Combining Singing and Psychology

Author(s): Ronald J. Anton

Source: Hispania, Vol. 73, No. 4 (Dec., 1990), pp. 1166-1170
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/344326
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1166 HISPANIA 73 DECEMBER1990
Combining Singing and Psychology
* RonaldJ. Anton, East TechlSouthCluster, Cleveland, Ohio
Combining Singing and Psychology
Can you remember a favorite tune you used
to sing when you were a child?If I asked you
to sing it now, could you recall the lyrics?
Since most people reply with a surprised
"yes,"is it anywonderthat majorcorporations
like Coca Cola and McDonald'sspend millions
of dollars every year on custom-designed
music and catchy slogans to help consumers
remember their products? They know their
investment gets results, since music is an ef-
fective memory aid.
In the past, several efforts have been made
to teach languagesby usingmusic. None, how-
ever, has involveda carefullyplanned,step-by-
step approachwith specific phases designed
to take advantagenot only of differingrhythms
but also of psychologicalfactors (such as help-
ing students to relax and building up their
confidence) in order to facilitate learning
Spanish.Besides capitalizingon the attractive-
ness of popular song forms, the Contempo-
rary Music Approach(CMA) combines a sys-
tematic, purposefulprocedurebased on prac-
tical classroom experience with the findings
of research on left-brainand right-brainlearn-
ing, in order to help students learn and re-
member the fundamentalsof Spanish gram-
mar.1It also helps reduce inhibitionswhich
often hinder language learning.
Developed after more than three years of
planning, class use, and revisions, the Con-
temporary Music Approachnow focuses on a
series of ten original songs in Spanish,2fully
orchestrated and professionally recorded on
five cassettes. WhileCMAenlivens classroom
activities, it is more than just entertainment.
Realizinghow well my students couldrelate to
contemporarymusic, I took advantageof their
fondness for modern songs and wrote original
numbers that contextualize these fundamen-
tals in enjoyableSpanishlyrics. The cassettes
used in this approachare accompaniedby a
handbook containing supplemental material
which facilitatesthe delivery of specific gram-
mar lessons. In addition, the rhythms and
words of each song focus on one or two key
points that are necessary for acquiring the
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basics of Spanish grammar, yet simultane-
ously providemusic that alllisteners canenjoy.
A keyboardsynthesizer, electric bass, wood-
winds and variouspercussion instrumentsare
used in the music, so that students can relate
to these sounds just as they do to the music
they hear in popularhits. To further enhance
the listeners' enjoyment, three differentlead
singers participatedin the songs. By record-
ing each piece of music with no fewer than
eight musical tracks (plus vocals and a
chorus), we achieved a full quality, orches-
trated sound of the kind that students hear
on their favorite radio stations.
Besides singingalongandthen memorizing
the lyrics (both of which are mainly passive
activities), in the finalphase of the Contempo-
rary Music Approachstudents buildon what
they have learned: they have to write new
lyrics for the same melody (that is, engage
in active application of what they have
studied). In the materials used in CMA, two
versions of each song are provided:one with
both words and music, the other with only
the music. Thus, after studying the version
with both wordsandmusic, students can listen
to the other version and use the same melody
line to enjoy the challenge of matching their
own words to a fully orchestrated musical ar-
rangement. Writing their own lyrics after
practicingthe songs adds a new dimensionto
their language learning.4Although it was dif-
ficult to integrate an explicit lesson into the
song and yet avoid a didactic mood, we feel
we have achieved reasonable success in our
efforts to incorporatethe grammarin an unob-
trusive way and to maintaina relaxed, enter-
taining qualityin our music.
