European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages - Teacher's Handbook

Abstract

The European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages project aims to enable primary teachers to integrate music and language learning to enhance educational outcomes in both areas. The introduction chapter gives an overview of the innovations and functions of the European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages project and materials. Chapter 2 describes the four focus areas of learning in music for younger learners (listening, making, representing and discussing), which were developed by the project partners. Chapter 3 describes the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and learning opportunities in language and language awareness for younger learners, with reference to the European Language Portfolio and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Chapter 4 describes the interrelationship between music and language and contains practical ideas. It also highlights how intercultural, motivational, and cognitive aspects of learning, as well as language awareness and the four communicative skills in language, can be supported by musical activities. Chapter 5 offers a synopsis of different learning approaches for linking music and language learning. It describes the Pupil’s Portfolio, teacher’s materials and the online activities. It also provides the activity grid, which contains specific types of musical activities that can support both musical and language learning objectives. This final chapter also contains a link to the EMP-L website, which has more ideas and suggestions for how to adapt the activities for individual pupils and groups.

Full text

European Music Portfolio
A Creative Way into Languages
TEACHER’S HANDBOOK
Produced for the Comenius Lifelong Learning Project
502895 LLP-1-2009-1-DE-COMENIUS-CMP
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the
Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein.
Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.

European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages – Teacher’s Handbook
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Lead Editors:
Karen M. Ludke
Hanna Weinmann
Contributing Authors:
Peter Carle, Margarete Dinkelaker and Adelheid Kramer
Landesinstitut für Schulsport, Schulkunst und Schulmusik Ludwigsburg – Germany
Patricia Driscoll, David Wheway, Vikki Schulze and Jonathan Barnes
Canterbury Christ Church University, Faculty of Education – England
Maria Argyriou, Panagiotis G. Kampylis and Vicky Charissi
Greek Association of Primary Music Teachers, Piraeus – Greece
Kaarina Marjanen
University of Helsinki, Koulutus-ja kehittämiskeskus Palmenia, Centre for Continuing
Education – Finland
Karen M. Ludke and Katie Overy
University of Edinburgh, Institute for Music in Human and Social Development – Scotland
Marina Cap-Bun and Iliana Velescu
Universitatea Ovidius Constan!a, Romanian Language and Literature and Faculty of
Arts – Romania
Albert Casals Ibáñez and Laia Viladot Vallverdú
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Faculty of Sciences of Education – Spain
Maria del Mar Suárez Vilagran, Universitat de Barcelona – Spain
Jörg-U. Keßler, Robert Lang and Jürgen Mertens
Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg Institut für Sprachen – Germany
Isabelle Aliaga, Martine Dreyfus and Jacquie Azemar
Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres de Montpellier – France
Associated Partner:
Brigitte Bechter, Markus Cslovjecsek and Françoise Hänggi
Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Pädagogische Hochschule – Switzerland
Hanna Weinmann, Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich – Switzerland

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The European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages project aims to
enable primary teachers to integrate music and language learning to enhance
educational outcomes in both areas. The figure below provides an overview of what
you will find in this handbook.
What can you find in this handbook?
Chapter 1
Introduction
The introduction gives an overview of the innovations and functions of the European Music
Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages project and materials.
Chapter 2
Teaching and Learning Music
Chapter 2 describes the four focus areas of
learning in music for younger learners
(listening, making, representing and
discussing), which were developed by the
project partners.
Chapter 3
Teaching and Learning Languages
Chapter 3 describes the four skills (listening,
speaking, reading and writing) and learning
opportunities in language and language
awareness for younger learners, with reference
to the European Language Portfolio and the
Common European Framework of Reference
for Languages.
Chapter 4
Integrating Music and Language Learning
Chapter 4 describes the interrelationship between music and language and contains practical
ideas. It also highlights how intercultural, motivational, and cognitive aspects of learning, as
well as language awareness and the four communicative skills in language, can be supported
by musical activities.
Chapter 5
Bringing the EMP-L into the Classroom
Chapter 5 offers a synopsis of different learning approaches for linking music and language
learning. It describes the Pupil’s Portfolio, teacher’s materials and the online activities. It also
provides the activity grid, which contains specific types of musical activities that can support
both musical and language learning objectives. This final chapter also contains a link to the
EMP-L website, which has more ideas and suggestions for how to adapt the activities for
individual pupils and groups.

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CONTENTS
WHAT CAN YOU FIND IN THIS HANDBOOK? ............................................................................................................... 2!
1!INTRODUCTION TO THE EUROPEAN MUSIC PORTFOLIO: A CREATIVE WAY INTO
LANGUAGES .......................................................................................................................................................... 4!
1.1!WHY INTEGRATE MUSIC AND LANGUAGE LEARNING? ..................................................................................... 5!
1.2!AIMS AND PRINCIPLES ..................................................................................................................................... 7!
1.3!FUNCTION, ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUTS OF THE EMP-L ..................................................................................... 7!
2!TEACHING AND LEARNING MUSIC ....................................................................................................... 8!
2.1!LISTENING ..................................................................................................................................................... 11!
2.2!MAKING ........................................................................................................................................................ 12!
2.3!REPRESENTING .............................................................................................................................................. 14!
2.4!DISCUSSING ................................................................................................................................................... 16!
2.5!MUSIC EDUCATIONAL APPROACHES AND GOALS ........................................................................................... 17!
2.6!EMP-L MUSICAL ACTIVITY CATEGORIES ....................................................................................................... 18!
3!TEACHING AND LEARNING LANGUAGES ......................................................................................... 19!
3.1!ORACY (LISTENING AND SPEAKING) ............................................................................................................. 20!
3.2!LITERACY (READING AND WRITING) ............................................................................................................ 22!
3.3!LEXICAL COMPETENCE (VOCABULARY) ........................................................................................................ 24!
3.4!LANGUAGE AWARENESS ................................................................................................................................ 25!
3.5!INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS ....................................................................................................................... 26!
3.6!LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES ............................................................................................................... 28!
4!INTEGRATING MUSIC AND LANGUAGE LEARNING ...................................................................... 30!
4.1!ORACY (LISTENING AND SPEAKING) WITH MUSICAL ACTIVITIES ................................................................... 32!
4.2!LITERACY (READING AND WRITING) WITH MUSICAL ACTIVITIES ................................................................... 34!
4.3!LEXICAL COMPETENCE (VOCABULARY) WITH MUSICAL ACTIVITIES .............................................................. 36!
4.4!LANGUAGE AWARENESS WITH MUSICAL ACTIVITIES ..................................................................................... 37!
4.5!INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS WITH MUSICAL ACTIVITIES ............................................................................ 38!
4.6!COGNITIVE AND LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES WITH MUSICAL ACTIVITIES .......................................... 39!
5!BRINGING THE EMP-L INTO THE CLASSROOM .............................................................................. 42!
CREATIVITY WITHIN THE EUROPEAN MUSIC PORTFOLIO ......................................................................................... 42!
5.1!THE PUPIL’S PORTFOLIO ................................................................................................................................ 43!
5.2!THE EMP-L TEACHER’S GUIDE AND TEACHER’S BOOKLETS ....................................................................... 44!
5.3!THE ONLINE EMP-L ACTIVITIES .................................................................................................................... 44!
5.4!ACTIVITY GRID TO INTEGRATE MUSICAL ACTIVITIES WITH LANGUAGE LEARNING AIMS ............................... 44!
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................... 50!

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1 Introduction to the European Music Portfolio:
A Creative Way into Languages
The European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages (EMP-L) project
aims to support children’s learning in music and language through an integrated
approach. The materials are designed for generalist and specialist teachers.
Listening, perceiving, imitating, and creating are skills in both language and
music, including music without words. The EMP-L project emphasises the
interrelationships between music and language (see Figure 1.1 and Figure 4.1).
Development of materials
The EMP-L print and online materials were piloted with teachers and pupils in
each partner country from 2010 to 2012. These EMP-L resources can be used as
classroom based resources or integrated into initial teacher training and continuing
professional development courses.
Partners involved in the European Music Portfolio project
The EMP-L was developed by an international team of language and music educators
and researchers through the support of a Comenius Lifelong Learning grant awarded
by the European Commission from 2009 to 2012. The partner associations and
institutions involved in developing the EMP-L materials were:
Landesinstitut für Schulsport, Schulkunst und Schulmusik – Ludwigsburg, Germany
Figure 1.1: Graphic to show how EMP-L is situated within the
context of cultural language and music interactions
Music
Interaction
Language
Interaction
Culture and Context
EMP-L

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Faculty of Education, Canterbury Christ Church University – Canterbury, England
Greek Association of Primary Music Teachers – Piraeus, Greece
Koulutus-ja kehittämiskeskus Palmenia, Centre for Continuing Education, University
of Helsinki – Helsinki, Finland
Institute for Music in Human and Social Development, University of Edinburgh –
Edinburgh, Scotland
Romanian Language and Literature, Ovidius University of Constan!a – Constan!a,
Romania
Faculty of Sciences of Education, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona – Barcelona,
Spain
Institut für Sprachen, Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg – Ludwigsburg,
Germany
Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres de Montpellier – Montpellier, France
Associated Partner:
Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Pädagogische Hochschule – Aarau, Basel, Brugg,
Liestal, Solothurn, Zofingen, Switzerland
1.1 Why integrate music and language learning?
Music and language learning are naturally connected
Neuroscience research in recent years suggests profound relationships between music
and language (Patel, 2008; Gruhn & Rauscher, 2008). Infants probably learn music
and language in similar ways: through immersion in the rich sound environment in
which they live (see for example Bruner, 1983; Thaut, 2005; Parke & Gauvain, 2009;
Hallam, 2010). The basic networks for music and language learning are created
during the prenatal period and the baby’s first postnatal months, so music and
language learning are probably developmentally connected (Marjanen, 2009).
Music fosters the relationship between conceptual development and language
development
Through rhythms, tones and intervals, singing and music can help to break speech
streams into meaningful units. Each language is organised in a particular way, with

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stresses, rhythms and melodies specific to it; this is particularly noticeable when
someone transposes the prosody of their native language into a new language and it
sounds like they have an accent. The musical rhythms in composed music tend to
maintain a close match to the prosodic elements of speech of the composer’s native
language (Patel & Daniele, 2003).
Music sets a positive and constructive learning atmosphere
Educators have suggested that music can quickly set a positive classroom tone, and
pre-dispose children to learning in the target language (Murphey, 1992). Musical
activities can provide positive affective, motivational, and cognitive benefits for
students at different ages and stages of language learning (Casals, 2011). The
enjoyable repetition involved in singing songs and listening to rhythmic speech
patterns can result in more secure learning of target language structures, within and
beyond the classroom (Krashen, 1983; Murphey, 1990; Spicher & Sweeney, 2007).
Music can facilitate language learning
Controlled studies have shown that vocabulary, intonation, speaking and grammar
skills can be supported by learning songs (Wallace, 1994; Schön, Boyer, Moreno,
Besson, Peretz, & Kolinsky, 2008; Ludke, 2010). Research also indicates that young
children are particularly capable of learning foreign languages (Muñoz, 2006;
Nikolov & Djigunovic, 2006). There is much anecdotal evidence that illustrates the
benefits of using songs to support classroom learning (Murphey, 1992; Medina, 1993;
Fomina, 2000; Spicher & Sweeney, 2007), including techniques which encourage the
incorporation of music, song and singing into the foreign language curriculum
(Anton, 1990; Bancroft, 1995; Badstübner-Kizik, 2007).
Music and language learning are creative
The EMP-L promotes a creative approach to integrating music and language. The
EMP-L activities are open-ended rather than predetermined ‘recipes’, and as such
offer both teachers and students the opportunity to express and develop their creative
ideas. Creativity underpins all of the musical activities that we have developed to
support language learning. EMP-L has adopted the following definition:
‘Creativity is the general term we use to describe an individual’s attitude
to, ability for, and styles of creative thinking that leads to a structured,
intentional, meaningful and open-ended activity, mental and/or physical.
This activity may be personal and/or collective, occurs in a specific
space-time, political, economic, social, and cultural context, and interacts
with it. The creative activity aims to realize the creative potential of the
creator(s), leading to tangible or intangible product(s) that is (are)
original, useful, and desirable, at least for the creator(s). The creative
product(s) should be used for ethical and constructive purposes.’
(Kampylis, 2010: 92)
The materials developed for this project aim to support pupils in expanding their
knowledge of music and language whilst engaging their creativity.

