1 Teaching through Songs and Chants

TEACHING THROUGH SONGS AND CHANTS

Introduction
The use of songs and chants in language teaching has a long history.
Extensive research has focused on how memory is affected by
simultaneous activity in other parts of the brain. For example, you
remember words that you have spoken better than words you have only
read or heard. Music also aids memory because rhythm helps learners to
remember otherwise unconnected words or ideas. Oral traditions and
rules of folk wisdom from many cultures are often rhythmic, rhyming, or
musical ("Red sky at night, sailor's delight ..." "A stitch in time saves
nine." etc.) Rhythm speaks to a very basic part of our emotional selves,
so musical or rhythmic content may enter memory with fewer
distractions.
Songs can be adapted for language teaching purposes from the most
basic or elementary level to a much higher proficiency level based on
either the content of the lyrics or how the words are put into practice or
discussed afterward. Most teachers and adult students of language know
the benefits of learning a language through songs. We even experience
this in our first language. Consider how many songs (from your first
language) you can sing along with when you hear them on the radio.
There are probably hundreds. Embedding the language of our lessons
into songs and chants can really strengthen language acquisition if
teachers use communicatively appropriate songs.
This unit will focus on some of the theory and research related to the
use of songs and chants in teaching English as a Foreign Language
(EFL). We will then turn our attention to how to choose appropriate
EFL songs or chants. We will also discover how to write our own
language teaching songs and chants. We will follow up with a number of
EFL song activities involving movement, drama, and fun. Finally we
will turn our attention to activities that apply specifically to chants.
 2 Teaching through Songs and Chants

Applicable Theories and Approaches

适用理论和方法
Let us revisit some of the major research about childhood learning
and language acquisition, and see how these theories relate to presenting
songs and chants in the classroom. In particular, we will discuss Howard
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory, Experiential Learning Theory,
the Direct Approach and Total Physical Response (TPR), the Aural–Oral
Approach, Stephen Krashen’s and Tracy Terrell’s Natural Approach, and
the Communicative Approach.
Howard Gardner's research on Multiple Intelligences supports the
Multiple Intelligences
Theory use of songs and chants in the classroom. As is discussed in greater detail
(多元智能理论)
in the unit entitled Multiple Intelligences Theory, Gardner describes how
people use a variety of mental processes while thinking. Therefore, the
most successful classrooms provide different approaches to meet
individual students’ areas of strength. For example, students who have a
strong musical intelligence are sensitive to nonverbal sounds and are
very much aware of tone, pitch, and timbre. Musically intelligent
students have the ability to produce and appreciate music. These
learners think in sounds, rhythms, and patterns. They often respond to
music by tapping their feet, tapping a pencil, or complimenting or
criticizing what they hear. Many of these learners are also extremely
sensitive to environmental sounds (e.g., crickets, running water, bells,
horns). Using rhythm, chanting, and songs with these students can
increase their attention and interest while motivating them to learn.
The musical intelligence is not the only one recognized by Gardner
that can be appealed to by teaching through songs and chants. For
example, focusing on the lyrics of a song can appeal to a child’s linguistic
intelligence. Incorporating choreographed movements that represent
the meaning of the lyrics can help to appeal to the bodily-kinesthetic
intelligence, and so on (Gardner, 1983).

Experiential Learning Experiential Learning Theory also advocates the use of

Theory representative movements and drama when songs and chants are
(经验学习理论)
taught. Of course performing an EFL song or chant can already be
considered “learning by doing” (Dewey, 1933), but adding an element
 3 Teaching through Songs and Chants

of movement or drama can turn performing a song or chant into a

Direct Approach physical experience. The Direct Approach would advocate having
(直接法) children manipulate realia or props to illustrate the lyrics they are
singing or chanting. If such realia or props are unavailable, however,
children can still “manipulate” imaginary objects as is sometimes done
realia using James Asher’s Total Physical Response (TPR) methods. In fact,
(实物教具) both the Direct Approach and TPR give us a way to allow students to
show they understand the meaning of a song’s or chant’s lyrics (by
doing physical actions that show the meaning as they hear the words)
Total Physical
Response (TPR) long before they are able to produce the language or perform the song or
(整体动作反应法) chant themselves.
Songs and chants are even effective tools for teachers who choose to
Natural Approach incorporate elements of the behaviorist Aural–Oral Approach (or
(自然法)
Audio–Lingual Method) into their language lessons. Following this
approach, children must somehow be motivated to repeat certain
vocabulary, phrases, and sentence structures again and again, often
chorally. Singing and chanting is a natural way to provide this
motivation. Children are far more likely to sing a favorite song over and
over, both within and outside the classroom, than they are to repeat a list
of sentence patterns or a dialogue on their own volition. Also, songs and
chants are often written with certain lines or a chorus that repeats often
within a single performance. Many traditional children’s songs and EFL
songs alike also repeat basic structures with single-slot or even
double-slot vocabulary substitutions in the various verses. Practice with
such vocabulary substitutions is another hallmark of the Aural–Oral
Approach.
The Input Hypothesis, which is discussed in the unit of this course
Aural–Oral
Approach on the Natural Approach, was proposed by Krashen and Terrell (1983)
(听说法) and detailed by Terrell, Rogers, Barnes, and Spielmann (1997) and can
help us to choose or to write effective EFL songs and chants for our
students. This part of the theory proposes that comprehension of a
language (or in this case, the lyrics of a song) precedes production and
that production “emerges” later. The researchers caution us, however,
that in order for this to happen, the learners must be exposed to
 4 Teaching through Songs and Chants

