Listening skill practice through English songs for grade 5

 PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. The reason for choosing the subject:
With the general growth of society, English is becoming popular for all of people in over the world. Teaching and learning English is a problem that the Vietnam educations care about.
Learning to communicate a foreign language is a very complex process which involves the development of the four skills: listening, speaking, writing and reading. The aim of this article is to focus on teaching of two skills: listening and speaking to young learners of Viet Nam. Of the four skills, listening is naturally the first skill young learners need to develop before they feel ready to speak, read and write. 
However, listening skill is one of the most difficult language skills for students learning English. In a recent survey of individuals, I noticed that: "More than 60% of my students think that listening skill is one of the biggest obstacles in learning English." In particular, many of them practiced listening in many different ways, but all failed. When being asked, "How do you practice listening?", most of them answered that: listen every day, listen whenever they have free time, watch movies, listen to music, listen to the news, listen to the audio clip in English books...And the overall result received, "I practice listening too much but can’t improve it”.
Causes include both objective and subjective ones. The objective reason is that: Listening skills is relatively difficult in comparison with the three remaining skills, requiring high accuracy in pronunciation (Pronunciation) and intonation (intonation).... Furthermore, listening is a passive activity that listeners have received information from other people, who may have different pronunciation, intonation, and expression, which also leads to state mentality to the listener (passive character)
      Besides the objective reasons, we cannot fail to mention the subjective reasons such as: listening activities are much less accessible and less diverse, the pronunciation or vocabulary practice, structures should not be mastered during listening comprehension and the ways children use vocabulary are inaccurate. This leads to low self-esteem, lack of interest in participating in the listening activities of underdeveloped students. So, as a teacher, what we need to do to help students pronounce correctly - listen vocabulary, sentences, structures exactly in the listening activities, practice listening skills well, apply to real life in a funny and entertaining way. This is the reason why I have studied, applied and written the initiative: "Listening skill practice through English songs for grade 5". 	
In this paper, I choose some English special, effective English songs, which I have applied in some lessons with the desirousness of practicing and developing students' listening skills better.
2. Research purposes :
	By successfully researching the subject, the initiative will help teachers get the following experience:
1. How to design listening exercises through English songs
2. The steps to teach listening effectively through English songs 
3. Instruct students to train themselves to have the skills and techniques of listening through English songs.
3. Research objects :
	Elementary students in general and students in grade 5 in particular.
4. Research methods:
4.1. Observation Method: self-researching, conducting class attendance of colleagues.
4.2. Method of exchange and discussion: After attending the writer and other colleagues’ teaching lessons, the colleagues and the writer will carry out the subject, discuss to get the experience for the lessons.
4.3 Experimental Methods: Teachers conduct experiential instruction that requires specific lessons of instruction.
4.4. Method of investigation: Teacher interviews students
5. The new points of experience initiative.
	In this experience initiative, in addition to continuing to apply some songs to classroom lessons as I did in the previous experience initiative, I have incorporated a number of songs for the new 5th grade program and for some of the outdoor activities of the school English club.
PART II: THE CONTENT OF EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
1. The theoretical basis 
	Listening skill is foundation for other skills. Students should develop their listening skill when learn foreign language. By listening, students are preparing to imitate the sounds when they speak. In addition, listening skills can lay foundation for reading instruction by developing good listening skill, students match the sounds with corresponding symbols. The teaching of listening plays an important role in every English teachers. 
The important question that should be answered is : how do I teach listening? Actually the activity of teaching listening must not rely on tape recorder. A teacher`s speech will be a teaching material, somehow the teacher must have good pronunciation. In addition, teacher must set the teaching and learning well (pre listening-while listening - post listening). The creative teacher should be able to have motivational and stimulation technique that found to be effective in classroom. 
Listening is the language modality that is used most frequently. It has been estimated that adults spend almost half their communication time listening, and students may receive as much as 90% of their in-school information through listening to instructors and to one another. Often, however, language learners do not recognize the level of effort that goes into developing listening ability.
Far from passively receiving and recording aural input, listeners actively involve themselves in the interpretation of what they hear, bringing their own background knowledge and linguistic knowledge to bear on the information contained in the aural text. Not all listening is the same; casual greetings, for example, require a different sort of listening capability than do academic lectures. Language learning requires intentional listening that employs strategies for identifying sounds and making meaning from them.