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1.2 Aims and principles
The purpose of the European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages
project is to help teachers creatively integrate musical activities into primary language
education. By linking music with language learning and taking advantage of the
features that are similar between them (see Chapter 4), the EMP-L approach to
language learning aims to reduce language barriers, foster co-operative learning and
increase social integration within and between different European countries. The
EMP-L approach also aims to nurture self-confidence, self-expression and creativity
and to improve intercultural understanding and sensitivity. The table of contents (p. 3)
provides a guide for where these different aspects are discussed.
Specifically, the EMP-L project aims to:
• motivate children to learn new languages whilst developing musical skills;
• foster creativity amongst pupils and teachers;
• train primary teachers to support language skills through musical activities;
• contribute to primary teacher education and to continuing professional
development;
• increase the creative use of technology and ICT;
• explore musical and linguistic diversity in Europe;
• integrate European cultures through innovative educational materials.
1.3 Function, activities and outputs of the EMP-L
The European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages was created for
flexible use alongside the European Language Portfolio and with national, regional,
and local standards for the modern languages curriculum at the primary level. The
EMP-L project provides a range of materials for young pupils, generalist teachers and
specialist teachers, including:
• this Teacher’s Handbook, which provides a rationale for integrating music and
language learning and a framework for how these two domains can be
supported through the EMP-L activities;
• Teacher’s Booklets specific to each partner country, which contain guidelines,
resources, and activities to use in the classroom;
• a website with more activities and ‘good practice’ examples for integrating
music with first and foreign language teaching (www.emportfolio.eu);
• a Pupil’s Portfolio, which is a classroom tool to support pupils’ language and
musical skills development and to enable children to reflect on their musical
learning and goals;
• a Teacher’s Guide to the Pupil’s Portfolio and Teacher’s Cards, which provide
generalist and specialist teachers with further practical ideas for learning and
reflection, individually or for groups of pupils;
• Comenius continuing professional development (CPD) courses designed to
support primary teachers in integrating music and language learning;
• national and international train-the-trainer courses.

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2 Teaching and Learning Music
Music plays an important role in human life, from aesthetic and emotional
experiences to intra- and interpersonal, historical, and cultural experiences. Music
also serves many different functions, ranging from lullabies and dance music to
religious or national ceremonies, and thus lives within people and their cultures
(Blacking, 1973). This chapter describes some ideas from music education and
presents four areas of musical learning within EMP-L: listening, making,
representing, and discussing music. These four musical competences offer a multitude
of opportunities for connecting with and supporting other areas of the primary
curriculum. Links between musical learning and language learning are made in
Chapters 4 and 5.
What is Music?
Music is not just singing or instrumental performance. It has been described as
broadly as ‘humanly organised sounds’ (Blacking, 1973). Our experience of music
extends far beyond its physical characteristics, to our emotional, cognitive, personal
and cultural responses.
For a teacher it is important to maintain an open definition of music.
Describing music as ‘organised sound’ makes it clear that it is up to the listener or
performer to decide whether something perceived or performed should be called
‘music’. For the EMP-L project this description of music is considered to be a helpful
starting point because it encourages teachers to be curious about children’s
perceptions and subjective definitions of music.
Musical features
In most musical forms around the world, the primary structural features are melody
and rhythm. The culturally specific nature of these structures is learned gradually
during childhood (Paananen, 2003). Melodies are built from different pitches and
pitches are organised according to musical scales, serving as a reference point in the
creation of musical patterns. Children’s songs are often very simple in structure with a
strong tonal centre, and are often taught to children step-by-step with the support of
movement and fun (Marjanen, 2009).
Many concepts of music hold that music is a communicative activity that
creatively conveys moods, emotions and ideas between performers and listeners
(Paynter & Aston, 1970; Juslin, 2005; Malloch & Trevarthen, 2009; Overy & Molnar-
Szakacs, 2009).!Some argue that human music-making may even pre-date spoken
language (Dissanayake, 2000; Mithen, 2005). The position of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is that arts education,
including music, is a universal right (Ruiz & Pérez, 2006). We believe music
education should include opportunities to talk about, listen to, create, respond to and
understand both our own and others’ music.
Music starts from our bodies. We are able to make musical sounds by
vibrating vocal chords, clapping hands and stamping feet. It has been suggested that
the earliest musical expressions are innate, but that musicality as an inherited

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capability is also affected by the environment (Roiha, 1965). Rhythmic expression
appears to be important at a very early age. In a study investigating the rhythmic
expression of 5- to 24-month-olds, researchers found that infants were more attracted
to rhythms and other rhythmically regular sounds than to language and the strength of
rhythmic coordination has been connected to the development of positive emotions
(Zentner & Eerola, 2010). According to Wood (1982) music can reach all areas of
development, and this observation is the basis for many principles of music education.
Music education and creativity
Many cultures assume that all humans are musical and that everyone can participate
in making, performing and appreciating music (Blacking, 1973; Clausen, Hemetek, &
Saether, 2009; Young & Guillen, 2010). All cultures have music especially designed
for children and based on linguistic patterns (Brown, 2000).
In schools and music lessons, an emphasis is often placed on developing skills
and competences that enable children and young people to take part in and contribute
to musical life in their community. Since making music, and especially singing, can
be a deeply personal expression of emotions and ideas, both the teacher’s and
children’s responses to individual music making should be sensitive. Creative music
can express a child’s originality and uniqueness, and in this context accuracy or
technical skills are sometimes given less importance. Music can also express regional
or national identity (Velescu, 2001) and music education can thus enhance our
awareness of other cultures and multicultural identities.
Music educators often cite ‘the incredible power and mind-making potential of
music’ (Swanwick, 1988). The notion that music learning can provide a powerful
means of supporting sequential memory (Silverman, 2007), motor, cognitive, socio-
emotional, aesthetic, and kinaesthetic development is increasingly accepted in
education. Music provides a rich context for social, personal, cognitive and cultural
engagement, and researchers have found links between music-making and mental,
physical and social health (Clift & Hancox, 2001; Bunt & Hoskyns, 2002; Clift,
Hancox, Staricoff, & Whitmore, 2008; MacDonald, Kreutz, & Mitchell, 2012).
Through music education, children can creatively and efficiently develop their
ambition and ability to acquire knowledge in a range of different areas:
• Children’s distributed attention can be engaged by analysing how music is
created (reading notes, keeping the beat and tempo, focus on posture and hand
movements, precision in voice intonation, rhythm and execution).
• Children’s long-term memory is encouraged by listening to various forms and
genres of music.
• Children’s acoustic perception is stimulated by listening to music and sounds
(from the discrimination of environmental noises or single musical elements to
complex musical pieces with multiple rhythms and voices).
• Children’s creativity, sympathy and sense of aesthetics are encouraged by
interpreting music through small musical compositions and games.
Music connects individuals through shared experiences (Marjanen, 2009;
Overy & Molnar-Szakacs, 2009). It is argued to enhance attention skills, focus and
responsiveness (Huotilainen, 2011) as well as imagination and creativity (Zulauf,

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1993). The EMP-L partners believe that fostering music education and integrating
musical activities into general education, is justified and important for children.
Philosophies of music education
Teachers plan musical activities and goals based on their training, philosophical or
theoretical framework, values, personal background and history (Kovanen, 2010).
Here we briefly describe three approaches to the philosophy of music education: an
aesthetic philosophy, a praxial philosophy and a semiotic approach. These three
approaches emphasise the value of music as an educational subject and the quality of
music as a form of human communication.
Aesthetics is concerned with beauty and the appreciation of beauty. Aesthetic
philosophers believe that music has valuable and significant characteristics within its
structures, forms, and elicited emotional responses. They suggest that music education
supports the development of our natural sensitivity to beauty, through which aesthetic
experiences can be achieved. Enjoying and being around the aesthetically beautiful is
considered to refine our emotions and self-growth. Aesthetic philosophers
(Swanwick, 1988; Reimer, 1989) emphasise the symbolic, emotional meanings of
music – whilst other writers highlight the profound experiences music can provide,
such as ‘flow’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). Achieving an aesthetic musical experience is
possible through composing, active listening and performing, conceptualising and
analysing music (Swanwick, 1988; Reimer, 1989).
The praxist view points to a broader understanding of music and music
education, considering the aesthetic philosophy as too narrow. For the praxist
philosophers, music is considered in terms of action – something that individuals
actively do – it is context-based, intentional, performance-oriented activity. The value
of music education lies in musical activities being connected to their function or
meaning (Elliott, 1995; Regelski, 1996). The praxists see musical experience as
important for individuals regardless of their skills or talents. From this perspective,
the value of music is linked with the benefit or additional value that the musical
activity can have on an individual’s life.
The semiotic approach considers music and musical activity from the point of
view of communication – the creation and exchange of signs. Spychiger (1997; 2001)
developed this approach out of Alfred Lang’s ‘dialogic-evolutive’ or ‘generic’
semiotic framework of an individual in society (Lang, 1993). Spychiger proposes an
understanding of music as a sign system that integrates aspects of perception,
reflection, expression and culture, and as fundamentally connected to other sign
systems such as language and art. Elements of musical reality – from pitch and chords
to musical instruments and orchestras – become signs that can be identified in areas
other than music: melodies in texts and poems, harmony and disharmony in social
interactions. From this perspective musical activity can be used to make interesting
new connections with other subjects and lead to a more integrated musical learning
process (Cslovjecsek & Spychiger, 1998).
Musical learning and competence
The word ‘competence’ is often used to describe music curricula (cf. Knigge,
Niessen, & Jordan, 2010). However, a recent European report showed very little
consistency across countries regarding music education curricula:

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‘Some…articulate a clear philosophy and purpose for music
education and are less concerned with defining specific content.
Others give detailed lists of the musical skills, knowledge and
repertoire to be taught in clear sequence across the ages. Although
improvising and arranging are often mentioned, in the context of
developing rhythmic and melodic skills rather than as an end in
themselves, composing (especially in primary years) is less usual.’
(Music Education Network, 2011)
The EMP-L brings together ideas from across Europe and focuses on four key
areas of musical learning (listening, making, representing and discussing music),
which are intended to be fully interconnected with each other within a broad, holistic
understanding of musical competence (see Figure 2.1).
Figure 2.1: The four EMP-L musical learning areas
In the following sections we describe these four musical learning areas. A
wide range of ideas and goals include enabling pupils to enjoy music and sounds, to
participate in musical activities and games, to share their musical experiences and to
contribute to the musical life of their communities. Musical features that are shared
with language are emphasised, within the context of interactive and social behaviour.
Example activities are provided in Chapters 4 and 5, where we connect language
learning directly with musical learning. We suggest that these four areas of musical
learning can lead to responsive musical awareness and productive musical behaviour,
at both the individual and the social level.
2.1 Listening
Children can develop a deeper awareness of their acoustic environment through
listening activities, from discriminating between simple sounds to the analysis of
complex musical pieces with multiple layers of texture, timbre and rhythm. Children’s
listening skills and their understanding of musical concepts can be developed if such
sounds are identified verbally or visually (e.g., given a name, or a graphic, or colour
Music Listening
Making Music
Representing Music
Discussing Music

