Pop Lyrics and Mobile Language Learning: Prospects and Challenges

Pop lyrics represent a rich, but underused resource in language teaching in both institutional and informal contexts. This is striking in view of analyses from the fields of motivational and cognitive psychology, didactics as well as linguistics, which all provide evidence for the inherent potential of pop lyrics. This paper will first take a closer look at arguments in favor of exploiting pop lyrics for learning purposes. Next, it will outline gateway steps and potential difficulties on the way toward using lyrics in a video/lyrics app tailored to the requirements of an informal, gamified and learner-centered setting. In conclusion, the authors suggest that pop lyrics can be used effectively to establish a connection to the world of the learner both within and beyond the language classroom. However, there remain a number of technical and methodological challenges that have to be overcome to create a fully adaptable and flexible framework for using lyrics in mobile-assisted language learning.