To better understand how CMA actually
functions, teachers need to realize that it not
only helps lower the students' affective filter
(that is, helps them relax and become more
receptive to learning) but also combines the
creative, non-verbal,emotionalprocesses car-
ried out by the right hemisphere of the brain
with the specific, verbal, and logic-based
learningachieved by the left hemisphere. Its
effectiveness, we feel, results fromthe collab-
oration of the two.5 When the use of both
 TECHNOLOGICALLY-ASSISTED
hemispheres is combinedin a learningactivity,
researchers say that an "ideallearning situa-
tion" is established (Blakeslee, 6). With the
ContemporaryMusic Approach,students are
encouraged to make a discovery non-verbally
first and verbalize their findings later. When
they "know"the material at a deeper, more
intuitive level, they have less need for rote
memorization. Thus, in CMA, after the stu-
dents learnthe song they havea music pattern
in their minds and can use it to emulate verbal
utterances more easily. Using "non-verbal"
thinkingto generate the utterances helps stu-
dents improve their creativity, memory, and
ability to imitate (Mulligan,5).
To maximize learning environments that
foster collaborationbetween the left and right
hemispheres, we should observe what stu-
dents actually do when they are encouraged
to learn in an unrestrainedway. Also, to un-
leash their learning potential, we need to
realize that the entire structure of an exercise
(or even a series of exercises) basicallyexists
to providestudents with opportunitiesto learn
and that the exercises must help us reach our
goal, i.e., they must produce the learningde-
sired (Hart, 166-67). Each song in the Con-
temporary Music Approach, therefore, is in-
tended to be an independent structure used
as the basis for activities which help learners
master specific material. Both the rhythms
and the music for each song are carefully
chosen in order to facilitatethe students' ac-
quiring key grammar points. When using
CMA, the teacher becomes a facilitatorwho
gives students the opportunityto explore new
sounds and try new ways of expressing their
ideas in Spanish.
Using CMA in the Classroom
Overall, CMA should be used to supple-
ment and supportteachingfrom the textbook.
Dependinguponthe class session, the instruc-
tor may be presenting new textbook material
and using music to reinforce it, or may be
using a song to review previouslystudied les-
sons. In general, the teacher begins the class
with about a 5 to 10 minute overview of the
grammarin the textbook, then helps the stu-
dents begin to learn the song related to it.
About 30 minutes are usuallydedicatedto the
song duringthe class in which it is introduced.
In subsequent sessions, only 5 minutes or 10
minutes are spent on the song, depending
upon whether the class meets three times a
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LANGUAGE LEARNING 1167
week (at the college level) or five times a
week (in high schools). The greatest part of
each class period is used in other activities,
most of which depend on the lesson plan. Of
course, the instructor can also vary the
amount of time dedicated to singing, based
upon how well the students are progressing
towards the main goals in CMA: memorizing
the lyrics, learningthe music, performingthe
song, and then writing their own words. On
the average, about three weeks are spent on
each song.
The ContemporaryMusic Approachis di-
vided into three phases. The first, a "Song-
IntroductionStage,"consists of eight specific
steps which are simple to carry out, yet vital
to makingthe method successful. These steps
exercise the students' listening, speaking,
writing, and memory skills:
1. introducingthe dialog,
2. listening to tapes at home (or in class),
3. playingthe song one time,
4. taking a dictationbased on the song,
5. writing the students' answers to the dicta-
tion on the board,
6. analyzingthe song,
7. playing the song three times and having
the students sing it while looking at the
dictated lyrics on the board, and
8. doing homework based on the song.
In the second phase, a "Recording Stage,"
students sing from memory after practicing
the song for two weeks. On the cassettes,
each song has already been recorded in two
parts: Section I includes both the words and
music, while Section II contains only the
music. This two-part format constitutes the
basis for the ContemporaryMusic Approach:
in small groups, in the language laboratory,
or in the privacy of their own home, students
listen to Section I and imitate the lyrics; later
they listen to Section II and try to sing from
memory while hearingthe musicalaccompani-
ment.
Once students have memorized and sung
the first two tunes in the series of ten songs,
and once they have written their own words
for the melodies, we have observed that they
are muchmore willingto try to speak Spanish.