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to represent different musical elements). Enjoyable music listening activities can also
motivate children to learn more about music and to develop their aesthetic awareness.
Discriminating and describing sounds
Learning to perceive, discriminate and describe sounds and sound sequences is
important when developing an appreciation of music. Careful listening provides the
raw materials for creative connections in and through music. Learning to differentiate
sounds can include learning about different timbres, chords, polyphony, and simple
‘opposites’ such as high–low, loud–quiet, and fast–slow. Examples of skills in this
area include learning to:
• identify, locate, and name different environmental and musical sounds;
• listen to and understand musical structures (e.g., beginnings, endings,
repetition and pattern, phrasing, accompaniment, silence).
Listening to understand musical style and structure
Musical structure helps us to perceive individual musical elements as being part of a
larger meaningful unit. Children can learn to differentiate between intervals,
melodies, rhythms, harmonies, forms and genres, and gradually learn the terminology
to describe the fundamentals of music composition. Children may learn how to:
• recognise, differentiate, describe, and name structural elements of music (e.g.,
melodic themes, harmonies, changes in metre);
• identify and describe styles and genres of musical works in terms of historical
period and cultural influences.
Knowledge of instruments
Children can learn to differentiate between musical instruments by listening carefully
to the types of sound they produce, such as plucked strings, struck wood or metal, or
blown tubes (e.g., strings, percussion, brass, woodwind). Each instrument has its own
characteristic sound, and children can learn the importance of timbre and tuning while
developing and expanding their knowledge of musical instruments. In this area of
musical learning, children can learn to:
• recognise, distinguish, describe, name, and classify musical instruments and
different parts of them (e.g., keys, valves, strings);
• explore and create new sound-makers or instruments.
2.2 Making
Making music includes performing, improvising and composing, which involve both
creative and interpretive processes. Music-making in the classroom might involve
singing or accompanying a song, performing instrumental music, or projects that
explore different sounds and materials. Performing music involves interpretation,
refinement, and modification according to the audience, the occasion and the

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performer’s musical skills. It can also provide creative opportunities for children to
communicate their moods, emotions, ideas and skills through music.
When guiding music making, the teacher can play an important role in helping
children to build on previous musical experiences and promote new learning.
Children can feel shy or exposed when performing music in front of others, so it is
crucial that any feedback from teachers and other children is sensitive and considered,
especially regarding vocal performances (such as chanting, rapping, or singing) and
creative sound experiments.
Digital technology can be extremely useful for recording performances, from
something as simple as using the recording function on a mobile phone. Young
children should be encouraged to capture their musical inventions and to critically
appraise them. They may also wish to make their compositions permanent in other
ways, such as by notating, either conventionally or by inventing symbols to create
their own graphical scores.
Singing
Children enjoy learning new songs. Additional levels of challenge can be rewarding,
such as singing solo, singing in harmony, or singing a cappella. During singing
activities, children can also learn to:
• vocally imitate sounds with rhythmical and stylistic accuracy (e.g., speaking,
whispering, alterations in pitch, dynamics, or timbre);
• maintain a steady tempo (speed) and rhythm;
• blend or harmonise with another voice or voices;
• sensitively use phrasing, dynamics, expression, pronunciation, and intonation.
Accompanying songs and playing instruments
Children can explore using musical instruments for a wide range of activities, such as
accompanying singing, solo performances, group compositions and improvisation.
Creating instrumental music can empower young learners to express ideas, for
example during storytelling when a particular instrument is paired with actions,
images, gestures, or characters. Using a musical instrument, children can also learn to:
• create and perform rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic accompaniments;
• demonstrate originality and variety in a musical piece, such as by highlighting
different aspects of the performance (e.g., phrasing, dynamics, expression);
• explore musical interactions, accuracy and creativity in ensemble playing.
Sound exploration, improvisation and composition
Young learners are creative thinkers and enjoy experimenting with improvising and
composing, as well as inventing and reading graphical scores (Pond, 1981; Glover,
1990). Non-musical stimuli, such as poetry, stories, pictures and videos, can stimulate
ideas for musical sequences and textures. Musical technologies, ‘found sounds’ or
unconventional instruments can also inspire them and enhance the compositional
process. Children can learn to:

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• conduct sound experiments with different instruments on their own and with
groups of children;
• learn to create and interpret a variety of notations and graphical scores;
• use computer software to support the creation, deconstruction, and
reconstruction of musical works.
Music and technology
Within music lessons, children can develop their knowledge of technology via an
enormous range of potential equipment and software. This includes resources such as
electronic instruments, loudspeakers, microphones, amplifiers, computer software,
digital or other audio recorders, playback devices, and pre-recorded media (e.g., MP3
files or YouTube videos). It is important for children to understand the safety steps
they can follow to avoid the risks associated with electrical equipment, but these
should not present a barrier. Children can learn to:
• use electronic musical instruments and equipment, and compare these with
traditional instruments;
• use electronic media and software programmes to listen, appraise, capture,
combine and experiment with music and sound design.
Through music perception (listening activities) and practice of different types
of musical performance (production), children can learn to express themselves
through music and by creating music. Teachers should encourage children to engage
expressively, and not only technically, in musical activities.
2.3 Representing
This area of musical learning involves activities that relate sounds to other media and
sign systems (e.g., language, numbers, movement and dance). When different modes
are used in synchrony (e.g., sounds, gestures, words, images), musical learning can be
enhanced through the involvement of other senses and learning modes (Márquez,
Izquierdo & Espinet, 2003; Young, 2009; Pérez & Malagarriga, 2010). This can
provide multi-sensory reinforcement and support different learners’ educational
needs.
Traditional musical notation systems are an important form of musical
representation, but young learners can also interpret and create representations of
music in relation to pictures, ideas, stories, environments, poems, moods and
emotions, working either individually or in groups. Teachers may also be able to
create opportunities for children to perceive, understand and express music through
haptic (touch/tactile) representations, for example with the use of advanced ICT such
as tangible user interfaces (e.g., touch screens).
Interpreting and responding
Children respond well to multi-sensory stimuli, and touch, smell, taste and sight can
all be used to inspire musical ideas. Young learners are also highly motivated by

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holistic, real-world musical experience that involves listening, watching, performing
and moving within a group ensemble. Shared and authentic activity in a range of
settings and curriculum areas can be used to motivate children towards musical
representation of their own ideas. Composers of the past and present have represented
landscapes, events, moods, adventures, hopes and even buildings in their
compositions.
Teachers can support children in understanding the intentions of composers
and in creating their own compositions to represent stories, emotions or places.
Children may learn to:
• engage in planned or improvised expressive forms of movement and gesture in
response to a particular piece of music;
• interpret visual images using instruments, voices and sounds;
• develop a rich vocabulary to talk about different aspects of music.
Music and language
For a detailed discussion of integrated music and language learning, please see
Chapter 4.
Music and movement
Music and movement are deeply related and can be explored in a rich variety of ways,
from traditional dancing, improvised movement when listening to music and musical
interpretations of physical gestures to ‘air writing’ to melodies. Combining movement
with musical activity can be used to develop children’s motor co-ordination,
sequential memory and a range of other musical and non-musical skills. Activities
could include:
• creating and performing expressive gestures and dance steps in response to a
piece of music;
• learning to memorise musical material using specific movements and gestures
(Marjanen, 2009).
Music and graphics
Graphic scores offer an unlimited range of visual representations of music, while
musical experiences can be beautifully represented using images. Exploring ways to
transform photographs, images or graphic scores into music, and vice versa, is a
creative way to integrate and develop artistic, visual, auditory and musical skills.
These kinds of activity are also useful for developing auditory-visual connections that
may be useful for grapheme-phoneme skills which are important in literacy. Children
may learn to:
• perform or improvise music in response to a visual image;
• interpret and illustrate musical elements (e.g., timbre, intervals, tempo,
dynamics) through the use of symbolic or graphic notations.

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2.4 Discussing
As general teaching principles, reflection and verbalisation are important parts of any
learning process. A reflective approach to musical activities will help children to
continue to work, play and experiment within a musical environment. Talking about
music can render abstract musical concepts more concrete, make implicit knowledge
explicit, develop children’s critical thinking skills, lead to an increase in their musical
vocabulary and support their musical understanding. The work of Viladot, Gómez,
and Malagarriga (2010) has shown that conversation within a class group involving
shared activity and interaction can benefit the social construction of musical
knowledge within the group.
To fully understand music includes both theoretical knowledge and an
awareness of the relationship that different groups of society have with different
musical styles (e.g., in musical sub-cultures). In this sense, teaching and talking about
music can help to widen children’s musical interests and encourage their active
membership in a diverse musical and social life.
Functions of music
It is fascinating to consider and discuss the variety of functions that music plays in the
present and has played in the past. Children can gain social, cultural and historical
understanding while learning about different kinds of music, the various roles of
music and musicians in different cultures and eras, and the personal importance of
music for individuals in society. Discussions around recognising and analysing
different functions of music, learning about musical events, and describing music
from different times in history or from different countries can of course be done in the
children’s native language or in the target language. It is also important to talk about
music in the context of authentic activities (e.g., as part of a related discussion of
traditional, historical, geographical, or cultural customs). Children can learn to:
• reflect on music’s social and cultural relevance at different times in the past
compared to the present;
• distinguish different styles of music used in different contexts and try to
identify the roots of these styles or genres.
Musical form, styles and structures
Understanding and discussing the simple and complex structures of music, and their
variation across musical styles and cultures, is extremely beneficial to musical
learning. Children may begin by learning to describe individual musical elements and
the ways in which they are combined (e.g., pulse, duration, metre, rhythm; pitch scale,
tonality, melody, chords, harmony) and then move on to features such as imitation,
repetition, inversion, polyphony, up to larger structures such as call and response, or
sonata form. Young learners can build pictures or plans of the structure of different
musical pieces, using both conventional notation and other graphic forms. Children
can learn to:
• recognise, describe, and perform specific musical structures through imitation
or from a score;
• recognise, notate, describe, and create musical structures, and translate these

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into graphics or movements.
2.5 Music educational approaches and goals
Having identified the wide range of areas of musical learning that are considered
valuable by EMP-L, it is important to link this to a learning framework and provide
sample musical activities for the classroom. This section describes approaches and
goals that are considered important for EMP-L. Example musical activities are
described in Chapters 4 and 5, the Teacher’s Booklets, and on the EMP-L website
(see Chapter 5).
Supporting personal and musical abilities
Music education goals should be considered within a holistic developmental
framework. Musicality involves innate musical capabilities that develop during the
first years of life. These capabilities are expressed in musical memory and musical
imagination, while the physical dimensions of sound (timbre, loudness, melody,
rhythm and duration) affect the emotional and physical being.
All genres of music can be used to support a child’s musical learning, but a
teacher’s own musical preferences and experiences are important starting points in
creating a positive and relaxed learning environment. Music education should take
place in a safe and positive atmosphere that encourages individuals to empathise,
share, formulate their own values and make informed choices.
Learning goals and process
Musical activities for children should be planned with goals in mind. Goals direct the
musical process and activities, to help meet the larger general aims of the music
lessons. However, the range of musical abilities, experiences and training within a
group of young children can be very diverse and so goals must be differentiated.
Marjanen describes an approach to goal setting which involves the holistic
integration of specific musical, cognitive, socio-emotional, psychomotor and aesthetic
goals (see Marjanen, 2009). Using this approach, a specific musical goal such as
accurate rhythm copying might be linked with a cognitive skill such as rhythmic
memory and then with the motor and social skills of synchronised hand-clapping in a
group, followed by a group discussion of the aesthetic or emotional effects of
different rhythms and speeds.
Goals can be outcome-oriented or process-oriented. Large goals can be sub-
divided into smaller goals that build up across individual music classes or across the
entire school year. These may inform reflection, assessment and future planning.
Because musical experiences are emotional and personal, it is particularly
important to consider the following when setting goals:
• individual personality
• a positive atmosphere
• motivation for musical learning
• both individual and group learning

