Developing pronunciation through songs

Introduction

Songs provide examples of authentic, memorable and rhythmic language. They can be motivating for learners who are keen to repeatedly listen to and imitate their musical heroes. Here, we look at some aspects of pronunciation that can be focused on through songs.

Using songs to focus on sounds

Sounds are the smallest unit from which words are formed and can be categorised as vowels and consonants.

Why are they difficult?

• As languages differ in their range of sounds, learners have to learn to 'physically' produce certain sounds previously unknown to them.
• Learners can find sounds difficult to pick out, and may not see the point in focusing on them.

However, incorrectly pronounced sounds strain communication, sometimes even changing a phrase's meaning.

How songs can help

• Songs are authentic and easily accessible examples of spoken English. The rhymes in songs provide listeners with repetition of similar sounds.
• Learners often choose to listen to songs time and time again, indirectly exposing them to these sounds.

What we do

To focus learners on particular sounds, we create activities based on songs' rhymes:

Activity 1

• Replace some of the rhymes in the song with a gap. Learners listen and fill the gaps, using the song to guide them. More analytically-minded learners can then categorise the words according to sounds. (From An Englishman in New York by Sting)

talk (New) York walk	day say	one sun run

Alternatively, differences between sounds can be highlighted using the lyrics to show how changing one sound can alter meaning (minimal pairs):

Activity 2

• Choose six words from a song from which minimal pairs can be created:

  • heaven – even
  • hunger – anger
  • man – mad

  (From Imagine by John Lennon)

• Write the pairs separately on cards and give out one set per group of four or five learners, who then have to match the pairs. Then, they listen to the song and 'grab' the correct one. Choices are then checked against the lyrics.

Using songs to focus on words

Words are combinations of sounds which form together to give meaning. A word is uttered in syllables, usually one emphasised syllable (stressed) and the rest weak (unstressed).

Why are they difficult?

• Even when the same words exist in both languages, the number of syllables is not always identical.
• Each English word has its own stress pattern, with very complex 'rules' to guide learners.
• Weak syllables are central to English, although learners often find this hard to believe. Moreover, focusing on these can result in over-emphasis (not weakening) of these syllables.

How songs can help

• Words in songs fit the music, helping learners associate the number of syllables and stress pattern in these words, with memorable rhythms.
• The relaxed atmosphere songs create can expose learners to this difficult pronunciation area, without them realising it.
• Songs contain endless examples of weak syllables, helping to convince learners of the way English is pronounced.

What we do

To raise learners' awareness of the number of syllables and word stress, the following activity targets specific words, especially those where the music makes the stress patterns clearer.

Activity 3

• Give out the lyrics, with a space beside certain words that you want learners to guess the number of syllables for. They write the number in the space and then listen to check their predictions.
• At higher levels, you can repeat the activity with learners underlining the stressed syllable whilst listening. Then, drill these words and sing or chant the whole song through.

Using songs to focus on connected speech

Connected speech is the natural way we speak, linking together and emphasising certain words, rather than each word standing alone. Contractions (two words forming one) are an extreme example of the way we connect speech, to the extent that the written form is affected too.

Why is it difficult?

• Learners normally learn words individually and, especially at lower levels, tend to pronounce each word separately.
• Learners frequently misconceive contractions as being 'incorrect', only used in 'slang'.
• Not all words within a phrase carry the same weight.

How songs can help

• Songs, and especially the chorus, provide real and 'catchy' examples of how whole phrases are pronounced, often to the extent that learners find it difficult to pick out individual words. The music further emphasises the 'flow' of the words.
• Songs, like other spoken texts, are full of contractions.
• Learners can be keen to reproduce this, in order to sing the song as they hear it.

What we do

We use songs that have numerous contracted words to convince learners that contractions are natural in English.

Activity 4

• Rewrite the lyrics with the contractions in full form:
  • 'I am wondering why'
  • 'I cannot see'
• Learners listen, identifying the contracted words. On a second listening, they rewrite the words with the contractions:
  • 'I'm wondering why'
  • 'I can't see'
• This works even with the lowest level classes.

 To help learners hear how words flow in phrases, choose catchy tunes for learners to fit words to.

Activity 5

• Play each line of the chorus for learners to hum back, until they get the rhythm.
• In groups, learners then order the lines of the song on strips of paper by remembering the tune.
• Another version of this activity could focus on highlighting the strong words in phrases, and singing only these, replacing the rest with 'mmm'.
• Alternatively, more creative groups could write their own words to fit the tune.
• Finally, learners can practise and present their singing, for a 'song contest', for example.

Conclusion

There are no 'standard' songs for teaching pronunciation. Any song can be an example of different pronunciation aspects. However, we try to choose songs that are clear (use quality recordings where possible), not too fast, memorable, likely to appeal to our learners (possibly songs they already know) and easy to create activities for, depending on the area of pronunciation we are focusing on.

Finally, a word of warning: songs are creative works, so be ready to justify the occasional 'mispronunciation' to your learners or any examples of incorrect grammar!

Further reading

Underhill, A. (2005) Sound Foundations: Learning and Teaching Pronunciation. Macmillan Education, London.

Dalton, C. and Seidlhofer, B. (1994) Pronunciation. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Kelly, G. (2000) How to Teach Pronunciation. Pearson Education / Longman, London.

Kenworthy, J. (1987) Teaching English Pronunciation. Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers, Longman, London.