Language instruction in Sesame Street's "Gross Grouch Song"

Sesame Street has long been a purveyor of early childhood educational television programming. A core component of the Sesame Street model is the instruction of language through the characters on the show. Individual shows may focus on one letter of the alphabet, thereby drawing the children's attention to words that begin with that letter. This method of learning language can be described as organic as opposed to rote, and offers a fun and engaging framework that is conducive to lifelong learning and language acquisition (Elley, n.d.). Although phonics may be part of the language instruction, the emphasis is more on context.

The techniques used to teach children about the letter "g" include the use of music and visual aids. In fact music remains integral to language instruction on Sesame Street. Music, even more so than plain speech, helps the young learner to hear and recognize the phonemes like that of "g." In the video "The Gross Grouch Song," Oscar the Grouch focuses on the letter "G" is described as a "grouchy letter." Thus, the young learner hears the letter "g" in the context of g-words like "grouch," rather than being directly instructed in phonics. Oscar the Grouch also shows his "glasses" covered in "goo," which are "gunky" and "globby." The phonetic instruction is present in the song without any overt pedantic material. The techniques used in "The Gross Grouch Song" reveal the panoply of vocabulary words that begin with the letter, and also stresses the sound of the letter "g."

The videos to the right of the main video are tacitly but not directly linked to the "Gross Grouch Song." This is because "The Gross Grouch Song" promotes autonomy in learning and encourages a global approach that conforms to research (Black, et al., 2006). Children pay more attention to meaning than to form, as Moon (2005) points out. This is why the "g" lesson must be taught in context and not in isolation of characters or stories. Research also shows that children learn through experience and interactivity (Moon, 2005). Based on the sidebar videos linked with "The Gross Grouch Song," Oscar the Grouch is an instrumental instructor on the letter "g" because his name is meaningful to the child. As the "grouch," Oscar is uniquely able to teach about the letter "g" through fun and interesting "gross" imagery that children will find funny. Oscar sings, "G is for "groceries that are one-month-old, that are grubby, greasy, and growing mold." The delightful imagery teaches the letter "g" in an incidental manner (Elley, n.d.). An investigation of other Oscar videos shows that the character teaches other letters besides "g," though, to stress the importance of language diversity and autonomy.