Testing the influence of musical expertise on novel word learning across the lifespan using a cross-sectional approach in children, young adults and older adults

Dittinger, Eva; Scherer, Johanna; Jäncke, Lutz; Besson, Mireille; Elmer, Stefan

doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104678

Cited by 23 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 105 publications

(150 reference statements)

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“…Finally, in accordance with previous findings on the rapidness of initial L2 acquisition (e.g., Cunillera et al, 2009;de Diego-Balaguer et al, 2007;Dittinger et al, 2019;Gullberg et al, 2010;Gosselke Berthelsen et al, 2020;Kimppa et al, 2015), the N400 for mismatched pictures manifested already within 1 hour, i.e., within 15 learning cycles and 15 mismatch trials per condition. At this point, mismatch processing had manifested to such a degree that further changes over time were undetectable.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Second language learners can acquire many aspects of a new language (L2) at surprisingly fast rates. In both naturalistic and artificial acquisition settings, novice learners show phonological (e.g., Gullberg, Roberts, Dimroth, Veroude & Indefrey, 2010), lexicosemantic (e.g., Dittinger, Scherer, Jäncke, Besson & Elmer, 2019;Gullberg et al, 2010;Kimppa, Kujala, Leminen, Vainio & Shtyrov, 2015), and even grammatical L2 knowledge (e.g., Cunillera et al, 2009;de Diego-Balaguer, Toro, Rodríguez-Fornells & Bachoud-Lévi, 2007;Gosselke Berthelsen, Horne, Shtyrov & Roll, 2020) after mere minutes of language contact or training. An important facilitating factor during such early stages of second language acquisition (SLA) is transfer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A useful method for circumventing overt L1 exposure during initial L2 learning is word-picture association learning where new L2 words are taught with the help of pictures. Interestingly, studies using this paradigm have uniformly found that picture associations can install rapid lexicosemantic (Dittinger et al, 2019; François, Cunillera, Garcia, Laine & Rodríguez-Fornells, 2017; Havas et al, 2017; Yang & Li, 2019) or grammatical (Gosselke Berthelsen et al, 2020; Havas et al, 2017) processing in novel words. For this to occur, learners must be aware of the lexical and grammatical content of the meaning-assigning pictures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phonological transfer effects in novice learners: A learner's brain detects grammar errors only if the language sounds familiar

et al. 2021

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Many aspects of a new language, including grammar rules, can be acquired and accessed within minutes. In the present study, we investigate how initial learners respond when the rules of a novel language are not adhered to. Through spoken word-picture association-learning, tonal and non-tonal speakers were taught artificial words. Along with lexicosemantic content expressed by consonants, the words contained grammatical properties embedded in vowels and tones. Pictures that were mismatched with any of the words’ phonological cues elicited an N400 in tonal learners. Non-tonal learners only produced an N400 when the mismatch was based on a word's vowel or consonants, not the tone. The emergence of the N400 might indicate that error processing in L2 learners (unlike canonical processing) does not initially differentiate between grammar and semantics. Importantly, only errors based on familiar phonological cues evoked a mismatch-related response, highlighting the importance of phonological transfer in initial second language acquisition.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phonological transfer effects in novice learners: A learner's brain detects grammar errors only if the language sounds familiar

et al. 2021

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“…Recently, we examined the effects of musical expertise on Thai word learning across the life span, using both behavioral and electrophysiological measures (Dittinger, Scherer, Jäncke, Besson, & Elmer, 2019;Dittinger, Valizadeh, Jäncke, Besson, & Elmer, 2018;Dittinger, Chobert, Ziegler, & Besson, 2017;Dittinger et al, 2016). After a learning phase in which picture-word associations were presented several times, participants were tested on the efficiency of learning in a matching task and in a semantic task.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Psychoacoustics to Brain Waves: A Longitudinal Approach to Novel Word Learning

Barbaroux

Noreña

Rasamimanana

et al. 2021

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

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Musical expertise has been shown to positively influence high-level speech abilities such as novel word learning. This study addresses the question whether low-level enhanced perceptual skills causally drives successful novel word learning. We used a longitudinal approach with psychoacoustic procedures to train 2 groups of nonmusicians either on pitch discrimination or on intensity discrimination, using harmonic complex sounds. After short (app. 3 hr) psychoacoustic training, discrimination thresholds were lower on the specific feature (pitch or intensity) that was trained. Moreover, compared to the intensity group, participants trained on pitch were faster to categorize words varying in pitch. Finally, although the N400 components in both the word learning phase and in the semantic task were larger in the pitch group than in the intensity group, no between-group differences were found at the behavioral level in the semantic task. Thus, these results provide mixed evidence that enhanced perception of relevant features through a few hours of acoustic training with harmonic sounds causally impacts the categorization of speech sounds as well as novel word learning. These results are discussed within the framework of near and far transfer effects from music training to speech processing.

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“…In addition, the participants identifying themselves as musicians or non-musicians has to be taken into account. "Making music" can influence an individual's interest in and ease of performing pieces which are not part of one's own culture, such as the Hispanic culture (Dittinger et al, 2019;Fernández-García & Fonseca-Mora, 2019;Posedel et al, 2012). A greater musical interpretation ability leads to a higher probability not only to listen to, but also to assimilate to the text associated with the music within the song.…”

Section: Communicative Competence: Self-assessment Of Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning Spanish as a foreign language through Music

Pérez-Carmona

Vicente-Bújez²,

Díaz-Mohedo

et al. 2021

AULA_ABIERTA

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Music has multiple characteristics that make it an ideal tool for teaching and learning languages. Although some research has been done on this subject, there are still many areas to explore. This quantitative research presents survey data from 178 students of Spanish as a Foreign Language to better understand how adult learners use music and other media in their practice of Spanish. Non-parametric statistical tests were carried out. Data showed participants used music more frequently than other media as a means to practice Spanish outside of the classroom, despite having difficulties understanding the lyrics. Also, musical training was found to be an indicator of a higher level of lyrical comprehension. It was concluded that the growing popularity of Spanish language music, changes in music consumption, and the democratization of listening platforms— along with the ability that songs have to generate well-being and to create links, as well as to represent the target culture—were decisive factors in the use of songs in the learning of Spanish as a foreign language.

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Testing the influence of musical expertise on novel word learning across the lifespan using a cross-sectional approach in children, young adults and older adults

Cited by 23 publications

References 105 publications

Phonological transfer effects in novice learners: A learner's brain detects grammar errors only if the language sounds familiar

Phonological transfer effects in novice learners: A learner's brain detects grammar errors only if the language sounds familiar

From Psychoacoustics to Brain Waves: A Longitudinal Approach to Novel Word Learning

Learning Spanish as a foreign language through Music

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