I love it now but becoming
an English teacher wasn’t intentional. In fact, growing up I had always been adamant
that the last thing in the world I would ever do would be to become a teacher,
even though people constantly assumed that I would be. To tell the truth, I
sort of fell into teaching after deciding that I wanted to spend some time
volunteering in Brazil. Whilst my heart still lies in social projects I am
currently also working in a prominent language school in Rio de Janeiro. Although more demanding, working in such a
formal setting such as this means that I have a lot more access to resources,
specifically technology. Having free use of an e-board, computer and stereo
system is fantastic (especially as it reduces the need for photocopying and
printing which is great for someone who sometimes panics about deforestation
and wasting paper like I do!) however I often find myself wondering about how
to make sure that I integrate technology into the classroom in a significant and
meaningful way.
The most frequent request I get
from my students, both adults and teenagers is to listen to music in class. I
understand that music is a brilliant way of involving students, getting them
interested and making the lessons relevant. Therefore I often create lyric worksheets
with listening exercises and, wherever possible, discussion questions
surrounding the song or the theme it presents.
However, whilst I enjoy using
music and recognise the motivational effect it has on my students, I usually
only use it if it is relevant to the lesson, for example if it can be used to practice
the grammar point or to provoke discussion on a certain topic. I have noticed that, unlike some of my peers,
I find myself rejecting music that is topping the charts because I find their
lyrics empty or nonsense!
Obviously exposure to English and
practising listening skills is important, however at times perhaps the role of
an English teacher, especially in a developing countries, is to exploit the
cross-curricular possibilities that ELT presents. Of course we mustn’t overload
our learners with heavy subjects (they don’t need to discuss World peace in
every class!) but maybe we maybe need to be more conscious of how we use of
music and videos. Providing them with
the tools to sing along with the lyrics of pop songs on the radio is great but isn’t
giving them the opportunity to develop transferrable skills better? Or does
that just make me a boring teacher?
This is excellent, and a dilemma that I faced a couple of years ago when I was working at the Cantagalo community a few years back. Having only one hour a week to connect with each class, we found that music was the best way to get the student's attentions. At first we used the songs the kids liked and that were big at the moment, like Black Eyed Pea's 'I Gotta Feeling' which isn't exactly a prime example of good English (although it did provide a good basis for learning the days of the week as they are repeated a lot throughout the song). In the end, we came to a compromise and I sought out songs that (I hoped) the kids would like but had better lyrics and structure than a lot of the current chart hits. So I completely agree with you that it is necessary to find relevant music which can both stimulate the students and teach them something at the same time. And no, I don't think it makes you a boring teacher as ultimately the aim of classes is to learn and be able to speak the desired language.
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