Gradually, they gain facility in expressing
their ideas. As students work, of course, the
teacher should guide them and be carefulthat
their lyrics reflect not only correct usage, but
are also culturallyappropriateand as "authen-
tic" as possible. We have repeatedly found
1168 HISPANIA 73 DECEMBER1990
that, after the first song, students relax and
enjoy learning through music. They comply
very well with what is asked of them by the
teacher. It is also importantto note that while
they are writingtheir own words, the students
are reviewingall sorts of material:vocabulary,
verb tenses, and even idiomaticexpressions
come into play.Thus, with the Contemporary
Music Approach, students are given the op-
portunity to synthesize; in contrast, in many
other courses they spend much more time
"analyzing"than "synthesizing."We feel that
the fact that CMA helps them "pull things
together" is one of the most positive, benefi-
cial features of this approach.
The third phase, "Grading,"involves prac-
ticing the correct pronunciation,intonation,
and rhythm, and then being graded on them.
We have found that some students may have
a wonderful voice but will not dedicate the
time needed for learning the songs well.
Others, who are not especially talented, will
demonstrate certainty that results from con-
sistent practice. Voice quality, therefore, is
not used as a criterionin our scheme of evalu-
ation. The songs are progressively more chal-
lenging. The first consists of 26 words and
48 syllables, a simple rhythm, and an easy-to-
learn melody. In contrast, the fifth song is
more complicated and consists of 116 words
and approximately 200 syllables. Because
they are designed to give students confi-
dence, the first two songs consist of easy
tunes with a very limitednumberof syllables.
They encourage students to continueandhelp
prepare them for the more challengingones
that follow.To buildconfidence, I suggest that
instructors assign each student a grade no
lower thana B- for each of the first two songs.
Once the students have mastered those two,
instructors can assign grades as they believe
appropriate.
It is true that- to a great extent- the
students' acceptance of the Contemporary
Music Approach,as well as their subsequent
success with learning through it, hinges on
how well the instructorpresents the first two
songs; to use this approachhowever, neither
teachers nor students have to be musically
proficient. The cassettes serve almost like a
singing-tutor,and the suggested gradingsys-
tem helps students realize they don't have to
sing as well as FrankSinatraor BarbaraStrei-
sand (or, as our students would say, like Phil
Collinsor GloriaEstefan) in orderto succeed.
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How CMA Was Developed
In the fallof 1986, CMAwas presented for
the first time at the University of Akronto a
Spanish 101 class of 23 students. Some of the
students had taken Spanishin high school, but
most hadno academicexperience with it. Dur-
ing the first six weeks, the instructor estab-
lished a relaxed, comfortableenvironmentand
used Spanish approximatelythree-fourths of
the class time. Students could participateby
speaking in either Spanish or English, but
were encouraged to use Spanish. At this
point, the ContemporaryMusic Approachwas
introduced. To help students understandthis
method more clearly and to avoidtheir being
anxious about what was about to occur, the
instructor gave a brief explanation of the
rationale of CMA before he moved to Stage
I with the first song. The teacher made certain
that the students understood that at no time
wouldthey be asked to sing alone. Those who
were apprehensive about the qualityof their
voice or whether they couldcarry a tune were
reassured by the instructorthat voice quality
was not a factor in the grading.3
We have consistently found that the most
challenging aspect of this project is helping
students to become accustomed to the CMA
procedures while they learn the first two
songs. Once they understand and use the
steps correctly, however, it is easy to teach
them the other eight songs. Overcomingthe
learners' initialreluctance to sing and helping
them understandand follow the steps are dif-
ficult tasks; nevertheless, with reassurance
from a patient teacher, a relaxed atmosphere
for learning, and two easy songs at the be-
ginning, we always find that students rapidly
gain confidence and begin to enjoy learning
through this approach. Over several years,
ten songs have been developed. These are
the rhythms and grammarlessons in CMA:
Song Rhythm GrammarLesson
I Country-Western(upbeat) Present Tense
II Phone Dialogue InterrogativeWords
III Ranchero(contemporary) Wordsfollowedby in-
finitives
IV LightRock Servs. Estar
V Ballad Preterit
VI Pop Imperfect
VII Enka Reflexives
VIII Blues Present Perfect/Future
IX Boogaloo Present Subjunctive
X Rap ImperfectSubjunctive/
Conditional

TECHNOLOGICALLY-ASSISTED
Differing rhythms were chosen so that
when the students hear a beat associated with
a particularsong, they connect the rhythm
with the grammar.As a whole, the recall or
retrieval process-that involves learning in
which both hemispheres work together- is
generally initiated via some cue or memory
"prompter."The cue presented at the begin-
ning of the retrieval stimulates further associ-
ations and cues which facilitate the students'
recall of information stored in their long-
term memory. A "decisionprocess" indicates
whether the informationthey have begun to
access is what is actually called for in the
current context of retrieval (Klatzky,58-60).