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• the importance of children’s ideas and contributions.
Musical activities and learning can begin by working with the teacher’s voice
and movements, moving on to the children’s voices and movements, and then to other
musical instruments, interfaces and activities. Researchers have suggested that
musical activities have a fundamental capacity to support learning (Overy, 1998); the
capacity to connect teacher and pupils through shared experience (Marjanen, 2009);
to increase attention, focus and responsiveness (Milavanov, 2009; Huotilainen, 2011);
and to integrate knowledge from different fields, foster teamwork and communication
(Cslovjecsek & Spychiger, 1998; Cslovjecsek & Linneweber-Lammerskitten, 2011).
2.6 EMP-L musical activity categories
From the range of ideas, approaches and literature discussed above, it can be seen that
the potential for musical activity in the classroom is endless, and thus choices need to
be made for a specific programme of activities. Music in the language classroom is
often understood as singing-focused activity, but for the EMP-L project, singing is
just one type of musical activity to be approached. For EMP-L, ten categories of
musical activities were developed in order to organise the musical materials:
1. Rhythmic vocalisation
2. Singing
3. Body percussion
4. Playing instruments
5. Dancing and moving
6. Exploring, improvising, composing
7. Listening to music
8. Painting, writing, reading music
9. Using ICT
10. Conducting, teaching music
These ten categories identify several kinds of action-oriented music education
activities and open up a range of rich possibilities for integrating music into the
language classroom. These categories of musical activity are interconnected and
overlap. For example, when playing a musical instrument, children will listen, and
may be reading, improvising, or experimenting. Rhythmic vocalisation and singing
include playing with the voice to produce ‘vocables’, raps, accents and contrasting
characters.
In order to understand and explore these ideas in more detail, please see the
sample activity and additional resources described in Chapter 5. We now turn to a
discussion of modern language learning aims at the primary level.

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3 Teaching and Learning Languages
There has been a strong commitment to teaching foreign languages to pre-11 learners
in most European countries since the 1990s (Eurydice, 2002). The characteristics of
effective teaching across Europe depend to some extent on teacher factors and on
national and contextual influences (Blondin, Candelier, Edelenbos, Johnstone,
Kubanek-German, & Taeschner, 1998; Driscoll, 2000; Driscoll, Jones, Martin,
Graham-Matheson, Dismore, & Sykes, 2004). However, as a key priority, the
European Commission invests substantial funds and language resources to support
language learning with a view that every citizen should be able to communicate in at
least two languages as well as their mother tongue (COM 590, 1995). This chapter
considers some of the basic elements and ideas related to effective language pedagogy
and also explores specific elements in teaching the four language skills (listening,
speaking, reading and writing) by drawing upon a range of policy documents,
research papers and reports.
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is a
key resource for teachers and language programme designers as it provides a common
basis for the explicit description of objectives, content and methods for language
teaching in Europe. Three important guiding principles underpin the CEFR:
1) ‘that the rich heritage of diverse languages and cultures in Europe is a valuable
common resource to be protected and developed…’
2) ‘that it is only through a better knowledge of European modern languages that
it will be possible to facilitate communication and interaction among
Europeans of different mother tongues in order to promote European mobility,
mutual understanding and co-operation, and overcome prejudice and
discrimination’
3) ‘that member states, when adopting or developing national policies in the field
of modern language learning and teaching, may achieve greater convergence
at the European level by means of appropriate arrangements for ongoing co-
operation and co-ordination of policies.’ (Council of Europe, 2001; 2007a)
A diverse range of approaches to teaching languages exists and each is
underpinned by separate and distinct theories and ideologies (Mitchell & Myles,
1998). Worldwide, communicative competence is the most widespread approach (see
Hymes, 1972; Canale & Swain, 1980; Canale, 1983). Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) comprises several components: linguistic, sociolinguistic and
pragmatic (Council of Europe, 2006). Within these three components are a number of
interdependent competences, such as the ability to use appropriate vocabulary and
grammar, language awareness, cultural awareness, plurilingual and pluricultural
competence, language learning and cognitive or language learning strategies.
Teaching different skills though one activity
A single teaching activity can help develop a number of language learning areas at the
same time. Rich, authentic contexts and holistic language learning experiences that
facilitate this arise both in and out of school. For example, reading a storybook aloud
not only involves listening and understanding, but can also stimulate questions,

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comments, non-verbal reactions, and children’s imagination. Children may look at the
pictures, compare stories they already know from different cultures, and notice
differences between the written and spoken forms of a word. Thus, reading a story
aloud can be linked to children’s listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills,
language and cultural awareness, and also further the plurilingual and pluricultural
competence of young learners.
3.1 Oracy (Listening and Speaking)
The EMP-L partners support the argument that language learning should focus on
learning through frequent participation and interaction, and that learners should have
opportunities to communicate with one another and with the teacher in the new
language as much as possible. Developing children’s pronunciation is also relevant
and explored in the following section.
Listening and understanding
Listening in order to understand another language can be challenging for young
learners. Teachers can support pupils by carefully planning and structuring listening
activities to help learners distinguish sounds and patterns and make use of their
previous knowledge (Choate & Rakes, 1987).
In order to understand what they hear, children must enlarge their linguistic
knowledge of phonological (the sound system), prosodic (rhythm, stress, and
intonation system), and syntactical structures (the grammatical system), as well as the
meanings of words (the semantic system). As an example of prosodic knowledge,
children might learn that questions in French have a rising intonation at the end of the
phrase, whereas in German a rising tone would indicate a feeling of surprise or irony.
Additional aims can be met through language listening activities, such as:
• understanding a message (e.g., what the teacher wants the children to do next
during class, what the weather is like today, or at what time a train will
depart);
• developing listening strategies (e.g., listening for key words or identifying
words that have a similar sound in a language the child already knows);
• implicit learning of new vocabulary (e.g., listening to phrases with a new word
and understanding its meaning through context clues) (Krashen, 1985).
Listening activities to support children’s language learning may include:
• performing actions or gestures while listening to a story or poem;
• matching the words and sounds they hear with the appropriate picture or
cartoon;
• understanding a story or poem in an unfamiliar language and reflecting on its
meaning to them and to people from that culture;
• listening to authentic media recordings such as foreign language radio,
television, or films (CILT, 2006).

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For further information consult the CEFR: listening (pp. 65–8, 233–4, 237, 242).
Speaking and pronunciation
Speaking can be supported through learning words, phrases and ‘chunks’ (fixed
linguistic expressions, such as ‘in my opinion’). In the classroom there are a range of
opportunities for speaking in another language, for instance with greetings, requests,
classroom rituals such as saying the date as well as when playing games such as
Chinese Whispers. These types of activities enable children to experience the three
phases of speaking: imitation, reproduction with variation, and free production. Pupils
can also be helped to become more proficient users of the new language through:
• making sounds with their voices;
• learning a nursery rhyme or poem;
• acting in a sketch or short play;
• asking and answering questions (CILT, 2006).
As can be seen from the examples above, oral production activities can
develop different aspects of speaking skills, such as:
• Communicating meaning. The language learner can effectively use language to
communicate his or her ideas, feelings and needs (Council of Europe, 2007a),
using language in order to fulfil a communicative task.
• Learning communication skills. Speaking activities can teach children how to
engage in interactive dialogues and how to effectively present information
through speech.
• Training pronunciation. Repeating words or phrases from a poem or story can
develop pronunciation, rhythm and prosody, and can lead to greater fluency.
Understanding and making oneself understood depends on the capacity to
distinguish sounds in the new language and to notice, and produce, small differences
from similar sounds in the native language. Apart from its phonological inventory (all
of the sounds a language consists of), languages are also characterised on a basic level
by prosody (the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech). Some evidence suggests
that reproducing the correct intonation is more important to native speakers’
comprehension of non-native speech than pronouncing individual sounds or syllables
perfectly (White & Mattys, 2007). If pupils explore the phonetic and phonological
patterns and structures of a new language this can help them become successful and
competent speakers (Dodane, 2000; Mertens, 2003). Pronunciation and articulation
are very important aspects of this skill and contribute to the development of
interactive skills. Examples of activities to improve pronunciation include:
• learning rhymes and tongue twisters such as ‘BEtty BOTter BOUGHT
some BUTter, put it in the BITter BATter,’ and so on (see Mertens, 2003);
• walking or gesturing while listening to a foreign language text as it is read
very slowly and expressively can lead to the discovery that there are longer
and shorter (or heavier and lighter) steps for stress-timed languages (e.g.,

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German or English), whereas the steps are more similar for syllable-timed
languages (e.g., French, Italian or Spanish).
For further information about speaking activities, consult the CEFR: speaking
activities (pp. 58–61); spoken fluency (p. 129); spoken interaction (pp. 73–82);
communicative activities (pp. 25, 57–90, 180–181, 222); pronunciation (pp. 153,
117–118, 132).
3.2 Literacy (Reading and Writing)
Reading and writing activities can reinforce children’s knowledge and ability to use
vocabulary and grammatical structures, which potentially enhances their oral
production. Reading and writing can be introduced at the same time as the spoken
form of the language, although these skills usually depend on reading and writing in
the native language or the standard language taught at school (Cumming, 1989).
Whether literacy skills are introduced before, after or at the same time as oracy skills
depends on the leading views and ideologies of the teaching context and resources
(Driscoll et al., 2004). The EMP-L partners acknowledge that tension still exists
between those who believe early language learning should concentrate at least for the
first few years upon developing listening and speaking and those who advocate a
blend of all four skills from the start (Blondin et al., 1998; Hood, Conlon, &
Andrews, 2008; Cable et al., 2010). The following section highlights some of the key
points to be considered when reading and writing are introduced.
Reading
Reading consists of an interaction between the reader and the text (Rosenblatt, 1978;
Kucer, 2001), and it involves both top-down processes (relying on the reader’s prior
knowledge) and bottom-up processes (relying on the written information). As learners
gain more knowledge about the world, they can more easily understand and connect
with the text being read (Butcher & Kintsch, 2003; Schallert & Martin, 2003; Pardo,
2004). Bredella (1990) encourages readers to place more emphasis on the content,
rather than focusing on translation and a word-for-word understanding of the foreign
language texts. Different goals can be met through reading activities, such as:
• gaining new information about the world (e.g., about festivals or celebrations
in a different culture);
• developing reading strategies (e.g., reading for gist);
• implicit learning of new vocabulary (e.g., reading a dialogue and learning a
new verb ending in a comprehensible context) (Krashen, 1985).
Locating the new language material within a specific context is helpful to
learners (e.g., the weather or the different subjects they learn at school). Learning
specifically about unusual letter combinations that do not occur in their mother tongue
(e.g., the word <night> in English, where the letters <g> and <h> are not pronounced)
enables decoding and reinforces speaking and writing skills. Some examples of
reading activities might include:

