TEACHING ENGLISH USING JAZZ CHANTS

Paper presented in
the 2nd National English Language Teachers and Lecturers
Conference,
State University of Malang, Indonesia,
March 20, 2010.

By

Khoiriyah
_______________________________________________________

State Islamic Junior High School (MTs),

Kota Pasuruan, East Java

State University of Malang

 2010
TEACHING ENGLISH USING JAZZ CHANTS

Khoiriyah
State Islamic Junior High School (MTs),
Kota Pasuruan, East Java

Introduction

Teaching English as a foreign language in Indonesian context required some kind

of strategies to build up students’ confidence in oral communication. When young
learners start learning English, there is usually an emphasis on developing listening and
speaking skills. They are led naturally into speaking and gradually develop the ability to
produce language and to interact with others.
So far, English young learners tend to get difficulties in producing language. This
evidence is strongly influenced by their native language or their psychological factors
such as being afraid of making mistake and shy to express their mind. On the other hand,
English teachers get difficulties in creating an appropriate strategy for their students. As a
consequence, they cannot communicate or interact with others although they have learned
English for long time. So, it is important for English teachers to provide frameworks for
speaking activities which encourage students to build up students’ confidence through the
acceptance of approximate pronunciation and give them time to acquire good habits in
unforced way.
Young learners are usually familiar with rhythm, music, and movement. It is
broadly recognized that the use of rhyme, chants, and songs plays a special role in
drawing children into producing language in ways which are natural, spontaneous and
enjoyable. As well as enhancing students’ learning and acquisition of language, the use of
rhyme, chants, and songs promotes the development of positive attitudes and motivation
towards learning a foreign language in both the immediate and longer term (Read, 2007).
Furthermore, Harmer (2007) stated that music, songs or chants, is powerful stimulus for
students’ engagement precisely and it can make a satisfactory connection between the
world of leisure and the world of learning in the classroom.

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Theoretical Basis
According to Graham (1979) Jazz Chants are the rhythmic expression of standard
American English. It may convey powerful and varied emotions, the rhythm, stress, and
intonation patterns of the spoken language are essential elements for the expression of
feelings and the intent of the speaker. While, Read (2007) stated that rhyme, chants, and
songs allow both verbal and non-verbal participation through physical movement,
actions, drama, and play. They can be integrated into sequences of work which develop a
range of skill. An example of chant can be used as the springboard for a whole sequence
of work is as follows:

Pizza Train Chant

Mushrooms, mushrooms
Cheese, tomatoes, cheese, tomatoes
Sausages, beef, sausages, beef
Chicken and ham, chicken and ham
Chicken and ham, chicken and ham
Red and green peppers, red and green peppers
Olives, onions, olives, onions
Tu-u-una, tu-u-una

Repetition has always played a part in language learning. It also helped students
transfer their knowledge from their short- term to their long-term memories. The words
mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes, sausages, beef, chicken, ham, red and green peppers,
olives, and onions above have been repeated twice. Furthermore, Brown (2007) stated
that drills offer students an opportunity to listen and to orally repeat certain strings of
language that may pose some linguistic difficulty-either phonological or grammatical. In
addition, the above Jazz Chants engage students’ multiple intelligences; visual-spatial
(reading the pizza flashcards), logical-mathematical (deducting the food items to ask
about the mingle).
Another example of Jazz Chant which train the students’ syllable stress,
enunciation, intonation; to have fun as stated by Maley (1992) is Free to Love Jazz Chant.
The following example of Jazz Chant also provides ear-training and develops students’
awareness of sound-spelling correspondences. It also engage students’ multiple
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intelligences; verbal-linguistic (repeating, writing the chant, and doing the role play),
musical (rhythm), and kinestetic (attractive movement, and the mingle activity):

Free to Love
Darling you can love one 2x
You can love one and it still be one
Darling you can love one
Darling you can love two 2x
You can love two and it still be true
Darling you can love two

( The following lines have the same tone as the above)

Darling you can love three it still be free
Darling you can love four it still be more
Darling you can love five it still be right
Darling you can love six it still be fix
Darling you can love seven we still in heaven
Darling you can love eight it still be right
Darling you can love nine it still be fine

