Music and sounds are present in the life of a human being from the start. The first sounds reaching us are heartbeats, rhythmical steps, a doorbell or the barking of a dog. After birth, sounds become sharper and more intense, and we listen to lullabies. Later we sing preschool chart toppers ourselves and hum the hits from cartoons. Some of the melodies get stuck permanently in our memory, and after many years we can recall them flawlessly. Songs work in a very similar way and are therefore a very successful component of foreign language teaching.
Music is pleasure – it evokes emotions, functions as a mood enhancer and increases learners’ involvement, which is crucial for memorising new words. The songs written specifically for classes make learners repeat correct grammatical structures, syllable divisions and sentence intonation. Sung over and over, they become embedded in learners and are remembered easily.
Learning a foreign language and getting to know new melodies stimulates the same brain structures. Combining these two elements in practical exercises intensifies the effect of familiarising learners with English throughout the whole course.
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