The relevance of this article lies in the fact that today some methodological aspects of the use of authentic song material in foreign language classes have already been analyzed on the pages of professional journals, but so far there is no general concept of using songs in teaching. In the conditions of humanization of education, when the personality of the growing person is in the center of all educational and educational activities, the search for effective ways and techniques of teaching, including teaching a foreign language attracts the close attention of many scientists, methodologists and teachers. The aim of this article is to describe the methods of communicative competence development through authentic song materials.
Keywords: songs, authentic material, communicative competence, effectiveness, method.
Music is one of the most effective ways to affect anyone's feelings and emotions. It is an integral part of our lives, we all have musical preferences, and the vast majority of people regularly listen to the radio or to the songs of their favorite authors. Songs are part of the culture of every nation, which means that if you listen to the music of the people of the language you are studying and in the same language, you can get a deeper understanding of their culture, everyday life, traditions, worldview. The importance of this work can hardly be overestimated. The use of the foreign-language song tradition is an attempt to reconcile these seemingly contradictory tendencies and to introduce linguistically valuable teaching tools into the teaching environment [1, с. 249–254]. In our opinion, an authentic song can be an unconventional and interesting resource for students, which also gives them access to new linguistic and sociocultural information. Most of the studies devoted to authentic song materials in foreign language teaching practice consider their use in children or teenagers (school), while in higher education they are usually referred to either episodically in the classroom or during extracurricular work. M. Canale makes the following arguments for using authentic song lyrics to develop communicative competence:
First, songs are the text material that children love and are interested in, and therefore working with them is positively emotionally colored for the student, which, as mentioned above, contributes significantly to the absorption of the material.
Second, authentic literary material contributes to language comprehension in the context of cultures.
Thirdly, songs are an excellent material for practicing rhythm and intonation of foreign language speech, improving pronunciation.
Fourthly, when working with rhymes and songs, the problem of multiple repetition of statements following the same pattern or perception of the same word is solved. Repeated playback of a song is not perceived as artificial [2, с. 1–47].
It is worth noting the methodological advantages of songs in the development of communicative competence, in our opinion, can be formulated as follows:
— аuthentic songs are a means of lasting assimilation and expansion of the vocabulary, as they include new words and expressions. In the songs the familiar vocabulary occurs in a new context, which contributes to the development of the so-called linguistic flair and the increase of associative connections in memory. In the songs there are often realities of the country of the studied language, means of expression, which contributes to the development of students' knowledge of the stylistic features of the language and a deep understanding of the specifics of a foreign culture;
— songs better learn and activate grammatical language phenomena. There are learning songs to teach the most common constructions. They are rhythmic, accompanied by explanations, comments, as well as tasks and exercises (the purpose of which is to check understanding and discuss the content);
— аuthentic songs contribute to the mastery of foreign language pronunciation skills and the development of musical hearing. Scientists have proven that auditory attention, music listening, and auditory control are in close correlation with the development of the articulatory apparatus. Learning and frequent repetition of uncomplicated melodic pattern, short songs help to fix the correct pronunciation, articulation, as well as the rules of accentuation, the features of rhythm, melody, which further develops communicative competence;
— the songs contribute to the implementation of the tasks of aesthetic education of students, contribute to team building, help to reveal the creative abilities of everyone. When music is used at the lesson a favorable psychological climate in the group is created, the psychological load is removed, speech and thinking activity is activated, both monological and dialogic speech is developed, interest in learning a foreign language is supported, and the emotional tone is increased [3, с. 45].
The nature of song lyrics as authentic materials is very diverse. They can vary in linguistic complexity, style, and historical relevance. Therefore, songs are used differently depending on the level of students' learning, as well as on the specific intermediate and specific goals of the lesson. Thus, at the initial stage of teaching foreign-language speech the song is a particularly effective means, the most adequate authentic material. But, in contrast to the established stereotype that you can work with a song only at the initial stage of foreign language teaching, it has been proven that at the intermediate stage it is also necessary. The sound of the music, the melody of the song and the lyrics themselves, and the performance of the song anticipate the students' reading of the text. The text of the song can be used to study the language as a system as well as to get acquainted with the peculiarities of mentality and culture of the country of the studied language. The moment of presenting a song text is determined by the conditions set by the teacher and the level of students' learning. The goals in this case can be represented:
— formation of phonetic skills;
— enrichment of the lexical stock of the students;
— practicing grammatical structures and others.
