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Many scholars have devoted themselves to research how to inspire students to learn English effectively， especially teenager-aged students in junior and senior high school. As a middle school English teacher， I have a deep interest in learning more about this group of language learner as well. They are teenagers， who are experiencing huge changes psychologically and physiologically， and have been learning English for years. So， they may get tired of being taught with the traditional ‘spoon feeding’ method， and feel disappointed with memorizing grammar rules and vocabularies like robots. Also， they have acquired the ability of autonomous learning to some extent. All of these require teachers to discover new ways to make their lesson more attractive and effective. Under this situation， I am occasionally inspired of using English songs in my class as materials， and surprisingly it is found to work well.
So， why English songs are believed to make good work l in ESL classrooms？
It could be traced back to the history. In ancient Greek， lyric poems were normally accompanied with string instruments as a kind of art to show in the public. According to Maniago （2010， cited in Abdullah， 2013）， song lyrics present the same written pieces and categories like any other literacy works， which means that songs have a high literary value and are worthy of being studied. According to Palacios and Chapeton （2014）， 11th-grade students aged from 15 to 19 years old at a Public School in Bogotá have an extremely positive response after the application of using songs in their English classes. Students who took part in the experiment in Bogotá were proved to achieve a huge improvement in both learning efficiency and grades.
Also， playing songs can always create a friendly communicating atmosphere.
The free， relaxed and democratic atmosphere has always been regarded as one of the main features of a high effective class. English study is an interactive process of communication which needs both inputting and outputting. Compared with learning in the stressful and teacher-centered classroom， it would be more efficient for young students at New Time to have more chances to free their voices and minds （Palacios and Chapeton， 2014）. In this case， learning in accompany with music seems to be an interesting and motivating way for young people. In this entertaining and relaxed environment， students are active to open their mouths with the cover of melody to reduce their pressure and nervousness of speaking in public. Additionally， contends of songs are always attractive and closely connected with students’ real life. Therefore， it is easier for students to understand the meaning of English from the lyrics than from those obscure textbooks. Compared with memorizing words and rules through reading textbooks， learning through singing lyrics of songs are obviously more absorbing and interesting. English would no more be a subject for them， and learning English would also not be doing endless exercise. English can be alive， with sounds of music and melody. Also， different types of music involve different kinds of information which can fully satisfy students’ interests and curiosities in many fields. For example， folk songs always impart local customs through its lyrics. In this case， English is a culture， and English can be tools used to know about anything they want to know.
Then， which kinds of songs can be selected for ESL education？
Of course， teachers must be careful enough to avoid using English songs with embarrassing language， difficult words， inefficient sound systems， repetitive lyrics， informal grammatical structure and complicated sentences as materials， because these will have counterproductive effects on students’ study （Keskin， 2011）. Also， teachers’ personal emotions towards songs may influence students’ feelings as well. Thus， it would be better for teachers themselves to enjoy and appreciate the song first， and then they could introduce the song to students. After all， only when people enjoy the class emotionally， can they truly involve into it （Paul， 1996）. Also， teachers should be clear of some background information like students’ ages， their music taste， size of the class and students’ English level （Griffee， 1990）.
The next problem is how to find an appropriate song from such a huge number of choices in the Music Library.
It would not be helpful for identifying songs as teaching materials just in accordance with their types， rankings， or even popularity. Griffee （1990） advises the teacher to divide songs into the next four types： 1） songs that tell stories， 2） short and slow songs， 3） short and fast songs， and 4） long songs （longer than four minutes）. Obviously， only those short and slow songs with a story line in lyrics can be suitable as teaching-used material. Additionally， to meet the requirement of teaching and learning， the chosen songs should be written in correct sentence structure， use normal English vocabularies and have correct accent and stresses （Realin， 1976）. With the support of fundamental theories， I make the following plan about how to practically use songs in our ESL classrooms.
1. Leading in： there need to be some warming-up questions and background knowledge about the song and the singer to attract students’ attentions and help them quickly come into the state of the class （Wright， 2005）.
2. Presenting Me： playing the English song more than three times through video or audio aids to promote students to understand the meaning of the song at the first time， inspire them to sing along the song at the second time and do paraphrase of the lyric at the third time.
3. Presenting II： handing out the full lyrics of the song in class and explaining important language points in the lyrics like new words， key phrases， and syntactic structures to students.
4. Practice： asking students to read the text of song loudly.
5. Production I： asking students to complete some questions related to the words and grammars related to the song， arranging a group discussion about the topic of the song and encouraging students to make their voice.
