Abstract
The association between music and language, in particular, the overlap in their processing results in the possibility to use one domain for the enhancement of the other. Especially in the preschool years music may be a valuable tool to train language abilities (e.g., precursors of reading). Therefore, detailed knowledge about associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading can be of great use for designing future music intervention studies that target language-related abilities. Hence, the present study investigated the association between music perception as well as music production and precursors of reading. Thereby, not only phonological awareness, the mostly studied precursor of reading, was investigated, but also other precursors were examined. We assessed musical abilities (production and perception) and precursors of reading (phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory) in 55 preschoolers (27 boys). Fluid intelligence was measured and controlled in the analyses. Results showed that phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory were related to music perception as well as to music production. Our data suggest that several precursors of reading were associated with music perception as well as music production.
Highlights
The non-musical benefits of music lessons have intrigued the public and fascinated researchers
Because IQ was significantly correlated with musical abilities and precursors of reading, it was controlled in further statistical analyses
We investigated associations between music perception as well as music production and precursors of reading
Summary
The non-musical benefits of music lessons have intrigued the public and fascinated researchers. Intervention studies demonstrated that music training can enhance vocabulary (Moreno et al, 2011), reading (Moreno et al, 2009), and phonological awareness – a precursor of reading (Degé and Schwarzer, 2011). These results indicate that music interventions might be able to support the development of language-related abilities (e.g., reading and phonological awareness). The majority of studies have primarily focused on music perception abilities (i.e., rhythm, pitch, meter, and timbre) and their relationship to language-related abilities, mostly addressing only one precursor (i.e., phonological awareness). There are other precursors of reading that have been identified: working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory
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