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• reading the names of different objects in a picture book;
• reading and following instructions (CILT, 2006);
• reading and understanding an article, poem, or short story written for children.
Further ideas related to reading skills can be found in the CEFR: pp. 68–71, 235, 239.
Writing
Writing is a purposeful, independent activity which children usually perform on their
own at their own pace. The writing process provides time for a deeper, focused
reflection about the content and form of material, which supports other language skills
and encourages memorisation (Ulrich, 1993). Writing activities can highlight the links
between the spoken language (sounds or phonemes) and written language (letters or
graphemes). For example, learning which vowels require an umlaut in German can
reinforce children’s word learning and improve pronunciation. Different goals can be
met through writing activities, including:
• expressing information and messages, personal opinions, ideas, and feelings
(e.g., writing a birthday party invitation);
• developing writing strategies (e.g., writing and re-writing a draft, drawing a
picture of an unknown word or writing in the native language to stay in the
flow of writing);
• explicit learning of new vocabulary, grammatical rules, idioms, and so on
(Swain & Lapkin, 1995).
Practice with writing enables learners to record their thoughts according to the
specific rules of the new language. Writing activities in the primary classroom may
include written interaction (e.g., sending emails to a friend in another country) and
written production (e.g., writing captions for a picture story). Copying out written
words (also known as reproductive writing) can help children remember new
vocabulary and reinforce previously learned material.
Furthermore, a major advantage of writing is that children can take work
home. This offers opportunities not only for parental involvement, but also reinforces
and extends learning time because children can refer to scripts before the next lesson.
A productive writing activity might ask children to write 2-3 sentences in their journal
on a particular topic, such as a description of what they like to eat for dinner or an
observation of something they experienced on the way to school. Other examples of
productive writing activities include:
• labelling objects;
• completing brief questionnaires;
• creating a riddle (e.g., ‘it’s an animal, it runs fast, and it has black and white
stripes’ – a zebra);
• creative and imaginative writing, such as writing a play (CILT, 2006).
Further ideas related to writing skills can be found in the CEFR: written production
(pp. 61–62) and written interaction (pp. 82–84).

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Having considered vocabulary learning and the four language-learning skills, this
chapter will now look at other important components of language learning. This
begins with the role of other languages (including the mother tongue) in the learning
of a new language.
3.3 Lexical competence (Vocabulary)
The development of target language vocabulary is of course a fundamental aspect of
language learning. When teaching vocabulary, it is important to choose topics that are
of interest and relevance to the children. Different aspects of vocabulary are important
to learn in primary school, including:
1. What the vocabulary item means (semantic knowledge);
2. How the vocabulary item sounds (pronunciation);
3. How the vocabulary item is written (orthography).
The process of learning and memorising words is stronger when connections are
formed between letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes), which bond the spellings
to their pronunciations and meanings in memory (Craik & Tulving, 1975; Booth,
Perfetti, & MacWhinney, 1999). Lexical knowledge can consist of both single words
and fixed expressions.
Single words. In language learning, children need to ask questions about the
meaning of words and construct vocabulary knowledge on their own terms, with
support from the teacher, a dictionary, and their peers.
Fixed expressions. There are many ways of constructing and expressing ideas,
and this is especially true when comparing different languages. Greetings and
introductions can be learned through chunks. Children can also learn how different
combinations of words give more detail or interesting shades of expression, such as
by looking at metaphors and idioms (e.g., ‘as white as snow’) in the new language
and trying to find phrases that express a similar idea in the native language.
It can be useful to distinguish between prospective, receptive, and active
vocabulary (Leupold, 2003). Prospective vocabulary consists of words that can be
understood because the root or sound of the word is familiar (also known as
‘cognates’). Receptive vocabulary contains language items that can be recognised and
understood in the context of reading or listening to material. Active vocabulary
consists of language items that the learner can recall and produce appropriately, either
in speech or in writing.
There are other important aspects of vocabulary and linguistic competences,
such as grammar (e.g., syntax, word categories), morphology (the structure within a
word), and register (choosing the right words or formulations to use in a particular
situation, e.g., at school or at home). For more information about lexical competence,
please refer to the CEFR (pp. 110–112).
Mediation (Interpreting and Translating)
There is a growing body of literature that supports the important role of the mother
tongue (also referred to as the L1) in the learning of a new language (Hagen, 1992;

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Cohen, 1998; Macaro, 2000). Language learning and comprehension can therefore
also involve more than one language. In contrast to the skills mentioned above, in
mediation the use of language is not concerned with expressing the writer’s or the
speaker’s own ideas; instead, language acts as a conduit for the learner to both make
sense of, and reason about, the new language being learnt. Language can also act as
an intermediary between people who for one reason or another are unable to
communicate directly with one another. Thus, mediation can be defined as
translating parts or the whole of a written text from or into another language, or
interpreting spoken language from a new language in one’s mother tongue.
Young learners beginning to learn a new language are eager to understand
what is happening in the classroom, what the hand puppet is saying, what they can
hear on the CD, and so on. Yet they will not be able to react in all situations to this
input using the language they are learning. Children will want to comment on what
they have understood and they will want to pass along their ideas to their classmates,
teacher, and parents. In most cases, these impressions will be communicated in the
mother tongue.
‘Beginners use the L1 to help them decode text.... Beginners and
advanced learners use the L1 to help them write text. ...L1 tends to be the
language of thought, unless the learner is very advanced or is in the target
country’ (Macaro, 2000).
For more information about mediation, refer to the CEFR section on spoken
interaction (pp. 73–82) and on texts and activities (pp. 97–100).
3.4 Language awareness
Language awareness is defined as sensitivity to language and language use, which
involves the knowledge and understanding of the principles according to which
languages are organised and used (Council of Europe, 2001). Developing language
awareness in the classroom is about encouraging a sensitivity and consciousness
about languages and their forms and structures, in addition to their linguistic functions
(Donmall, 1985; James & Garrett, 1991; Carter, 2003; Tomlinson, 2003).
Enabling young learners to make a conscious link between the similarities and
differences between languages can develop their curiosity about languages and
positively influence their motivation for language learning. Since language awareness
is a skill involving both knowledge and attitude, we emphasise self-discovery and
inductive learning. Techniques for noticing, comparing and reflecting on language
can support this process (e.g., asking children to be language detectives). Following
Hawkins (1984; 1999), aims for language awareness can include:
• gaining awareness of language as a means of communication;
• understanding that there is both spoken and written language, and
different writing systems;
• reflecting on how language works, discovering rules for grammar and for
creating new words;
• using language for daily tasks in different situations and learning which
languages are spoken in the classroom;

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• realising that language changes over time and in different places and
cultures, and why some languages are similar to each other (e.g., language
families);
• discovering how children learn language and strategies for how they can
learn new language material.
Language awareness activities at the primary level include:
• comparing onomatopoeia words in different languages to show how speakers
of different languages might hear and write similar sounds in different ways;
• asking pupils to underline the articles of nouns they see in a foreign language
text and formulate a rule that would explain when to use different forms (e.g.,
in English, ‘a’ or ‘an’) and if they notice any differences compared to other
language(s) they know;
• reflecting on the appropriate daily use of language, such as asking a favour in
different situations (e.g., from a good friend, from your mother or from a
neighbour) or collecting different words for the same concept (e.g., money).
Plurilingual education
Plurilingual and pluricultural education is an approach that makes optimal use of the
diverse language and cultural backgrounds of the majority of the children who live in
Europe. Plurilingual and pluricultural education aim to support communication skills
in several different languages and with people from different cultural backgrounds
(Council of Europe, 2006). Plurilingual competence is defined as ‘the capacity to
successively acquire and use different competences in different languages, at different
levels of proficiency and for different functions’ (Council of Europe, 2007b). The
concept of multilingual and pluricultural competence helps avoid a sharp division
between first and second language competence, instead highlighting the importance of
plurilingualism and pluriculturalism. Plurilingualism also argues that people have
more than a collection of distinct and separate communicative competences in
different languages; they also possess a multilingual and pluricultural competence
which includes all of the linguistic repertoire at their disposal.
3.5 Intercultural awareness
‘Culture’ can be defined as the sum total of the ways of life of a people, including
attitudes and artefacts, traditions, habits and customs; norms about how people
behave, feel and interact; and how they interpret the world. The Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) differentiates between sociocultural
knowledge (knowledge of the society and culture of a community or communities)
and intercultural skills. Intercultural skills include ‘the ability to bring the culture of
origin and the new culture into relation with each other’ and ‘cultural sensitivity and
the ability to identify and use a variety of strategies for contact with those from other
cultures’ (Council of Europe, 2001). Aims for intercultural awareness and
pluricultural competence might include:
• gaining knowledge of regional and social diversity in different places;

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• developing positive attitudes and representations with respect to different
cultures and languages;
• encouraging sensitivity towards cultures and their forms (e.g., language,
music, art, dance), structures (e.g., society), functions (e.g., sense of
belonging, ethnicity, citizenship) and contexts (e.g., regional diversity);
• developing interest and an open mind regarding the diversity of languages and
cultures and to support the development of motivation for language learning;
• discovering how different communities appear from the perspective of the
other – moving beyond stereotypes;
• using sensitive and appropriate ways of interacting with others (including
respect for values, beliefs, attitudes, body language, and social conventions to
help avoid intercultural misunderstandings).
Young learners’ cultural awareness starts as an understanding of what it means
to be a member of their family and community. It embraces the different roles and
responsibilities people hold, as well as beliefs, values and larger issues such as human
rights (Lee, 2005). In this process of identity building, teachers can support children’s
‘openness’ and empathy towards other cultures by creating opportunities for
reflection. Evidence from a language awareness project (Evlang, 2002-2003) showed
that children develop positive attitudes with respect to the languages presented in
class and towards children whose families spoke a different language; and for
children who spoke another language, it stimulated interest and an open mind with
respect to the language taught at school. The European Language Portfolio provides
an opportunity to create a symbolic space of exchange which acknowledges
experiences within, without and beyond educational institutions and encourages the
integration of diverse experiences and understandings of the learning environment
(Byram, 2003). Intercultural awareness activities that support language learning at the
primary level include:
• noticing and comparing different body language and gestures, sounds and
rhythms, and the experience of the physical and aesthetic dimensions of other
languages from different cultural contexts;
• comparing and reflecting on similarities and differences between common
festivals, special or religious occasions, or typical features of daily living
(from what is considered ‘polite’ behaviour to the content of school lunches);
• being a cultural detective and discovering the intercultural learning potential
of visual and audio material within the children’s environment (e.g., comics,
television series, films, language course materials, music clips) by listening for
dialect differences in the pronunciation of particular words or phrases.
Europe is both multilingual and multicultural and there is a need for
Europeans to communicate with each other across linguistic and cultural borders
(Council of Europe, 2001; Byram, 2003). Considering that language is one of the keys
to culture, the definition above also relates to a person’s pluricultural competence:
‘the various cultures (national, regional, social) to which a person has gained access
do not simply co-exist side by side. They are compared, contrasted and actively
interact to produce an enriched, integrated pluricultural competence’ (Council of

