Lexical learning in sung and spoken story script contexts

Abstract

Although most children seem to love music, our understanding of the role it plays in facilitating speech and language learning is limited, as is research validating its efficacy in the clinical setting. The purpose of this study was to examine how singing affects children’s quick incidental learning (QUIL) of novel vocabulary terms. Sixteen children with language delay and mild developmental delays were presented with spoken and sung story scripts containing eight novel words over two experimental sessions. Lexical probes indicated that children’s naming and comprehension of target lexical items did not significantly differ as a result of hearing sung versus spoken scripts versions. A significant increase was noted in the number of children’s unsolicited target word productions from Session 1 to Session 2 in the Sung Condition, indicating that sung input may enhance only particular aspects of quick incidental word learning.