comprehensible input that is still slightly challenging for them (a

concept that Krashen and Terrell expressed with the formula i + 1,
where i represents the students’ current level of language proficiency
and +1 represents one step up from that level). When students listen to
a comprehensible song or chant several times, they begin to understand
new words and internalize their meaning, even before they are able to
say the words themselves or use them in context. Oral production of the
words by the students will come later as the songs and other activities
continue to recycle them. Unlike learning by rote memorization,
allowing delayed production in this way facilitates true language
acquisition, according to Krashen and Terrell.
Another hypothesis of the Natural Approach says that any strategy
affective filter
(情绪障碍)
that can lower the students’ affective filter1, such as using music or song
and chant games and activities in the classroom, is worthwhile. The
affective filter refers to anything, such as boredom or difficult material
that may become a mental barrier to a child’s language learning. Music
enables students to become more open to “playing” with the language
because they feel more relaxed. That is, using songs and chants in the
classroom can help to lower the affective filter.
Finally, the Communicative Approach suggests teaching students
Communicative language that they are likely to use in real life situations in their
Approach
(交际法) day-to-day lives. That is, only authentic language should be taught.
Following this guideline, then, songs and chants that include a great deal
of language that is not useful for true communication should be avoided,
and the lyrics of the ideal EFL song or chant will be in dialogue form or
in some other way represent realistic communicative events.

选歌原则 Choosing Appropriate Songs and Chants

- 有意义、与教学相关、
生动有趣
Here, we will consider what to look for when choosing a song, chant,
- 便于理解的小故事 or rhyme to teach to English as a foreign language students. We will also
- 旋律动听、便于记忆
- 为今后学习打基础 see examples of songs that should be avoided and discuss why.
- 复习已学知识和
技能 What are the main reasons for choosing to teach a particular song or
- 难度适当
chant? First, the song or chant should be relevant, meaningful, and
5 Teaching through Songs and Chants

interesting to the children. Second, it should tell a simple story and be

comprehensible. Third, it should have a simple, memorable melody.
Fourth, the song should build a base for future learning. Fifth, it should
review past learning and practice language skills. Finally, it should be
age appropriate (MacDonald, n.d.)
In practice, it is very difficult to find any song that fulfills all six of
these standards. This is especially true in an EFL context, since a large
catalog of English music is not readily available in non-English speaking
countries. Most importantly, then, when you select a song, chant, or
rhyme to teach, choose one that provides comprehensible input and
useful, conversational language. Consider the following English folk
song, for example. Is the language in it comprehensible and useful to
young learners who are new to English?
London Bridge

London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
Additional Verses:
2. Take the key and lock her up ...
3. Build it up with iron bars ...
4. Iron bars will bend and break ...
5. Build it up with silver and gold ...

Although this is a popular song for young children who are native
speakers of English, it is neither comprehensible nor conversationally
useful for limited English proficient (LEP) students. LEP learners
cannot comprehend the meaning of the lyrics, and most EFL students
will never need to use such expressions in their day-to-day lives. Besides,
does any of the language in this song resemble the language they are
learning in class? Learning this song is quite a challenge for young LEP
learners because they have never seen most of the words before, nor are
the words related directly to any of their lessons.
Another example of a popular song for native English speaking
6 Teaching through Songs and Chants

children is “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the waterspout.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
The itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

This song is one of the most popular kindergarten and preschool

songs for native speakers of English, and it has been exported to
countries where children are learning English as a foreign language.
Well-intentioned English teachers feel that since it is appropriate for
native English speaking children, it would also be appropriate for LEP
young learners. Sadly, not only does this song not build communicative
competence, it could have a negative impact on students’ language
learning experience. A song that is full of new words and grammar
structures and that differs markedly from the language children are
learning in their English class is a major challenge for them. To teach
such a difficult song to young children weakens their newly emerging
speaking confidence (or, as Krashen and Terrell would put it, it raises the
learners’ affective filter).
The song also includes inverted word order, which would not be
used in conversational English. That is, native speakers of English
rarely, if ever, say, “Down came the rain.” Rather, they would say, “The
rain came down,” or simply, “It rained.” The same is true for, “Out
came the sun.” A native speaker would almost always say, “The sun
came out.”
Some traditional songs and nursery rhymes are also full of archaic
English or even nonsense English. Teaching these songs, chants, or
rhymes may also prove damaging to an LEP learner’s progress. For
example, native English speakers no longer use the phrase fair lady to
mean a pretty woman as it is used in the song “London Bridge.” A good
example of nonsense English can be seen in the popular traditional
children’s song, “This Old Man.” Read the following lyrics to this song
and pay attention to how much nonsense English is included:
7 Teaching through Songs and Chants

This Old Man

This old man, he played one.

He played knick-knack on my thumb,
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone.
This old man came rolling home.
Additional Verses:
2. This old man, he played two.
He played knick-knack on my shoe ...
3. This old man, he played three.
He played knick-knack on my knee ...
4. This old man, he played four.
He played knick-knack on my door ...
5. This old man, he played five.
He played knick-knack on my hive ...
6. This old man, he played six.
He played knick-knack on my sticks ...
7. This old man, he played seven.
He played knick-knack up in Heaven ...
8. This old man, he played eight.
He played knick-knack on my gate ...
9. This old man, he played nine.
He played knick-knack on my spine ...
10. This old man, he played ten.
He played knick-knack once again ...

Now let us turn to the topic of choosing a good song or chant. The
first key to using songs and chants successfully is to choose the right
ones. Most modern EFL textbooks include appropriate songs written
specifically for LEP learners and the target language of the course, but
teachers may still want to use some traditional songs, chants, or rhymes.
We want to choose tunes that are easy and catchy (that is, easily
remembered and fun to sing), as well as songs that build our students’
confidence. Ideally, we also want to choose songs that enable our
children to walk out of class with a few new useful words or expressions
to use in the “real world.”
8 Teaching through Songs and Chants

There are numerous sources of traditional children’s songs. You will

soon find, however, that the vast majority of them are unsuitable for
EFL students due to the previously mentioned concerns. There are,
however, a number of suitable, very simple ones. The simplest of these
have the children sing vocabulary words to a tune. For example,
practically every child who learns English, whether it is their native
language or a second language, learns the alphabet song. This
traditional children’s song is a valuable way to help true beginners to
learn the alphabet.
Another simple traditional children’s song is “Head and Shoulders,
Knees and Toes.” The song lyrics are as follows:
Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Head and shoulders, knees and toes,

Knees and toes, knees and toes.
Head and shoulders, knees and toes.
It's my body!
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Mouth and nose, mouth and nose.
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose.
It's my body!