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Europe, 2001). For interaction to be successful and supportive of personal language
competence, intracultural (within one culture) and intercultural (between cultures)
aspects of communication need to be taken into account.
For further information about intercultural awareness and sensitivity, pluricultural and
plurilingual competence, see http://carap.ecml.at/Resources/tabid/425/language/en-
GB/Default.aspx and the CEFR (2006): pp. 4-6, 43, 103-105, 133, 168.
3.6 Language learning strategies
Teaching strategies of how to learn more effectively can improve children’s future
success in different areas of learning. Some influential studies have explored what
actually happens in the learner’s mind when learning a foreign language (Long &
Richards, 1987; Pienemann, 1998; Pienemann & Keßler, 2011) and there are several
different classification systems of language learning strategies (cf. Rubin, 1987;
Oxford, 1990; Stern, 1992). For more information about learning strategies, a concise
summary and various definitions are provided in Hismanoglu (2000). Here we focus
on the definition of Oxford (1990): ‘Learning strategies are steps taken by students to
enhance their own learning’. They are keys to greater autonomy, control and more
meaningful learning. Here we focus on how to improve cognitive, memorisation and
metacognitive strategies, and social and affective learning strategies.
Cognitive, memorisation and metacognitive strategies
Memorisation is essential for learning any subject. Learning strategies of how to
memorise new material effectively is particularly important in languages. Cognitive
and memorisation strategies include repetition, receiving and sending messages,
analysing and reasoning, summarising the meaning, guessing the meaning from
context, and creating a structure for input and output. An example would be trying to
predict and understand the gist of a message that someone is communicating, rather
than focusing on what each individual word means.
Strategies to facilitate the memorisation of important vocabulary and
grammatical structures are also useful. Having a good memory for the content will
enable learners to recall and apply that knowledge to other contexts and situations.
Using imagery, mind maps, and multi-modal learning (e.g., pairing a movement or
gesture with each word) can enhance memorisation.
Metacognitive processes involve pre-planning, execution, monitoring, and
repair action, which relate to different communicative activities in language learning:
reception, interaction, production and mediation (Council of Europe, 2006). Examples
of metacognitive strategies include setting goals for learning, organising the material
to be learned, self-monitoring of progress toward goals, and making adjustments to
the learning plan on the basis of feedback.
Social and affective learning strategies
Effective social and affective learning strategies can make interaction and
communication easier and more enjoyable. A positive self-image and lack of
inhibition can contribute to successful learning. The learner’s degree of inhibition
may be influenced by particular situations or tasks, and self-confidence enhances

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persistence in carrying out challenging tasks and the willingness to ask questions and
take risks. The learner’s emotional and physical state also has an influence, because
an alert but relaxed learner is more likely to succeed than a tired and anxious one
(Krashen, 1985).
The effectiveness of learning is also contingent on the learner’s personal
characteristics and motivation, as well as the available resources (Council of Europe,
2007a). High levels of self-initiated (intrinsic) motivation may arise due to a personal
interest or perceived relevance, for example because the activity or action solves a
real-life need. External (extrinsic) motivation also plays a role, for example where
there are outside pressures to complete the task successfully (e.g., to earn praise or for
competitive reasons).
The difficulty of a task that introduces new socio-cultural knowledge and
experiences will be affected by attitude-related factors such as the learner’s interest in
and openness to ‘otherness’. It also depends on their willingness to see their own
cultural viewpoint and value system as one option among many possibilities, and to
assume the role of ‘cultural intermediary’ between their own and the new culture in
order to resolve misunderstanding and conflict (Council of Europe, 2007b).
Developing a range of language learning strategies can enable learners to actively
choose the appropriate language learning strategy for different situations so they can
learn on their own and in their own way. A specific repertoire of teaching strategies
can be used to support learners (cf. Reinmann-Rothmeier & Mandl, 2001). This
repertoire includes:
• Modelling: The teacher serves as a role model who demonstrates and explains
the internal processes of what he or she is doing to the learners.
• Coaching: Learners try to solve a problem by themselves, and the teacher
supports the learners whenever they get stuck in their learning process. This
support is called scaffolding.
• Fading: As the learners gain more knowledge and can solve the problems they
encounter, the teacher retreats.
• Articulation/Reflection: Throughout the learning process, learners are
encouraged to reflect and discuss their thinking processes and problem-solving
strategies and to compare them to those used by others.
• Exploration: In this final phase, the learner is encouraged to use the learning
strategies without the support of the teacher or fellow learners.
We now turn to a discussion of how music and language learning can be combined,
and consider the practical application of teaching and learning strategies to support
integrated learning in the two domains.

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4 Integrating Music and Language Learning
This chapter provides a summary of links that can be made between music and
language learning. It also offers some examples of how learning in the two domains
can be integrated, with particular reference to the activities developed by the
European Music Portfolio project partners.
Music and language are both communicative and they each involve the
development of receptive and productive skills. Through a dynamic relationship,
music and language development can support and extend each other via overlaps
between the similar elements of these two communication systems (see Figure 4.1).
Musical training can enhance literacy skills (Douglas & Willatts, 1994; Lowe, 1998).
Singing a song in a new language can contribute to significant gains in grammar,
vocabulary, and speaking skills (Ludke, 2010). Verbal learning can be supported by
musical mnemonics, especially at early developmental stages and in learning
academic skills (Calvert & Billingsley, 1998). If text is combined with a melody, it
can be recalled more effectively (Calvert & Tart, 1993; Wallace, 1994). Musical
engagement also has been found to have beneficial effects on reading and verbal
skills, via improved auditory skills (Fujioka, Ross, Kakigi, Pantev, & Trainor, 2006;
Ho, Cheung, & Chan, 2003).
Figure 4.1: Graphic to show the similar elements and structures of language
and music
Our understanding of the profound relationship between music and language has
recently been advanced by research in the fields of neurophysiology, neuroscience,
psychology, music, linguistics, and education (Welch, 2005; Patel, 2008; Ludke,

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2010; Meyer, Elmer, Ringli, Oechslin, Baumann, & Jancke, 2011). This relationship
links back to ancient Greek philosophical arguments by Plato and Aristotle about the
integration of melos (music) and logos (language as a means of thinking or the mind)
in human nature, which are both supported by kinesis (movement) as described by
Kaimakis (2005).
Typical music exercises for developing the voice, listening to music and
promoting rhythmic sensitivity – which at the primary level can be practised through
creative musical games – may be used to contribute to the perception of the melody
and rhythms of languages. Music can also play a role in enhancing knowledge of
grammar and literature (Velescu, 2001), music vocabulary and the ability to talk
about music (Buhl & Cslovjecsek, 2010). Speaking and singing share the same
vehicle for expression: the voice. Indeed, a child’s first experiences of music and
language are often linked, via ‘motherese’ and nursery rhymes (Malloch, 1999/2000).
Music and language may have similar evolutionary origins (Mithen, 2005) and they
use many of the same parameters of sound, movement and communicative
expression, including articulation, dynamics, rhythm, pitch and timbre. In addition,
many people use music to manage or respond to emotions (Juslin & Sloboda, 2001),
and music can be used to create specific atmospheres that are appropriate to stories,
conversation scenarios or discussions.
This chapter considers a range of ways in which learning in music can both
enhance and be integrated into language learning.
Fulfilling musical and language learning objectives
Music is a nonverbal system that can be used to express and communicate ideas and
feelings. When using musical activities as an educational tool for language teaching
and learning, musical learning objectives can also be fulfilled. These include the
development of listening skills, musicianship, musical awareness and understanding,
and musical creativity and composition. Music can support children’s critical and
active membership in a diverse cultural life through developing social and
intercultural awareness and sensitivity. As a means of communication, it has been
suggested that music is capable of enhancing interaction skills because of its ability to
create a natural, uninhibited atmosphere and to enhance expression, listening and
focusing skills (Murphey, 1992; Marjanen, 2009).
We believe that children can be inspired, motivated and enriched by learning a
new language through musical activities that simultaneously develop their musical
skills. Creative and imaginative uses of language can be important for young children.
Music education has a strong tradition of collaborative learning, which can challenge
children to use language for a variety of purposes (Barrett, 1990), including
investigative (exploring possibilities in sound and music), speculative (hypothesising
and predicting the likely outcomes of certain sound combinations), and comparative
(discriminating among sound choices).
A rounded musical and language education can widen children’s imagination
and promote collaborative and responsible relationships. By providing every child
with the opportunity to enjoy a range of musical experiences, teachers can strengthen
students’ foundation in general musicianship, cultivating their musical interests and
skills. Research has suggested that both receptive and productive language skills can
be better developed when musical activities are used as a support tool in the
classroom (Dodane, 2003; Marjanen, 2009; Ludke, Osborne & Overy, submitted).

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Fostering cultural awareness and understanding through music and language
learning
Opportunities that allow children to experience the emotional qualities of music can
lead to discussions about emotional features of speech, such as intonation and rhythm
patterns in different languages.
Opportunities to listen to and work with the music of other times, places and
cultures provide ‘a window through which we can glimpse a different world’
(Swanwick, 1999). Listening to such music can lead to greater awareness of the
musical works of different cultures, and support the ability to differentiate between
musical styles through their distinct musical elements. In addition, music listening can
be used to enable children to compare singing styles and lyrics in different languages.
Similarities and differences between musical and linguistic elements
There are broad similarities between the elements and underlying structures of music
and language, as shown in the concentric circles in Figure 4.1 (see page 30). Different
perspectives of language and music development are described by the ‘musilanguage’
model, which emphasises the shared properties of music and language and attributes
these to a general precursor for language communication between mothers and babies
(Brown, 2000; Dissanayake, 2000; Marjanen, 2009).
Knowledge of musical structure and developing technical language are
important for understanding how music is constructed. In early music learning,
children are not expected to know musical rules but instead to use their implicit
musical knowledge to fulfil creative tasks. As knowledge of musical structure
develops, children will be better able to follow and express musical content because
they have a deeper awareness of the components of such expression. This musical
understanding can develop further when children have proposed a specific theme or
goal themselves (Velescu, 2001).
Similarly, in early language learning children are not expected to know
grammatical rules; instead they use their grammatical competence implicitly to fulfil
communicative tasks (see the CEFR, 2006). It is generally agreed by the EMP-L
partners that allowing children to discover the rules of a new language and its
linguistic structures through meaningful activities can lead to a deeper understanding
than being taught the rules by rote.
By exploring qualities that music and language share, such as rhythm and
melody, children can exploit the power of multiple encoding and learn to transfer
knowledge between domains. Observational studies have shown that children use
musical environments to develop playful forms of language acquisition (Buhl &
Cslovjecsek, 2010).
The following sections provide some illustrative ideas and relevant examples from the
project for how learning in the two domains of music and language can be integrated.
4.1 Oracy (listening and speaking) with musical activities
Oral skills can be encouraged through musical activities. Music participation has the

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potential to support children in overcoming speech and language difficulties, and can
also develop and/or improve children’s:
• diction, articulation, vocal intonation and clarity of speech patterns;
• pronunciation and fluency through singing, rapping, or chanting;
• expressiveness and ability to convey feelings nonverbally;
• presentation and performance skills;
• identification and discussion of patterns of rhythm, rhyme and other features
of sound that are present in poems and songs.
The following EMP-L activities illustrate musical ways to support children’s
linguistic listening and speaking skills:
• Morning has come (Dancing and Moving; Singing)
• Tak Tak (Rhythmic vocalisation; Exploring, improvising, composing)
• Scramble (Listening to music)
• Conducting music (Conducting, teaching music)
Links to European Language Portfolio: My Language Biography: Languages I know;
Listening; Speaking; Talking to someone. My Language Dossier. My Language
Passport: My progress in learning languages.
Listening and understanding
Active listening to music can promote comprehension, perception and discrimination
skills. It has been suggested that musical activities which promote auditory perception
can also support foreign language skills (Welch, 2007). Some example activities
include:
• gaining an awareness of a range of sounds and their origins, differentiating
between individual sounds and describing them as accurately as possible;
• listening and responding to sound quality and pronunciation in singing and
differentiating between phonemes in songs or rhymes;
• reviewing a range of musical pieces from different time periods and cultures,
their characteristics, and the composers, evaluating the music critically and
developing a technical language;
• developing stamina to listen to longer texts by listening to pieces of music and
understanding the content of a story-like song or ballad, and developing an
understanding of why texts are put to music (e.g., oral traditions and recall).
Speaking and pronunciation
It has been argued that repeating in chorus rather than alone can decrease learners’
anxiety and other psychological blockages that might otherwise impede language

