Elevating learning with ELT and educational children’s songs
Although ELT songs can sometimes appear to be simply a novel optional add-on to support children’s language learning, music and songs offer so much more than this.
Cleverly crafted ELT songs can engage young audiences by tapping into the fundamental human connection to music. By capturing attention through interesting melodies, catchy hooks, infectious rhythms and engaging lyrics, ELT songs offer a means for learners to absorb target language in a meaningful way, with built-in repetition.
Not only that, but ELT and educational songs bring a new dimension to learning – they make it fun. This is especially true when the lyrics are relevant, convey an interesting narrative, or are funny and playful.
However, music is not merely a source of entertainment. It carries so much more sociocultural history and power. At the core of music’s impact is its ability to influence our emotions. The influential neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, has hypothesised that due to music’s ability to influence our emotions, it may play a wider role as a sociocultural organising force. Other research has highlighted music’s potential role in social bonding.
Like humans, music evolves. And as it responds to the sounds and events of the present, it carries forward within it traces of the past, becoming a container for stories from history. Today’s music blends different genres and styles that can be traced back through winding routes into the distant past, offering an opportunity to introduce young learners to different cultures and contexts.
Songs can also help children understand themselves and the world around them. They can help nurture children’s empathy, tolerance and curiosity. Songs can create moments of joy and self-expression but they can also be emotional, reflective or even challenging in the right way.
When it comes to ELT and educational children’s songs, it’s tempting to play it safe with traditional nursery rhyme songs. While we can certainly cater to that, in the right context we encourage taking a bolder approach. Music and songs are so much more than just an add-on – they are central to our culture and offer the potential to enhance social bonding as well as engage young learners on multiple levels.
Got a children’s songs project you’d like to discuss? Book a call with Luke.
Learn more about our songs at https://creativelistening.co.uk/childrens-songs
Read our book More Than Words: Songs for the Language Classroom by Tom Parkinson and Luke Vyner, published by Cambridge University Press.
Blog by Aimy Marling and Luke Vyner