This song is valuable for teaching vocabulary for parts of the body. It
also introduces the conjunction and in a very simple context. Finally, the
song introduces the structure It’s my (body). This is a structure that
children are likely to use very often in conversations (e.g., It’s my book.
It’s my picture. It’s my cookie.) Although almost all native speakers and
teachers of English know “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” as a
traditional children’s song, many may not be aware that it is sung to the
tune of one of the songs we previously identified as inappropriate for
LEP students—“London Bridge.” This brings us to our next
topic—writing new EFL songs using familiar tunes from traditional
children’s music.
 9 Teaching through Songs and Chants

Procedures for Writing EFL Songs

歌词编写原则
You may feel that in the future, you will always use existing song and
- 选用已学词语
- 选用会话语言 chant materials, but song and chant writing should be among your
- 与课堂教学内容相配
many skills as a language teacher. This skill is one that you can use again
and again as a sort of mnemonic (memory-enhancing) technique when
you need to teach new language or content. Since you may not always
have access to an existing song to get your lesson targets across, learning
to create your own music will actually make your job easier. Though
English may not be your native language, you can definitely write songs
if you follow some simple rules that work for EFL teachers of all levels.
In this section, we will explore how we can do this most effectively. The
next section will focus on how to write your own chants.
Because the melody of “London Bridge” is easy and catchy, let’s use
it as an example of how an existing familiar melody can be used to write
a new EFL song. To do this, simply change the lyrics to language
students are learning in their classes, as is done in the following
examples:
[Melody: London Bridge]
Hello, hello, how are you?
How are you? How are you?
Hello, hello, how are you?
I’m fine, thank you.
or …
What time do you wake up?
You wake up ... You wake up ...
What time do you wake up?
I wake up at seven.
[Melody: This Old Man]
What’s your name? What’s your name?
My name is (Andy); What’s your name?
My name is (Andy); What’s your name?
My name is (Andy); What’s your name?
(Children substitute their own name into the parentheses when they sing.)
 10 Teaching through Songs and Chants

or …
I like red. I like red.
I don’t like orange; I like red.
I don’t like orange; I like red.
I don’t like orange; I like red.
Additional Verses:
1. I like blue. I like blue.
I don’t like purple; I like blue ...
2. I like green. I like green.
I don’t like yellow; I like green ...

These lyrics are much more appropriate because the words are
among the first learned by EFL students, the language is
conversational, and they have been customized to match the patterns
being taught in the class. You can just as easily create your own songs in
this way. To do so, follow these steps:

歌词编写三步骤 Step 1—Brainstorm a list of catchy melodies that you know well.
- 讨论制定常见乐曲的 These melodies need not be from English songs. It is even better if the
目录
- 选择英语歌词 melodies are ones that your students may have been exposed to in their
- 将英语歌词填入乐曲
目录中的不同曲调，
native language. If the children already know the melodies, it makes it
直至满意 much easier for them to learn the songs. Choose melodies that are short
and easy. Remember, our goal is to make our students feel confident and
joyful while singing, not overly challenged.
Step 2—Choose the target language you want to teach. If you are
using a course book, pull out some phrases or expressions you would like
to help your students remember. In this way you do not need to create
your own sentences. This target language becomes your song lyrics.
Step 3—After you have lyrics and a list of melodies, insert the words
into various songs until you find the melody that best matches them. For
example, imagine that the target lesson focuses on the expressions What
time is it? and It’s six o’clock. First try embedding these structures into
the melody of “London Bridge.”
What time is it? It’s six o’clock.
It’s six o’clock. It’s six o’clock.
11 Teaching through Songs and Chants

What time is it? Six o’clock.

It’s six o’clock now.

It doesn’t quite seem to work, does it? When we analyze the song a
bit more, we realize that there are too many syllables in the sentence
“It’s six o’clock.” The original lyrics repeat three syllables
(falling-down). On the other hand, the target sentence has four syllables
(It’s-six-o’-clock). We might try to make this song better by changing
the lyrics as follows:
What time is it? Six o’clock.
Six o’clock. Six o’clock.
What time is it? Six o’clock.
It’s six o’clock now.

This adaptation of the target sentence pattern is probably still

acceptable because the word it’s is often dropped in conversational
English when someone gives the short answer to the question What time
is it? If making such slight changes to the structure makes it unnatural or
if it still doesn’t seem to work within the melody you’re working with, try
another of the melodies from your list. For example, the famous
children’s song, “The Wheels on the Bus” may have been included on
your list.
The Wheels on the Bus

The wheels on the bus go round and round.

Round and round. Round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.
This melody may work better for our chosen target structures:
What time is it now? It’s six o’clock.
Six o’clock. Six o’clock.
What time is it now? It’s six o’clock.
Six o’clock now.

Working target English structures into familiar melodies in this way

may be a bit challenging at first, but the more you do it, the easier it
becomes. Soon you will find yourself using some melodies over and over
 12 Teaching through Songs and Chants

and even adding new melodies to your list as you think of them. If all else
fails, however, it is almost always possible to write an original chant for a
given English sentence pattern.

