My experience in life in
general and in language teaching in particular suggests that the trivia make up
the composite whole or, to put it in another way, understanding occurs when we
move from a lower to a higher level, from examples to generalisation, from
practice to theory. Knowledge is not dictated; it is attained.
Therefore, I am rather
skeptical about the effectiveness of conveniently numbered tips about how to do
things in class (for example how to use videos or songs).
I am inclined to believe
that each song or video lends itself to a different use in class, which is
determined by the content and the images of the song or video itself as well as
the level, age and maturity of the learners.
I will illustrate with an
example of a country song called The
Great Dust Storm by Woody Guthrie.
The Great Dust Storm (Dust Storm Disaster)
Woody Guthrie
On the 14th day of April of 1935
There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky
You could see that dust storm comin', the cloud looked deathlike black
And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track
From Oklahoma City to the Arizona line
Dakota and Nebraska to the lazy Rio Grande
It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down
We thought it was our judgement, we thought it was our doom
The radio reported, we listened with alarm
The wild and windy actions of this great mysterious storm
From Albuquerque and Clovis, and all New Mexico
They said it was the blackest that ever they had saw
From old Dodge City, Kansas, the dust had rung their knell
And a few more comrades sleeping on top of old Boot Hill
From Denver, Colorado, they said it blew so strong
They thought that they could hold out, but they didn't know how long
Our relatives were huddled into their oil boom shacks
And the children they was cryin' as it whistled through the cracks
And the family it was crowded into their little room
They thought the world had ended, and they thought it was their doom
The storm took place at sundown, it lasted through the night
When we looked out next morning, we saw a terrible sight
We saw outside our window where wheat fields they had grown
Was now a rippling ocean of dust the wind had blown
It covered up our fences, it covered up our barns
It covered up our tractors in this wild and dusty storm
We loaded our jalopies and piled our families in
We rattled down that highway to never come back again
There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky
You could see that dust storm comin', the cloud looked deathlike black
And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track
From Oklahoma City to the Arizona line
Dakota and Nebraska to the lazy Rio Grande
It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down
We thought it was our judgement, we thought it was our doom
The radio reported, we listened with alarm
The wild and windy actions of this great mysterious storm
From Albuquerque and Clovis, and all New Mexico
They said it was the blackest that ever they had saw
From old Dodge City, Kansas, the dust had rung their knell
And a few more comrades sleeping on top of old Boot Hill
From Denver, Colorado, they said it blew so strong
They thought that they could hold out, but they didn't know how long
Our relatives were huddled into their oil boom shacks
And the children they was cryin' as it whistled through the cracks
And the family it was crowded into their little room
They thought the world had ended, and they thought it was their doom
The storm took place at sundown, it lasted through the night
When we looked out next morning, we saw a terrible sight
We saw outside our window where wheat fields they had grown
Was now a rippling ocean of dust the wind had blown
It covered up our fences, it covered up our barns
It covered up our tractors in this wild and dusty storm
We loaded our jalopies and piled our families in
We rattled down that highway to never come back again
When I watched the video, I
thought it would be a good idea to mute the sound and only show the video in
order to elicit some language:
important date, dust,
storm, bury, thick clouds, cover, hover over cities, pray, disaster, tracts of
land, pitch black, doom, graves, plod through, abject poverty, cramped living
conditions, wheat fields, carts drawn by horses, fences, barns, tractors, farming
machines, abandon land and property, load up cars/wagons, deserted countryside
The above list is simply a
suggestion. It seems to me that the song can be used with any level from
intermediate upwards so the teacher would simply raise or reduce their expectations
in terms of vocabulary production.
The students could be
asked to describe what they see in the video (pause and play) and then engage
in a discussion about the causes of the phenomenon and its relevance in this
day and age. Here the teacher could encourage them to use modal verbs of
possibility followed by present perfect infinitive, which the students hardly
ever get the opportunity to practise in a meaningful context. (An accident
might have happened.)
Following this, the
teacher could play the song and ask the students to confirm or rectify their
guesses. Again, the teacher could use this as an opportunity to introduce ways
of confirming or correcting wrong guesses:
I wrongly thought … when
in fact …
I was right in
thinking/saying …
Although the disaster
struck over 80 years ago, it is still relevant today. The lack of care in farming was
to blame for the soil erosion and the resulting dust storms, which caused so
much damage to the environment and major upheavals in people’s lives –
especially those of people living in the country in a similar way that today
wrong farming practices as well as intensive farming play havoc with the
environment and people’s health.
The teacher can either
give an account of the background themselves or hand out the entry in Wikipedia
and prepare some reading comprehension questions.
For writing practice, the
students could invent a story about one of the families that left their land
and home: how they reacted to the dust storm, what they thought was happening
before they found out from the radio, how they loaded all their belongings onto
a vehicle and left behind a lifetime’s effort and memories.
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