	Listening involves a sender (a person, radio, television), a message, and a receiver (the listener). Listeners often must process messages as they come, even if they are still processing what they have just heard, without backtracking or looking ahead. In addition, listeners must cope with the sender's choice of vocabulary, structure, and rate of delivery. The complexity of the listening process is magnified in second language contexts, where the receiver also has incomplete control of the language.
	English in elementary school is an important step for the secondary school. So they play an important role during the children’s learning process. Given the importance of listening in language learning and teaching, it is essential for language teachers to help their students become effective listeners. In the communicative approach to language teaching, this means modeling listening strategies and providing listening practice in authentic situations: those that learners are likely to encounter when they use the language outside the classroom.
2. The situation of problem 
Achieving the best results for the quality of students’ courses is not an easy thing. In the process of learning English, students often encounter difficulties in the skill lessons , especially for students in grades 3, 4 and 5 because these are the first years for students to get acquainted with the subject, with vocabulary and structures, so their knowledge of the subject is meager.
 Moreover, students are new to the lessons of skills, including listening. I noticed that during the listening lessons, apart from students who understand the requirements and perform activities well, there are many students with basic mistakes. For example, in the listening activities to connect the concepts, the equivalent sentences (Matching)..... sometimes they match by their emotion or airiness (without base), so the results of the exercise are not correct.
Or in listening activities to fill in the blanks with the appropriate words, their common mistakes are misspelling words or being confused with other words such as: “one” and “want”; “five” and “fine”....
 In a small number of cases, although teachers explained clearly about the requirements of the listening activities, the results still do not satisfy all requirements for activities that teachers have given. Thus the effectiveness of listening lessons are not high and uneven among pupils.
 Listening is one of the four key skills, not outside communication purposes, it goes through all the parts of the lessons from grade 3 to 5, is coordinated smoothly, inseparably with other skills. In communication we speak to convey our opinions, but we also need to listen and understand the others’ opinion to see what they say or what is new ..... It is offered to ensure the meaning and achieve the purpose of communication. This is very important and is also the destination of learning listening skills in particular and of the subject in general.
Besides the above reasons, there are some other reasons that students are not interested in listening lessons. They are:
1. Some topics in the textbook are not really close to the students because the students’ knowledge of nature - society is limited.
2. Besides, the material base as well as support for the subject is poor. The school does not have a standard room for English, some students also find it difficult to purchase books, especially the children who do not have a dictionary, do not equip themselves with listening books or tapes, discs, radio.
3. Especially, the students’ efforts are too little. Their efforts to improve refresher vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation are not regular, continuous. So their listening ability is limited.
Having seen many objective and subjective causes of listening teaching in primary schools, I tried to collect and write some songs with short and funny rhythm which integrate into a number of questions, some words students have learned to teach them sing and listen. Surprisedly, the children enjoyed singing and sing very boldly. They are more open-hearted, not shy anymore, they also participate actively in listening activities. Recently, students have been improved in English subject. Although the results are not really high but the first step makes me excited about my work. After class, one interesting thing is that I have encountered my students singing the songs that I have taught them in listening lessons. Indeed, it was a success.
At the beginning time of the first semester in the school year 2016 – 2017, I decided to examine the quality of English subjects for both grades 5: 5A, 5E by a listening test to make foundation and goal setting for my initiatives.
Table 1: Quality survey
RESULTS
CLASS
QUANTITY
WEAK STUDENT
FAIR STUDENT
GOOD STUDENT
EXCELLENT
STUDENT
quantity
%
quantity
%
quantity
%
quantity
%
5A
38
13
34%
17
45%
6
16%
2
5%
5E
41
12
29%
17
41%
8
20%
4
10%
TOTAL
79
25
32%
34
43%
14
18%
6
8%
3. The implemented solutions 
 Here are some of the songs for students of grade 5 that I collect or self-designed and applied in my teaching process.
3.1. The song: This is the time we do everything
*Used for Unit 2 – I always get up early (English 5)
This is the time I get up, six thirty, six thirty
This is the time I get up, six thirty in the morning.
