The usage of a song discourse as a source for precedent names during English lessons (based on «We Didn't Start the Fire»)

Zyryanova Irina Petrovna ORCID: 0000-0002-6676-0390 PhD in Philology Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages and Russian Philology, Nizhny Tagil State Socio-Pedagogical Institute, branch of the Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University (Yekaterinburg) 622030, Russia, Sverdlovsk region, Nizhny Tagil, Krasnogvardeyskaya str., 57, office 308 zyryanovairena@gmail.com

Il'ina Anastasiya Andreevna ORCID: 0009-0009-9745-1361 Lecturer at the Department of Foreign Languages and Russian Philology, Nizhny Tagil State Socio-Pedagogical Institute, branch of the Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University (Yekaterinburg) 622030, Russia, Sverdlovsk region, Nizhny Tagil, Krasnogvardeyskaya str., 57, office 308 ivolga.99@yandex.ru

The relationship between language and culture is an extensive field for research, one of the aspects of studying this relationship is the question of the need to possess cultural knowledge when learning a foreign language in order to conduct successful communication. Undoubtedly, when teaching any foreign language, the student is faced not only with lexical and grammatical units, but also with quotations and phrases spoken by famous historical figures, heroes of films, TV series, books and other media that refer to specific cultural phenomena of the country of the language being studied. Based on this, it can be concluded that familiarity with the linguistic and cultural aspect of teaching a foreign language is necessary in order to have a complete understanding of the functioning of the language ^[1].

I agree with E.I. Passov, who proposed the concept of teaching language through culture, "language teaching in close interaction with culture allows participants in intercultural communication not only to get acquainted with facts from the field of foreign language culture and acquire the skills to use them in various communication situations, but also to master the ability: a) to see in someone else's culture not only what distinguishes us from representatives of another culture, but also what unites us; b) to evaluate events, people's actions not only from their own point of view, but also from the position of someone else's culture; c) to change assessments as a result of comprehending someone else's culture, to abandon stereotypes; d) to use the knowledge of another's culture for a deeper understanding of one's own; e) to get satisfaction from the knowledge of another's culture; f) to see the connection between the fact of culture and the verbal expression denoting it" ^[2].

The linguistic and cultural aspect presupposes the presence of culturally marked units that can be considered from different positions: history, authorship, source. Such cultural units include precedent phenomena that are actualized in the minds of native speakers, determine the logical structure and boundaries of their use, as well as the connection with certain life situations and the culture of the people.

By precedent phenomena, Gudkov understands units that are "familiar to the majority of the linguistic and cultural community, stored in the collective memory of this community and regularly updated in speech" ^[3]. Accordingly, Gudkov pays more attention to national precedent phenomena, G. G. Slyshkina, in turn, places greater emphasis on precedent texts that are characteristic of small social groups: family precedent text, precedent text of a student group ^[4]. It follows from this that the precedent text can be of any length and is intended for a certain circle of people.

I agree with the concepts of Gudkov, Zakharenko, Krasnykh and Bagaeva, precedent phenomena are classified into: precedent names, precedent statements, precedent texts and precedent statements. Within the framework of this work, we will focus on the study of precedent names, since it is their number that prevails in the material on the basis of which the study is based. By precedent names, we mean a special type of proper names that are cognitively and emotionally significant for a large number of native speakers, which acquire additional meaning due to specific events, personalities or phenomena associated with them. These names are often used in language and culture as symbols associated with certain contexts or historical situations. Precedent names can serve as models or reference points when discussing or describing certain events or phenomena, and they usually evoke certain associations or emotions in listeners or readers ^[5].

The study of precedent names is impossible outside of discourse. Taking into account the many interpretations of this term from linguistic positions by a number of domestic and foreign scientists ^{[6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and others .]} we can say that it represents "an integral speech work in the diversity of its cognitive and communicative functions ^[13], as well as "a coherent text in combination with extralinguistic factors (pragmatic, socio-cultural, psychological); speech considered as a social action; speech immersed in life" ^[14]. One of the types of discourse that is currently subject to in-depth analysis is song discourse. Song discourse is one of the forms of communication and expression of ideas, implemented through the lyrics of songs. This type of discourse combines the linguistic aspects of the text, musical elements such as melody and rhythm, as well as cultural and social contexts that are reflected in the lyrics and musical composition of the song.

