Song hangman

I heard a song the other day that would seem to confirm a suspicion I have had for a while now. The song, which is called Chapel of love goes something like this:

Go-win’ to the chapel and we’re gonna get married
Go-win’ to the chapel and we’re gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we’re gonna get married
Go-win’ to the chapel of love

.

[If the YouTube clip doesn’t work, the song can be heard here]

The song would suggest that ‘going to’ is pronounced ‘gonna’ before a verb (get married) but not before a place (the chapel). To test out this idea I typed gonna into Google. Here are all of the examples from the first page:

1. What’s it gonna be?
2. I’m gonna git you sucka
3. Gonna fly now
4. Never gonna give you up
5. You’re gonna miss me
6. We’re all gonna die
7. You aren’t gonna need it

In each example, gonna is followed by a verb - no places in sight. When I Google-searched “going to”, I got these results:

1. The going to Uni home page
2. Going to print
3. Not nearly enough money going to green tech
4. Going to Canada
5. Going to school
6. Going to the doctor
7. Going to a town
8. This is going to be big

In these 8 examples, only 2 cases of ‘going to’ are followed by verbs (’Going to print’ and ‘This is going to be big’). In fact you could argue that there is only one example since ‘to print’ could be regarded as a psychological place. Would there be a difference in pronunciation of ‘going to’ in the following?

1. It’s going to print tomorrow.
2. I’m going to print it off now.

Anyway, that’s a digression. The important thing that the results suggest is that there may be a tendency for ‘gonna’ to be used before verbs but not places.

Of course, speaking and writing are two different things. We might say gonna, but we write ‘going to’. Gonna is an interesting example of written-spoken English that we find in pop culture.

For example, of the seven cases of gonna that were obtained from the above Google search, three were three song titles, two were films and one was the name of a rock band.

Teaching ‘going to’

It will help if learners can come to appreciate the difference between ‘going to’ present continuous (Are you going to Scarborough fair?) and ‘going to’ as a way of talking about the future (You’re gonna lose that girl).

One way to start things off would be by using the Chapel of love song for a game of song hangman.

Write a grid on the board that corresponds to the lyrics you want to look at. Draw one line per word and number them. Help your students by adding a word or two to the grid:

Play the beginning of the song on YouTube and then ask your class to offer words that they hear. Make sure that only one word is given at a time and also make sure that the student who gives you the word says which line it should be placed on. Replay the song every now and again and continue to ask for words and their positions. Just like normal hangman, the gallows grows each time an incorrect answer is given (this will be either an incorrect word or an incorrect position).

When your students have worked out the passage, focus on the different pronunciations of ‘going to’. Can your students hear the difference?

Similar activities could be used for any of the song chunks below (click on the links). In each case, get your students to decide if the singers are saying ‘going to’ or gonna.

• I’m going to a town / I’m gonna see some folks
• Are you going to Scarborourgh fair?
• Don’t worry about a thing ‘cos every little thing’s gonna be alright
• We’re going to the zoo
• You’re gonna lose that girl
• We’re going to Ibiza / We’re gonna have a party
• Do you know where you’re going to?
• Never gonna give you up

(NB If you play these examples on YouTube, make sure your students hear the music but don’t see the screen - in most cases the song titles can be seen.)

Once your students have heard enough examples, get them to work out the pattern for themselves:

‘Going to’ before places - present continuous
Gonna before verbs - talking about the future

Whether we want to teach it or not, gonna will usually always come up in class. Most learners will have seen it and want to know more. I have also known learners who liked to use gonna. Whatever your students’ choices, it is important to point out that:

1. They are not being asked to use gonna in speech.
2. Under normal circumstances, they should write ‘going to’.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It’s taken me a while to gain confidence about the ‘rule’ outlined in this posting. Unfortunately, much of this has probably involved analysing friends’ speech without listening to what they are actually saying (sorry friends). Of course the idea that there are only two possible pronunciations of ‘going to’ is an great oversimplification to say the least. The Dixie Cups pronounce gonna almost as it is written whereas in other cases it will sound more like Guinness without the -ss. Similarly, there is a lot of scope for variation in pronunciation of ‘going to’ before a place. It really all depends on who’s talking.

(This lesson could be followed up by the ‘going to’ activity at teflclips).