This is the time I have breakfast, at seven, at seven.
This is the time I have breakfast, at seven in the morning.
This is the time I go to school, seven thirty, seven thirty.
This is the time I go to school, seven thirty in the morning.
This is the time I have lunch, eleven, eleven.
This is the time I have lunch, eleven in the morning.
This is the time I do my homework, three o’clock, three o’clock.
This is the time I do my homework, three o’clock in the afternoon.
This is the time I have dinner, seven o’clock, seven o’clock.
This is the time I do have dinner, seven o’clock in the evening.
This is the time I watch TV, watch TV, eight o’clock.
This is the time I watch TV, eight o’clock in the evening.
This is the time I go to bed, go to bed, ten o’clock.
This is the time I go to bed, ten o’clock in the evening.
Activity 1: Listen and tick.
* The objective of the activity:
  	This activity helps students listen to understand, select and tick in the best picture.
After introducing some new words, teachers hang the paintings, which was prepared on the extra-board. Each painting has two or three options A, B or C. The teacher explains the task of the exercise, then open the tape 3 times. Teachers ask students to Listen - tick.
* Active Content : Listen and tick.
a. 
b.	 	 
c. 
d. 
Key: 1) 11.00
 2) 3.00
 3) 7.00
 4) 8.00
Activity 2: Listen and answer
* The objective of the activity:
  	This activity helps students understand the song and write the answers.
 	After introducing some new words, teachers give the questions, which are prepared in extra-board. Teachers explain the task of the exercise. Teachers play the recorder 3 times then ask students to listen and answer.
* Active Content: Listen and answer
a. What time do you get up?
b. What do you do at 7 o’clock?
c. Do you go to school at 7.30? 
c. Do you go to bed at 10.15 p.m?
*Key: 
a. I get up at six thirty 
b. I have breakfast at o’clock.
c. Yes, I do
d. No, I don’t. I go to bed at 10 p.m
3.2. The song: What I want to be
*Used for Unit 15 – What would you like to be in the future? (English 5)
What I want to be, what I want to be. When I grow up to be big me.
What I want to be, what I want to be. Is a doctor or a mail carrier.
Each day I work, what fun it would be.
I'll always do my responsibility.I'll do what I do so carefully
When I grow up to be big me. What I want to be, what I want to be
When I grow up to be big me. What I want to be, what I want to be
Is a farmer or a firefighter? 
Each day I work, what fun it would be.
I'll always do my responsibility.I'll do what I do so carefully
When I grow up to be big me.
Doctor. Mail carrier. Farmer. Firefighter.
When I grow up to be big me.
* Active Content : Listen and tick the job you hear
Key:
 √ √	 √	 √ 
 3.3. The song: Let’s go to the zoo 
*Used for Unit 9 – What did you see at the zoo? (English 5)
Let's go to the zoo. And jump like the kangaroos do. [Kangaroo gesture.]
Let's go to the zoo. And jump like the kangaroos do.[Jump around the room like kangaroos.]
Let's go to the zoo. And swing like the monkeys do. [Pretend to swing from a tree. Monkey gesture.]
Let's go to the zoo. And swing like the monkeys do.[Swing around the room like monkeys.]
Let's go to the zoo. And waddle like the penguins do. [Penguin gesture.]
Let's go to the zoo. And waddle like the penguins do.[Waddle around the room like penguins.]
Let's go to the zoo. And slither like the snakes do. [Snake gesture.]
Let's go to the zoo. And slither like the snakes do.[Slither around the room like snakes.]
Let's go to the zoo. And swim like the polar bears do. [Polar bear gesture.]
Let's go to the zoo. And swim like the polar bears do.[Swim around the room like polar bears.]
Let's go to the zoo. And dance like the animals do. [Do a silly dance!]
Let's go to the zoo. And dance like the animals do. ♫	
* Active Content: Listen and write the animals you hear. Then read aloud and do actions:
Keys: 	1. elephants .  	4. penguins
	2. kangaroos .	5. snakes 
	3. monkeys 	6. polar bears 
3. 4. The song: What’s the matter?
*Used for Unit 11– What’s the matter with you? (English 5)
 (What’s the matter?)3 – I am sick
What’s the matter? Are you OK? –I am sick today.