编写儿歌的节奏原则 Procedures for Writing EFL Chants

和重音分布
- 功能词（冠词、代 The real pioneer in using chants to teach English is Carolyn
词等）通常不重读
- 重读音节多在实义词
Graham, an EFL teacher and jazz musician. About thirty years ago,
（如名词、动词、副 Graham noticed that when native speakers of English talk, they tend to
词和形容词）中
- 特殊问句的疑问词 say the stressed syllables on a regular, rhythmic beat, just like the
(when, where, why)
通常重读，be 动词通
underlying beat of jazz music (C. Graham, personal communication,
常不重读 November, 1997). She then introduced the concept of “jazz chants” to
- 重读音节分布的不连
续性 teach EFL students to produce the same sort of rhythmic or
stress-timed speech. Graham’s jazz chants are especially helpful to
students whose native language does not use stress-timing, as is the case
with most languages in Asia.
Most of Graham’s chants are presented in a dialogue format either
as a question and response, a command and response, or a statement
and response. Students are encouraged to chant either individually, in
pairs, in groups, or chorally, allowing for a variety of interactions. In
some cases, the words to the chants can be adapted by either the teacher
or the students to echo the discussion topic or the grammar focus of a
given class (Richard-Amato, 1996). A short excerpt from one of Carolyn
Graham’s jazz chants follows (Graham, 1978), with the syllables that
fall on the beat appearing in bold print:
Where were you born?
I’d rather not say.
Where are you from?
I’d rather not say.
How tall are you?
How old are you?
How much do you weigh?
I’d rather not say.

Carolyn Graham went on to write jazz chants for children,

13 Teaching through Songs and Chants

“grammar chants,” and the EFL songs and chants for some of the most
popular EFL courses in the world, but you do not really need to be a
jazz musician to write your own EFL chants. They are usually easier to
write than songs because chants do not require a melody, only a beat.
You do, however, have to pay attention to which syllables in a given
sentence native speakers are likely to stress on a beat. This is a little
harder than it sounds because non-native speakers usually do not
stress-time their speech, even when they are speaking in English. Also,
although native speakers do tend to stress-time their speech, they do it
so subconsciously that it is often difficult for them to identify which
syllables they are stressing when called upon to do so.
There are some rough guidelines that will, however, help you to
know which syllables in a given sentence are likely to receive stress on
the beat. Firstly, function words, such as articles and pronouns usually
are not stressed. Stressed syllables are more likely to occur in content
words such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Also the wh-
question words when, where, and why usually are stressed, while be
verbs usually are not. Finally, remember that often two, three, or even
four syllables in a row may fall on an offbeat before another syllable is
stressed. For example, consider the line Where were you born? The wh-
question word is stressed followed by two unstressed syllables before
another syllable is stressed, falling on the next beat. To get a better sense
of this, read the excerpt on the previous page again, snapping your
fingers to a rhythm and trying to place the syllables in bold on the beat
established by your snaps.
Let’s again consider the target language structures used in the
examples in the previous section—What time is it? and It’s six o’clock.
Can you predict where native speakers are likely to place stress on a
beat? In most cases, the stress-timing pattern of these sentences would
be as follows:
What time is it?
It’s six o’clock.
Just as with writing EFL songs, producing your own EFL chants
 14 Teaching through Songs and Chants

may seem difficult at first, but the more you do it, the easier it will be. To
get started, you may want to purchase some of Carolyn Graham’s chant
books and CD’s to give you a better feel for how EFL chants look and
sound (see, for example, Jazz Chants, Jazz Chants for Children, Small
Talk: More Jazz Chants, Jazz Chant Fairy Tales, Grammar Chants, and
the Let’s Chant; Let’s Sing series, all from Oxford University Press).

Applications
In our native language, teachers of young learners are successful
三个应用策略
when they simply do a sing-along or combine music with dance
- 唱歌做动作
- 唱歌和戏剧表演 movements. But for the purpose of EFL, we should try to use songs in a
- 激励性唱歌/儿歌活动
more communicative way. Just because our students can sing a song
beautifully, it does not mean that they can use the language contained in
the song to communicate. If we sing a song without providing a
meaningful context or purpose, the song will not be an effective tool for
teaching our students to use the language. We must help them make the
transition from singing the target language to actively using it in
meaningful conversations.
There are several strategies to make songs and chants more effective
in the EFL classroom. These include using movements that represent
the language used in the song, combining drama and music, and using
motivational games and activities that make singing and chanting more
fun for children. The first two strategies are most valuable because they
can help the learners to understand the meaning of the lyrics and how
the embedded structures can be used in a communicative context. The
third strategy simply makes language learning more enjoyable to young
learners, lowering their affective filter.

Songs and Movement

唱歌做动作
One classic activity that combines music and movement is Musical
Chairs. The activity can be adapted as follows:

- 听音乐抢位子
Musical Chairs—Set up a circle of chairs with one chair fewer than
there are students. Play a song the children are learning and have them
 15 Teaching through Songs and Chants

walk in circles in one direction around the chairs as they sing along. At
some random point, switch the music off. When the music stops, the
students should quickly sit in a chair. The student left without a chair
must perform a verse solo. Play then resumes. Traditionally, musical
chairs is played as an elimination game in which the losing student in
each round is eliminated from play and another chair is removed until
only one student is remaining. When the game is being played in a
classroom with an educational purpose, however, it does not make sense
to eliminate students. To do so would exclude them from the learning
process.
Although Musical Chairs is fun and can be used with any song, it
does not help the students to comprehend the meaning or
communicative purpose of the language in the lyrics. This is because
there is no connection between the action of walking around in circles
and sitting down to the words in the song (unless, of course, the song
happens to be about walking or sitting down). In order for a song or
chant activity to help students understand the communicative function
of the lyrics, the movements in the activity should help to illustrate the
meaning or usage of the structures. Thus the value of Musical Chairs is
limited to supporting our third strategy of making singing or chanting
more fun for students.
歌曲、动作和交际相结 The following are good examples of interplay between songs,
合的活动
movement, and communicative activities. They are adapted from a
preschool EFL series entitled World Kinder Kids and the book Longman
Songs and Chants. These examples will give you a sense of how you can
design your own communicative song activities.

- Hello 歌 The Hello Song

Hello, Tim, hello.
Hello, Tim, hello.
Hello, my friend.
Hello, my friend.
Hello, Tim, hello.
Hello, Amani, hello.
 16 Teaching through Songs and Chants

Hello, Amani, hello.