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learning (Krashen, 1985). Listening to music chosen to accompany a story or scenario
or talking about music in class may also develop children’s speaking and presentation
skills. Activities to support speaking skills include:
• reproducing and improvising musical dialogues or question-and-answer
phrases, varying vocal intonation to convey different meanings both vocally
and instrumentally;
• appraising musical compositions and performances, or informally sharing
musical ideas;
• presenting a poem or story through choral speaking, paying attention to
rhythm and vocal intonation;
• composing or improvising music to demonstrate understanding of the meaning
of an associated mood or text.
Pronunciation and fluency, including rhythm, stress, and intonation, may be improved
through performing songs and raps (Vinzentius, 2007). Listening to songs may also
teach the proper intonation of spoken phrases in a new language (Fomina, 2000).
Children may develop additional understandings of rhyming, alliteration, spelling and
word structures through:
• playing rhythm games, such as saying classmates’ names using a beat or
fitting words and phrases to different rhythms;
• exploring onomatopoeia – collecting and using words in different languages
whose meaning is represented in their sounds – splash, plop, bang, and so on;
• recognising and playing with rhyme, alliteration and other patterns of sound to
create different effects, and using syllables to create layers of rhythms and
rhymes;
• using patterns and repetition to overcome speech difficulties or to learn tongue
twisters.
4.2 Literacy (reading and writing) with musical activities
Reading and writing activities are important for language learning. Reading
comprehension can be enhanced by working on authentic, meaningful texts that
contain repeating words and phrases, such as simple songs, raps and poems. Writing
skills can be developed through copying, rearranging the words of songs, or inventing
new lyrics for a song. Musical activities can also be used to support children’s:
• ability to encode and decode sounds (e.g., written words or musical symbols);
• understanding of how small sequences (sounds or words) can be built up to
form a larger narrative (short stories) or musical structure (musical pieces);
• vocabulary development and ability to express themselves;
• willingness to focus and persevere with a text even without fully
understanding each element (e.g., reading for gist or sight-reading);
• phonemic awareness, including the recognition of rhythms, rhymes, and other
features of sound that are present in poems and songs.

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The following EMP-L activities exemplify musical ways into reading and writing:
• Subtitling show (Listening to music; Singing)
• Paper Kazoo (Playing instruments; Singing; Dancing and moving; Exploring,
improvising, composing)
• Tak Tak (Rhythmic vocalisation; Exploring, improvising, composing)
• Using a story as musical inspiration (Exploring, improvising, composing;
Singing; Rhythmic vocalisation)
• Story trails (Painting, writing, reading music)
• Scramble (Listening to music)
Links to European Language Portfolio: My Language Biography: Reading; Writing;
My Language Passport: My progress in learning languages.
Reading
Children’s reading comprehension improves as they make inferences about ideas,
actions, moods or characters within a text and link new information to their previous
knowledge about the world (Butcher & Kintsch, 2003). Musical pieces and written
texts can be better understood both through a focus on the overall message or mood
evoked, and also by paying attention to specific information (Bredella, 1990).
Learning music notations can equally enhance children’s understanding of the links
between symbols and sounds (Hébert & Cuddy, 2006). Musical activities that provide
learning opportunities to develop reading skills include:
• sequencing ideas or events in time, or from left to right;
• visually recognising the musical sections of a piece of music or the events of a
short story (e.g., using different colours to represent each section);
• reading and clapping the rhythm of a musical score or reciting the text of a
song;
• exploring the musicality of words, including counting-out rhymes, poetry,
sequences of numbers, raps, short stories and other kinds of text.
Writing
Children can develop new vocabulary and structures in many different ways,
traditionally through copying out (reproductive writing) or productive writing. But
children also benefit from playing with language (Crystal, 1998; Wohlewend, 2008).
They may use musical ideas to enhance their writing skills by:
• transforming the rhythm or melody of a spoken phrase into a musical notation;
• describing sounds and music in the environment, refining their descriptions to
create more accurate meanings (e.g., loud, moderately loud, louder, loudest)
and explore comparative opposites and antonyms (e.g., louder–quieter,
higher–lower);

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• finding words to write a new verse of a simple song;
• creatively transposing text into music or music into a text (alone and/or in a
small group).
4.3 Lexical competence (vocabulary) with musical activities
Memory may be prompted by melodies, rhythms, and rhymes of previously learned
songs (Rubin & Wallace, 1989; Wallace, 1994). When musical elements are
combined with movements or images, educators have reported even higher memory
retrieval (Iwata, 2005; Medina, 1993). The EMP-L project encourages the learning of
musical vocabulary in the native language and translating it into a new language or
languages. We believe this can help children develop expressive and analytical skills
as well as musical knowledge. Children can explore words in a foreign language
through music, for example by:
• listening to a song and identifying specific vocabulary items;
• learning specific vocabulary words in a song by replacing words with
drawings or pictures;
• singing a song or rap and creating new verses that fit the rhythm or melody;
• building dictionary and thesaurus skills – searching for special and interesting
new words to describe the music and culture of other times and places
(climactic, cacophony, transition).
Mediation (Interpreting and Translating)
Mediation arises naturally in a communicative context. A wide range of emotional,
cognitive and bodily experiences may be needed for the effective mediation and
translation of messages between classmates. Musical activities create ample
opportunities for mediation. Some examples of how integrated music and language
learning might lead to mediation could include:
• explaining the meaning of words, rhymes, and songs in different languages;
• linking visual, kinaesthetic, or rhythmic elements to music (e.g., finding or
creating music to accompany a short film or dance), showing that we can
communicate meanings and feelings without language (through music,
images, movements and gestures);
• explaining a rhythm or sequence of movements to a classmate who did not
understand the teacher’s explanation;
• paraphrasing how a piece of music makes them feel or what a song’s lyrics
mean.
The following EMP-L activities exemplify musical ways into learning new
vocabulary:
• Subtitling show (Listening to music; Singing)
• Paper Kazoo (Playing instruments; Singing songs; Dancing and moving;

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Exploring, improvising, composing)
• Scramble (Listening to music)
• Tak Tak (Rhythmic vocalisation; Painting, reading, writing music; Exploring,
improvising, composing)
• Body percussion (Body percussion; Dancing and moving; Rhythmic
vocalisation; Exploring, improvising, composing)
• Percussion or ‘found’ instruments (Playing instruments; Exploring,
improvising, composing)
• Using a well-known story as musical inspiration (Exploring, improvising,
composing)
• Painting music (Painting, reading, writing music; Listening to music)
• Linking A/V and music making (Using ICT; Exploring, improvising,
composing)
Links to European Language Portfolio: My Language Biography and My Language
Passport: My progress in learning languages.
4.4 Language awareness with musical activities
Language awareness includes the knowledge of words, how they are pronounced, and
how to combine them so that others understand (Adams, Foorman, Lundberg, &
Beeler, 1998; Ehri, Nunes, Willows, Schuster, Yaghoub-Zadeh, & Shanahan, 2001).
Learning opportunities to enhance language awareness through musical activities can
include:
• singing the same song in more than one language and comparing the words
and the order in which words appear;
• singing a song with repetitive lyrics and changing the vowels or adding new
rhymes (e.g., ‘I like to eat apples and bananas’ or ‘Down by the Bay’);
• listening to a story and producing sounds or words from the target language at
pre-determined points;
• finding words borrowed from other languages in musical vocabulary (e.g.,
instruments, terms, dances) and comparing with other languages (e.g., violin,
violon, etc.).
The following EMP-L activities exemplify musical ways into language awareness:
• Subtitling show (Listening to music; Singing)
• Scramble (Listening to music)
• Tempo Tamper (Using ICT; Exploring, improvising, composing; Playing
instruments; Singing)
• Tak Tak (Rhythmic vocalisation; Painting, reading, writing music; Exploring,
improvising, composing)

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• Ana Bella (Singing; Painting, reading, writing music)
• Savez-vous planter les choux ? / ¿Sabéis plantar las coles? (Dancing and
moving; Singing)
Links to European Language Portfolio: My Language Biography: What I know and
can do in languages; My Language Passport: Languages I know.
4.5 Intercultural awareness with musical activities
Our children are citizens of Europe and the world; sensitivity to cultural diversity is
therefore an important skill. Sensitivity towards others within one’s own country and
elsewhere can develop as children gain a deeper understanding of the world.
Explorations and reflections on the musical and cultural traditions of another region
or country can help children develop these attributes (Council of Europe, 2006).
By bringing musical diversity into the classroom, teachers tacitly promote and
honour the cultural diversity represented in class. In developing their knowledge of
wider musical concepts through music from different cultures, children can recognise
the ways in which music reflects its cultural context (Failoni, 1993). Music from other
cultures also provides a strong and enjoyable basis for an intercultural curriculum.
Enjoyable musical experiences can drive children’s desires to learn new languages.
Learning opportunities to develop children’s intercultural awareness may include:
• being aware of cultural diversity within their own institution or community;
• listening to different types of music and instruments from different places to
highlight the importance of an open mind and a positive attitude toward
learning about other languages and cultures;
• collecting music, dances and songs and finding ones which are used for the
same social event in different cultures (e.g., holidays, festivals, or weddings);
• using nursery rhymes, stories or pictures from the target culture as inspiration
for musical composition;
• collecting favourite nursery rhymes, music videos, poems, and pieces of music
for class anthologies and to illustrate their awareness of another culture;
• developing symbols for sounds and arranging them in order, perhaps using
musical notations from that region or symbols inspired by the children’s
knowledge of the target culture.
The following EMP-L activities exemplify musical ways into multicultural
understanding:
• Morning has come (Dancing and moving; Singing)
• Scramble (Listening to music)
• Passing stone (Singing; Body percussion; Dancing and moving, Rhythmic
vocalisation)
• Paper Kazoo (Playing instruments; Singing; Dancing and moving; Exploring,
improvising, composing)

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39
Links to European Language Portfolio: My Language Biography: Things I notice
about language and culture; Intercultural understanding; My Language Passport: My
intercultural experiences and contacts.
4.6 Cognitive and language learning strategies with musical
activities
We learn more effectively when we analyse and build upon our own learning
strategies (Adey & Shayer, 2002). Some learning strategies can be learned and
supported through integrated musical and language activities, following Oxford
(1990): cognitive, memorisation and metacognitive strategies, and social and affective
strategies.
Cognitive, memorisation and metacognitive strategies
If pupils enjoy and engage in musical activities beyond the classroom, songs in a new
language can remain in pupils’ minds for the rest of their lives and become part of
their own culture (Kramer, 2001). Children can develop memory strategies and ability
to understand language by:
• creating and singing new verses of repetitive raps and songs (e.g., ‘The Hokey
Cokey’) to learn new words (e.g., hand, foot, arm) in a meaningful context;
• physically acting out newly learned expressions (e.g., ‘If you’re happy and
you know it’) to reinforce vocabulary through multimodal encoding;
• memorising phrases of a poem or whole parts of a musical piece by building
up from one section and adding them one at a time, or by starting at the very
end and working back to the beginning;
• reading, singing, chanting, or rapping aloud and reciting by heart, so they can
later use those words or structures in speech (e.g., ‘Salut ! Ça va ?’ and similar
dialogue songs);
• applying knowledge of words, concepts, or structures from one language to
another by finding musical words that have the same meaning or a similar
spelling (e.g., the refrain, der Refrain, le refrain, el estribillo).
Metacognitive strategies include setting goals for learning, linking the material to be
learned to prior knowledge, monitoring progress in learning, and making changes
after evaluation. Some metacognitive strategies include:
• discussing how language and musical learning works best for different pupils;
• reflecting on music and language learning activities using Pupil’s Portfolio
cards;
• self-evaluating progress in musical and language learning and setting goals for
new learning.