In addition, the song helps students engage with a foreign language culture. The melody of the song should be appropriate to the interests and hobbies of the students, and its content should be meaningful. An important source of communicative competence is the study of songs from different eras and of different genres. For example, one can compare a song from the postwar period and a song from the 1990s and conduct a comparative analysis of both the linguistics of the text and the social and cognitive content. The use of song material introduces an element of festivity and non-traditionalism into the language learning process, which has a significant impact on the emotional sphere of the students. It is noticed that the foreign language activities against the background of music contributes not only to memorizing the material, but also removes fatigue, orienting students to express their own opinion, their attitude towards what they have heard. In addition, they enrich the vocabulary of students, enliven teaching, develop a sense of beauty, affect not only the emotional sphere, but also the subject skills in the language, serve to better absorb the culture of the country of the studied language.
Communicative competence is defined as «basic language sub-competence», which includes the formation of language skills in all types of speech activity [4, с. 97–118]. Despite the fact that even a limited stock of language means to a certain extent allows solving different communicative tasks, a small vocabulary and superficial knowledge of grammar hinder the full development of all types of speech activity, therefore, language competence is the basis for full participation in foreign language communication and one of its most important components.
Analyzing the linguodidactic possibilities of an authentic song, it should be noted that the texts of songs reflect the functioning of language at all levels:
— phonetic;
— lexical;
— grammatical.
Authentic song material as a means of language learning, when properly composed, allows developing not only listening skills, but also other types of speech activities — speaking, reading, and writing. This comprehensive approach provides for the multifunctional use of the song for various linguistic purposes. It is also necessary that the use of authentic song material correlates with the specific goals and objectives stated in the program and corresponds to the students' level of foreign language proficiency. It should be emphasized that students' existing experience of mastering the first foreign language greatly facilitates the process of learning the second, and the teacher's task, in particular, is to intensify this process through the use of various strategies:
— cognitive;
— metacognitive;
— social;
— mnemonic.
Authentic song material can be successfully used to develop these strategies because listening to songs stimulates thinking activity, increases motivation and concentration, and develops students' communicative abilities. Note also that when interacting with other students while listening to or performing a song, there is a favorable psychological atmosphere in the classroom and the ability to develop emotional and evaluative activities is developed. Familiarizing students with authentic materials that reflect not only linguistic but also sociocultural features is very important even when they are first introduced to a new language, as such immersion into a new culture has a positive impact on learning the subject and motivates students to learn it in the future [5, с. 1–6].
And the main thing I would like to note is that the choice of a song is always up to the teacher. When choosing a song, it is advisable to take into account such criteria as:
— the song is often broadcast on the radio;
— it corresponds to the students' tastes, fashion (at least approximately);
— the theme of the song corresponds to the topic of the class or its grammatical content.
Despite all the advantages of using song in the teaching of a foreign language, the teaching materials do not contain enough song material. At the primary and intermediate stages of training it is necessary for the teacher to select the song material corresponding to the practical purposes of this stage of training and age features of students. Criteria for the selection of authentic songs to develop communicative competence may be as follows
— the song should be pleasant, rhythmic, not too long, have a chorus;
— It should motivate, interest students;
— correspond to the age and learning level of the students;
— reflect the country specifics;
Thus, the analysis of the possibilities of using authentic songs for linguodidactic purposes showed that they play a positive role in the classroom, contributing to the effectiveness of the learning process and motivation of students. Authentic songs reflect the cultural characteristics of a particular country and allow incorporating certain elements of novelty and entertainment into the teaching material, as well as pointing out the presence and functioning of linguistic realities in speech, which together ensure the formation and development of communicative competence of students. It seems that it is the systematic and purposeful reference to the songs allows the gradual and systematic development of communicative competence of students.
References:
- Al Azri R. H., Al-Rashdi M. H. (2014). The effect of using authentic materials in teaching. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research
- Canale M., Swain M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics
- Murphey T. (1992). Music and song. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Tomble A. P. (2018) Songs as authentic material according to horn. Language Teaching
- Kilickaya F. (2004). Authentic materials and cultural content in EFL classrooms. The Internet TESL Journal