Hello, my friend.
Hello, my friend.
Hello, Amani, hello.
Activity 1—Have each pair of children set up a pretend a door (two
- 双人门前打招呼
chairs set back to back). The pairs practice ringing the bell or knocking
on the door and answering. Once they are familiar with the song, have
them sing the song, substituting in their own names, as they role-play
greeting their friend at the “door.”
Activity 2—The teacher stands inside the actual classroom door, and
- 轮流招呼进教室
the class lines up in the hall. The first child knocks on the door and the
teacher opens it. The class then sings a verse, inserting the teacher’s
name. The teacher answers by singing the second verse, inserting the
first child’s name, and the child enters. Then the second child knocks on
the door, and it is opened by the first child. The students remaining
outside the door sing another verse, inserting the name of the child who
answered the door. The first child solos a verse inserting the name of the
second, and that child enters. Then the third child knocks, and the
second child answers and so on. Each time, all the students in the hall
sing to greet the person who answers the door, and all the children in the
room sing to greet the child who knocked.
Animal Riddle Rap
- 动物叫声谜语歌
What is it? What is it?
What is it? What is it?
Ruff, ruff, ruff,
Ruff, ruff, ruff.
It’s a dog! It’s a dog!
What is it? What is it?
What is it? What is it?
Oink, oink, oink,
Oink, oink, oink.
It’s a pig! It’s a pig!
What is it? What is it?
 17 Teaching through Songs and Chants

What is it? What is it?

Meow, meow, meow,
Meow, meow, meow.
It’s a cat! It’s a cat!

Activity—Students bring in their stuffed toys and gives them to the

- 摸一摸、唱一唱 teacher. The teacher makes sure the students know the English version
of the sound each animal makes. The teacher then secretly puts one of
the stuffed toys into an opaque bag and hands the bag to one child. That
child reaches one hand into the bag, feeling the toy without looking and
trying to determine which animal it is while the class chants, “What is it?
What is it?” The child answers by chanting the sound made by the
animal he or she believes is in the bag. The class then chants the line that
- 数字歌 identifies the animal based on its sound, and the toy is pulled out to
make sure they were correct. Play continues with other toys and
children reaching into the bag.
Numbers Song
- 听数结队
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Activity—Clear an area so students can move around. Play the song

and have students hop, skip, or jump around the room as they sing
along. Stop the music, call a number, and have students get into groups
of the called number. For example, if you call out “Five!” students get
into groups of five and hold hands. Any students unable to join a group
can call out a number for the next round. Alternatively, they can act as
- 猜人歌
judges to check the number of students in each group then join the next
round. Repeat the activity several times, calling out different numbers.
She’s My Mom!

Who’s she? Who’s she? Who is she?

- 看照片说称谓 She’s my mother. She’s my mom.
Who’s she? Who’s she? Who is she?
She’s my mother. She’s my mom.

Activity—Have students bring in photographs of their own family

members to show the rest of the class while they are singing the song.
 18 Teaching through Songs and Chants

One child holds up a photograph of a family member. If it is a picture of

a woman, for example, the rest of the class sings, “Who’s she? Who’s
she? Who is she?” The student then sings the answer, “She’s my mother.
She’s my mom.”

- 时间歌
What Time Is It?

What time is it?

It’s five o’clock.
Five, five, five, five,
Five o’clock.
What time is it?
It’s nine o’clock.
Nine, nine, nine, nine,
Nine o’clock.

Activity—Demonstrate this activity at the front of the room. Use

- 看手势报时 both arms to represent the hands on a clock face. Hold a ruler in your
right hand to indicate the longer minute hand. Move your arms to the
appropriate position to show three o’clock and ask the class, “What time
is it?” The class answers, “It’s three o’clock.” Then invite students to
take turns showing times in a similar manner. Once students are
comfortable with the activity, have them show more complicated times
(e.g., 7:30, 11:15, 2:35). After practicing the activity with the entire
class, have one child come to the front of the room to play the clock. Half
the class sings the first line of the song, while the “clock” poses to show a
time of his or her choosing. After reading the clock, the other half of the
class sings the three answer lines. The activity continues with children
taking turns playing the clock and the two sides of the class alternating
asking and answering.
Notice that through each of the above activities, the song has been
turned into a communicative experience. The best song and chant
games and activities should help the students feel they are
communicating, not just singing. This is one key to effectively using
songs and chants in the EFL classroom. Likewise, since combining
music with movement is so effective, it is a good idea to use two or more
 19 Teaching through Songs and Chants

activities that have different features or that appeal to different learning

styles. This will help a wider variety of children to learn more effectively
from songs and chants. To help attain this goal, let us now turn to how
drama offers another approach.

唱歌和戏剧表演 Drama and Songs

The second way to add meaning, emotion, and an element of
communication is to add a dramatic situation or scenario to the song.
Doing this will probably require you to give directions and introduce the
situation in the students’ native language. Consider the following songs
and corresponding drama activities. How do the dramatic scenarios or
“song dramas” enhance the language learning experience?
Popcorn Song

Popcorn, candy, popcorn, candy,

Popcorn and candy.
Popcorn, candy, popcorn, candy,
Popcorn and candy.
May I have some popcorn?
May I have some popcorn?
Yes you may; yes you may.
Popcorn, candy, popcorn, candy,
Popcorn and candy.
Popcorn, candy, popcorn, candy,
Popcorn and candy.
May I have some candy?
May I have some candy?
Yes you may; yes you may.

Dramatic Scenario—Students stand facing each other in pairs. One

- 爆米花歌表演
student holds something that represents popcorn in one hand and
something that represents candy in the other. This student stands with
his or her hands behind his or her back. Together the pair sings the
chorus (“Popcorn, candy …”). At the end of the chorus, the second
student sings, “May I have some ________?” and points to either the
 20 Teaching through Songs and Chants

left or the right. The first student opens that hand and shows what is in
it. If it matches what the second student asked for, he or she sings, “Yes,
you may.” If it does not match, the student sings, “No, you may not!”
(Procter & Procter, 2005).
How Many Are There?

