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But do we know? Dagger?s song is indeed very popular among our primary school children. Singing and humming it they get to know it by heart. Still we find it difficult to teach history and geography to our nine to eleven year-olds! Is it because they are too young to remember facts and figures? Is it out of laziness?

Alan (10 years old), pupil of Standard V states, ?Mo pa rapel tu sa ban nom la. Li pa fasil, apre mo pa kontan apran par ker.? However, when questioned about Dagger?s song, he exclaims, ?Oui, mo ban kamarad ek moi ador sa sante la. Nu kontan sante. Mo konn li preske par ker.?

Too easily we tag our learners as lazy or unworthy simply because they cannot recall what they have been taught. Rapid technological development and an explosion of knowledge are leading to the phasing out of such traditional teaching strategies as rote learning, conditioning and drills. At the other end of this continuum, we find more child-centered, communicative and interactive teaching strategies (songs being one of them) that we can use to make the whole teaching-learning process more meaningful.

Since singing comes easily to children, why not use such songs to teach History and Geography to our pupils. An interesting activity would be to give them a copy of this song and ask them to write down all the names and dates on paper. It might also be fun to ask them to replace the names and dates by others from their History and Geography book; and of course sing it. Not only will they enjoy themselves while singing, their learning will also be enhanced. Undoubtedly, Alan and his friends would love it too!

Singing as a teaching strategy is popular in our nurseries and pre-primary schools. Infants (up to 5 years old) love songs about themselves, animals, friends or some nonsense rhymes and jingles. They learn the alphabet and numbers by singing. Songs in which the words match children?s actions help them to learn the meaning of simple vocabulary, thus, support their language acquisition. Don?t we hear our own children singing: A, B, C, D? One, two, three? Baba black sheep? or This is the way?? (To mention only a few of them) These songs not only familiarise toddlers with basic musical concepts such as melody, rhyme, tempo, pitch and tone, but also improve their listening skills and provide them with opportunities to solve problems by thinking about actions they can do to songs. They are also encouraged to think of new words, which they can sing to a familiar tune. Thus, Twinkle, twinkle little star? becomes Twinkle, twinkle traffic lights ? This is not only fun as children learn the meaning of traffic lights. They also learn about colours ? red, yellow, green, and above all, road safety precautions. Moreover, preschoolers should be encouraged to sing as songs enable them to reveal and express their feelings and understanding of the world around them. Affective development is vital to young children, as it will enhance their learning across all developmental domains.

Unfortunately in our country as learners move from pre-primary to primary and later to secondary, songs as a teaching strategy lose their popularity. Children still have music classes; they sing and dance for fun, concerts or prize-giving ceremonies only. It?s a pity; we forget that they are powerful tools that can enhance learning in all subject areas and at all levels.

Annick, French Language and Literature teacher at secondary level, confirms. ?I often use songs in my classes to introduce a particular theme or issue. Once during a language class, we were working on gender issues so I started the lesson with one of Florent Pagny?s song ? Et un jour, une femme. The song was a highly effective device to get the attention of all my students, it had also kindled their interest and they were motivated to discuss this issue. They were highly responsive and emotionally aroused to share their feelings and opinions in class.?

Indeed, teens enjoy songs, hence, they are more likely to learn the messages contained within them, including messages of gender equality. They can learn about similarities and differences within and between men and women, boys and girls. De-construction of gender-stereotyped views can thus be achieved by developing students? awareness of gender role diversity. Hence, we are promoting their acceptance and respect of both sexes.

Songs are indeed effective teaching strategies that can be extensively used at all levels often as a springboard activity to introduce any subject, topic, theme or issue. They are powerful and enlightening. Then why not ask our learners to give us a list of their favourite songs that we can use for teaching.

<B> Shardha SANDAPEN</B>