In today's digital age, educators are constantly seeking innovative ways to engage students and enhance learning experiences. The newly enhanced lyrics feature in YouTube Music presents a golden opportunity to better integrate music into classroom instruction, fostering reading, literacy skills, and aiding English learners on their language journey.
Music has a unique power to captivate and connect with students. YouTube Music's upgraded lyrics feature goes beyond just playing tunes. It displays synchronized lyrics, turning the act of listening to music into a type of interactive reading exercise. As students follow along with the lyrics, they sharpen their reading comprehension and fluency skills in an engaging and enjoyable manner.
For learners of English, the advantages are even deeper. According to Belgian researcher Pauline Degrave*, songs offer genuine listening content. Learners are exposed to native speakers using authentic language, pronunciation, intonation, etc. This aids in the development of listening skills. Lyrics also support the acquisition of vocabulary. New words and phrases are reiterated in the lyrics. Combining them with melody can assist in memorization and recollection. Teachers can select songs with themes matching classroom topics, adding contextual richness to language lessons.
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| Desktop View |
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| The mobile app view has karaoke style lyrics |
Furthermore, YouTube Music's variety of options enable educators to cater to various learning preferences and age groups. Whether it's historical ballads for a history class, or lyrical poetry for an English literature session, the tool offers a wide array of possibilities.
Integrating songs with lyrics in the classroom enhances not only literacy and language skills but also fosters creativity, cultural comprehension, and emotional self-expression. As educators, embracing technological advancements such as YouTube Music's improved lyrics feature can transform our teaching methods, creating an engaging and melodious learning encounter for everyone involved.
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*Degrave, Pauline. "Music in the foreign language classroom: How and why." Journal of Language Teaching and Research 10.3 (2019): 412-420.
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