| The owner of a large chain of English schools in | | | | Every fear we've felt, every inch we've grown, |
| Brazil suggested to me that adult contemporary | | | | Every word we've said, every thought we've |
| pop songs whose lyrics contained concentrated | | | | known, |
| areas of grammar would be of great benefit to | | | | Every thing we've done and every thing we do, |
| ESL students. The concept of using songs to aid | | | | Ties a part of me to a part of you. |
| in the teaching/learning of English is not a new | | | | If you can learn the lyrics to this chorus you have |
| one. When I looked into this area I found that the | | | | learnt 11 irregular verbs in their past participle |
| songs being used are either aimed at children, or | | | | form. The song actually contains 21 irregular verbs |
| standard songs whose only real "English learning | | | | each sung in context in all 3 of their forms |
| benefit" is that they are composed in the English | | | | (present past and past participle.. So an advanced |
| language. | | | | student who can learn the entire song (This is a |
| Over the past 2 years I have been composing | | | | very large advanced song) has not only learnt the |
| songs that contain a grammatical focus in their | | | | three forms of 21 irregular verbs but can also |
| lyrics. They cover difficult grammatical areas such | | | | apply them in a phrase. |
| as irregular verbs and prepositions. | | | | This knowledge is recalled differently to material |
| Case Study | | | | learnt in a "studied" way. Think how hard it is to |
| Visit this youtube link to view the chorus of a | | | | recall the exact words of a story but how easy it |
| Tutortunes video for the lyrics below which | | | | is to recall them in a song. I propose that lyrics |
| focuses on Irregular Verbs. | | | | presented in adult contemporary "catchy" pop |
| Irregular Verbs Song (chorus) | | | | songs (as opposed to children's music) will help |
| Every place we've been, every song we've sung, | | | | ESL students absorb the areas of English |
| Every fight we've fought, every race we've run, | | | | grammar that are illogical, such as irregular verbs, |
| Every time we've lost our way we've found a | | | | in a fun and enjoyable way. |
| path that leads us through. | | | | |