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Music, Memory and the Temporal Lobe.

 Hello teacher,


Some time ago, I was thinking about the learning process and how we take a long time to process and memorise new content. Actually, I would not consider it memorise, but consolidate.
Did you know that our temporal lobe is the one responsible to process our memory and also language? Humans possess this ability to process the world through language. We have two specialised areas in the brain designed (or evolved) to process language, Broca’ and Wernicke’s areas. Some studies will say that Broca’s area is also key to processing music.
Débora! Stop using all of this theory and get back to what is important. Why do I take so long to learn new songs to use with my students?
First of all, if you are a bilingual teacher, working in Brazil, how many of you actually studied in a bilingual/international school? How many were brought up in English and had the privilege to have someone singing for/with you in English? So just take some pressure from you right now.
Secondly, when we are processing new information and have to consolidate it, we demand our brains to be busy. If we are trying to process language, music and memory at the same time, we need to go through several repetitions so we can consolidate and turn our short-term memory to long-term. And if we are older than 30, then we would need more repetitions.
Ok, Débora, it’s getting easier for me now, but how can I learn more songs?
One way is to add movement or relate the learning to objects. I will use a song that you probably know already to exemplify: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. If you have to learn this song, it is much easier to consolidate your learning of it if you move your arms as if you were rowing a boat. Your students, even if they are very little, will try to imitate the movement and after a while, they will start singing it along with you. Then, if you have that intention, you can explore the vocabulary with them and ask them to transfer it to other contexts if you are doing projects that can relate to them. You can also have them ‘sitting on a boat’ and rowing with you. They would be lining up so you could go to different places.
When you add movement to the learning, you are relieving some pressure from the temporal lobe, so you can help your brain process all the information.
If you want to learn more ways to use songs in your routine and help your students improve their language skills, or if you want to just learn more songs in English, follow me on instagram. @bilingualmusiceducation
See you soon!

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