In CMA, the distinct rhythm of each song
serves as the initial cue which "generates"
the lyrics for each particularsong. Once the
students have begun to recall the information
that has been stored in their memory, the
"decision process" indicates to them that the
informationthey have accessed is definitely
the correct data called for in that context.
After the Song Introduction Phase was
completed, students participatingin the proj-
ect at the University of Akronwere given two
weeks in which to memorize the lyrics. Then
we asked them to sing the song frommemory
(in a small group or in the lab) while they
listened to the audio track on the cassette
that containedonly the music. Duringthe two
weeks dedicated to memorizingthe song, the
instructor reinforcedthe grammarin context
by having students complete oral and written
exercises providedfor each song, and he also
combinedthose with the ones in the textbook,
Zenia Sacks da Silva's Spanish: A Short
Course. We have subsequently used CMA
with other textbooks, such as Valette and Va-
lette's Spanish for Mastery.
Once all three stages of CMA were com-
pleted, the students were given an additional
week to write an original song in Spanish.
They were told to follow the same melody
line as the CMAsong they hadjust studiedand
to try to incorporateas muchof what they had
learned as possible.7Althoughwe have made
numerous changes to improveCMA, we have
found that the three phases ("Song Introduc-
tion,""RecordingStage,"and "Grading")have
provento be the most viable procedure. Also,
about two weeks has consistently proven suf-
ficient time for students to memorize the
song, and one more week has been adequate
for students to write their own lyrics.
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LANGUAGE LEARNING
1169
Benefits of this Approach
A questionnairewas filled in by the 23 stu-
dents involvedin the project at the University
of Akron; it was also filled in by subsequent
students who participatedin CMA. After 200
students had been given the questionnaire,
we noted the followingresults: 93% said they
enjoyed learning by this new approach;98%
felt CMA helped them learn Spanish; 92%
played the songs for family and friends; and
50% said they listened to the tapes during
their own leisure time. Similaror higher re-
sults have been obtained with other groups
that have used CMA. We have found that,
because the ContemporaryMusic Approach
makes learning Spanish attractive and pleas-
ant, students using it want to learn more and
more. They really begin to like Spanish.
CMA takes advantage of music-one of
the most effective memory aids available
to us. Through the songs, students learn
rhythm, intonation, and pronunciationin a
naturalway as they listen to the music over
and over and then attempt to reproduce the
sounds they hear. Because it fosters collabora-
tive left-brainand right-braininteractiondur-
ing the learning process, CMA improves the
students' ability to recall the essentials of
grammar.Besides providinga memorable,en-
joyable learning experience, CMA can also
assist in reviewing the fundamentals of
Spanish. Since much of the work is done by
students as they practice with the tapes,
teachers actually invest a relatively short
amount of class time to obtain satisfying re-
sults. In addition, students become accus-
tomed to small group work and learning at
their own pace. As shown by the comments
from questionnaires, students not only enjoy
learning by this new approachand find that
its specific steps help them study Spanish;
more importantly,what they learn at school
persists in their minds and continues to be
used in their homes, cars, and during their
leisure time.
