Is singing songs an effective way to learn language(s)?

Exploring the role of songs in supporting young learners’ oral language development

Ever wondered to what extent singing songs together is a serious part of pupils’ language learning or just a ‘bit of fun’ in the languages classroom? This session is for teachers who are interested in what the evidence base is for choosing songs as a way of introducing new language(s) in class. Join teacher and applied linguistics researcher Cate Hamilton to explore what lessons we can draw from research that could help inform our choice of using songs to teach young language learners from early years to secondary school.

After teaching English and French at secondary level, Cate Hamilton co-founded multilingual music group Babel Babies in 2011 and has recently completed her doctorate at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. Through Babel Babies she introduced children across multiple early years and primary settings to ten languages through songs, frequently hearing “everyone remembers Frère Jacques” as the rationale to justify claims that songs are a superlatively effective language-learning tool. Wondering what truth there was in such claims and in anecdotal accounts of songs’ effects on children’s language outcomes, Cate embarked on her research journey in 2020 to seek empirical evidence to underpin this valued teaching practice. She is passionate about evidence-based practice and supporting teachers through careful, dispassionate research into the issues that matter to them.

Discussion questions to ponder before the session:

What question(s) do you have about using songs for teaching languages? Are there any related issues that you would like research evidence for?