Chants also teach the students how to pronounce words well. Pronunciation
teaching not only makes students aware of different sounds and sound feature, but can
also improve their speaking immeasurably (Harmer, 2007). Some students have great
difficulty in hearing pronunciation features which we want them to produce between 2
(two) and true, 3 (three) and free, 4 (four) and more, 5 (five) and right, 6 (six) and fix,
and so on. So, the ear-training should be developed by practising sound-spelling
correspondence and magically they forget to be shy.
This following example of Jazz Chant is an Adventure Jazz Chant which provides
not only teaching pronunciation but also the past simple form and vocabulary. It also
provides Wh-question, continents/countries, geographical features. This Jazz Chants
helps students to memorize the form of Wh-questions and past simple statements using
regular and irregular verbs. It also helps them to use a falling intonation pattern for Wh-
questions in natural way. Read (2007) cited the example of Jazz Chant which engages
students’ Multiple Intelligences; Interpersonal (preparing and doing role play), musical
(rhythm), and kinestetic (attractive movement) as follows:

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 Adventure Jazz Chant
What did Jack do ?
He said goodbye to his friends one day.
He wanted to travel far away.
Where did he go ?
He went to Africa and Asia too.
He went to Mexico and Peru
What did he see?
He saw volcanoes, deserts, and seas.
He saw high mountains and tropical trees.
Why was he sad ?
He wanted his friends, he wanted his home.
He didn’t like seeing the world alone.

Sample Material
City Jazz chant , as a sample material, will be presented briefly in this part. It
provides the way how to learn grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation spontaneously. It
also help to develop students’ awareness of stress, rhythm and intonation pattern in
English. The following sample material of interactive Jazz Chant have three stanzas. The
first stanza consists of words starting with the alphabet B, Ben (the name of man),
Brisbane (the name of city), Bringing (verb), big (adjective), and book (noun). The
second stanza, some words starting with the alphabet P, Path (the name of woman), Perth
(the name of city), Paddling (verb), pool (place). The third stanza, some words starting
with the alphabet M, Mac (the name of man), Melbourne (the name of city), Moving
(verb), mom (Noun). Those are pronounced spontaneously with rhythm, music, and
movement. The following interactive chant is the sample material:

City Jazz Chant

BRISBANE

S1: Where’s Ben from?

S2: He’s from Brisbane
S1: What’s he doing?
S2: Bringing a big book
Ben’s from Brisbane he’s Bringing a big book
Ben’s from Brisbane he’s Bringing a big book
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 PERTH
S1: Where’s Pam from?
S2: She’s from Perth
S1: What’s she doing
S2: Paddling in the pool
Pam’s from Perth and she’s paddling in the pool
Pam’s from Perth and she’s paddling in the pool

MELBOURNE
S1: Where’s Mac from?
S2: He’s from Melbourne
S1: What’s he doing?
S2: Moving with his mom
Mac’s from Melbourne he’s moving with his mom
Mac’s from Melbourne he’s moving with his mom

The sample materials above help to familiarize chunks of language memorable

and have a positive impact on all aspect of students’ pronunciation (e.g. the consonant
b /bi: / in Ben, Brisbane, Bringing, Big, and book ; the consonant p /pi: / in Pam, Perth,
Paddling, and pool; the consonant m /em/ in Mac, Melbourne, Moving, mom). It also
provides the use of the present continuous tense (e.g. She is paddling in the pool), and
asking and giving information (e.g. intonation in Wh-question: Where’s Ben from ?, He‘s
from Brisbane, What’s he doing ?, Bringing a big book). This Chant also engages
students’ multiple intelligences; Naturalist (observing and categorizing country and city),
Kinestetic (interactive movement), Musical (rhythm and tone).

Teaching Procedure
In order to maximize the benefits of using chant in teaching English, the
following procedures are recommended:
 Pre-Teaching

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 1. Prepare the text of City Jazz Chant, completed with a set of language exercises.

2. Distribute the worksheet as many the number of the students in your class.

 Whilst-Teaching

3. Show the map of Australia and point the cities one by one.

4. Sing the City Jazz chant, the first stanza ‘Brisbane’, as a model, while the
students look at the text.

5. Ask the students to follow singing when they are already familiar with the tune,
repeat it twice or three times.

6. Devide the class into two groups, group A and group B. Group A sing the first
line. While, group B sing the second line and followed by the third line and the
fourth line in turn. The fifth and the sixth line are sung together.

7. Ask the students to sing the second stanza ‘Perth’, and followed by the third
stanza ‘Melbourne’, repeat them twice or three times, to make sure that the
students already familiar with the tune.

8. After singing is done, make a group of four and ask them to do Exercise A, that
is finding the words starting with the same alphabet then grouping them
according to the parts of speech: Adjectives, Nouns, Verbs, and Adverbs.

