and its appropriateness to
the classroom objectives. It is advisable to select a poem from 20th century poets. As older poems often provide a more
difficult lexicon and syntax, and as they reflect some old-fashioned ideas, it is more convenient to use contemporary
poems than older ones. Poems, which reflect cultural themes, universal features, humanistic values, or emotional
aspects, will be more relevant to the foreign language learners. Finally, through taking the classroom objectives into
consideration, a teacher should effectively benefit from poems as teaching aids.

Teaching Procedure

At the teaching stage of a poem, it is not advisable to talk about the meaning of the poem in advance. Since they offer a
reading and listening activity, poems could be presented through a reading plan. At the pre-reading stage, students might
be motivated through some enthusiastic talks about poetry or the poet. Some necessary vocabulary can also be handled
at this stage. At the reading stage, in order to create images and stress the prosodic features, the teacher may want the
students to close their eyes while he/she is reading the poem. After the poem has been read at least twice, it is better to
elicit the primary responses of the students about the poem. Next, after distributing the poem to students, students may
be asked to read it either loudly or silently. In order to practice the determined grammar point, students may be asked to
paraphrase the poem. Through transforming the verse into prose students get acquainted with the structure.
After easing the grammar and understanding the vocabulary, students get an idea about the theme of the poem. Reading
the paraphrased poem reinforces the grammatical structure under consideration. Asking questions about context may
follow the reading. Through asking Wh- questions, providing additional information about the culture, and asking students
to share their experience with the subject matter, the cultural content of the poem becomes more real and vivid. Words,
pictures, and shared experiences can eliminate the gap that is created by different cultures, as no one can deny that
poems cannot always evoke the same sounds, sights, smells, and associations for both native speakers and foreign
language learners. After discussing the surface content of the poem, students may again asked to close their eyes and
visualize the poem while listening to it.

As a follow-up activity a discussion may be held. After reviewing the plot of the poem and providing adequate artful
questions, the students will eventually discover the deeper meaning of the poem. As being a facilitator, a teacher should
always avoid telling the meaning. After each student grasps his or her own meaning, it is proper to discuss the depth of
the poem. In this procedure, the teacher's aim is to support the students in their attempts to understand the poem and
make it relevant to their lives. Once they have understood it and perceived its relevance, they will have no objection to
practicing the poem or even memorizing it, for it will have become special for them. At the follow-up stage, providing the
determined structure, students may also be asked to write a poem about anything they want. In such a procedure the four
skills are effectively integrated to practice or present any grammar point.

Since every class is different, teachers should creativity determine the teaching procedure. It is not advisable to apply one
procedure too strictly. A teacher should adopt the activities according to the needs of the learners. However, it might not
be very useful to use poems for young students or for beginners. Instead of poems, using nursery rhymes or songs would
be more helpful since they provide more joyful and easier contexts. From pre-intermediate to advanced levels, it is really
beneficial to use either songs or poems. Several poems can be adopted from contemporary poem books. The poems of the
W.H. Auden, Robert Frost, Stanley Kunitz, Delmore Schwartz, W.D. Snodgrass, Theodore Roethke, Gary Snyder, Richard
Wilbur, and Robert Lowell, etc. are suggested for the language teachers who want to use poems in their grammar lessons.

PRESENTATION – PRACTICE – PRODUCTION (PPP)

WHAT IS PRESENTATION – PRACTICE – PRODUCTION?

Presentation – Practice – Production, or PPP, is a method for teaching structures (e.g. grammar or vocabulary) in a
foreign language. As its name suggests, PPP is divided into three phases, moving from tight teacher control towards
greater learner freedom. Note that some writers use the name to refer to a specific method that focuses on oral skills, but
it can also be applied more broadly to a family of related methods which rely on the progression from presentation,
through controlled practice, to free production.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE PRESENTATION PHASE?

A presentation phase is controlled by the teacher. The teacher might use a text, an audio tape or visual aids to
demonstrate a situation. From this, she will extract the required language forms. For example, the teacher may show the
class the following picture and model the following sentences:

Mr Smith is feeding the baby.

Mr Smith IS feedING the baby.
Mr Smith …IS feed…ING the baby.
Mrs Smith is looking at her laptop.
Mrs Smith IS lookING at the laptop.

and so on. She might then write the sentences on the board and perhaps describe the grammar rule.

Alternatively, the teacher might present the grammar rule without reference to a situation, e.g. through description
supplemented with examples or through substitution tables.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE PRACTICE PHASE?

During the (controlled) practice phase, learners practice saying or writing the language structure correctly. Typical
practice activities include drills, multiple-choice exercises, gap-and-cue exercises, transformations etc. In this phase, the
teacher’s role is to direct the activities, to provide positive feedback to students, correct mistakes and model the correct
forms.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE PRODUCTION PHASE?