Oh, no
(What’s the matter?)3 - I am sad
What’s the matter? Are you OK? –I am sad today.
Oh, no
(What’s the matter?)3 - I am tired
What’s the matter? Are you OK? –I am tired today.
Oh, no
(What’s the matter?)3 - I am hot
What’s the matter? Are you OK? –I am hot today.
Oh, no
(What’s the matter?)3 - I am cold
What’s the matter? Are you OK? –I am cold today.
Oh, no
Activity: Listen and write 
Listen and write: 
 * The objective of the activity:
   	This activity helps students listen - to understand and write in the blank to complete the sentence and help them reinforce the pronunciation of words through listening to their sounds.
  	After the introduction of the new words, the teacher gives the extra-board, which contains the content of the song with the blanks and some pictures. Teacher asks students to skim the contents to predict vocabulary.
Teacher opens the tape - Students listen to the song and write
 * Active Content: Students listen to the song and write
1, What’s the matter? –I am . today.
2, What’s the matter? –I am . today.
3, What’s the matter? –I am . today.
4, What’s the matter? –I am . today.
5, What’s the matter? –I am . today.
Key: 1. sick 2.sad 3. Tired 4. hot 	 5. cold 
3.5. The song: Wake up! (Daily routines song)
*Used for Unit 2 – I always get up early. How about you? (English 5)
I wake up, I wake up, I wake up, I wake up,
I wash my face, I wash my face, I wash my face, I wash my face
This is what I do, when I wake up in the morning. Yeah.
This is what I do, when I wake up. Yeah.
I brush my teeth. I brush my teeth. I brush my teeth. I brush my teeth.
I comb my hair. I comb my hair. I comb my hair. I comb my hair.
This is what I do, when I wake up in the morning. Yeah.
This is what I do, when I wake up. Yeah.
I eat breakfast. I eat breakfast. I eat breakfast. I eat breakfast.
I go to school. I go to school. I go to school. I go to school.
This is what I do, when I wake up in the morning. Yeah.
This is what I do, when I wake up. Yeah.
I wake up, I wake up. I wash my face, I wash my face.
I brush my teeth. I brush my teeth.
I comb my hair. I comb my hair.
I eat breakfast. I eat breakfast.
I go to school. I go to school. (Alright)10.
Activity: Listen and match half of sentence in column A with suitable one in column B.
* The objective of the activity:
  	By activities, teachers add vocabulary for students. More importantly, teachers help them to pronounce, understand and connect corresponding phrases (clauses) to make up right sentences.
* Active mode:
  + The teacher writes the parts of sentences in two columns on the extra-board, explains the request.
  + Students do and perform the task.
  + Students read and sing in chorus.
* Active Content: Listen and match half of sentence in column A with column B. 
A
B
1. I wake
a. my face
2. I comb
b. up
3. I wash
c. my hair
4. I eat
d. to school.
5. I go
e. breakfast
* Key: 1- b 3 - a
 2 - c 4 – e 	5.d
While introducing a number of new words or phrases, teachers do not need to insist on presenting form of the verb as for students in grade 4. The important thing in Listening - Matching activity is that students can listen to the pronunciation of words and phrases to match the equivalent clauses.
3.6. The song: Making comparisons. 
*Used for Unit 20 – Which is more exciting, life in the city or life in the countryside? (English 5)
(Bigger, smaller, higher, lower. Shorter, taller, faster, slower)2
Which one is faster? A cheetah or a snail? snail
Which one is taller? Louise or the Eiffel Tower?
Bigger, smaller, higher, lower. Shorter, taller, faster, slower
Which one is bigger? The USA or Thailand? 
Which river is longer? The Missisippi or the Nile?
Bigger, smaller, higher, lower. Shorter, taller, faster, slower
Which one is hotter? Singapore or Norway? 
Which one is colder? Moscow or Bombay? 
(Bigger, smaller, higher, lower. Shorter, taller, faster, slower)2
Activity: Listen and do the gap – filling * The objective of the activity:
  	 This activity helps students listen - understand and fill in the blanks and helps them reinforce the pronunciation of words by listening to their sounds to practise listening skill.
  	After the introduction of the new words, t