The fascination of nursery rhymes

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1.0, University of Duisburg-Essen, language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction

Nursery rhymes have a long tradition in Great Britain. Adults still

remember the short verses their parents have told them when they were

children. So these rhymes are part of the English culture.

In English lessons German pupils in primary school also have to learn

about the English culture so that they get an impression of children¿s life in

a foreign country. Cultural awareness is part of the curriculum. Nursery

Rhymes are important in English children¿s life. So German children have

to learn about it. Rhyme, rhythm and chunks are useful for language

learning. The rhymes help the children to get to know the English

sentence structure.

These arguments show that young people who want to become a primary

teacher have to know about nursery rhymes. Where do they come from?

What is so fascinating about them? Are they useful in the primary

classroom? In this essay I would like to find out about it.

2. The origin of nursery rhymes

Nursery rhymes are oral literature children are confronted with. First ¿

when they are still babies ¿ their mothers sing lullabies to them. Here the

tune is more important than the words (vgl. Opie, 2002, page 177).