How many are there? There are four.

How many are there? There are five.
How many are there? There are six.
There are six bananas.
Yoo, hoo! One, two, three.
Yoo, hoo! Four, five, six.
Yoo, hoo! Seven, eight, nine.
There are nine bananas.

- 情景猜数歌表演 Dramatic Scenario—Tell the students that they are two groups of
monkeys in the jungle that are looking for bananas. Suddenly, the first
group of “monkeys” yells, “We found bananas!” The second group
excitedly sings, “How many are there?” The first group sings the answer,
“There are four.” The second group pretends they can’t hear them well,
so they sing louder, “How many are there?” But just then, the first group
finds more bananas, so they sing excitedly, “There are five!” The groups
continue like this until they finish the song (Procter & Procter, 2003).
Have a Piece of Birthday Cake

Milkshake, soda pop, ice cream cone,

Have a piece of birthday cake.
I’m eight years old today. Hooray!
Have a piece of birthday cake.
Party hat, candles, birthday cards,
Have a piece of birthday cake.
I’m eight years old today. Hooray!
Have a piece of birthday cake.
(Wilson, 2003)
- 生日蛋糕歌表演
Dramatic Scenario—Have a dialogue similar to the following with
the students:
 21 Teaching through Songs and Chants

T: You all live in a small kingdom. Who is your prince?

Ss: (Pointing at a boy.) He is.
T: Today is his birthday. He is eight years old. Group one, you are the royal
family. You sit here with the prince and act very sophisticated.
G1: Like this?
T: Yes.
T: Group two, you are the prince’s best friends. You love the prince, so when
you sing, you act like you love him.
G2: OK.
T: Group three, you are the prince’s enemies, so when you sing, act like his evil
enemies. What kind of face can you make when you sing?
G3: (Making a face.) How about this?
T: Yes, that’s great.
T: Group four, you are jealous of the prince, so when you sing, how can you act
jealous?
G4: Look at this.
T: Great. You look really jealous.
T: Now, everybody sing the chorus of the song, but royal family, you sing the
line Have a piece of birthday cake. Don’t forget to act sophisticated.
T: OK. Now, everyone sing in character.

As was mentioned in this section’s introduction, and as can be seen

in the above scenario, there is sometimes very high-level English
involved. If the teacher shares the same native language as the students,
much of the scenario will have to be explained in the mother tongue.
Generally, this should be acceptable since the goal is to teach students to
be bilingual or multilingual speakers. Let us now turn to the less ideal,
but still worthwhile type of singing and chanting activities, those that
simply motivate students to sing or chant and so engage them in oral
language practice.

激励性唱歌活动 Motivational Singing Activities

There are lots of singing games and activities teachers like to use
that are not communicative and do not enhance meaning in the same
way that the above movement and drama activities do. However, they
 22 Teaching through Songs and Chants

do benefit students by motivating them to verbalize the target language

and thus practice proper pronunciation and intonation. These activities
vary from the above activities in that they are not song or language
specific so could be used with any song in much the same way as
Musical Chairs. Often it is possible, however, to adapt them according to
the target language of a particular lesson making them more
meaningful. We will begin with very simple activities that are
appropriate for very young learners and work our way up to activities
that are more and more challenging.
Mexican Jumping Beans—Have students jump in place while the
-“墨西哥跳豆”游戏 music is played. Suddenly, call out “Stop!” or switch off the music. All
students squat down. The last student to squat is “It.” The rest of the
class asks the student a target question from the sons. It responds
accordingly. For small classes, students can skip around the room until
you yell stop. At that point, they squat (adapted from Graham &
Procter, 1998).

- 谁动谁唱歌
Freeze—While singing, students walk around the room randomly
until the teacher says, “Freeze!” The first student who moves must
answer a question. By pointing to a flashcard or to an object in the
classroom, the teacher can elicit a particular question to be asked
chorally by the remainder of the class. The student answers accordingly,
and play continues (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).
Remote Control—The entire class begins singing the song. The
- 遥控指挥
teacher, using a real or an imaginary remote control, pretends to aim at
various students and switch them off. Any student who is turned off
must stop singing and freeze in place. The remaining students keep
singing the song repeatedly until all have finally been turned off.
Alternatively, the teacher can turn students on and off randomly without
ever turning them all off. Students can also be given the chance to use
the remote control on their peers.
Louder, Louder—Have the entire class sing a song together. The
- 升降歌声
first time through, they should sing very, very softly. The second time
through, they should sing louder, then louder, and louder. This continues
 23 Teaching through Songs and Chants

until the students are shouting the lyrics. This process can then be
reversed, having the students sing softer and softer until they are again
whispering.
Hotter or Colder—Bring in pictures of target vocabulary. Hide one
- 听音响，找图片
in the classroom while one student waits outside. The class begins
singing the target song when the student returns. When the student
draws nearer the hidden picture, the class sings more loudly. When
getting farther away, they should sing more quietly. This continues until
the student finds the picture. The class then asks questions that elicit
answers that embed the target language. The student answers
accordingly (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).

- 一组组加入
Join In—The class is separated into groups. As the singing begins,
only the first group sings. The second group joins in at the start of the
second verse. The third group joins at the beginning of the third verse,
and so on. The entire class sings the chorus or final verses. Then rotate
and have a different group start at the beginning.

