Folk songs do magic in teaching speech and grammar patterns in EFL class

Abstract

The authors in searching for new ways and stimuli of teaching vocabulary and grammar to students in EFL class present their own vision of meeting the challenge. In this study it was hypothesized that folk songs significantly stimulate and encourage students to learn more lexis and grammar they encounter in lyrics. In this paper, the authors fairly claim that rhymed speech and grammar patterns help students to learn and reinforce the correct articulation and pronunciation of sounds, accent and rhythm features. Materials and study instruments aiming at the solution of the outlined problem are investigated with regard of the roles that the song genre fulfills. An experiment conducted by the authors with the aim in view to prove that the repeated playback of a song expands students' vocabulary and helps them to better assimilate grammar, was chosen as a leading research method in this study. The research made it possible for the authors to empirically prove that folk songs can do magic in EFL class contributing to the comprehension of the foreign language in the context of culture, transforming a monotonous memorization and reproduction of language material into creative work, solving the problem of multiple repetition of a single model. The findings of the study can serve as a general guideline for university and high school faculty and pre-service teachers.