The relevance of its study lies in the fact that songs surround a person at every step and quite often they serve as a motive for learning a foreign language, since a person who is interested in musical compositions begins to show interest in the language in which this composition is written in order to better understand what the author wanted to convey.

L.G. Dunyasheva points out the following functions of song discourse: 1. Emotive function (song discourse makes a person sympathize and worry). 2. The conative function (song discourse encourages action). 3. Reference (informative) function (song discourse conveys the content of a situation in the imaginary or real world). 4. Poetic function (song discourse is characterized by imagery and uniqueness). 5. The phatic (contact-establishing) function (song discourse is aimed at maintaining communication). 6. Ethnoconsolidation function – song discourse unites a people or an ethnos. 7. Self–identification function - song discourse promotes the positioning of the performer as a member of a certain group ^[15].

Song discourse is one of the most popular ways of transmitting information from addressee to addressee, since the symbiosis of verbal (textual) and non-verbal (musical) components leads to the fact that information transmitted in this way is remembered much easier for a person, as indicated by a number of domestic and foreign researchers of song discourse ^{[16, 17, 18 19, etc.]}. It is the ease of perception and memorization of texts with the help of songs that shows that song discourse is an effective way of learning English. In addition, the use of musical elements in the framework of teaching a foreign language increases motivation, as students can study in more detail the songs that arouse their interest. It is also worth noting that the entertainment element has an equally effective effect on the level of mastering foreign vocabulary and grammar, as students begin to look at the studied material from a different angle, and the emotions caused by such activities help to cause a positive association, which will lead again to a more solid mastering of new information.

As part of this work, a fragment of one of the classes for high school students, college or university students will be presented. This lesson can be used both within the framework of one of the disciplines related to the English language, and as an optional course for a more in-depth study of the regional aspect. The purpose of the classes is to introduce students to precedent names and the ability to recognize them and analyze the areas to which they appeal. The work is based on the composition "We didn't start the fire", written by musician Billy Joel.  

The structure of the composition is exclusively a set of precedent names that appeal to 180 key events in world history that occurred between 1949 (the year of the author's birth) and 1989 (the year of the composition's release).

Harry Truman, Doris Day

Red China, Johnnie Ray

South Pacific

Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon

Studebaker, Television

North Korea, South Korea

Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb

Sugar Ray, Panmunjom

Brando, The King And I,

And The Catcher In The Rye

Eisenhower, Vaccine

England's got a new queen

Marciano, Liberace

Santayana goodbye

It is worth noting that all events are arranged in chronological order and there are about 5-7 precedent names for each year. The song covers a wide range of topics, including wars, political leaders, scientific discoveries, cultural movements and other important events that shaped and defined this era. The title "We Didn't Start the Fire" (We didn't start the fire) emphasizes the idea that current generations are responsible for many problems and events, but rather are witnesses and continuators of past phenomena.

The value of using this composition while learning English lies not only in getting to know precedent names and expanding background knowledge about world events, but also in phonetic practice, since very often the pronunciation of proper names in a foreign language does not coincide with the pronunciation of the same realities in their native language. In addition, working with this composition also develops listening skills, since students need to understand the meaning of the composition by ear, and in this case it is quite difficult to do this, since it will not be enough to add up the meaning of each word to fully understand the meaning of the composition, it is necessary to have background knowledge in order to understand what he meant the author created this composition.

Working with a composition consists of 3 stages:

1. The pre-text stage;

2.The text stage;

3. The post-text stage.

The pre-text stage

Before listening to the composition itself and getting to know the text, students need to be set up for work and prepared for what topic they will face.

The first task is that students need to correlate a case name with the field to which it appeals. As the material for this assignment, the most famous proper names were selected from the composition, which are heard by Russian-speaking students, this was done so that students would not experience difficulties due to a lack of background knowledge about precedent names.

Table 1. Example of the first task

After the students have completed the task, it is necessary to discuss what associations these precedent names have among the students and what they know about these proper names. At this stage, some students may have different associations with these precedent names, so the teacher needs to explain to students what precedent names are and what their function is. 

As a second exercise, students need to correlate the precedent names (which were discussed in the previous task) with the approximate dates with which they are associated. It is worth noting that proper names were also chosen from different time intervals, which is due to the fact that students did not face great difficulties and did not lose motivation. However, for some students who have problems with history, this assignment may cause difficulties. The task of the teacher in this case is to help these students and push them to the right answer.