- 对歌 Singing Roles—For songs that can easily be separated into two

character roles, have part of the class sing the role of one character and
the rest of the class sing the role of another. You can then switch roles and
have the students sing again. You can also have all the students join
together to sing the chorus or some of the verses or lines.
Musical Cards—Have the class sit in a circle and then play them a

Figure 1: Musical Cards

 24 Teaching through Songs and Chants

- 听音乐传卡片
song. While the music is playing, the children sing along and pass
around a flash card showing a word that can be substituted into the
lyrics. Suddenly switch off the player. The student holding the card
when the music stops must sing a verse solo, inserting the word shown
on the card. Repeat with other cards.
Word Substitution—Replace key words (such as the object nouns) in
a song with another word the students find silly (e.g., bananas). As you
sing the song, students must keep a straight face, not smiling or laughing
when they include the silly word. Any student caught smiling or laughing
must sing a verse or part of a verse solo.
Our Song—Many songs enable you to substitute parts with words
- 歌词替换
that the students provide themselves, making it more of a song about
them. Either make a list of student-recommended substitution words on
the board or call out a student name between verses having that student
shout out the substitution for the next verse.

- 聚光灯下唱得响
Spotlight—Turn off the lights and have the children sing a song
- 歌词替换
softly. Direct a flashlight towards one child being careful not to shine it
directly in their eyes. (Usually, if you point it at their feet, the
surrounding light circle is wide enough to make the point.) The child “in
the spotlight” sings louder such that they can be heard over the others.
Move the spotlight around the class so that each child ends up in the
spotlight at least once.

Figure 2: Spotlight
- 摸卡造句 Pass the Bag—While listening to and singing along with their EFL
 25 Teaching through Songs and Chants

songs, students draw five pictures of target vocabulary of their choice.

Alternatively, the children can write the words on cards if they are
literate. Students number each picture or word in descending order from
their favorite to least favorite. (Their favorite word is number five and
their least favorite is number one.) Students then form pairs. Each pair
gets an opaque bag and combines their pictures in the bag. While
singing, partners pass the bag back and forth. Suddenly say, “Stop!”
The student holding the soft bag pulls out a card, says the word in a
complete sentence, and receives the number of points written there. At
the end of the game, the students who have the most points are the
winners (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).

- 摸奖桶
Lucky Dip—Collect pictures, flashcards, or personal items that
represent target vocabulary. Put them into a bag along with a few prizes
(inexpensive stickers, pencils, etc.) While singing, students pass the bag
around until the teacher says, “Stop!” The student who is holding the
bag pulls out an object and asks a question (e.g., “Whose (pen) is this?”)
Any student who knows the answer responds, “It’s Tony’s;” “It’s
Sally’s;” or “It’s mine.” If nobody responds, the object must be a prize
the student can keep (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).
Who Has It?—Put the students in two lines facing each other. Give

Figure 3: Who Has It?

 26 Teaching through Songs and Chants

- 画片在谁手
one line a picture small enough to hide in the hand. Tell students, "Go."
Everyone starts singing, and the line with the card passes it around
behind their backs so the other line cannot easily see the card being
passed (see Figure 3). When the song finishes, students in the second line
try to guess who has the card, asking questions such as, “John, do you
have the book?” The second line is then given a different picture, and
play continues (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).
Give Away the Pictures—Have each student draw five or fewer tiny
pictures of key words in a song while they sing along to it. Each student
cuts them out and hides them in one hand. Students skip around and
sing until the teacher says, “Stop!” Each student quickly finds a partner,
puts a few pictures in one hand, and holds it out. The partner guesses
how many of the pictures of a particular item he or she is hiding in the
hand that is held out. If the guess is correct, the student gives a picture to
his or her partner (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).

- 歌舞拷贝不走样 Shadow Dancing—While singing the song, one student creates a

dance and their partner tries to mimic the dance movements in real time
(adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).
Who’s the Leader?—Send two students out of the room. Have the
- 找找谁是歌舞指挥
rest of the children form a circle and choose a student to be the leader.
The leader will guide the class in doing simple dance movements as they
- 猜对给张画 sing. Have the students practice singing and ask them to try to follow the
leader's movements without looking directly at him or her. Then invite
the two students back into the room and have them stand in the middle
of the circle. The class starts singing and copying the leader's
movements. The students in the center try to find who the leader is.
Once they have found the leader, repeat the activity by having two other
students leave the room and having the remaining children select a new
leader.
- 听曲猜歌名 Name that Song!—Divide the class into several teams. On a musical
instrument, play three notes from a song the students have learned and
have students try to guess the song. The team that guesses correctly gets
three points. If no one guesses correctly, play five notes from the same
 27 Teaching through Songs and Chants

song for two points. If no one guesses correctly, play a line from the song
for one point. Have the winning team sing the whole song for an extra
point. If it is not feasible to play a musical instrument in class, play short
sections of the song from a CD or cassette.

- 看唇形猜歌名 Lip Syncing—Model lip-syncing a song (silently mouthing the

words) without playing any music. Ask the class to guess the song. Have
each student choose a song. Give students time to check the words and
practice lip-syncing. Put students in pairs, sitting face-to-face. One
student lip-syncs his or her song. The other student watches and tries to
guess the song. When the student guesses correctly, the partners switch
roles. If you would like to continue the activity, you can then have the
children switch partners and repeat the guessing procedure.

- 歌曲/儿歌电视广告
TV Commercial—Divide the class into several groups. Using a song
or chant, each group makes a “TV commercial” that embeds the target
language. This activity works best with vocabulary for items that are
often bought and sold such as food, classroom objects, services, and so
on (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).
- 最佳演技比赛 Acting Contest—Divide the class into four groups with one student
in each group being the counter. While singing, the counter points to
each student from his or her group one at a time. When the song stops,
the last player pointed to from each team is that team’s representative
for an acting contest. The class will ask a target question, (e.g., “Are you
hungry?”) and the representatives act melodramatically as they answer.
The class or teacher picks the best actor. Play continues, with a different
question being asked to the actors each round (adapted from Graham &
Procter, 1998).

- 双语创作
Creative Writing—Children use both English and their first
language in this activity. First, have the students listen to an English
song. Then have them work in small groups to write stories in their first
language that relate to the song. Each group then tells their narrative
story and sings the song for the class. The language of the song has
greater meaning because of the story scenario provided. This is a good
example of how to use the native language to support the meaning of an
 28 Teaching through Songs and Chants

English song or chant (adapted from Graham & Procter, 1998).