6. Production II： playing the melody of the song and asking students to sing with it.
There is no denying that language learning is a tough work， which needs one to practice as often as possible. Since Wright （1984） has noticed that sound effects can greatly arise listeners’ attention and help them remember details， the application of songs in ESL classroom has become a worldwide trend recently. I have the belief that English songs can be useful materials in Chinese ESL classroom as well. Only when students truly enjoy the process of study， can they really learn the knowledge and use what they have learned into practice.
（作者單位：吉林长春市高新区慧仁学校）
So， why English songs are believed to make good work l in ESL classrooms？
It could be traced back to the history. In ancient Greek， lyric poems were normally accompanied with string instruments as a kind of art to show in the public. According to Maniago （2010， cited in Abdullah， 2013）， song lyrics present the same written pieces and categories like any other literacy works， which means that songs have a high literary value and are worthy of being studied. According to Palacios and Chapeton （2014）， 11th-grade students aged from 15 to 19 years old at a Public School in Bogotá have an extremely positive response after the application of using songs in their English classes. Students who took part in the experiment in Bogotá were proved to achieve a huge improvement in both learning efficiency and grades.
Also， playing songs can always create a friendly communicating atmosphere.
The free， relaxed and democratic atmosphere has always been regarded as one of the main features of a high effective class. English study is an interactive process of communication which needs both inputting and outputting. Compared with learning in the stressful and teacher-centered classroom， it would be more efficient for young students at New Time to have more chances to free their voices and minds （Palacios and Chapeton， 2014）. In this case， learning in accompany with music seems to be an interesting and motivating way for young people. In this entertaining and relaxed environment， students are active to open their mouths with the cover of melody to reduce their pressure and nervousness of speaking in public. Additionally， contends of songs are always attractive and closely connected with students’ real life. Therefore， it is easier for students to understand the meaning of English from the lyrics than from those obscure textbooks. Compared with memorizing words and rules through reading textbooks， learning through singing lyrics of songs are obviously more absorbing and interesting. English would no more be a subject for them， and learning English would also not be doing endless exercise. English can be alive， with sounds of music and melody. Also， different types of music involve different kinds of information which can fully satisfy students’ interests and curiosities in many fields. For example， folk songs always impart local customs through its lyrics. In this case， English is a culture， and English can be tools used to know about anything they want to know.
Then， which kinds of songs can be selected for ESL education？
Of course， teachers must be careful enough to avoid using English songs with embarrassing language， difficult words， inefficient sound systems， repetitive lyrics， informal grammatical structure and complicated sentences as materials， because these will have counterproductive effects on students’ study （Keskin， 2011）. Also， teachers’ personal emotions towards songs may influence students’ feelings as well. Thus， it would be better for teachers themselves to enjoy and appreciate the song first， and then they could introduce the song to students. After all， only when people enjoy the class emotionally， can they truly involve into it （Paul， 1996）. Also， teachers should be clear of some background information like students’ ages， their music taste， size of the class and students’ English level （Griffee， 1990）.
The next problem is how to find an appropriate song from such a huge number of choices in the Music Library.
It would not be helpful for identifying songs as teaching materials just in accordance with their types， rankings， or even popularity. Griffee （1990） advises the teacher to divide songs into the next four types： 1） songs that tell stories， 2） short and slow songs， 3） short and fast songs， and 4） long songs （longer than four minutes）. Obviously， only those short and slow songs with a story line in lyrics can be suitable as teaching-used material. Additionally， to meet the requirement of teaching and learning， the chosen songs should be written in correct sentence structure， use normal English vocabularies and have correct accent and stresses （Realin， 1976）. With the support of fundamental theories， I make the following plan about how to practically use songs in our ESL classrooms.
1. Leading in： there need to be some warming-up questions and background knowledge about the song and the singer to attract students’ attentions and help them quickly come into the state of the class （Wright， 2005）.
2. Presenting Me： playing the English song more than three times through video or audio aids to promote students to understand the meaning of the song at the first time， inspire them to sing along the song at the second time and do paraphrase of the lyric at the third time.
3. Presenting II： handing out the full lyrics of the song in class and explaining important language points in the lyrics like new words， key phrases， and syntactic structures to students.
4. Practice： asking students to read the text of song loudly.
5. Production I： asking students to complete some questions related to the words and grammars related to the song， arranging a group discussion about the topic of the song and encouraging students to make their voice.
6. Production II： playing the melody of the song and asking students to sing with it.
There is no denying that language learning is a tough work， which needs one to practice as often as possible. Since Wright （1984） has noticed that sound effects can greatly arise listeners’ attention and help them remember details， the application of songs in ESL classroom has become a worldwide trend recently. I have the belief that English songs can be useful materials in Chinese ESL classroom as well. Only when students truly enjoy the process of study， can they really learn the knowledge and use what they have learned into practice.
（作者單位：吉林长春市高新区慧仁学校）