| Music to Soothe the "Savage" Learner | | | | learners too |
| "Alex" leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes and let | | | | Types to Avoid |
| the sounds take him. At times he would hum softly. | | | | However, in addition to music types which have |
| Other times his head would move in a distinctive | | | | proven to be useful, there are those which may tend |
| rhythmic pattern. No question about it, music was his | | | | at times to work against what you are trying to |
| life. It could also be a way to reach him and teach him | | | | achieve. Some possibly "negative" music types tend to |
| English like almost nothing else could. | | | | include:o L1 vocal songs - the last thing you want in |
| If you find that most of your learners have a high | | | | most cases, is to use music and songs in the learners' |
| musical tolerance you're not alone. Not only that, but did | | | | first language. Why? Because they'll simply code |
| you know that learners can be "programmed", so to | | | | switch into their L1 without any effort at thinking or |
| speak, to improve their mental function in a classroom | | | | functioning in English or the foreign language you're |
| using a musical background environment? | | | | trying to get them to work ino English vocal songs - if |
| Types of Music | | | | you're using musical background, songs in English, even |
| You probably don't need me to tell you that all music is | | | | if you're teaching English, may at first be disorienting or |
| not created equal. That being the case, there are both | | | | confusing. You want to use an Affective Filter lowering |
| "good" and "bad" types of music that can be | | | | matrix, not generate a sing-alongo Heavy Metal music, |
| employed in an EFL or foreign language teaching and | | | | Hard Rock music, Trance - while music of these |
| learning setting. First, some "positive" music types | | | | genres maybe pleasant or interesting to some of the |
| useful in lowering learner Affective Filters | | | | learners, it is often not conducive to a positive learning |
| (Krashen-Terrell, 1983).o Classical - a cornucopia f | | | | environment. Not necessarily all of it is so, but a |
| musical selections by the likes of Brahms, Beethoven, | | | | generous amount of screening may be called for to |
| Mozart, et al can be highly effective when used as | | | | get a series of musical selections that are suitable for |
| background music for learnerso Instrumentals - with | | | | your purposes. The effort to screen lyrics and music |
| the obvious exception of heavy percussion, extensive | | | | are frequently not worth the hours I have to spend in |
| trumpeting or marching music, instrumentals can be | | | | advance to do it so I just avoid these genres in favor |
| highly useful in the language learning classroomo Jazz - | | | | of easier ones to set upo Reggae, Rap, Hip-Hop, etc. - |
| no matter how much they might pooh-pooh it at first, | | | | Again, music from these genres may not help to |
| carefully selected Jazz instrumentals are not only | | | | produce the desired classroom effects with using |
| highly effective, but the learners often like them as well | | | | music as a background matrix for English or foreign |
| The exclamation, "THAT?S jazz?" is a frequent one in | | | | language learning. This though, may well depend on |
| some of my classes. Learners often don't realize the | | | | where you and your learners are |
| breadth and range of musical genres outside of their | | | | In the next segment of this theme, we'll consider some |
| normal listening venueso Foreign Language Vocals - | | | | useful requisites for selecting music and genres that will |
| another useful musical background venue is playing | | | | promote foreign language acquisition in the English |
| background music vocals in a language unknown to | | | | language learning environment. We'll examine the use |
| the learners. Try using Hindi vocals with European | | | | of music and its effects and exactly how music |
| learners or Chinese ones with Latin American learners, | | | | influences the brain functions in language learning and |
| Portuguese and French vocals can work well with | | | | acquisition. |
| North American, Asian and other language group | | | | |