Using Music In Foreign Language Lessons

Abstract

Music is a phenomenon that deserves thorough studies. It serves not only educational and development purposes during foreign language teaching (FLT), but also the development of the pupils’ personality. Using music is connected with the development of emotional intelligence; it positively influences pupils’ aesthetic emotions and helps them to build ethical basis of their personality, attitudes and opinions. Various methods how to use music in FLT is, however, closely related to the diversity of the teachers’ approach. This study describes the teachers’ attitudes to the use of music in FLT and how Czech teachers apply music in their lessons. Music has a lot in common with foreign languages. It has been proved that it can help well, for example, when practising the suprasegmental features of foreign language. We used aquestionnaire in our research to depict the aspects which play the most significant role for the Czech teachers when using music in FLT. Our research aim was to outline various possibilities how to use music in FLT and finally to find out whether the teachers did or did not use music when practising the suprasegmentals using music. Surprisingly, according to our findings, music serves mainly as a motivational and relaxing aspect in FLT. Our research outcomes can be valuable for the teachers when considering their lesson plans, for their inspiration and their reflection on the existing methods in FLT. Besides all these facts, teachers’ positive relationship to music and its use in FLT is emphasised.