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. IntroductionNursery rhymes have a long tradition in Great Britain. Adults stillremember the short verses their parents have told them when they werechildren. So these rhymes are part of the English culture.In English lessons German pupils in primary school also have to learnabout the English culture so that they get an impression of children's life ina foreign country. Cultural awareness is part of the curriculum. NurseryRhymes are important in English children's life. So German children haveto learn about it. Rhyme, rhythm and chunks are useful for languagelearning. The rhymes help the children to get to know the Englishsentence structure.These arguments show that young people who want to become a primaryteacher have to know about nursery rhymes. Where do they come from?What is so fascinating about them? Are they useful in the primaryclassroom? In this essay I would like to find out about it. 2. The origin of nursery rhymesNursery rhymes are oral literature children are confronted with. First -when they are still babies - their mothers sing lullabies to them. Here thetune is more important than the words (vgl. Opie, 2002, page 177).