When the learners have completely mastered the form and have learnt how to produce it without mistakes in controlled
exercises, they can move on to the (free) production phase. In this phase, they use the newly learnt language structure to
produce oral or written texts. Typical production activities include dialogues, oral presentations, and the production of
sentences, paragraphs or longer texts. The teacher does not generally intervene or correct in this phase: after all, the
students should not make mistakes by now. If mistakes are made, they are pointed out after the exercise has finished.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRACTICE AND PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES?

Practice activities typically will have only one correct answer, whereas in free production several answers will be
acceptable. Furthermore, in the practice phase emphasis is on accuracy (the ability to produce the correct form), whereas
the production phase is supposed to develop fluency (the ability to speak naturally). IS PPP AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO LEARN?
It could be said that PPP is an effective way to teach, since it makes planning easy and it can be implemented by relatively
inexperienced teachers. However, this is not the same as saying that it is an effective way to learn. Some critics have
suggested that it rests on a simplistic view of language learning: language learning often involves more than mechanical
practice. In addition, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that learners who do well in the practice phase fail to transfer
this ability to the production phase, and –even if they do successfully manage the production phase– they often fail to
transfer this ability outside the classroom.
Modes of Teaching Grammar

1. Linguistic Mode

Students must be familiar about the use of structures so that they will understand. Larsen-Freeman (2002, 2014)
maintained that students must know about the use of structures so that they will understand the consequences of their
choices because the grammatical system offers its users choices in how they wish to realize meanings and positions
themselves ideologically and socially. Therefore, grammar teaching should not only for understanding the rules but also
for inducing the reasons of different sentence formations in different contexts.

2. Story-telling mode

A grammar lesson is not complete without an application stage. Ur (1988) shared that application is believed to require
“volume and repetition”; that is, learners need to be given adequate opportunities to use the items to be learnt as much as
possible. Teachers should help learners make the leap from form-focused accuracy to meaning-focused fluency after
explicit instructions by providing a variety of practice activities that will familiarize the learners with structure in contexts,
giving practice both in form and communicate meaning. (Ur, 1996) Story Telling mode is an effective way to apply what
students learn to real communication.

Rules for teaching grammar

What conclusions, then, are to be drawn about the teaching of grammar? Here are some rules of
thumb:

• The Rule of Context:

Teach grammar in context. If you have to take an item out of context in order to draw attention to it,
ensure that it is re-contextualized as soon as possible. Similarly, teach grammatical forms in
association with their meanings. The choice of one grammatical form over another is always
determined by the meaning the speaker or writer wishes to convey.

• The Rule of Use:

Teach grammar in order to facilitate the learners' comprehension and production of real language,
rather than as an end in itself. Always provide opportunities for learners to put the grammar to
some communicative use.

• The Rule of Economy:

To fulfill the rule of use, be economical. This means economising on presentation time in order to
provide maximum practice time. With grammar, a little can go a long way.

• The Rule of Relevance:

Teach only the grammar that students have problems with. This means, start off by finding out
what they already know. And don't assume that the grammar of English is a wholly different
system from the learner's mother tongue. Exploit the common ground.

• The Rule of Nurture:

Teaching doesn't necessarily cause learning - not in any direct way. Instead of teaching grammar,
therefore, try to provide the right conditions for grammar learning.

• The Rule of Appropriacy:

Interpret all the above rules according to the level, needs, interests, expectations and learning
styles of the students. This may mean giving a lot of prominence to grammar, or it may mean never
actually teaching grammar at all - in any up-front way. But either way, it is your responsibility as a
teacher to know your grammar inside out.

Some conditions
The Rule of Nurture argues for providing the conditions for grammar learning. What are these
conditions? If the answer to this much disputed question could be reduced to a handful of
essentials, they would probably be these:

• The input learners get:

will it be presented in such a way that the learners are likely to engage with it, thus
ensuring a reasonable chance of it becoming intake?
• Their output:
will it be of sufficient quantity and/or quality to ensure that they have opportunities to
develop both accuracy and fluency?
• The feedback they get:
will it be of the type and quantity to ensure that some of their attention is directed at form?
• Their motivation:
will the content and design of the lesson be such that learners are motivated to attend to the
input, produce optimal output, and take account of the feedback?

Here are six teacher “confessions”. Which rule did the teacher break, in each case?
1. I explained it and drilled it - and still they made mistakes. So I explained it and drilled it again.
2. I taught my business class the present perfect continuous using a fairy tale.
3. I presented the rules of adverb order, and then we did some exercises in the book. Tomorrow I'm going
to do the second conditional.
4. They don't have any problems with the past tense, but I'm going to teach it again because it's in the book.
5. I gave them five sentences in different tenses and asked them to work out the difference. Then we did
some sentence gap-fill exercises.
6. The presentation took about 40 minutes. That left me ten minutes for the role play.