The text stage

As an example, let's look at working with the second verse.

The first task at the main stage is the first listening to the composition along with watching the video sequence, as this may prompt students to understand what the main idea of the song is. During this audition, students need to answer the only question: "What is this song about?". In addition, students need to try to isolate those lexical units (case names) that they have managed to understand. The problem at this stage may be either ignorance of some precedent names, or their incorrect recognition, which is due to the fact that in English and Russian some proper names are pronounced differently.

After the first listening, the students and the teacher discuss the meaning of the composition, and the students express their opinion about what they understood and what precedent phenomena they could hear. Only after the first listening, the teacher shows the students the text of the composition and tells them that there is a certain historical event behind each precedent name, but it is not supposed to analyze all precedent names at this stage. Students try to correctly read all proper names in the text of the song, after which their task during the second listening is to write transcriptions of proper names that sound in the composition, as well as try to find a Russian equivalent.

Table 2. Correlation of English and Russian pronunciation variants of PI

The next step is to get directly acquainted with the events to which the precedent names used appeal. To do this, students need to correlate the precedent name with its explanation.

Table 3. An example of a task for correlating PI and its explanation

After discussing the correct answers and completing the information, students and teachers need to learn how to use these case names in the right context. To do this, in the next task, students need to fill in the blanks using one of the precedent names that were discussed at the previous stage.

1. It's so awful that I can't afford a new car on my salary! If I were one of ___ I would never face such problems. (Rockefeller)

2. When I was a little boy my only wish was to visit ___ because it was like a fairy tale in the real world (Disneyland)

3. Have you ever seen her seductive eyes? This actress can be called the modern ___ (Brigitte Bardo)

4. Stop making faces. You've already ruined your graduation photo, you stuck your tongue out just like ___ once did. But compared to you he was a genius and you are just a clown! (Albert Einstein)

5. You should work harder if you want to be on the same level with ___. No doubt, you're talented but you lack practice that's why you need more piano lessons. (Sergei Prokofiev)

6. Many people are familiar with ___, its production on an industrial scale was started in the 50s of the last century by the world-famous Dupont corporation. Soon, the general euphoria was replaced by caution due to the properties of the fabric. The main disadvantage was the almost zero air conductivity, which does not allow you to feel comfortable. (Dacron)

7. He's throwing the ball pretty far, but he's still a long way from hitting the bat with ___ accuracy. (Roy Campanella's)

8. Racing is a very dangerous hobby that can lead to death at a young age. Even celebrities like ___ are not immune to this. (James Dean)

The last task within the text stage is the distribution of the studied case names based on which country they refer to. Since the work in the lesson is carried out with only one verse, it is possible to come to the following results.

Table 4. Correlation of PI to the countries to which they appeal

The post-text stage

As part of working with precedent names, it will not be possible to carry out the usual lexical exercises that should bring new information into the speech of students, since the very purpose of working with precedent names is to acquire background knowledge or deepen it. Therefore, as a post-text stage, we propose a differentiated task. The first task involves project activities, the purpose of which is that students need to prepare reports on some precedent names that they found either new or interesting. When preparing for reports, students need to do a little research to find more in-depth information about a particular person or event, and then present it to the rest of the students. This type of assignment is effective from the point of view that students need to learn how to analyze the information they read, be able to shorten it and present it to an audience. The second type of assignment involves writing an essay on the topic "The people whose contribution to the development of history I consider the most significant". The purpose of writing this essay is to express the student's personal opinion about which of the people described in the Bill Joel composition he considers the most influential. A mandatory aspect in evaluating the essay is the fact that the student has proved his point of view and presented arguments as to why these particular personalities had the greatest impact on world history.

Thus, working with the composition "We didn't start the fire" can take both one lesson and several full-fledged lessons, for example, as part of a course where historical and regional aspects are studied. The composition opens up a vast field for students to gain new knowledge, since most of the precedent names appeal specifically to the history of the United States, some of them can be considered local, so familiarity with them significantly broadens the horizons of students. It is also worth noting that analyzing the chronology of events and tracking which countries are most often referred to helps to understand which states had the greatest impact on world history in a specific period of time. This information can be used for further project activities or for deeper study in other classes related to history and regional studies.