European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages – Teacher’s Handbook
40
Social and affective learning strategies
Music can build trust and a sense of belonging between teachers and children
(Marjanen, 2009). Group music-making offers the possibility of successful
collaboration in the classroom and can enhance young children’s positive social
interaction (Kirschner & Tomasello, 2010). Successful collective musical
participation can gently introduce children to issues like solidarity, individual
abilities, courage, self-confidence and problem-solving strategies (Cslovjecsek, 2009).
Taking part in musical activities can also enhance children’s self-esteem:
integrated music and language activities provide opportunities over time to engage
with new material in a predictable way, which can result in feelings of success and
progress in learning. Taking part in musical activities, singing and rapping can also
lead to high motivation and emotional participation in language learning (Vinzentius,
2007).
Musical activities often create ‘a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere in the
classroom’ (Jolly, 1975). Through music children can become predisposed and
receptive to linguistic material by lowering anxiety and mental barriers that could
otherwise interfere with pupils’ learning (Krashen, 1985; Kramer, 2001).
Some examples of social and affective learning strategies that link language
and music are:
• using progressive relaxation, deep breathing, meditation, or music listening to
lower anxiety before engaging in further learning
• taking small risks in a learning situation, such as having one pupil perform a
solo while the rest of the class provide accompaniment;
• creatively improvising a dialogue using nonsense words with movements and
emotional expression;
• practising taking turns and achieving a balance between listening and
contributing (e.g., playing an instrument, singing, chanting, speaking) through
rhythm or music games or through performing solos and in small groups.
The following EMP-L activities in particular link to cognitive and language learning
strategies:
• Morning has come (Dancing and moving; Singing)
• Subtitling show (Listening to music; Singing)
• Using a well-known story as musical inspiration (Exploring, improvising,
composing)
• Ana Bella (Singing; Painting, reading, writing music)
• Savez-vous planter les choux ? / ¿Sabéis plantar las coles? (Dancing and
moving; Singing)
Links to European Language Portfolio: My Language Biography: How I learn
languages.

European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages – Teacher’s Handbook
41
In this chapter we have outlined a variety of possible ways to integrate musical and
language learning to support children’s education in both domains. The next chapter
provides a description of the practical EMP-L materials and how to find the resources
available.

European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages – Teacher’s Handbook
42
5 Bringing the EMP-L into the Classroom
The European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages project aims to
provide children with an enjoyable approach to learning, paving the way for
developing communicative skills in a new language. The EMP-L materials were
developed to provide generalist primary school teachers with practical, integrated
musical and language learning opportunities that are easy to implement into their
everyday activities with children.
Creativity within the European Music Portfolio
Creativity involves innovation and ownership and applies to both teaching and
learning in the social context of the classroom; firstly with respect to the learning
opportunities teachers provide, and secondly with respect to the children as a social
group and as individuals (Kampylis, 2010). Taking into account the notion that every
child, as an individual, has a capacity for creativity (Craft, 2003), EMP-L offers
activities that can facilitate pupils’ learning and cultivate their creative ideas in a
range of contexts. The interactive, social nature of making music leads to the
possibility of co-creativity between individuals. This provides the opportunity for
learners to encapsulate their imaginative achievements, create new knowledge
through active participation and develop the ability to evaluate and judge in different
contexts and domains (Jeffrey & Woods, 2009). Pupils naturally take control of their
learning process when it is interactive and creative. Creative activities often provide
intrinsic motivation, which can result in further blossoming of children’s creativity
with music and language, and indeed, other domains.
The EMP-L fits with a variety of learning and teaching approaches
The main learning and teaching approaches that have inspired the EMP-L project
include: task- and content-based learning, the collaborative or social constructivist
approach, reflective learning, holistic learning, and technology- and digital
technology-supported learning, as discussed below.
In task- and content-based learning, the ‘tasks are always activities where the
target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to
achieve an outcome’ (Willis, 1996). Children engage in language learning through
musical activities and singing in a playful and meaningful way. Through this, they
perceive, develop and produce language and musical elements and structures that are
situated within relevant contexts.
The collaborative sharing of musical activities and materials between children
and teachers can foster musical and language skills. Through opportunities for social
interaction, children organise and express their thoughts, rendering their implicit
knowledge explicit, and supporting each other’s learning (Vygotsky, 1978). In this
way, learners can construct their personal linguistic and musical meanings – formed
on the basis of previous knowledge – while they also develop social awareness. The
development of these skills is not only beneficial in helping the child to understand
new linguistic and musical content, but also in supporting the development of
thinking strategies such as problem-solving.

European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages – Teacher’s Handbook
43
Reflection helps lead to deep learning. Children can reflect not only on the
products of their learning, but also on the learning process (Reinmann-Rothmeier &
Mandl, 2001). Children ‘learn how to learn’ through a cycle of reflection,
experimentation and peer or self-observation, followed by further reflection.
Therefore, reflection can lead to greater self-awareness, which is an important step in
active learning. By providing children with suitable opportunities and time to reflect
during the learning or creating process, teachers can facilitate the development of
metacognitive abilities, enabling children to identify approaches that have worked
well and developing their personal pathways for learning and creating in both fields –
language and music. For these reasons, the EMP-L Pupil’s Portfolio has a strong
focus on reflection.
Holistic learning refers to the idea that the emotions, body and reason are
physiologically inseparable (Damasio, 1994) and that connections between brain
function and learning include bodily, emotional and cognitive/reasoning experiences
(Hannaford, 2004). Thus, a playful act can be considered a fundamental generator of
physical, intellectual, social and emotional growth. Positive atmospheres can also
improve learning outcomes. The holistic learning approach can lead to deep learning
because the integration of multimodal sensory, emotional and cognitive functions can
lead to enhancements in learning experiences (D’Esposito, 2008).
Digital technology is increasingly entering children’s lives. Primary teachers
can take advantage of this by using the Internet, music software, hardware and digital
musical instruments to facilitate the design and development of musical activities,
either as tools for pupils to interact with or to support children’s social interaction. As
listeners, performers, and creators, digital technologies enable children to interact
with rich multimodal environments that can provide immediate feedback on their
actions and encourage deeper learning (diSessa, 2000). Digital technology can also
boost teachers’ creativity by providing new tools and ideas for innovative language
teaching activities (Piazza, 2007). Technology can allow teachers to design their own
materials to meet a vast range of language and music objectives and activities.
5.1 The Pupil’s Portfolio
The Pupil’s Portfolio is designed to provide children with opportunities to develop,
celebrate and share their musical experiences, progress and achievements. Through
the EMP-L activities and the Pupil’s Portfolio cards, young children can record,
reflect on and extend their musical awareness and skills, personal achievements and
progress, shared musical experiences and intra/intercultural awareness and
understanding. The Pupil’s Portfolio is not an assessment tool; instead, it promotes
children’s engagement in musical activities in a unique way through linking them to
language learning. Thus, the EMP-L Pupil’s Portfolio can be thought of as
complementary to The Junior version of the European Language Portfolio, which is
designed to support and track pupils’ language learning. With a flexible structure,
individual children can create a personal portfolio, or groups of children and the
whole class can share their collaborative musical and language learning activities.
The Pupil’s Portfolio has three parts:
1. Music and Me cards that encourage and develop children’s musical
awareness through autobiographical reflection on their musical experiences
and preferences.

European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages – Teacher’s Handbook
44
2. My Music Journal cards that serve as a personal journal about integrated
music and language learning, which can be created and kept by pupils for
reflection.
3. My Musical Treasure consisting of a small box or ring binder which can be
used to keep a record of pupils’ performances and accomplishments (e.g.,
CDs, concert ticket stubs, photographs, musical compositions, etc.).
5.2 The EMP-L Teacher’s Guide and Teacher’s Booklets
The Pupil’s Portfolio is accompanied by a Teacher’s Guide to the materials and
Teacher’s Cards. The Teacher’s Cards link to this Teacher’s Handbook and to the
European Language Portfolio. They contain suggestions to support children’s musical
and language learning, intercultural awareness, learning strategies, and also link to the
sample EMP-L activities. The Pupil’s Portfolio is meant to be used flexibly and
creatively, depending on the requirements of different countries’ national curricula
and different classroom contexts. The materials are available in different languages as
Word and PowerPoint files so that teachers can choose and adapt the elements of the
Pupil’s Portfolio they wish to use with their class. To download the Teacher’s Booklet
(which has activities chosen for use in your country or region), the Pupil’s Portfolio
resources, and the Teacher’s Guide to the Pupil’s Portfolio which contains more
information about the cards, please click on the ‘Free Materials’ link on the website:
www.emportfolio.eu
5.3 The online EMP-L activities
Since there is so much variety throughout Europe and even within a particular school,
the EMP-L materials are meant to be easily adaptable rather than treated as ‘recipes’
to be followed one step after another. Teachers are encouraged to download the
sample activities under the ‘Free Materials’ link by clicking on ‘EMP-L Sample
Activities’ and then create their own versions of the EMP-L materials for use in the
classroom. Teachers can also register for a login and password, which will enable
access to even more materials which are available for download.
A list of additional supporting references, including articles written by the
project partners and teachers, are also available on the EMP-L website under the ‘Free
Materials’ link.
5.4 Activity grid to integrate musical activities with language
learning aims
After considering the literature and ideas discussed in this handbook, the EMP-L
partners aimed to design a collection of activities that would be flexible, engaging and
fun, while drawing on a range of research and practical experience (see Figure 5.1).

European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages – Teacher’s Handbook
45
Figure 5.1: Diagram to show the range of influences on our development of the
integrated music and language activities and the EMP-L activity grid
There are many illustrative sample activities on the EMP-L website that may be
applied to different languages and to different teaching and learning contexts.
Each sample activity meets one or more of the objectives for music and
language learning. The grid for each musical activity illustrates how it can support
different educational objectives in primary language and musical learning. The list of
ten types of musical activities (p. 18 in Chapter 2) appear along the left-hand column
of the grid, whereas the educational objectives relevant to language learning are found
across the top of the grid:
• Oracy
• Literacy
• Vocabulary (lexical competence)
• Language awareness and knowledge about language
• Intercultural awareness and sensitivity
• Cognitive and language learning strategies
It is our hope that the EMP-L approach and materials will inspire teachers in Europe
to use more integrated music and language learning activities in the classroom, which
we believe will benefit teachers and pupils alike.

 2011 European Music Portfolio ± A creative way into languages (www.emportfolio.eu)
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 2011 European Music Portfolio ± A creative way into languages (www.emportfolio.eu)
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European Music Portfolio: A Creative Way into Languages – Teacher’s Handbook
50
References
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young children: A classroom curriculum. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.
Adey, P., & Shayer, M. (2002). Learning intelligence: Cognitive acceleration across the
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Anton, R.J. (1990). Combining singing and psychology. Hispania, 73(4): 1166–1170.
Badstübner-Kizik, C. (2007). Bild- und Musikkunst im Fremdsprachenunterricht. Zwischen-
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