Sing Chinese and tap Tagalog? Predicting individual differences in musical and phonetic aptitude using language families differing by sound-typology

Christiner, Markus; Rüdegger, Stefanie; Reiterer, Susanne Maria

doi:10.1080/14790718.2018.1424171

Cited by 25 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Future investigations may need to consider typologically different languages and their relationship to musical aspects which cannot be explained within this limited research design. Recent research has isolated different transfer effects from music to language, where pitch discrimination contributed to tone-languages, while rhythmic discrimination contributed to non-tone languages [ 63 ]. Goswami and colleagues also showed that “novel remediation strategies on the basis of rhythm and music may offer benefits for phonological and linguistic development” [ 90 ] and early musical training during childhood supports foreign language perception, memory and later foreign language acquisition processes [ 91 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An analysis of Chinese imitation performances of school children at the age of 9 have revealed that around 40% of the variance of Chinese imitation of non-tone (German) language native speakers could be explained by singing ability, tonal perception ability together with WM capacity [ 63 ]. Learning Chinese as a second language may require precise musical knowledge an ability which is developed at the age of 9 [ 95 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ratings were performed on a scale between 0 and 10, where 10 was the highest and 0 the lowest score. Native speakers are said to make judgments comparable to those of phonetic experts [ 53 , 54 ] and multiple investigations used the same methodology to analyze individual differences in phonetic abilities [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 63 ]. We instructed the raters to immediately rate the overall performance (spontaneous global judgment) as well as to use headphones while rating the files.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…WM ability is age-related showing that 3 digits of strings of numbers in a forward order are recalled at around five years of age [ 62 ]. Following language aptitude research, it has often been argued that WM has some potential to replace the idea of aptitude and indeed many investigations have been able to detect that WM capacity is related to processing, retaining, and repeating unfamiliar language material [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 63 ], placing WM amongst one of the strongest predictors of linguistic success. As already mentioned, WM is age-related, following developmental steps from simpler to more complex.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early Influence of Musical Abilities and Working Memory on Speech Imitation Abilities: Study with Pre-School Children

Christiner

Reiterer

2018

Brain Sciences

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Musical aptitude and language talent are highly intertwined when it comes to phonetic language ability. Research on pre-school children’s musical abilities and foreign language abilities are rare but give further insights into the relationship between language and musical aptitude. We tested pre-school children’s abilities to imitate unknown languages, to remember strings of digits, to sing, to discriminate musical statements and their intrinsic (spontaneous) singing behavior (“singing-lovers versus singing nerds”). The findings revealed that having an ear for music is linked to phonetic language abilities. The results of this investigation show that a working memory capacity and phonetic aptitude are linked to high musical perception and production ability already at around the age of 5. This suggests that music and (foreign) language learning capacity may be linked from childhood on. Furthermore, the findings put emphasis on the possibility that early developed abilities may be responsible for individual differences in both linguistic and musical performances.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early Influence of Musical Abilities and Working Memory on Speech Imitation Abilities: Study with Pre-School Children

Christiner

Reiterer

2018

Brain Sciences

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“…by giving a grade between 1 (not at all) and 5 (very much). We decided to measure singing ability with self ratings because patterns of results obtained with this measurement method (Nardo and Reiterer, 2009; Reiterer et al, 2011; Hu et al, 2012) were replicated in experiments assessing singing ability on singing tasks and yielded comparable results to actual assessments done with singing recordings evaluated by expert or naïve singing teachers (Christiner and Reiterer, 2013, 2015, 2018) as long as non-professional and professional singers are mixed up in the research design. The self-estimation of professional singers is different from that of a layman.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Second Language Accent Faking Ability Depends on Musical Abilities, Not on Working Memory

2019

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Studies involving direct language imitation tasks have shown that pronunciation ability is related to musical competence and working memory capacities. However, this type of task may measure individual differences in many different linguistic dimensions, other than just phonetic ones. The present study uses an indirect imitation task by asking participants to a fake a foreign accent in order to specifically target individual differences in phonetic abilities. Its aim is to investigate whether musical expertise and working memory capacities relate to phonological awareness (i.e., participants’ implicit knowledge about the phonological system of the target language and its structural properties at the segmental, suprasegmental, and phonotactic levels) as measured on this task. To this end, French native listeners ( N = 36) graded how well German native imitators ( N = 25) faked a French accent while speaking in German. The imitators also performed a musicality test, a self-assessment of their singing abilities and working memory tasks. The results indicate that the ability to fake a French accent correlates with singing ability and musical perceptual abilities, but not with working memory capacities. This suggests that heightened musical abilities may lead to an increased phonological awareness probably by providing participants with highly efficient memorization strategies and highly accurate long-term phonetic representations of foreign sounds. Comparison with data of previous studies shows that working memory could be implicated in the pronunciation learning process which direct imitation tasks target, whereas musical expertise influences both storing of knowledge and later retrieval here assessed via an indirect imitation task.

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Enhancing tonal‐language learning through music: A review of experimental methods and melodic intonation therapy influences

Howe,

Baumgartner

2024

Review of Education

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This literature review explores the impact of music on tonal language learning, with a focus on Mandarin Chinese. Utilising searches across major databases such as ERIC (EBSCO), ProQuest Central, Google Scholar, and Web of Science from 2005 to 2024, we selected relevant peer‐reviewed English‐language articles examining music's role in aiding tone acquisition and related cognitive processes. From 30 publications, findings are categorised into theoretical relationships, cognitive effects, melodic intonation therapy (MIT) applications and digital music applications. Theoretical frameworks emphasise the correlation between musicality and language proficiency, highlighting musicians' enhanced tonal perception and production skills. Cognitive effects include music's influence on pronunciation, memory and cultural understanding. MIT's effectiveness in tonal language learning is then discussed, emphasising its potential to improve cortical representations of tone categories. Finally, digital music applications are examined, focusing on language learning apps incorporating music for personalised and engaging learning experiences. The review finds significant literature reporting that music‐based methodologies, aligned with experiential learning paradigms, hold significant potential in Mandarin Chinese acquisition. They enhance listening comprehension, spoken language production, and understanding of grammar and syntax. Similar to MIT principles, music‐assisted tonal language learning utilises exaggerated melody and rhythm to improve language production, especially with complex words. This review is motivated by the recognition of music's potential benefits in language education, especially for tonal languages. It aims to provide educators and researchers with insights into effective methods and applications, guiding instructional practices and stimulating further empirical investigations in this interdisciplinary field. Ultimately, it contributes to the ongoing discourse on optimising tonal language learning methodologies.

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Sing Chinese and tap Tagalog? Predicting individual differences in musical and phonetic aptitude using language families differing by sound-typology

Cited by 25 publications

References 55 publications

Early Influence of Musical Abilities and Working Memory on Speech Imitation Abilities: Study with Pre-School Children

Early Influence of Musical Abilities and Working Memory on Speech Imitation Abilities: Study with Pre-School Children

Second Language Accent Faking Ability Depends on Musical Abilities, Not on Working Memory

Enhancing tonal‐language learning through music: A review of experimental methods and melodic intonation therapy influences

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