激励性儿歌活动 Motivational Chanting Activities

While many of the above activities can also be used to practice
chants as well as songs, there are some additional activities that are
ideally suited for chanting. Most of these activities in some way
emphasize the beat that is so important to chants and do not rely on
there being a melody.
Shake Your Bottle—Have student shake “chant bottles.” They can
- 摇乐瓶，念儿歌
use plastic bottles and put some uncooked rice in them. (Making chant
bottles and other small percussive instruments is covered in greater
detail in the unit entitled Managing Materials.) They shake their chant
bottles to the rhythm of the chant (adapted from Graham & Procter,
1998).
Unseen Seesaw—Put students in pairs. The pairs stand facing each
- 隐形跷跷板 other about two meters apart. Tell the class that there is an invisible
seesaw between each student and their partner. When one goes up the
other must go down. Then play a chant and have the students perform it
going up or down on each beat.

Figure 4: Unseen Seesaw

- 军训口令歌 Sound Off—This activity works best with chants that have four
 29 Teaching through Songs and Chants

beats per line. The teacher or a leader plays the role of a drill sergeant
and says a line of the chant in the tune of a common military drill chant.
The class echoes. Then the teacher continues with the next line, and so
on. (Westerners will likely be more familiar with the tune of the
traditional military drill chant, which often begins “I don’t know, but
I’ve been told ...” An example of a military drill chant can be seen in the
movie A Few Good Men.)

- 拍手歌
Hand Slap—Teach the students a simple hand-slap routine that has
been choreographed to a chant. You can have students slap their thighs,
clap their hands, or slap a partner’s hands to the beat. Then put
students in pairs to practice chanting while they do the hand slap
routine. Alternatively, you can have students in pairs make up their own
routines then demonstrate them for the class.

Figure 5: Hand Slap

- 跳绳念儿歌 Jump Rope—A long jump rope is stretched across the classroom and
a volunteer jumper goes to the center. The teacher and a volunteer
student hold either end and begin swinging the rope. The rest of the
class chants such that the beat follows the rope as it hits the floor. See
how far through the chant the jumping student can get before becoming
entangled. Let another student try to beat that student’s record, then
another and another. (This activity doesn’t work well in a small
classroom or one with a low ceiling.)
30 Teaching through Songs and Chants

Now that you have been exposed to various song and chant
activities, you should consider your own classroom or teaching context.
Reflect on how you would apply these activities to your own lessons,
taking into consideration the age and language level of your students,
the size of your class, and other classroom dynamics. Of course not all
song and chant activities are suitable for all classes and classrooms.

Conclusions
Music has always been a way for children to remember stories and
learn about the world around them. Using music as a stimulus can affect
one's emotions and make information easier to remember. Music also
creates an environment that is conducive to learning. It can reduce
stress, increase interest, and set the stage for listening and learning.
There are many similarities between literacy acquisition and musical
development. Therefore, teaching that combines music with language
arts instruction can be the most effective (Davies, 2000).
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory advocates teaching with
music to engage students with a strong musical intelligence. By focusing
on lyrics, we can also engage the children’s linguistic intelligence, and by
incorporating representative movement and drama with songs and
chants, we can further appeal to their bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.
Using movement is also endorsed by Experiential Learning Theory, the
Direct Approach, and the Total Physical Response (TPR) model,
especially if it is possible for children to manipulate realia or props that
illustrate the meaning of the lyrics. By using movement and drama song
and chant activities, children can show that they comprehend the
language of a song or chant before they are able to produce or perform it
themselves.
Songs and chants also provide natural motivation for children to
participate in the sort of repetitive choral practice of language that is
recommended by the Aural–Oral Approach (or Audio–Lingual
Approach). Additionally, songs and chants often repeat key sentence
patterns with single- and double-slot vocabulary substitutions, another
31 Teaching through Songs and Chants

common method of practice used in this approach.

The Natural Approach also suggests that music, songs, and chants
are effective tools for stimulating a child’s language learning. Songs and
chants can help to lower the learners’ affective filter, and the lyrics
should provide comprehensible input that is still slightly challenging for
the children (expressed by the researchers as i + 1). Simply allowing the
children to listen to new songs and chants at first gives them time to
internalize the meaning of any new words before oral production (in the
form of signing or chanting) is required of them. This facilitates true
language acquisition as opposed to learning by rote memorization.
The Communicative Approach reminds us to select or write songs
and chants that include authentic language that help students to
develop communicative competence. Contemporary language-learning
theories also stress the importance of connecting meaning to language in
a fun, active, and participatory way. However, as teachers we must
choose the songs or chants we present carefully.
We have suggested a set of song and chant selection guidelines
including choosing those that have easy, catchy melodies and lyrics that
provide comprehensible input and conversational language. Those that
contain a great deal of inverted word order, archaic English, or nonsense
English should be avoided. We also recommended steps for writing your
own language teaching songs: 1) brainstorm a list of familiar melodies,
2) select target language, and 3) try fitting the target language into
different melodies from your list until you find one that works.
We then suggested ways songs and chants can be used in practice.
We stressed the increased teaching value of using songs with movement
and drama, but also included a number of games and activities that
simply motivate students to participate more fully in song and chant
lessons.
As teachers, we play so many roles, but in the end, our job is to be
effective “memory makers.” It is our duty to consider the way in which
all lessons can create the strongest, most positive memories. The more
ways in which we enable our students to represent new information in
32 Teaching through Songs and Chants

the mind, the richer both their memory and their educational experience
will be.

Notes
1)affective filter (Krashen, 1985) (情绪障碍): 指学习者心理上
产生的一种语言吸收障碍（如焦虑、缺乏自信），阻碍了
学习者把可理解的语言成份全部运用在语言交际中，这种
障碍也叫做"情感过滤"。

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