1 Functions of English songs
Einstein said that interest is the best teacher. Interesting and attractive atmosphere is the premise to stimulate students' interest in learning. The use of English songs can create an atmosphere for English learning, exert a subtle influence on students, and thus stimulate their interest in learning English. English songs are the essence of British and American culture, as well as outstanding products in different historical periods, and good carriers of English native culture. Songs often contain all aspects of English knowledge. From the psychological point of view, the rhythm, tone, intensity and speed of music can stimulate people's brains well, and make people's brains and nervous systems in a positive and exciting state, thus making people refreshed and happy. Holtz (1998) pointed out that the application of English songs in English teaching is not only helpful to relieve fatigue and improve students' interest in learning English, but also a good way to promote English learning through entertaining. Ekeng (1996) believed that beautiful music can make people feel happy, stimulate people's emotions, and make people in a state of positive acceptance and strong perception. Boyle and Coltheart (1996) studied the influence of different types of background music on memory, and proved that music has a positive influence on learning.
Use songs and performances as a warm-up for the beginning of the course.
English songs are an effective and ingenious way to introduce new teaching content. We should use simple and catchy songs. Through lively and cheerful songs, create a relaxed and happy classroom atmosphere and activate students' interest in learning concisely and effectively. For example, teachers and students can use songs to ask and answer questions: T: Students, are you happy? Yes, we are very happy. Ok, if you are happy, please clap. Then let the students clap their hands and hum Clap Your Hands, so that the songs can be used vividly. Using lively and interesting song question-and-answer forms can fully arouse students' enthusiasm and make the following teaching process flexible, open and natural. In the course we teach, English songs with corresponding themes can be used for import. At the beginning of a class, we can also combine English songs with games, free dialogue between teachers and students, performances and so on. To pave the way for other contents of this class, so that students can accept new contents more easily and devote themselves to the study of new lessons with greater enthusiasm. Teachers' creative design of interesting and enlightening warm-up activities will greatly enhance students' interest in learning English, which requires teachers to put their thoughts and ideas into it, thus enhancing students' interest in learning English.
Use songs and performances to understand syntax and grammar
English grammar is the hardest part for students to understand. We can use music to make students actively participate in it. Music can reduce the tension of cerebral cortex, and relaxed and cheerful songs give people beautiful enjoyment. Music can stimulate the brain, activate the right brain nerve, cause high excitement, and bring fun to students. English songs can help students learn many specific sentence structures, thus creating a sense of success and building self-confidence. For example, there is a lyric in "Wait Here" sung by American singer Richard Marx: "When you leave, whatever you do, I will wait for you here." Students can also review the usage of adverbial clauses under the guidance of where and what; While humming "as long as you love me", you can also understand what a conditional adverbial clause is; "Then why did you leave" can explain what a predicative clause is; After listening to Bryan Adams's singing "Here I am", students will further understand what inversion is. Therefore, the ingenious combination of English songs and grammar knowledge can not only review the original grammar knowledge, but also make the originally puzzling grammar structure easy to learn and remember. The application of song learning here can reduce students' fear and fear in English reading and writing and improve students' interest in English reading and writing.
Singing English songs can enhance students' cultural awareness.
No matter what kind of English textbooks, some typical English nursery rhymes are arranged. These children's songs are rich in content, lively in tune and full of childlike interest. When students appreciate these different styles of music, they will have a lot of curiosity and questions. British linguist sapir pointed out: "Language cannot exist without culture." Teachers can talk about the country's customs, history and geography by the way, which is of great significance for students to further understand the cultural knowledge of English-speaking countries. In addition, festival culture is also a topic of interest to students. Every holiday, we can use this topic to introduce relevant background knowledge and help students understand the important festivals and main celebration methods in English-speaking countries. For example, when teaching Christmas, I introduced the origin of Christmas, the legend of Santa Claus, Christmas pictures, Christmas songs and so on through online resources. At the same time, compare Christmas with Chinese New Year, and encourage students to find out their similarities: both are days for family reunion, celebrating the beginning of the New Year, holding banquets, giving gifts to each other, and so on. Then compare the differences between them and understand them from a cultural perspective.