* NOTES
'The ContemporaryMusic Approachbegan as an in-
dependent study project that I undertook while super-
vised by Dr. WilliamMiller at the University of Akron in
1985. For more than 20 years, I have been a musician.
In the project, I attempted to couple my music and my
teaching skills. To facilitate the learningand teaching of
each lesson, I wrote an activities book for every song.
Throughtrial and revision based on in-class experiences,
1170 HISPANIA 73 DECEMBER1990
I began to formulatea more and more definite approach
for developinglanguageskillsbased on songs. At present,
as a consultant and teacher with the Cleveland, Ohio,
Board of Education, I visit schools to train teachers and
demonstrate new teaching methods. Besides the initial
efforts with students at the University of Akron which
are described in this article, CMAhas been used success-
fully at Purdue University, the ClevelandPublicSchools,
Areopagus ChristianAcademy,and various other institu-
tions. Student response and progress have been positive
at all levels. Also, CMA seminars have been given
throughoutthe United States with what we feel are out-
standing results. For example, we recently received en-
thusiastic responses from teachers at AATSP pre-con-
vention workshops in San Antonio (1989) and Miami
(1990). Throughaudience participation,a video cassette,
and audiotapes, we demonstrate the eight simple yet
effective, steps in detail during the seminars.
'Composingmy own songs offered me the flexibility
needed in combining grammar, melodies, and rhythms
effectively. Using original (and personally copyrighted)
songs, rather than those by popular artists, also lets
teachers avoid restrictions and legal entanglements that
they might experience with compositions governed by a
variety of copyrights and musicians.
Most popular,commercialmusic is recorded with no
fewer than eight tracks of different instruments and
sounds. Synthesizers usually account for the wind and
string sections of the song. So that the pronunciation,
intonation, and general rendering of the singing would
be as authenticas possible, the vocalists who participated
in the recording of our songs were professionals from
Chile, Mexico, and the United States.
'The final phase- letting students write their own
lyrics-encourages them to experiment with new vocab-
ulary and lets them express themselves more freely. We
allow one week for students to compose new lyrics for
the song whose words they havejust learned. To facilitate
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their composing, each student may receive a cassette
copy of the music track to use outside of class or may
work in small groups during class.
5Composedof two identical hemispheres connected
by masses of interconnecting nerve fibers, the human
brain is, in reality, a double organ. Among other things,
the left side expresses thoughts in words, while the right
side controls our actions, resolves problems, helps us
remember, and also triggers emotions and chains of
thoughts not expressed in words. The two hemispheres
often form a working relationship, but when both are
simultaneouslyengaged in a particularactivity the most
productivelearning occurs.
"Wehave observed that the main fear students have
is that of being laughed at by their peers. Once they
realize they will be singing with the help of others in
small groups or will be practicingin the privacy of the
language lab, they lose that inhibitionand become more
willingto participate.
7Forexample, if Song V (whichdeals with the preterit)
had just been covered, then the students would use its
melody and write their new lyrics in the preterit.
* WORKSCITED
Blakelee, Thomas R. TheRight Brain. GardenCity, NY:
Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1980.
da Silva, Zenia Sacks. Spanish: A Short Course. Third
edition. New York:Harper & Row, 1985.
Hart, Leslie A. Human Brain and Human Reasoning.
New York:Longman, 1983.
Klatzky,Roberta L. Memoryand Awareness. New York:
W. H. Freeman & Co., 1984.
Mulligan, Mary Ann. Integrating Music with Other
Studies. New York:The Center for AppliedResearch
in Education, 1975.
Valette, Jean-Pauland Rebecca M. Valette. Spanish for
Mastery.Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1984.