CHAPTER 1 CASE STUDY TWO CASE STUDY TWO Using Songs

CHAPTER 1
CASE STUDY TWO
CASE STUDY TWO
*
Using Songs to Engage Learners
ACTFL/CAEP 3.a., 3.b., 4.b., 4.c.
TESOL/NCATE 2.a., 2.b., 3.b.
Mr. Kruse teaches French I and II at a suburban high school near a large Pennsylvania city. Most of his learners
have had little, if any, experience with other cultures, nor have they interacted with foreigners who live in the
area, except for visitors invited to the classroom. Their life experiences and their curiosity about and interest in
other cultures are very limited, as evidenced in the few, mundane questions they ask when presented with a visitor
from another country. While in France last summer, Mr. Kruse bought several CDs, one of which was an
American Cajun recording that was then popular in France. In an attempt to stir his learners’ interest and to show
French influence on American culture, Mr. Kruse decided to plan a lesson using one of the songs from this
recording for his French II class of 24 students. The words to this song follow, in French and in English:
“Cajun Telephone Stomp”
O bébé, j’avais essayé
De causer aujourd’hui.
‘Y avait quelque chose qui est arrivé
Et moi, j’ai commencé d’être fâché.
Sur le téléphone de l’autre cîté,
‘Y avait une ‘tite voix mal enregistrée.
“Après le beep,” c’est ça il dit,
“Laisse ton message, ‘ya personne ici.”
Quoi c’est ça, il dit “le beep”?
C’est pas Cadien, ni poli,
S’il n’est pas là, quoi faire sa voix?
O yé yaille, mon coeur fait mal.
Après dix fois avec cette voix maudite
Ç’a commencé de ma faire rire,
J’ai oublié á qui je veux parler
Et enfin, j’ai accroché.
Source: Beausoleil Cajun Conja.
“Cajun Telephone Stomp”
O baby, I tried
To talk to you on the phone today.
Something strange happened
And I started to get mad.
On the other end of the line,
There was a little voice, a bad recording
“After the beep,” that’s what it said,
“Leave your message, there’s no one home.”
What is this, it said “the beep”?
That’s not Cajun, nor polite,
If no one’s there, why is this voice?
O yé yaille, it makes me sad.
After hearing that darn voice ten times,
It started to make me laugh,
I forgot who I was calling
And finally, I hung up.
Mr. Kruse decided to construct his lesson in several steps. As you read his plans for the lesson, indicate which
aspects of language learning you can identify based on your reading of this chapter.
1. First, he would play some of the music from the CD as students came into the class.
2. Then he would ask them what they knew about that kind of music. Had they ever heard
it before? What did it remind them of? Did they know of any musicians who played it?
Where did they think it came from?
3. Next, he would play the “Cajun Telephone Stomp” a second time, asking them to
identify any instruments in it that they recognized; he’d play it again a third time asking
students to write down words they understood; and he would play the song a fourth time
asking them to use the context of the song to guess meanings of words they didn’t know
but that seemed to be key words.
4. Then he would show an overhead of the song in French with all of the past tense verbs
removed and ask the students to fill them in as he played the song for the fifth time; he
would have the students write in the words they heard and try to figure out together how
to form some past tenses.
5. Next, he would ask the class as a group to write a sentence on the board summarizing
what the song is about, using the past tenses contained in it, and highlighting them as they
read them from the board.
6. Finally, he would ask students to role-play calling someone and leaving a message in
French at the beep.
7. As homework, he would ask the students to identify four Web sites related to Cajun
culture by doing Google searches. The next day he would bring some materials he had
gathered from Web searches containing stories from Cajun culture and engage the
students in reading activities.
To prepare the case:
1. Find a music magazine in the target language and read some articles on modern music;
read a brief history of Cajun culture and music or of the music characteristic of the target
cultures that you teach (see Pastorek, 1998, as an example).
2. Read the article by Koning (2011) on the use of music to enhance the acquisition of language skills and cultural
competence.
3. Listen to current hit songs by other recording artists who sing in the TL to explore their possible use to promote
discussion and/or exploration of target language cultures.
4. If you teach or are planning to teach at the elementary or middle school level, you might go to the website
http://www.elboricua.com/BKsongs.html , where you will find a selection of children’s songs from Puerto Rico
with music and accompanying games.
To prepare for class discussion:
1. Access the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning (TELL) website at
www.tellproject.org. Identify several model teacher behaviors from the Learning
Experience Domain and Learning Tools Domain that you see evident in Mr. Kruse's
lesson.
2. Describe how you might incorporate additional best practices into a lesson you
teach using another song.
3. Work with several classmates to compare songs in the TL that you have heard or with
which you are familiar. Discuss ways in which you might use these songs with your
students to accomplish various goals.
*We would like to thank Dr. Bonnie Adair-Hauck, Dr. Rick Donato, and Philomena Cumo-Johanssen for their
design of the original version of this case study.