Today, I will talk about a technique used to make learning Turkish enjoyable. As you know, music has taken its place in every aspect of our lives since our existence. Using it as a communication tool is one of them. In this way, thanks to the music integrated into Turkish learning, the learner will get rid of the formal pressure of the process and will have a place in this process naturally. The fact that the songs are also equipped with the cultural elements of Turkish will facilitate the adaptation process to the spoken language. Studies have also shown that music perpetuates knowledge, and success and productivity increase in parallel.
It is a scientific fact that music increases learning and motivation in language teaching. There are studies showing that the brain becomes ready to learn with music. Neurologist Marcus Raichle, who likened music to the “Fuel of the Mind”, revealed that music brings along great discoveries and innovations of the creative mind. Multiple intelligence theorist Gardner also mentioned musical intelligence. People with a dominant intelligence type can realize meaningful learning through music.
I will share how I put the use of music into practice through an activity I did with children. First of all, I determine which concepts I will gain, adhering to the plan. I choose the song that fits the concepts. In the song, I re-identify the key concepts suitable for the achievements. In order to create familiarity for the child, we show the cards with the concepts and talk about them before listening. I tell him to say the concepts that are associated with the subject and that we will examine together whether this concept will be in the song. We care about the familiarity of the words as well as the way they are pronounced, and we practice pronunciation before the song. I give the text of the song to the child so that there are gaps. During the listening phase, I arrange the space in a way that will not distract the child. After making the necessary warnings calmly and clearly, we listen to the song an average of three times as needed. I want the child to show the picture cards given to the child beforehand, as the song comes up. One of the methods I use from time to time is to fill in the blanks in the text of the song from time to time. We complete the true-false questions that test their intelligibility in terms of meaning during the activity and after listening to the song. After the activity, in order to evaluate whether the holistic skills and the targeted concepts have been achieved, they may be asked to write their feelings about the song, to read what they have written or to talk about the song. Again, in order to improve pronunciation, we sing individually or together. Based on newly learned words, we can switch to synonyms or antonyms with those words. Finally, the activity can be completed by asking whether there are parallel songs in their own culture.
Finally, if we summarize the effects of the process on the child, learning the keywords on the subject in the context of the subject, ensuring permanence with exercises, improving listening skills, correcting mistakes in pronunciation, facilitating the expression of emotions and thoughts, creating a comfortable and fun environment, providing an atmosphere of imagination and creativity. We see opportunities such as It is one of the methods that I believe and share on behalf of those who want to learn or teach any language on this path. I hope you have gained information that will contribute to your learning-teaching experience in this sharing.