9. Ask the students to do Exercise B. That is making Jazz Chant by using cities in
Indonesia and substituting words starting with the alphabets B, P, and M with
the alphabet A and S.

10. Discuss the answers with the students. The keys of the two exercises are as
follow:

Exercise A
a. (1) Ben, (2) Brisbane, (3) Bringing, (4) Big, (5) Book.

b. (1) Pam, (2) Perth, (4) Paddling, (5) Pool.

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 c. (1) Mac, (2) Melbourne, (3) Moving, (4) Mom

Nouns : (1) Ben, (2) Brisbane, (3) Book, (4) Pam, (5) Perth, (6) Pool,
(7) Mac, (8) Melbourne, (9) Mom.
Adjective : (1) Big.
Verbs : (1) bringing, (2) Paddling, (3) Moving.
Adverb : (1) in the pool.

Exercise B (Make a Jazz Chant by using cities or places in Indonesia, A

for group A, and S for Group B).
a. Group A : (1) Ani, (2) Ambon, (3) Acting, (4) Aunt.

b. Group B : (1) Susi, (2) Semarang, (3) Surfing, (4) Sea.

(or any other answers are acceptable as long as the sentences are
appropriate with the tune) .
 Post-Teaching

11. After exercises have been done ask the students to demonstrate their own Jazz
Chant with an attractive movement, it can be done either in the classroom or
outside the classroom.

Jazz Chants provide an enjoyable context repetition of a rhyme. They also engage
students in using a repeated language pattern of chunk and develop students’ social skill
(Begun, 96) such as turn-taking, and physical motor skill (Read, 2007). While, Puchta
and Rinvolucri (2005) stated that Multiple Intelligences Bill of Rights, in the following
line, express what a person with a strong musical intelligence may feel in a language
class of the early 21 st century. The lines are as follow:

I have to find tune for parts of each unit

I have a right to use my walkman in the reading and writing parts of the lessons

Can we have more Jazz Chants?

I want to sing the grammar

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 I have a right to listen to music that relaxes me

I have a right to listen to music that expresses my mood

I have a right to listen to music to lighten my language work

To make the students’ aware of their kinestetic difference, and have fun, Maley
(1992) provides the Chant which teaches the students two meanings of left and right, the
example of a Chant is Hiking Jazz Chant:

Hiking Jazz Chant

One Two
Left, left
Left, right, left
I left my room in a mess.
You’re right
I left my socks in the sink
You’re right
You’re right
You’re right, left, right.
Sing out !
One Two
(All together)
One, two, three, four, one, two

Reflection
Usually Jazz Chant is rarely used by English teachers, because it is uncommon
activities. I have practiced teaching English using Jazz Chants at MTs Negeri Kota
Pasuruan. The students feel happy and relax learning English in unforced way. Moreover,
we do this activity outside the classroom as an outdoor activity.

Conclusion
Jazz Chants are not part of Indonesian culture. But they are appropriate for
teaching English as a foreign language in Indonesian context. They have rich language
materials that can be useful as a resource for teaching English. Besides, they are also
engage students’ multiple Intelligences. Moreover, learning English in a relax situation
and unforced way, especially, with a rhythm and attractive movement can improve

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students’ learning of English and their motivation to learn English. In addition, Jazz
Chants can develop students’ confidence to interact with others in more extended way.

References

Brown, H.D. 2007. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to language

Pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Begun, R.W. 1996. Social Skills Lessons & Activities. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Graham, C. 1979. Jazz Chants for Children. New York, N.Y. Oxford University Press.

Harmer, J. 2007. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Pearson

Longman.

Maley, A. (Ed.). 1992. Music & Song: Resource Books for Teachers. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

Puchta, H. & Renfolucri, M. 2005. Multiple Intelligences in EFL: Exercises for

Secondary and Adult Students. Cambridge: Helbling Languages.

Read, C. 2007. 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom: Macmillan Books for Teachers.
Oxford: Macmillan Publishers.

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Appendix 1

City Jazz Chant

Where is ..............from ? ...............
He is from ................. .
What is he doing ?
................... ....................
............... is from .................
He is ................. a .......................

Free to love Chant

Darling you can love two 2x
You can love two and it still be true
Daring you can love two

 Three ...............  Seven ..............

 Four ................  Eight ...............
 Five ................  Nine ...............
 Six ...............  Ten ..............

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