The importance of songs in foreign language teaching
No one can deny that music has played a very important part in our life. Every one likes
music. It accompanies with us very time we feel happy or sad. Music is at everywhere,
every time we need it: “when we exercise, when we work, when we play, when we
worship and even when we die, music is there to reinforce or alter every mood and
emotion” (Lynch, 2005). Studies have shown that music can improve concentration,
improve memory, bring a sense of community to a group, motivate learning, relax people
who are overwhelmed or stressed, make learning fun, help people absorb material.
Due to its great value, music and songs have been taken into consideration as a method to
teach language as Medina (1993) says “it is currently a common practice to use songs in
the classroom to support second language acquisition” because music can stimulate and
motivate students to learn a new language. It is really a language package that bundles
culture, vocabulary, listening, grammar and a host of other language skills in just a few
rhymes (Inggris, 2008).