Popular songs have often been advocated as a source of interesting materials for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Often, however, songs appear to be selected on an ad hoc basis, without any common thread providing a unifying focus for the course of lessons. The present article presents a practice report of a course of lessons that integrates songs into the cultural history of the United States, by focusing on a specific genre of popular music, namely Country music. Firstly, reasons, both cultural and personal, are provided for the selection of Country music as a genre. Thereafter, an outline is given of the activities used in the individual lessons, both homework preparation on the Moodle learning management system and classroom procedures with a heavy emphasis on pair work and conversation. The bulk of the article outlines the 11 songs included in the course, describing how they can be categorized into eight subgenres, ranging from postwar Bluegrass Music through the pop-influenced Nashville Sound to 1970s Country rock. It is explained how Country lyrics facilitate personal conversation topics such as homeland, family, friendship, romance, gender issues, worries, etc., and how they also allow for teacher talk on points of linguistic detail. Comments from students are also cited that indicate a substantial level of engagement with the songs and their meaning.
Peter HOWELL (2025) studied this question.